Chapter 5: Language Language: System of communication through speech, collection of sounds that a group of people understand to have the same meaning. Literary Tradition: System of written communication. Hundreds of languages lack literary tradition. Lacking this makes it difficult to document the distribution of many languages. Official Language: The language a country picks to be dominant. This language is used in government, road signs, money, and stamps. Former British colonies designated English as the official language even though many do not know how to speak the language. People try to preserve local diversity in language, it is one of the basic elements of cultural identity. Language is a cause of development and consequence.