The range of linguistic diversity across the world gives us a great amount of data to understand the topic language. The recent estimate in regard to number of languages across the world is 7009 (Ethnologue, 2017).

The range of linguistic diversity across the world gives us a great amount of data to understand the topic language. The recent estimate in regard to number of languages across the world is 7009 (Ethnologue, 2017). The study of languages has given us a great insight into concepts such as reading and writing as well as aiding us in our understanding of relationships, both public and private. The thought process required to formulate jokes in addition to sharing information and planning mandates that we use language from two main perspective; cognitive and social. This is determined through examining the individual’s language and the environment in which they are embedded. The relationship between language and thought are vastly dependent on one another, influencing the association the individual makes.

Another interesting concept within the field of language and psychology is the fact that many people across various backgrounds and countries associate different meanings to the same word which in many cases the word is completely redefined. For example:

In German, gift means poison! And in the Scandinavian languages gift mean both poison and marriage. Whereas in English gift is something nice to give someone without the expectation of anything in return.

If you saw two sentences; one which made sense and one which did not, readers and listeners would have implicit understanding of which sentence is correct and the rules that govern permissible word order in their native language. Rules of syntax are specific to different language which makes learning a new language difficult and tricky due to the psychological association we already have.

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