
Language vs tonguage
When we say tongue
When we talk of tongue, we talk of mother tongue (langue maternelle in French and Muttersprache in German, to name two tongues other than English).
Although fathers also come equipped with tongues, I’ve never heard of a father tongue. Have you?
Mother tongue is okay but mother langue doesn’t exist. That’s because langue is French for tongue and 475 years ago, when modern English was invented, langue didn’t get translated from French to English.
Why is that? Your guess is as good as mine.
Had langue been translated from French to English, we would now say tonguage when we say language. Not only that, but it would also come with the added benefit of knowing what we’re talking about.
But given l’m all alone, I’m not even thinking of turning back the clock all by myself for that would achieve nothing but make me a 2025 version of Don Quixote.
But I’m not Don Quixote. All I’m trying to do in 2025 is make sure word-users know what they’re talking about.
Language
Though language ought to be tonguage (see above), it’s now understood to be a means of communication that may, or may not, include words.
Wordless means of communication are also known as non-verbal or void of words. Wordless communication include body language (facial expression, gesture, eye contact, posture, touch, appearance), sign language, flags, morse, light, color, and sound, to name a few.
Communication void of words has been practiced for billions of years between the sun and everything else in the universe — the planets, stars, and moons, to name a few. Also between the fire, air, earth, and the water, between the plants and the animals, between the mushrooms and the trees, and the list goes on.
Only between the word-users is wordful communication practiced, but only since the invention of words 13,750 years ago when the age was stone, the Sahara green, and Northern Europe under 1-mile-thick ice.
Takeaway
Word and language are different for a reason.
Anyone claiming word and language are the same doesn’t know the first thing about either.
On that I give you my word.
“To say of two things that they are identical is nonsense. To say of one thing that it is identical with itself is to say nothing.” – Ludwig Wittgenstein
Beat, we have been discussing the above already. Just one remark: in French, langue and langage have two different meanings. But it might be even more confusing… But I agree that word and language are different.
I agree 100%. Near as I know, langue in English is tongue. But langage, the internet and artificial intelligence (the same thing) wants me, and you, to believe, refers to the system of communication used by a particular community or country, a system of communication or expression, often focusing on the way langage is used rather than the langage itself and that it differs from langue which means a specific langage (e.g., French, English, Spanish). Mode of expression: Le langage des jeunes. Specialized or technical language: Le langage informatique. Signs and symbols as communication: Le langage des fleurs. Manner of speaking: Un langage soutenu. dictionnaire.lerobert.com wants me to believe langage means fonction d’expression de la pensée et de communication entre les humains, mise en œuvre par la parole ou par l’écriture. Étude du langage, linguistique. Le langage et les langues. Tout système de signes permettant la communication. Langage chiffré. Ensemble codé de signes utilisé pour la programmation. Système d’expression et de communication que l’on compare au langage humain. Le langage des fleurs. Le langage des animaux. Façon de s’exprimer propre à un groupe ou à un individu. Long story short, du n’importe quoi.