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Some researchers have suggested that language or language group in some measure defines civilisation. That is not so. Even within the Latin civilisation itself, there are languages of very different groups (Indo-European, Finno-Ugric, Celtic and Basque). On the other hand, not only Indo-European but even Slavonic languages function in at least three civilisations (Latin, Byzantine and Turanian).
The rate of development of a civilisation, however, may depend on the language it uses because it is an important tool for development. When the tool is of low efficiency the development may be slow and stagnation of the civilisation may result. People who use pictorial scripts for example, as distinct from phonetic ones, may have difficulty in recording abstract terms in writing and therefore in passing them on to later generations. Thus the Chinese civilisation is weak in the humanities because they require constant introduction of new abstract terms that are difficult to convey in pictorial form. The Arabic script has the advantage that it can be written down very fast, similarly as our stenographic records. The Hebrew script, which does not record consonants, is prone to yield ambiguities depending on what consonants are assumed to be missing. Thus it is more the way of writing that has an influence on civilisational development rather than the language itself. Languages do change, not necessarily always developing, but sometimes also declining in efficiency as tools. The current trend of reducing the number of grammatical forms in use may result in loss of precision.