language is a system of conventional, spoken or written symbols by means of which human beings, as members of a social group in its culture, communicate.
Definition of language
“Language is a purely Human and non instinctive method of communicating ideas, emotions desires by means Of produce symbols voluntarily.”Edward Sapir,1921
“A language is a system of arbitrary vocal symbols by means of which the member of a society interact in terms of their total culture.”G.Trager,1949
“A language is a set of sentences, each finite in length and constructed out of a finite set of elements.” Noan Chomsky, 1957
Features of language
The features of language are follows:
1.verbal and vocal
2.Social phenomena
3.non instinactiveness
4.Arbitariness
5.language is human
6.Uniqueness
7.Displacement
8.Discreteness
9.Duality
10.Semanticity
11.structure dependents and system
13.productivity
14.cultural transmission
Human language and animal communication
All animals have some system for Communicating with other members of their spices but only human have a language which allows them to produce and understand ever new messages and to do so without any outside stimulus .Bees, birds, dolphins , and chimpanzees, among other animals, transmit and interpret a fixed number of messages that signal friendliness or hostility ,the presence of food or of danger ,or have todo with mating and care of offspring.