Language, Languages, and Reality. A Brief Overview of Linguistic Ontology

This essay consists in an overview of five different but interrelated positions about various issues around linguistic ontology. Importantly, not all of them are mutually exclusive or even contrasting, strictly. There are, however, common threads (namely, whether and how linguistic theories and language itself are connected to reality) that make them related and raise points of discussion. The surveyed ideas are the following. First, something called “language” exists in the sense of an internal bio-mental ability our species “possesses”. Second, “languages” exist, although they may not be scientifically relevant. Third, conceiving language as an object, and languages as discrete autonomous systems is a superfluous fiction. Fourth, languages-as-objects were the product of a specific European socio-political ideology, and are pernicious for speakers of subaltern languages. Fifth, to preserve and empower the unique ties of people with their ecology and culture, “endangered” minority languages need to be identified as such and “revitalized”. In conclusion, the potentially paradoxical nature of the last position is highlighted. Despite the limitations of this short essay, it can serve as a reasoned guide to several different traditions in philosophy and linguistics