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Malayan

(Encyclopedia)Malayan māˈlā [key], general term for one of a population of persons inhabiting SE Asia and the adjacent islands. The Malays vary greatly in physical appearance. The term Indonesian, used as an alt...

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....

Fick, August

(Encyclopedia)Fick, August ouˈgo͝ost fĭk [key], 1833–1916, German philologist. Fick compiled the first comparative etymological dictionary of the Indo-European languages (1868). ...

Athapascan

(Encyclopedia)Athapascan or Athapaskan: see Athabascan; Native American languages. ...