Languages, MAY-NOR

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

Mayan hieroglyphic writing
Mayan hieroglyphic writing, system of writing used by the Maya people of Mesoamerica until about the end of the......
Mayan languages
Mayan languages, family of indigenous languages spoken in southern Mexico, Guatemala, and Belize; Mayan languages......
Mead, George Herbert
George Herbert Mead was an American philosopher prominent in both social psychology and the development of Pragmatism.......
meaning
meaning, In philosophy and linguistics, the sense of a linguistic expression, sometimes understood in contrast......
Meillet, Antoine
Antoine Meillet was one of the most influential comparative linguists of his time. Using a comparative method of......
Meinhof, Carl
Carl Meinhof was a German scholar of African languages and among the first Europeans to study them systematically.......
Melanesian languages
Melanesian languages, languages belonging to the Eastern, or Oceanic, branch of the Austronesian (Malayo-Polynesian)......
Melanesian pidgins
Melanesian pidgins, English-based pidgins that are used widely in Melanesia; in some areas they have evolved into......
memento mori
memento mori, in art and spirituality, a symbolic trope or meditative practice that serves as a reminder of mortality......
Menahem ben Saruq
Menahem ben Saruq was a Jewish lexicographer and poet who composed the first Hebrew-language dictionary, a lexicon......
Mendelssohn, Felix
Felix Mendelssohn was a German composer, pianist, musical conductor, and teacher, one of the most-celebrated figures......
Menéndez Pidal, Ramón
Ramón Menéndez Pidal was a scholar whose work on the origins of the Spanish language, as well as critical editions......
Meredith, William
William Meredith was an American poet whose formal and unadorned verse was compared to that of Robert Frost. Meredith......
Meroitic language
Meroitic language, extinct language used in the ancient city known to the Greeks as Meroe and the area surrounding......
Merwin, W.S.
W.S. Merwin was an American poet and translator known for the spare style of his poetry, in which he expressed......
Mesoamerican Indian languages
Mesoamerican Indian languages, group of more than 125 languages classified into some 10 language families (including......
Mesrop Mashtots, St.
St. Mesrop Mashtots ; Western feast day, Thursday following 4th Sunday after Pentecost, and Monday following 3rd......
Messapic alphabet
Messapic alphabet, one of two Italian offshoots of the Tarentine–Ionic variety of the Greek alphabet. It was adopted......
Messapic language
Messapic language, Indo-European language spoken by tribes (Messapii and Iapyges) living in the southeastern part......
metalanguage
metalanguage, in semantics and philosophy, language used for the analysis of object language (language that is......
Metcalfe, Charles T.
Charles T. Metcalfe was a British overseas administrator who, as acting governor-general of India, instituted in......
Metge, Bernat
Bernat Metge was a poet and prose writer whose masterpiece, Lo Somni (1398; “The Dream”), initiated a classical......
Meyer, Kuno
Kuno Meyer was a German scholar of the Celtic languages and editor whose translations made him the chief interpreter......
Meyer, Paul
Paul Meyer was a French language and literary scholar and one of the great authorities on the Medieval French and......
Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm
Wilhelm Meyer-Lübke was a Swiss-German linguist whose comparative studies of the Romance languages and the popular......
Micronesian languages
Micronesian languages, group of mutually unintelligible languages belonging to the Eastern, or Oceanic, branch......
Middle English language
Middle English language, the vernacular spoken and written in England from about 1100 to about 1500, the descendant......
Min languages
Min languages, group of Sinitic languages spoken in Fujian province and in parts of Guangdong, Zhejiang, Hainan,......
Mingrelian language
Mingrelian language, unwritten Kartvelian (South Caucasian) language spoken along the coast of the Black Sea in......
Mixe-Zoquean languages
Mixe-Zoquean languages, family of North American Indian languages spoken in southern Mexico. The languages in the......
Mnong language
Mnong language, a language of the Bahnaric branch of the Mon-Khmer family, itself part of the Austroasiatic stock.......
Moabite alphabet
Moabite alphabet, eastern subdivision of the Canaanite branch of the early Semitic alphabet, closely related to......
Mobilian Jargon
Mobilian Jargon, pidgin, or trade language with limited vocabulary, based on Choctaw and Chickasaw, languages of......
Mon language
Mon language, Mon-Khmer language spoken by the Mon people of southeastern Myanmar (Lower Burma) and several Mon......
Mon-Khmer languages
Mon-Khmer languages, language family included in the Austroasiatic stock. Mon-Khmer languages constitute the indigenous......
Monboddo, James Burnett, Lord
James Burnett, Lord Monboddo was a Scottish jurist and pioneer anthropologist who explored the origins of language......
Mongol language
Mongol language, principal member of the Mongolian language family within the Altaic language group, spoken by......
Mongolian alphabet
Mongolian alphabet, writing system of the Mongolian people of north-central Asia, derived from the Uyghur alphabet......
Mongolian languages
Mongolian languages, one of three families within the Altaic language group. The Mongolian languages are spoken......
monologue
monologue, in literature and drama, an extended speech by one person. The term has several closely related meanings.......
Montale, Eugenio
Eugenio Montale was an Italian poet, prose writer, editor, and translator who won the Nobel Prize for Literature......
Monti, Vincenzo
Vincenzo Monti was an Italian Neoclassical poet, author of many occasional works but remembered chiefly for his......
mood
mood, in grammar, a category that reflects the speaker’s view of the ontological character of an event. This character......
Moon type
Moon type, system of written letters invented in 1845 by William Moon of Brighton, East Sussex, to enable blind......
Moore, Marianne
Marianne Moore was an American poet whose work distilled moral and intellectual insights from the close and accurate......
Mordvin language
Mordvin language, member of the Finno-Ugric group of the Uralic language family, spoken in Mordvinia and neighbouring......
Morgenstern, Christian
Christian Morgenstern was a German poet and humorist whose work ranged from the mystical and personally lyrical......
Mori Ōgai
Mori Ōgai was one of the creators of modern Japanese literature. The son of a physician of the aristocratic warrior......
morpheme
morpheme, in linguistics, the smallest grammatical unit of speech; it may be a word, like “place” or “an,” or an......
morphology
morphology, in linguistics, study of the internal construction of words. Languages vary widely in the degree to......
Morris-Jones, Sir John
Sir John Morris-Jones was a teacher, scholar, and poet who revolutionized Welsh literature. By insisting—through......
Morsztyn, Jan Andrzej
Jan Andrzej Morsztyn was a Polish poet and diplomat noted for his occasional literature. A courtier of Polish kings......
Moschopoulos, Manuel
Manuel Moschopoulos was a Byzantine grammarian and critic during the reign (1282–1328) of Andronicus II Palaeologus.......
Mozarabic language
Mozarabic language, archaic dialect of Spanish that was spoken in those parts of Spain under Arab occupation from......
Mqhayi, S.E.K.
S.E.K. Mqhayi was a Xhosa poet, historian, and translator who has been called the “father of Xhosa poetry.” Mqhayi,......
Mu Dan
Mu Dan was a renowned modern Chinese poet and translator. Zha Liangzheng enrolled at Qinghua University at age......
Mubarrad, al-
al-Mubarrad was an Arab grammarian and literary scholar whose Al-Kāmil (“The Perfect One”) is a storehouse of linguistic......
Muir, Edwin
Edwin Muir was a literary critic, translator, and one of the chief Scottish poets of his day writing in English.......
Munda languages
Munda languages, any of several Austroasiatic languages spoken by about 9,000,000 people (the Munda) in northern......
Munday, Anthony
Anthony Munday was an English poet, dramatist, pamphleteer, and translator. The son of a draper, Munday began his......
Murasaki Shikibu
Murasaki Shikibu was a Japanese writer and lady-in-waiting who was the author of the Genji monogatari (c. 1010;......
Murray, Gilbert
Gilbert Murray was a British classical scholar whose translations of the masters of ancient Greek drama—Aeschylus,......
musical notation
musical notation, visual record of heard or imagined musical sound, or a set of visual instructions for performance......
Muskogean languages
Muskogean languages, family of perhaps six North American Indian languages spoken or formerly spoken across much......
Mycenaean language
Mycenaean language, the most ancient form of the Greek language that has been discovered. It was a chancellery......
Ménage, Gilles
Gilles Ménage was a French scholar and man of letters known for philological works as well as for the mercuriales,......
Müller, Friedrich
Friedrich Müller was an Austrian linguist who worked on many different languages and language families; he is often......
Müller, Max
Max Müller was a German scholar of comparative language, religion, and mythology. Müller’s special areas of interest......
Müller, Wilhelm
Wilhelm Müller was a German poet who was known both for his lyrics that helped to arouse sympathy for the Greeks......
Māori language
Māori language, Eastern Polynesian subgroup of the Eastern Austronesian (Oceanic) languages, spoken in the Cook......
n
n, fourteenth letter of the alphabet. In all known alphabets the letter has stood in close connection with m, the......
Na-Dené languages
Na-Dené languages, major grouping (phylum or superstock) of North American Indian languages, consisting of three......
Nabataean alphabet
Nabataean alphabet, writing system used between approximately 150 bc and ad 150 in the Nabataean kingdom of Petra......
Nahuan languages
Nahuan languages, subgroup of the Uto-Aztecan languages, now considered a division of the Corachol-Aztecan subgroup......
Nahuatl language
Nahuatl language, American Indian language of the Uto-Aztecan family, spoken in central and western Mexico. Nahuatl,......
Nakh languages
Nakh languages, languages spoken in the Caucasus in southwestern Russia and in the Akhmeta district of Georgia.......
Nakho-Dagestanian languages
Nakho-Dagestanian languages, group of languages spoken in the northeastern Caucasus Mountains. The Nakh division......
nasal
nasal, in phonetics, speech sound in which the airstream passes through the nose as a result of the lowering of......
naskhī script
naskhī script, Islāmic style of handwritten alphabet developed in the 4th century of the Islāmic era (i.e., the......
National Theatre of the Deaf
National Theatre of the Deaf (NTD), American theatre, established in 1965 and based in Waterford, Connecticut,......
Navajo language
Navajo language, North American Indian language of the Athabascan family, spoken by the Navajo people of Arizona......
neo-Sinaitic alphabet
neo-Sinaitic alphabet, writing system used in many short rock inscriptions in the Sinai Peninsula, not to be confused......
Neogrammarian
Neogrammarian, any of a group of German scholars that arose around 1875; their chief tenet concerning language......
neologism
neologism, new word or expression. The term also refers to the adoption of a new definition for an existing word......
Nepali language
Nepali language, member of the Pahari subgroup of the Indo-Aryan group of the Indo-Iranian division of the Indo-European......
Neruda, Pablo
Pablo Neruda was a Chilean poet, diplomat, and politician who was awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1971.......
Netherlandic language
Netherlandic language, the language spoken primarily in the Netherlands but also in northern Belgium, where it......
newspeak
newspeak, propagandistic language that is characterized by euphemism, circumlocution, and the inversion of customary......
nickname
nickname, an informal name used to replace a formal one, often giving rise to familiar or humorous terms. The word......
Nicobarese languages
Nicobarese languages, Austroasiatic languages spoken on the Nicobar Islands and once considered to form a distinct......
Niger-Congo languages
Niger-Congo languages, a family of languages of Africa, which in terms of the number of languages spoken, their......
Nilo-Saharan languages
Nilo-Saharan languages, a group of languages that form one of the four language stocks or families on the African......
Nilotic languages
Nilotic languages, group of related languages spoken in a relatively contiguous area from northwestern Democratic......
Nivkh language
Nivkh language, isolated language with two main dialects spoken by some 400 Nivkh, roughly 10 percent of the ethnic......
nomenclature
nomenclature, in biological classification, system of naming organisms. The species to which the organism belongs......
nonce word
nonce word, a word coined and used apparently to suit one particular occasion. Nonce words are sometimes used independently......
Nonius Marcellus
Nonius Marcellus was a Latin grammarian and lexicographer, author of the De compendiosa doctrina, a lexicon in......
North Semitic alphabet
North Semitic alphabet, the earliest fully developed alphabetic writing system. It was used in Syria as early as......

Languages Encyclopedia Articles By Title