Language

Language is the means of communication that takes place between living beings, including animals and even plant species. This means, human is not unique to this capability, however human language is unique because of the fact that it is learned instead of biologically inherited. Essentially, language is considered as the human means of communication.

Being a communicative system , language involves sets of sensory symbols, sounds and words. Symbols are the sounds or things which have meaning given to them by the users. They have a mental form. Again, sounds do not have meaning in themselves, but when they are used together or combined, they create entities, which do have meaning. A word comprises one or more sounds which in combination have a specific meaning. A set of sensory symbols, sounds and words are used in order to express thoughts and ideas.

Human language is infinitely flexible. In human communicative system, meanings can be changed and new symbols can be created. Because of this fact, we often hear that new words are invented and the meaning of old ones are being changed. The changes in a language take place owing to the changes in historical and social conditions.

Also see:
Language: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Language
What Is Language: http://anthro.palomar.edu/language/language_2.htm
NIDCD: http://www.nidcd.nih.gov/health/voice/whatis_vsl.htm
NSF: http://www.nsf.gov/news/special_reports/linguistics/intro.jsp