Evolution by Darwinian natural selection could be a universal consequence of the inheritance of features, combined with their propensity to vary, and the tendency for reproduction to outstrip available resources. I can see two problems posed by admitting reproduction and evolution to the list of the properties of life. Second, entities which we regard as non-living may also reproduce and evolve. For example, there exist computer programs in which strings of code reproduce and evolve by natural selection, entirely within the confines of digital space. But this, again, begs the question of what distinguishes 'real' life from a simulacrum.
Languages are memes that display many of the properties of living organisms.
In the end, our idea of what constitutes life is largely a matter of semantics. This solution, however, is not the answer either. Because we have, as yet, no independent way of calibrating the scale. I predict the latter.