Languages, TAR-WHO

Language, a system of conventional spoken, manual, or written symbols by means of which human beings, as members of a social group and participants in its culture, express themselves. The functions of language include communication, the expression of identity, play, imaginative expression, and emotional release.
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Languages Encyclopedia Articles By Title

Tarascan language
Tarascan language, a language isolate, spoken by about 175,000 people in the Mexican state of Michoacán. It has......
Targum
Targum, (Aramaic: “Translation,” or “Interpretation”), any of several translations of the Hebrew Bible or portions......
Tasmanian languages
Tasmanian languages, extinct languages spoken before 1877 by the Tasmanian Aboriginal people (Palawa) of Tasmania.......
Tatar language
Tatar language, northwestern (Kipchak) language of the Turkic language family within the Altaic language group.......
Taylor, Bayard
Bayard Taylor was an American author known primarily for his lively travel narratives and for his translation of......
Teda language
Teda language, language spoken in Chad, Niger, and Libya. It is closely related to the Kanuri, Zaghawa, and Berti......
Telugu language
Telugu language, largest member of the Dravidian language family. Primarily spoken in southeastern India, it is......
tense
tense, in grammar, a verbal category relating the time of a narrated event to the time of the speech event. In......
Tequistlatecan languages
Tequistlatecan languages, a small family of three closely related languages spoken in Mexico. Huamelultec (also......
Thai language
Thai language, the standard spoken and literary language of Thailand, belonging to the Tai language family of Southeast......
Theophylact of Ochrid
Theophylact of Ochrid was an Eastern Orthodox archbishop of Ochrid (modern Ohrid, North Macedonia), theologian......
Thorsteinsson, Steingrímur
Steingrímur Thorsteinsson was an Icelandic patriotic poet and lyricist, best remembered as a translator of many......
Thracian language
Thracian language, language spoken by the inhabitants of Thrace primarily in pre-Greek and early Greek times. Generally......
Thurneysen, Rudolf
Rudolf Thurneysen was a German linguist and Celtic scholar who was one of the first to use the principles of modern......
Tibetan language
Tibetan language, Tibetic (or Bodic) language belonging to the Tibeto-Burman group of the Sino-Tibetan language......
Tickell, Thomas
Thomas Tickell was an English verse writer and man of letters who is, however, best remembered for the quarrel......
Tieck, Ludwig
Ludwig Tieck was a versatile and prolific writer and critic of the early Romantic movement in Germany. He was a......
Tigrinya language
Tigrinya language, a Semitic language of the Tigray people of northern Ethiopia and southern Eritrea. Written records......
Tigré language
Tigré language, Semitic language of the Tigre people of northwestern Eritrea and smaller areas of neighbouring......
Tiller, Terence
Terence Tiller was an English playwright, translator, and poet whose best verse is noted for its highly wrought......
Tocharian languages
Tocharian languages, small group of extinct Indo-European languages that were spoken in the Tarim River Basin (in......
Tok Pisin
Tok Pisin, pidgin spoken in Papua New Guinea, hence its identification in some earlier works as New Guinea Pidgin.......
Tomlinson, Charles
Charles Tomlinson was an English poet whose best work expresses his perceptions of the world with clarity and sensitivity.......
tone
tone, in linguistics, a variation in the pitch of the voice while speaking. The word tone is usually applied to......
tongue-tie
tongue-tie, congenital shortening of the flap of mucous membrane (frenum) beneath the tongue, a condition that......
Totonacan languages
Totonacan languages, a small language family of two branches, Totonac and Tepehua. The languages are spoken in......
Tozzer, Alfred M
Alfred M. Tozzer was a U.S. anthropologist and archaeologist who made substantial contributions to knowledge of......
transformational grammar
transformational grammar, a system of language analysis that recognizes the relationship among the various elements......
Trediakovsky, Vasily Kirillovich
Vasily Kirillovich Trediakovsky was a Russian literary theoretician and poet whose writings contributed to the......
trill
trill, in phonetics, a vibration or series of flaps (see flap) of the tongue, lips, or uvula against some other......
Trubetskoy, Nikolay Sergeyevich
Nikolay Sergeyevich Trubetskoy was a Slavic linguist at the centre of the Prague school of linguistics, noted as......
Tsegaye, Gabre-Medhin
Gabre-Medhin Tsegaye was an Ethiopian playwright and poet, who wrote in Amharic and English. Tsegaye earned a degree......
Tsubouchi Shōyō
Tsubouchi Shōyō was a playwright, novelist, critic, and translator who occupied a prominent position in Japanese......
Tulu language
Tulu language, member of the Dravidian language family, spoken in southern Karnataka state, India. Tulu has borrowed......
Tupian languages
Tupian languages, family of South American Indian languages with at least seven subgroups, spoken or formerly spoken......
Tupí-Guaraní languages
Tupí-Guaraní languages, one of the most widespread groups of South American Indian languages (after Arawakan).......
Turkic languages
Turkic languages, group of closely related languages that form a family within the Altaic language group. The Turkic......
Turkish language
Turkish language, the major member of the Turkic language family within the Altaic language group. Turkish is spoken......
Turkmen language
Turkmen language, member of the Turkic language family within the Altaic language group. Turkmen is spoken in Turkmenistan,......
Tyard, Pontus de
Pontus de Tyard was a Burgundian poet and member of the literary circle known as La Pléiade who was a forthright......
Udall, Nicholas
Nicholas Udall was an English playwright, translator, and schoolmaster who wrote the first known English comedy,......
Ugaritic alphabet
Ugaritic alphabet, cuneiform writing system used on the Syrian coast from the 15th to 13th century bc. It is believed......
Ukrainian language
Ukrainian language, East Slavic language spoken in Ukraine and in Ukrainian communities in Kazakhstan, Moldova,......
Ulfilas
Ulfilas was a Christian bishop and missionary who evangelized the Goths, reputedly created the Gothic alphabet,......
Umbrian language
Umbrian language, one of the ancient Italic languages closely related to Oscan and Volscian and more distantly......
Ungaretti, Giuseppe
Giuseppe Ungaretti was an Italian poet, founder of the Hermetic movement (see Hermeticism) that brought about a......
universal grammar
universal grammar, theory proposing that humans possess innate faculties related to the acquisition of language.......
Ural-Altaic languages
Ural-Altaic languages, hypothetical language grouping that includes all the languages of the Uralic and Altaic......
Uralic languages
Uralic languages, family of more than 20 related languages, all descended from a Proto-Uralic language that existed......
Urartian language
Urartian language, ancient language spoken in northeastern Anatolia and used as the official language of Urartu......
Urdu language
Urdu language, member of the Indo-Aryan group within the Indo-European family of languages. Urdu is spoken as a......
Urquhart, Sir Thomas
Sir Thomas Urquhart was a Scottish author best known for his translation of the works of François Rabelais, one......
Uto-Aztecan languages
Uto-Aztecan languages, family of American Indian languages, one of the oldest and largest—both in terms of extent......
utterance
utterance, in the study of language, an instance or token of speech understood to encompass a limited sequence......
Uyghur language
Uyghur language, member of the Turkic language family within the Altaic language group, spoken by Uyghurs in the......
Uzbek language
Uzbek language, member of the Turkic language family within the Altaic language group, spoken in Uzbekistan, eastern......
Vajiravudh
Vajiravudh was the king of Siam from 1910 to 1925, noted for his progressive reforms and prolific writings. Vajiravudh......
Valencia, Guillermo
Guillermo Valencia was a Colombian poet and statesman, whose technical command of verse and skill at translation......
Valera y Alcalá Galiano, Juan
Juan Valera y Alcalá Galiano was an important Spanish 19th-century novelist and stylist, also a diplomat and politician.......
Valla, Lorenzo
Lorenzo Valla was an Italian humanist, philosopher, and literary critic who attacked medieval traditions and anticipated......
Vaugelas, Claude Favre, seigneur de, Baron De Pérouges
Claude Favre, seigneur de Vaugelas was a French grammarian and an original member of the Académie Française who......
Vedel, Anders Sørensen
Anders Sørensen Vedel was a Danish historian and ballad collector who translated the Gesta Danorum of the medieval......
velarization
velarization, in phonetics, secondary articulation in the pronunciation of consonants, in which the tongue is drawn......
Venetan
Venetan, group of dialects of Italian spoken in northeastern Italy. It includes the dialects spoken in Venice (Venetian),......
Venetic language
Venetic language, a language spoken in northeastern Italy before the Christian era. Known to modern scholars from......
Ventris, Michael
Michael Ventris was an English architect and cryptographer who in 1952 deciphered the Minoan Linear B script and......
verb
verb, a word that conveys action, occurrence, or state of being. It is one of eight parts of speech in English......
Verner’s law
Verner’s law, linguistic explanation of the apparent exceptions to Grimm’s law (q.v.), which first demonstrated......
Viet-Muong languages
Viet-Muong languages, subbranch of the Vietic branch of the Mon-Khmer family of languages, itself a part of the......
Vietnamese language
Vietnamese language, official language of Vietnam, spoken in the early 21st century by more than 70 million people.......
Vigfússon, Gudbrandur
Gudbrandur Vigfússon was one of the 19th century’s foremost scholars of Old Norse, who completed the Richard Cleasby......
Villegas, Esteban Manuel de
Esteban Manuel de Villegas was a Spanish lyric poet who achieved great popularity with an early book of poems,......
Visscher, Anna
Anna Visscher was a Dutch poet and daughter of the Renaissance man of letters Roemer Visscher. She was admired......
Vittorini, Elio
Elio Vittorini was a novelist, translator, and literary critic, the author of outstanding novels of Italian Neorealism......
vocabulary
vocabulary, inventory of words used by a particular person or group or the words in a particular language or field......
vocal fry
vocal fry, in phonetics, a speech sound or quality used in some languages, produced by vibrating vocal cords that......
voice
voice, in phonetics, the sound that is produced by the vibration of the vocal cords. All vowels are normally voiced,......
voice
voice, in grammar, form of a verb indicating the relation between the participants in a narrated event (subject,......
Volapük
Volapük, artificial language constructed in 1880 by Johann Martin Schleyer, a German cleric, and intended for use......
Volscian language
Volscian language, an Italic language or dialect, closely related to Umbrian and Oscan and more distantly related......
Vondel, Joost van den
Joost van den Vondel was a Dutch poet and dramatist who produced some of the greatest works of Dutch literature.......
Voss, Johann Heinrich
Johann Heinrich Voss was a German poet remembered chiefly for his translations of Homer. Voss was the son of a......
Votic language
Votic language, member of the Finno-Ugric group of the Uralic language family, very nearly extinct. The few remaining......
vowel
vowel, in human speech, sound in which the flow of air from the lungs passes through the mouth, which functions......
Vulgar Latin
Vulgar Latin, spoken form of non-Classical Latin from which originated the Romance group of languages. Later Latin......
Wackernagel, Jacob
Jacob Wackernagel was a Swiss historical and comparative linguist, author of a monumental study of Sanskrit. He......
Wade, Sir Thomas Francis
Sir Thomas Francis Wade was a British diplomatist and Sinologist who developed the famous Wade-Giles system of......
Wade-Giles romanization
Wade-Giles romanization, system of romanizing the modern Chinese written language, originally devised to simplify......
Waley, Arthur David
Arthur David Waley was an English sinologist whose outstanding translations of Chinese and Japanese literary classics......
Warner, Rex
Rex Warner was a British novelist, Greek scholar, poet, translator, and critic who in his fictional work warned—in......
Warner, Sylvia Townsend
Sylvia Townsend Warner was an English writer who began her self-proclaimed “accidental career” as a poet after......
Welsh language
Welsh language, member of the Brythonic group of the Celtic languages, spoken in Wales. Modern Welsh, like English,......
West Germanic languages
West Germanic languages, group of Germanic languages that developed in the region of the North Sea, Rhine-Weser,......
Westermann, Diedrich
Diedrich Westermann was a German scholar of African languages and culture who refined and extended the work of......
Weymouth, Richard Francis
Richard Francis Weymouth was a philologist and biblical scholar who made one of the major 20th-century translations......
whisper
whisper, speech in which the vocal cords are held rigid, preventing the vibration that produces normal sounds.......
Whiting, John Robert
John Robert Whiting was a playwright whose intellectually demanding dramas avoided the audience-pleasing formulas......
Whitney, William Dwight
William Dwight Whitney was an American linguist and one of the foremost Sanskrit scholars of his time, noted especially......
Whorf, Benjamin Lee
Benjamin Lee Whorf was a U.S. linguist noted for his hypotheses regarding the relation of language to thinking......

Languages Encyclopedia Articles By Title