Language

Language is the ability to acquire and use complex systems of communication, particularly the human ability to do so, and a language is any specific example of such a system. The scientific study of language is called linguistics.

Questions concerning the philosophy of language, such as whether words can represent experience, have been debated since Gorgias and Plato in Ancient Greece. Thinkers such as Rousseau have argued that language originated from emotions while others like Kant have held that it originated from rational and logical thought. 20th-century philosophers such as Wittgenstein argued that philosophy is really the study of language. Major figures in linguistics include Ferdinand de Saussure, Noam Chomsky and William C. Stokoe.

Estimates of the number of languages in the world vary between 5,000 and 7,000. However, any precise estimate depends on a partly arbitrary distinction between languages and dialects. Natural languages are spoken or signed, but any language can be encoded into secondary media using auditory, visual, or tactile stimuli – for example, in graphic writing, braille, or whistling. This is because human language is modality-independent. Depending on philosophical perspectives regarding the definition of language and meaning, when used as a general concept, "language" may refer to the cognitive ability to learn and use systems of complex communication, or to describe the set of rules that makes up these systems, or the set of utterances that can be produced from those rules. All languages rely on the process of semiosis to relate signs to particular meanings. Oral and sign languages contain a phonological system that governs how symbols are used to form sequences known as words or morphemes, and a syntactic system that governs how words and morphemes are combined to form phrases and utterances.

Spoken word

Spoken word is a style of entertainment involving performance-based poetry that primarily focuses on the aesthetics of word play and story-telling. It often includes collaboration and experimentation with other art forms such as music, theater, and dance. Performers may weave in poetic components - such as rhyme, repetition, rhythm, improvisation, and other traditional elements of poetry.

History

The art of spoken word has existed for many millennia. The tradition of the spoken word is particular to cultures around the world when oral traditions were the means to pass on the genealogical, historical, cultural knowledge and traditions of different geographical sects of indigenous peoples and civilizations; it was particularly steeped in the African traditions that also included drumming and dancing as a means to reinforce cultural mores, spiritual incantations, social practices and world views. This can also be evidenced in Native American and Aboriginal cultures. The Ancient Greeks included Greek lyric which is similar to spoken-word poetry in their Olympic Games.

Spoken

Spoken is the past participle form of "to speak".

Spoken may also refer to:

See also

Vice Ganda

Jose Marie Borja Viceral (born March 31, 1976), known by his stage name Vice Ganda, is a Filipino television presenter, endorser, actor, and recording artist. Viceral is a regular host/judge on ABS-CBN’s noontime variety show It's Showtime, and has starred in several films, five of which are considered the highest-grossing films in Philippine cinema.

He is best known for his stand-up routines, in which he uses observational comedy, situational irony and sarcasm in pertaining to Filipino culture and human sexuality. He is also the first openly gay endorser for a major product in the Philippines (Globe Telecom).

Early life

The youngest of five children, Viceral grew up in the neighbourhood along José Abád Santos Street in Manuguit, Tondo, Manila. His father, a barangay captain, was murdered when he was young, prompting his mother to leave the children for work abroad as a caregiver.

He studied Political Science at Far Eastern University and became the only man in the history of the University Athletic Association of the Philippines to be the Finals MVP in women's division in 2003,.