LANGUAGE

a human system of communication that uses arbitrary signals, such as

voice sounds, gestures, and/or written symbols.
a system of communication using sounds or symbols that enables us to
express our feelings, thoughts, ideas, and experiences [E. Bruce Goldstein,
Cognitive Psychology: Connecting Mind, Research, and Everyday Experience]
a purely human and non-instinctive method of communicating ideas,
emotions and desires by means of voluntarily produced symbols. [Edward Sapir,
Language: An Introduction to the Study of Speech]
Examples: English, Korean

FIRST LANGUAGE
the language or are the languages a person has been exposed to from birth
or within the critical period, or that a person speaks the best and so is often
the basis for sociolinguistic identity

SECOND LANGUAGE
a language that is not the native language of the speaker, but that is used
in the locale of that person.

FOREIGN LANGUAGE
a language that is learned in an area where that language is not generally
spoken.

MOTHER TONGUE
the language that a person has grown up speaking from early childhood.

LINGUA FRANCA
a language that is adopted as a common language between speakers whose
native languages are different.

DIALECT
a form of a language that is spoken in a particular part of a country or by a
particular group of people and that contains some words, grammar, or
pronunciations that are different from the forms used in other parts or by other
groups

PIDGIN
a grammatically simplified form of a language, used for communication
between people not sharing a common language
a simplified speech used for communication between people with different
languages.
JARGON
special words or expressions that are used by a particular profession or
group and are difficult for others to understand.

REGISTER
a variety of a language or a level of usage, as determined by degree of
formality and choice of vocabulary, pronunciation, and syntax, according to the
communicative purpose, social context, and social status of the user.

PATOIS
the dialect of the common people of a region, differing in various respects
from the standard language of the rest of the country.