Language as a symbolic system

 Many animals and even plants species communicate with each other. Humans are not unique in this capability. However human symbolic communication that is learned instead of biologically inherited. Symbols are sounds or things which have meaning given to them by the users. A specialized language dependent upon the use of symbols for communication and created for the purpose of achieving greater exactitude, as in symbolic logic or mathematics. Examples from the Web for symbolic language. The text is written, as will be observed, in symbolic language. 

Language is symbolic in may ways. First, language is a symbol of something else. I can write the word heart, for example, but the word itself is not a heart. I can ay the word peanut butter, but the word is certainly not edible. Language itself is a symbolic of the words we speak and write.

Second, language is a symbol of a culture. The words both acceptable and unacceptable which comprise a language reflect the culture of those who speak it. If language has many definitions for a word such as love, for example, that is an indication of perhaps a more formal and precise culture. If a language accepts a lot of acceptable slang, on the other hand, that is an indication of less formal culture. People think differently, and this is reflected in both as individual's and culture's language.

Finally, language is often a symbol of intellect. Complex actions and accomplishments generally requires communication, and a shared language is generally the most efficient and effective method of communication. Language is symbolic in literature, of course, but it is also symbolic in other ways. 

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