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Gabelentz, Hans Conon von der

(Encyclopedia)Gabelentz, Hans Conon von der häns kōˈnôn fən dĕr gäˈbəlĕnts [key], 1807–74, German linguist. Gabelentz showed the broad relationships among Pacific languages. He spoke 30 languages well a...

Hawaiian

(Encyclopedia)Hawaiian, member of the Polynesian group of the Austronesian family of languages. Of the fewer than 10,000 people who speak Hawaiian, only a few hundred are native speakers, but the language is taught...

Altaic

(Encyclopedia)Altaic ăltāˈĭk [key], subfamily of the Ural-Altaic family of languages (see Uralic and Altaic languages). Some scholars still consider Altaic an independent linguistic family. Spoken by over 130 m...

Flemish language

(Encyclopedia)Flemish language, member of the West Germanic group of the Germanic subfamily of the Indo-European family of languages (see Germanic languages). Generally regarded as the Belgian variant of Dutch (see...

language

(Encyclopedia)language, systematic communication by vocal symbols. It is a universal characteristic of the human species. Nothing is known of its origin, although scientists have identified a gene that clearly cont...

Goidelic

(Encyclopedia)Goidelic goidĕlˈĭk [key], or Gaelic, group of languages belonging to the Celtic subfamily of the Indo-European family of languages. See Celtic languages; Irish language. ...

Gaelic

(Encyclopedia)Gaelic gāˈlĭk [key], or Goidelic, group of languages belonging to the Celtic subfamily of the Indo-European family of languages. See Celtic languages; Irish language. ...

Grimm's law

(Encyclopedia)Grimm's law, principle of relationships in Indo-European languages, first formulated by Jakob Grimm in 1822 and a continuing subject of interest and investigation to 20th-century linguists. It shows t...

Lithuanian

(Encyclopedia)Lithuanian lĭthˌo͞oāˈnēən [key], a language belonging to the Baltic subfamily of the Indo-European family of languages (see Baltic languages). The official language of Lithuania since 1918, Lit...

Hesychius of Alexandria

(Encyclopedia)Hesychius of Alexandria hēsĭkˈēəs [key], fl. 5th cent.?, Alexandrian grammarian. Hesychius is known as the compiler of an invaluable lexicon, a glossary of unusual words and expressions occurring...