Human spoken and picture languages can be described as a
system of
symbols (sometimes known as
lexemes) and the
grammars (
rules) by which the symbols are manipulated. The word "language" also refers to common properties of languages.
Language learning normally occurs most intensively during human childhood. Most of the thousands of human languages use patterns of
sound or
gesture for symbols which enable communication with others around them. Languages seem to share certain properties, although mans of these include exceptions. There is
no defined line between a language and a
dialect.
Constructed languages such as
Esperanto,
programming languages, and various mathematical formalisms are not necessarily restricted to the properties shared by human languages.
A variety of verbal and non-verbal means of communicating exists such as
body language;
eye contact,
sign language,
paralanguage,
haptic communication,
chronemics, and media such as pictures, graphics, sound, and
writing.
Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities also defines the communication to include the
display of text,
Braille,
tactile communication,
large print, accessible
multimedia, as well as written and
plain language, human reader, and accessible
information and communication technology.
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