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Pitman, Sir Isaac

(Encyclopedia)Pitman, Sir Isaac, 1813–97, English inventor of phonographic shorthand. In Stenographic Soundhand (1837) he set forth a shorthand system based on phonetic rather than orthographic principles; adapte...

Voice of America

(Encyclopedia)Voice of America, broadcasting service of the United States Information Agency, est. 1942. Originally set up as a means of fighting the cold war, the Voice of America produces and broadcasts radio pro...

Indian literature

(Encyclopedia)Indian literature. Oral literature in the vernacular languages of India is of great antiquity, but it was not until about the 16th cent. that an extensive written literature appeared. Chief factors in...

Mbundu

(Encyclopedia)Mbundu əmbo͞onˈdo͞o [key], black African ethnic group, W Angola. The Mbundu speak Bantu languages and number about 6 million. By the late 15th cent. they had formed the Ndongo kingdom, ruled by th...

Hochhuth, Rolf

(Encyclopedia)Hochhuth, Rolf rôlf hōkhˈho͞ot [key], 1931–2020, German dramatist. His provocative first drama, The Deputy (1963), accuses Pope Pius XII and the Roman Catholic clergy of tolerating Nazi crimes a...

Jean, Michaëlle

(Encyclopedia)Jean, Michaëlle, 1957–, Canadian journalist, filmmaker, and women's rights activist, b. Port-au-Prince, Haiti. Her family immigrated to Canada in 1968. After studying languages and literature at th...

dative

(Encyclopedia)dative dāˈtĭv [key] [Lat.,=giving], in Latin grammar, the case typically used to refer to an indirect object, i.e., a secondary recipient of an action. For example, him in I gave him a book is tran...

Crichton, James

(Encyclopedia)Crichton, James krīˈtən [key], 1560?–1583?, Scottish adventurer and scholar, called the Admirable Crichton. A graduate of the Univ. of St. Andrews, he spent some time in France, possibly in milit...

Coeur d'Alene, indigenous people of North America

(Encyclopedia)Coeur d'Alene kûrdəlānˈ [key], indigenous people of North America whose language belongs to the Salishan branch of the Algonquian-Wakashan linguistic stock (see Native American languages). They oc...

Pomo

(Encyclopedia)Pomo, Native Americans of N California, belonging to the Hokan branch of the Hokan-Siouan linguistic stock (see Native American languages). The Pomo were the most southerly Native Americans on the Cal...