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The word“language”comes from the Latin(拉丁語)word“lingua”，which means“tongue”. The tongue is used in more sound combinations(結合)than any other organ(器官)of speech. A broader(概括性的)interpretation(解釋)of“language”is that it is any form of expression. This includes(包括)writing， sign(手勢) language， dance， music， painting， and mathematics. But the basic(基本的) form of language is speech. Speech makes man different from all other animals. No human group is without a form of speech，while no animal group has ever succeeded in combining sound and meaning into the complex code(復雜的代號)that humans use. An animal can show joy， fear， dislike， or alarm(驚恐)through its voice， but it cannot carry the message beyond the immediate situation(除了緊急情況). Man can refer to the present， past， or future. He can deal with what is out of sight and millions of miles away.Man’s speech becomes a particular language when two or more human beings decide that a certain sound of set of sounds shall have the same meaning for them.

Today there are nearly 3000 separate spoken tongues. Some， such as English and Chinese， are spoken by hundreds of millions of people.Others， such as some of the native tongues of the American Indians， are spoken by only a few thousand or a few hundred people.

All languages have certain things in common， though their differences are enormous(巨大的). They all consist of sounds produced by the vocal organs(發音器官)（the throat 喉， nose， tongue， palate腭，teeth， and lips）and received by the ear. The vocal organs are capable(能)of producing hundreds or perhaps thousands of different sounds.Each language group selects and uses only a small number of there—usually between 10 and 60. Different languages use different sets of sounds. People grow accustomed to(習慣于) the sounds of their own language. When they need to learn a new set of sounds， they find that their old language habits get in their way.