DefinePK

Abstract

This article examines the indispensable role of language in human cognition, communication, and culture. It argues that language is not just a medium of conveying emotions and thoughts, but a foundational system enabling humans to encode, preserve, and transfer knowledge across generations. The study compares human language with non-human and artificial systems (animal sounds and computer languages), emphasizing five core characteristics that define human linguistic systems. It further delves into linguistic branches like phonetics, sociolinguistics, and psycholinguistics, and discusses how language functions at the anatomical level in speech production. The piece highlights the role of linguistics in enabling machines, especially AI models like ChatGPT, to understand and respond in natural language, including Urdu.The author underscores the absence of comprehensive visual phonetic resources in Urdu linguistics literature and provides structured diagrams to fill this gap. Ultimately, the article asserts the centrality of linguistics in bridging language, society and technology in the modern era.