Columbia Encyclopedia

Search results

500 results found

Cherokee, Native American language

(Encyclopedia)Cherokee, language belonging to the Iroquoian branch of the Hokan-Siouan linguistic family. See Native American languages. ...

Indo-Aryan

(Encyclopedia)Indo-Aryan, variant name for Indic languages. Broader uses referring to racial stocks are now obsolete. See Indo-Iranian. ...

linguistics

(Encyclopedia)linguistics, scientific study of language, covering the structure (morphology and syntax; see grammar), sounds (phonology), and meaning (semantics), as well as the history of the relations of language...

Gesner, Konrad von

(Encyclopedia)Gesner, Konrad von kônˈrät fən gĕsˈnər [key], 1516–65, Swiss scientist and bibliographer. Gesner was noted for his scholarship and erudition in almost every field of knowledge. He lived in Z...

Elamite

(Encyclopedia)Elamite ēˈləmītˌ [key], extinct language of uncertain relationship that was once spoken in the ancient kingdom of Elam, located in SW Asia. It appears to be unrelated to any other languages, alth...

Pali

(Encyclopedia)Pali päˈlē [key], language belonging to the Indic group of the Indo-Iranian subfamily of the Indo-European family of languages. Some scholars classify it as a Prakrit, or vernacular dialect of clas...

ogham

(Encyclopedia)ogham, ogam, or ogum all: ŏgˈəm, ōˈəm [key], ancient Celtic alphabet of one of the Irish runic languages. It was used by the druids and abandoned after the first few centuries of the Christian ...

Kechua

(Encyclopedia)Kechua: see Quechua; Native American languages. ...

Nahuatl

(Encyclopedia)Nahuatl: see Nahuatlan; Native American languages. ...

universal language

(Encyclopedia)universal language, a language intended to further communication and goodwill among peoples speaking different languages without necessarily replacing their native tongues. See international language....

Browse by Subject