THE 17 MOST COMMON TYPES OF LANGUAGE IN HUMANS - CULTURE VOCABULARY - 2025

There are different types of language necessary for human beings to be able to communicate with each other. These language classes take place in everyday life and represent the key to social relationships.

Communication and language are essential tools for the expression of ideas, emotions, thoughts and feelings. These tools can be used by two or more people simultaneously. Depending on the success in the communication process, interpersonal relationships will be equally successful.

Language can be defined as the ability that human beings have to communicate. It is one of the most important characteristics of the human race and thanks to it we can express what defines us as individuals.

On the other hand, language with its different variables is essential to satisfy the communication needs of human beings.

Regardless of the cultural level of individuals, language will always allow us to express who we are and what we need. Therefore, it allows us to open and close doors depending on their use.

Language should not be confused with language (language). The first is the faculty that only human beings have to communicate, while language is the codes common to a territory whose meaning is understood by its members.

Types of language according to their level of artificiality

The different communication or language methods can be classified into various typologies or groups. The first typology is related to the level of artificiality or naturalness of the language used.

1- Literary language

Literary language is the type of language used by writers to create literary plots, highly rich in cultural content or colloquialisms.

Literary language can create beauty or use vulgar expressions. It all depends on what the author wants to communicate through it.

Example: "In a place in La Mancha, whose name I do not want to remember, not long ago lived a nobleman of the shipyard spear, old shield, skinny nag and running greyhound."

2- Formal language

Formal language is impersonal, used for academic or work purposes. It uses pronouns such as "you", "your" or "you". It does not use contractions or colloquialisms. It is the opposite of informal language.

Example: "It is important that you take security measures when browsing the Internet."

3- Informal language

Informal, natural or popular language is one that all human beings use in everyday interaction regardless of the language we speak. It refers to the vocabulary that was born spontaneously within a group of individuals and is used to communicate.

Formal language is one that is used unconsciously and that has been learned since childhood. It is related to the learning process of each subject and is related to the context and culture to which they belong.

Example: "Antonio, I had a terrible day at work today."

4- Artificial language

It is the language that is used to communicate in a different way than the informal one. It seeks to meet a specific objective, therefore it is created in such a way that it serves to express technical aspects that are often difficult to understand within natural language.

It is a type of language that is developed in a premeditated way depending on the need of those who use it.

Therefore, it is not a spontaneous language and is not used in everyday communication. Some examples of this type of language include mathematical and programming language.

- Mathematical language: it is one whose principle is to communicate previously defined mathematical concepts and definitions.

- Programming language: it is one that seeks to establish clear communication between computers and various computer systems.

Example: programming languages ​​like Java, C, C ++, Python or C #.

5- Scientific language

Scientific language is used by scientists to express their ideas and knowledge. It is objective and normative, and they are shared between members of the same guild.

It can be used in different activities or fields of science, and its objective is to transmit information with a practical and specific purpose.

Example: "In the human brain are neurons, cells that transmit electrical and chemical signals."

According to the communicative element

The different types of language can be classified according to the elements that are used to carry out the communicative process.

6- Oral language

Oral language comprises spoken language. It manifests itself through sounds used to express a feeling, thought or idea. These sounds are what are known as a spoken word.

The spoken word can be composed of one or more sounds, however, in order to make sense, it must be organized appropriately in relation to the other words and the context.

7- Written language

This type of language is made up of the graphic representation of oral expressions. In other words, written language is the graphic equivalent of spoken language.

Therefore, with this type of language the same thing happens as with oral: for an expression to make sense, the words that compose it must be organized in a specific way.

8- Iconic language

Iconic language is the type of non-verbal language that uses symbols to ensure communication. In this sense, the symbols act as vocabulary and the way in which they are combined is equivalent to grammar.

9- f acial non-verbal language

Non-verbal language takes place without the need for words. Usually, it is used unconsciously and is directly related to the gestures, shapes and body movements of people.

Nonverbal facial language is characterized by the way we move our facial muscles. Each facial gesture has a meaning that can be clearly read. On the other hand, there are parts of the face that are more expressive than others.

10- Non-verbal language f acial k inesic

It is the language that is expressed through body movements. The gestures, the way we walk, the movement of the hands, the movements of the face, and even the smell of the body are part of this language.

11- P roxemic f acial nonverbal language

It refers to the space in which the communication process takes place. Talk about the proximity and spatial attitudes of people. Distances have different connotations depending on the context and culture.

The distance chosen to carry out a conversation is considered as the non-verbal language that denotes the relationship between the individuals who are communicating and the type of message to be transmitted.

Other classifications

There are other types of language different from those mentioned above, as can be seen below:

12- Egocentric language

It is a type of language that is part of the integral development of children. It was named after the pedagogue Jean Piaget, who concluded that children were sociable beings with the ability to communicate aloud with themselves.

Eventually, children learn to relate to their environment and egocentric language disappears or intensifies at a time when humans need to speak aloud to organize their ideas.

13- Native

It refers to the mother tongue that is spoken in a specific region or country. For example, Portuguese in Portugal, or Spanish in Spain.

However, these languages ​​are no longer indigenous to the countries that adopt them. In other words, Portuguese in Brazil is not considered an autochthonous or native language.

14- Slang

It is the language used by a limited group of people or a subculture. The words that make up slang are generally invented, or those that are not invented have their meaning changed.

This language is used to hide the real meaning of words and thus be able to exclude other people from the communication process.

Slang is commonly used among young people. It is recognized by the speed with which it spreads and evolves.

15- Jargon

Slang is a language that is made up of a body of words and phrases applied to a specific activity or profession. It is commonly used in the medical field (to refer to procedures and materials), in athletic and recreational tasks.

On the other hand, in some fields, jargon is used to exclude other people from the communication process.

For this reason, you can find different types of jargon famous for obstructing communication processes instead of facilitating them. Such is the case of certain bureaucratic speeches.

16- Lingua franca

It is a type of language made up of the mixture of different languages. It fulfills the function of being a common language between people who speak different languages. It is usually used in ports and borders between countries that speak different languages.

Creole or some degenerations of the vernacular languages ​​are considered lingua francas.

17- Animal language

It is the language foreign to human beings and that animals use to communicate with each other.

It uses the emission of olfactory, auditory and visual signals. This visibly changes from one species to another.

18- Dialect

It is a way of speaking based on social or geographical factors.

19- Pidgin

It is a simplified language that arises from the efforts of people who speak different languages ​​to communicate. It is developed to facilitate communication between people who do not have a common language.

20- Patois

It is a non-standardized linguistic variety like Creole, dialect or Pidgin, with connotations of social inferiority.

References

1. Bloomfield, L. (1996). New Dehli: Motilala Banarsidass Publishers.
2. Classifications, E. d. (2017). Encyclopedia of Classifications. Obtained from Language types: typesof.org
3. Investigations, B. d. (2017). Research Library. Obtained from El Lenguaje: Bibliotecadeinvestigaciones.wordpress.com
4. Nichol, M. (2017). Daily Writing Tips. Retrieved from 12 Types of Language: dailywritingtips.com.