AOf all mankind's manifold creations, language must take pride of place. Other inventions – the wheel, agriculture, sliced bread – may have transformed our material existence, but the advent of language is what made us human. Compared to language, all other inventions pale in significance, since everything we have ever achieved depends on language and begins from it. Without language, we could never have embarked on our ascent to unparalleled power over all other animals, and even over nature itself.
BBut language is foremost not just because it came first. In its own right it is a tool of extraordinary sophistication, yet based on an idea of ingenious simplicity: 'this marvellous invention of composing out of twenty-five or thirty sounds that infinite variety of expressions which, whilst having in themselves no likeness to what is in our mind, allow us to disclose to others its whole secret, and to make known to those who cannot penetrate it all that we imagine, and all the various agitations of our soul'. This was how, in 1660, the renowned French grammarians of the Port-Royal abbey near Versailles celebrated what is arguably the greatest invention of all.
CLanguage often seems so skillfully drafted that one can hardly imagine it as anything other than the perfected handiwork of a master craftsman. How else could this instrument make so much out of bare necessities? Steal a glance at the core mechanism of language, and you will see how a handful of meaningless sounds are combined and recombined to form tens of thousands of meaningful signs, which can then be strung together in an infinite number of sentences according to precise grammatical rules.
DIn its essence, language is so natural to us that we rarely pause to wonder at its genius. In each and every language spoken across the globe, from English or Mandarin to the most isolated indigenous tongues of Papua New Guinea or the Amazon basin, speakers effortlessly perform miraculous computational feats every single second. Without formal training, any five-year-old child masters the complex morphosyntactic machinery of their native language.
EYet when we compare different tongues, their extraordinary diversity becomes readily apparent. While some languages require intricate grammatical markers for tense, mood, and evidentiality, others rely almost entirely on context. This astonishing variation across cultures and continents does not diminish the brilliance of language; on the contrary, it underscores the boundless flexibility of the human mind in fashioning communicative tools tailored to diverse social environments.
FFinally, the power of language extends beyond what is said to include what is unsaid. Pauses, hesitations, and deliberate silence often convey layers of emotional meaning as potent as the most eloquent oration. In literature, theater, and daily conversation, silence is not merely an absence of sound, but an expressive instrument charged with subtle psychological significance.
Reading Passage 2 has six paragraphs, A–F. Choose the correct heading for each paragraph from the list of headings below.
i. Differences between languages highlight their impressiveness
ii. The way in which a few sounds are organised to convey a huge range of meaning
iii. Why the sounds used in different languages are not identical
iv. Apparently incompatible characteristics of language
v. Even silence can be meaningful
vi. Why language is the most important invention of all
vii. The universal ability to use language
Complete the summary using the list of words, A–G, below. Write the correct letter, A–G, in boxes 20–23.
The wheel is one invention that has had a major impact on aspects of life, but no impact has been as as that of language. Language is very , yet composed of just a small number of sounds. Language appears to be to use. However, its sophistication is often overlooked.
Do the following statements agree with the views of the writer in Reading Passage 2? Write YES, NO, or NOT GIVEN.
24. Human beings might have achieved their present position without language.
25. The Port-Royal grammarians did justice to the nature of language.
26. A complex idea can be explained more clearly in a sentence than in a single word.