langue

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The Word of the Day for October 11 is:=20

langue   \LAHNG (the vowel is pronounced in a nasal manner)\   noun
          : language viewed abstractly as a system of forms and conventi=
ons used for communication in a community; also : the knowledge that ena=
bles a person to speak and understand a language

Example sentence:
         Langue makes communication possible; without it we could not pr=
ocess and understand each other=E2=80=99s utterances.=20

Did you know?
          In lectures delivered at the University of Geneva from 1907 to=
 1913, Swiss linguist Ferdinand de Saussure set forth his groundbreaking=
 distinction between =E2=80=9Clangue=E2=80=9D -- the systematic, structu=
red language existing at a given time within a given society -- and =E2=80=
=9Cparole,=E2=80=9D the individual use of that language by a person. In =
French, =E2=80=9Clangue=E2=80=9D literally means =E2=80=9Clanguage.=E2=80=
=9D It was adopted into Middle English with that same general meaning bu=
t fell into disuse. =E2=80=9CParole=E2=80=9D is also a French word; it m=
eans =E2=80=9Cspeech=E2=80=9D and is related to Late Latin =E2=80=9Cpara=
bola,=E2=80=9D the base of our English word =E2=80=9Cparable.=E2=80=9D





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