Amsterdam, Netherlands

Language and Society

Master's
Language: EnglishStudies in English
Subject area: languages
Time study: 1 year
University website: www.uva.nl/en
Language
Language is a system that consists of the development, acquisition, maintenance and use of complex systems of communication, particularly the human ability to do so; and a language is any specific example of such a system.
Society
A society is a group of individuals involved in persistent social interaction, or a large social group sharing the same geographical or social territory, typically subject to the same political authority and dominant cultural expectations. Societies are characterized by patterns of relationships (social relations) between individuals who share a distinctive culture and institutions; a given society may be described as the sum total of such relationships among its constituent of members. In the social sciences, a larger society often evinces stratification or dominance patterns in subgroups.
Language
There was speech in their dumbness, language in their very gesture.
William Shakespeare, The Winter's Tale (c. 1610-11), Act V, scene 2, line 12.
Society
La Société est l'union des hommes, et non pas les hommes.
Society is the union of men and not the men themselves.
Language
Henry Drummond: Language is a poor enough means of communication. I think we should use all the words we've got. Besides, there are damned few words that anybody understands!
Inherit the Wind (1960 film), Jerome Lawrence and Robert Edwin Lee
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