to make something tick = to make it function/work "I'm not very happy. The computer repair guy spent hours trying to make my computer tick, but he couldn't fix it." We also often use the closely related phrase "to make somebody tick" - this means to motivate someone.

"Tick" is an onomatopoetic (拟声词) word that describes the sound of machinery (especially machines with gears, like old clocks). So " . . . making it tick" means the "resourcefulness and expertise" that makes language function. We often use the expression in a question, when we are asking how something works, or (in the case of human psychology) how the mind works. For example, if there is a person who I don't understand - whose personality is complicated - I might ask "what makes him tick?"

Basically, it means making something work:)

Clocks go “tick-tock”. Asking the question “What makes it tick?” is like asking “How does it work?” What is inside it that causes it to function? Personally I don’t think this is a great use of the phrase, since languages evolve naturally and aren’t designed with resourcefulness and expertise to work well. But the sentence is basically expressing admiration for the inner workings of language. This expression is also used for people. “What makes her tick?” What motivates her to do what she does? What interests her? What arouses her? “I never thought he would get married, but she really seems to know what makes him tick.” (She knows him really well, She knows him at a deeper level)

It means all of the effort that you put forth to make the language become easy or automatic for you