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Definition: language from Philip's Encyclopedia

System of human communication. Although there are more than 4,000 different languages, they have many characteristics in common. Almost every human language uses a fundamentally similar grammatical structure, or syntax, even though they may not be linked in vocabulary or origin. Families of languages have been constructed (Afro-Asiatic, Austronesian, Dravidian, Indo-European, Niger-Congo, Sino-Tibetan) but their composition and origins are the subject of continuing debate. Historical studies of language are undertaken by the disciplines of etymology and philology. Linguistics usually involves contemporary language. See also grammar; inflection; sign language

language

From Britannica Concise Encyclopedia
System of conventional spoken or written symbols used by people in a shared culture to communicate with each other. A language both reflects and affects a culture’s way of thinking, and changes in a culture influence the development of its language. Related languages become more differentiated when their speakers are isolated from each other. When speech communities come into contact (e.g., through trade or conquest), their languages influence each other. Most existing languages are grouped with other languages descended “genetically” from a common ancestral language ( see historical linguistics ). The broadest grouping of languages is the language family. For example, all the Romance languages are derived from Latin, which in turn belongs to the Italic branch of the Indo-European language family, descended from the ancient parent language, Proto-Indo-European. Other major families include, in Asia, Sino-Tibetan , Austronesian , Dravidian , Altaic , and Austroasiatic ; in Africa, …
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Full text Article Doria, Charles

From A Dictionary of the Avant-Gardes
(18 April 1938) A poet and translator, initially trained in classical languages, Doria turned his deep knowledge of contemporary avant-garde poetry toward finding precursors in ancient writing, compiling anthologies by himself and in collaboration with others, as well as writing critical articles…
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Full text Article About

From A Dictionary of Classical Greek Quotations
Prior to retirement, Marinos Yeroulanos (1930-), a lifelong enthusiast for classical Greek literature, pursued a career in business and public life. He served as Permanent Secretary of the National Environment Council and was President of the Benaki Museum in Athens. He was among the first…
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Full text Article Indo-European languages

From The Hutchinson Unabridged Encyclopedia with Atlas and Weather Guide
Family of languages that includes some of the world's major classical languages (Sanskrit and Pali in India, Zend Avestan in Iran, Greek and Latin in Europe), as well as several of the most widely spoken languages (English worldwide; Spanish in Iberia, Latin America, and elsewhere; and the Hindi…
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Full text Article Casaubon, Isaac

From The Columbia Encyclopedia
(kӘsô'bӘn, Fr. ēzäk' käzōbôN'), 1559–1614, Franco-English classical scholar and theologian, b. Geneva. He became professor of Greek at Geneva and at Montpellier and by his learning attracted the notice of Henry IV of France, who made him royal librarian. After Henry's death (1610), he was invited to…
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Full text Article English language

From The Columbia Encyclopedia
member of the West Germanic group of the Germanic subfamily of the Indo-European family of languages (see Germanic languages ). Spoken by about 470 million people throughout the world, English is the official language of about 45 nations. It is the mother tongue of about 60 million persons in the…
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Full text Article Humboldt, Wilhelm von (1767–1835),

From Cambridge Dictionary of Philosophy
German statesman, scholar, and educator, often regarded as the father of comparative linguistics. Born in Potsdam, Wilhelm, with his younger brother Alexander, was educated by private tutors in the “enlightened” style thought suitable for future Prussian diplomats. This included the teaching of…
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Son of the distinguished mathematician William Jones (?1675-1749), Sir William Jones was educated at Oxford . There he added Arabic and Persian to his mastery of the classics, Hebrew and modern European languages (although not Welsh : a British ambassador once presented him to the king of France as…
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Full text Article Indian languages

From The Hutchinson Unabridged Encyclopedia with Atlas and Weather Guide
Traditionally, the languages of the subcontinent of India; since 1947, the languages of the Republic of India. These number some 200, depending on whether a variety is classified as a language or a dialect. They fall into five main groups, the two most widespread of which are the Indo-European…
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Full text Article Nebrija (or Nebrissa or Nebrixa), Elio Antonio Martínez de Cala de

From The Hutchinson Unabridged Encyclopedia with Atlas and Weather Guide
Spanish scholar and writer. One of the greatest Spanish humanist of the Renaissance, Nebrija published the first sound Latin grammar to be used in Spain, a Spanish-Latin dictionary, and the first scientific grammar of any European vernacular, Gramática sobre la lengua castellana (1492). He taught at…
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Full text Article liberal arts

From Encyclopedia of Renaissance Literature
European universities in the Renaissance inherited from preceding generations the medieval organization of the curriculum into two parts: the trivium and the quadrivium. Taken together the subjects in this curriculum made up the liberal arts. The study of grammar, rhetoric, and logic constituted the…
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