With etymological history tracing the roots of the word “language” back to the Middle English, Old French and Latin words for “tongue,” [1] the very nature of language is tied to ideas of communication and expression. The common thread in all of the varying definitions of language is the concept of rifts between individual people, animals, even inanimate objects and how those gaps may best be bridged. Inherent, however, in this idea of connection and communication is the separation that language may often imply by its very definition. Beyond the conflict in definition, the idea of language raises serious questions in regard to where it falls in terms of medium, media, and mediator. [2] The varying manifestations of language fit with different theories of media as demarcated by Peirce, McLuhan, Lacan, and Saussure.
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Language
With etymological history tracing the roots of the word “language” back to the Middle English, Old French and Latin words for “tongue,” [1] the very nature of language is tied to ideas of communication and expression. The common thread in all of the varying definitions of language is the concept of rifts between individual people, animals, even inanimate objects and how those gaps may best be bridged. Inherent, however, in this idea of connection and communication is the separation that language may often imply by its very definition. Beyond the conflict in definition, the idea of language raises serious questions in regard to where it falls in terms of medium, media, and mediator. [2] The varying manifestations of language fit with different theories of media as demarcated by Peirce, McLuhan, Lacan, and Saussure.