Human

=== Language ===
{{Main|Language}}
[[File:Primary Human Languages Improved Version.png|upright=1.5|thumb|Principal [[List of language families|language families]] of the world (and in some cases geographic groups of families). For greater detail, see ''[[:Template:Distribution of languages in the world|Distribution of languages in the world]]''.]]
While many species [[animal communication|communicate]], [[language]] is unique to humans, a defining feature of humanity, and a [[cultural universal]].<ref>{{cite web | vauthors = Scott-Phillips TC, Blythe RA | date = 18 September 2013 | title = Why is language unique to humans? | publisher = Royal Society | url = https://royalsociety.org/news/2013/language-unique-humans/ | access-date = 24 October 2020 | language = en-gb | archive-date = 18 January 2021 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20210118210915/https://royalsociety.org/news/2013/language-unique-humans/ | url-status = live }}</ref> Unlike the limited systems of other animals, human language is open{{snd}}an infinite number of meanings can be produced by combining a limited number of symbols.<ref>{{cite journal | vauthors = Pagel M | title = Q&A: What is human language, when did it evolve and why should we care? | journal = BMC Biology | volume = 15 | issue = 1 | page = 64 | date = July 2017 | pmid = 28738867 | pmc = 5525259 | doi = 10.1186/s12915-017-0405-3 | doi-access = free }}</ref><ref>{{cite journal| vauthors = Fitch WT |date=4 December 2010|title=Language evolution: How to hear words long silenced |journal=New Scientist|language=en|volume=208|issue=2789|pages=ii–iii|doi=10.1016/S0262-4079(10)62961-2|bibcode=2010NewSc.208D...2F|issn=0262-4079}}</ref> Human language also has the capacity of [[Displacement (linguistics)|displacement]], using words to represent things and happenings that are not presently or locally occurring but reside in the shared imagination of interlocutors.<ref name="Revolution" />

Language differs from other forms of communication in that it is [[Origin of speech#Modality-independence|modality independent]]; the same meanings can be conveyed through different media, audibly in [[speech]], visually by [[sign language]] or writing, and through tactile media such as [[braille]].<ref>{{cite book | vauthors = Lian A | chapter = The Modality-Independent Capacity of Language: A Milestone of Evolution|date=2016 | title = Language Evolution and Developmental Impairments|pages=229–255| veditors = Lian A |place=London|publisher=Palgrave Macmillan UK|language=en|doi=10.1057/978-1-137-58746-6_7|isbn=978-1-137-58746-6 }}</ref> Language is central to the communication between humans, and to the sense of identity that unites nations, cultures and ethnic groups.<ref>{{cite web|title=Culture {{!}} United Nations For Indigenous Peoples|url=https://www.un.org/development/desa/indigenouspeoples/mandated-areas1/culture.html|access-date=24 October 2020|website=www.un.org|date=5 June 2015|archive-date=26 November 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201126163227/https://www.un.org/development/desa/indigenouspeoples/mandated-areas1/culture.html|url-status=live}}</ref> There are approximately six thousand different languages currently in use, including sign languages, and many thousands more that are [[extinct language|extinct]].<ref name="Comrie1996">{{cite book | vauthors = Comrie B, Polinsky M, Matthews S |title=The Atlas of Languages: The Origin and Development of Languages Throughout the World |year=1996 |publisher=Facts on File |location=New York |pages=13–15 |isbn=978-0-8160-3388-1}}</ref>