How does the author of this piece use language and imagery when discussing language? And with what effects?

“Any language is as divine and endless a mystery as a living organism.” 

In the piece 'Speaking In Tongues', the author uses imagery to help him describe how language can be compared to a living thing e.g a plant- if it is not cared for and nurtured, it will eventually die out; this causes the audience to feel sorrowful and perhaps persuade them to keep their language alive.
What many people do not take into account nowadays, is the fact that a language can easily become extinct if its people are not keeping it alive; many languages are now non-exisistant, because its people never valued its worth and did not put in the effort to pass it on to their children.
The use of the adjective 'divine' to describe language, suggests to the audience that a language is somewhat something that is extremely heavenly and something that could not easily be replaced, similarly to how a living organism can not be replaced if it passes away. The use of imagery in this piece helps the audience have a better understanding about the importance of language in one's life- it shapes us and our cultures.
Not only does a language help define a culture, but it helps us understand our history better- how and why the language was constructed and this can later on be told to our children's children.
In this piece, the audience can clearly detect that the author is trying to display the importance of language in our lives; he does this by using imagery to help the audience picture more easily