- Language is a uniquely human ability to produce and understand strings of sounds to convey meaning. It allows for displacement from immediate experiences and is creative, with an infinite number of possible sentences. - Linguistic knowledge includes knowledge of a language's sound system, words, and rules for forming sentences. It is separate from language performance or use. - While animals can communicate, human language is discrete, rule-governed, and allows for creativity in combining elements - distinguishing it from animal systems like birdsongs. - The Sapir-Whorf hypothesis, that language determines thought, is too strong; though aspects of cognition can be influenced by a language, humans are not determined by their language.