Why did Johann Gottfried von Herder believe language was necessary for human knowledge?

For Johann Gottfried von Herder, language was not merely a tool for expressing pre-existing thoughts; rather, it was the essential medium through which human knowledge and consciousness are formed.12

In his work Abhandlung über den Ursprung der Sprache (1772), Herder argued that while humans may experience the world through feeling, these experiences remain dim and indistinct until they are brought into consciousness through language. He posited that language allows individuals to separate themselves from the world in order to link themselves to it again through an "intentional," object-directed act. By designating specific meanings to experiences, language transforms vague sensations into clear, recognized knowledge.2

Consequently, Herder viewed language as the very means of thought itself, suggesting that human rationality and the capacity for communication developed in tandem. Because the word acts as both sound and significance, it facilitates the union of feeling and reflection, making language the fundamental structure through which humans understand and interpret their reality.12