there are around 6,500 distinct languages, any child can learn any language, indicating that the biological machinery underlying language is common to all humans
several areas of the brain need to function together in order for a person to produce, use, and understand language
brain parts:
- broca’s area - primarily responsible for language production; damage to this area results in productive aphasia
- wernicke’s area - primarily responsible for language comprehension; damage to this area results in receptive aphasia
- auditory cortex - identifies pitch and loudness of sounds
- angular gyrus - responsible for several language processes, including (but not limited to) attention and number processing