langage

Langage is the French term for language. It denotes the capacity for communication through signs and rules, and also the set of systems used to express thoughts, including natural languages, sign languages, and programming languages. In everyday French, langage can refer to any language, or to the capacity to use language.

In linguistic theory the term is sometimes used to distinguish between language as an abstract system and its concrete realization in speech or writing. Some authors contrast langage with parole (speech acts) and with langue (the conventional system among speakers). But usage varies by author and tradition.

Etymology: Langage derives from Old French langage, from langue (tongue, language) with the suffix -age; ultimately from Latin lingua. The word thus carries the sense of a system of signs used for communication.

Across domains, langage encompasses both natural language and other symbolic systems. Natural language refers to human languages such as French, English, and Mandarin; sign languages use manual-visual modalities; programming languages are formal systems used to instruct computers. In linguistics, the study of langage covers components such as phonology, morphology, syntax, semantics, and pragmatics, as well as social and cognitive aspects. In computing, programming languages describe the syntax and rules used to write software.

Langage is a foundational concept in discussions of language variability and change, since languages evolve within communities and over time, influenced by social interaction, contact, and technology. See also language, linguistics, langue, parole, programming language, sign language.