Columbia Encyclopedia

Search results

500 results found

Sukhumi

(Encyclopedia)Sukhumi so͝okho͞oˈmē [key], Abkhaz Sukhum, city (2011 pop. 62,914), capital of Abkhazia, a region in W Georgia that has had de facto independence since the 1990. Located on the Black Sea, it is a ...

Zagros

(Encyclopedia)Zagros zăgˈrŏs [key], mountain system of W Iran, extending c.1,100 mi (1,770 km) from the Turkish-Armenian frontier SE to the Strait of Hormuz, forming the western and southern border of the centra...

Monboddo, James Burnett, Lord

(Encyclopedia)Monboddo, James Burnett, Lord, 1714–99, English writer, b. Scotland. A pioneer in anthropology, he wrote Of the Origin and Progress of Language (6 vol., 1774–92), in which he anticipated Darwin an...

mikado

(Encyclopedia)mikado mĭkäˈdō [key], a former title of the emperor of Japan used chiefly in the English language. ...

Jackson, Abraham Valentine Williams

(Encyclopedia)Jackson, Abraham Valentine Williams, 1862–1937, American Orientalist, b. New York City. Teaching at Columbia (1895–1935), he was a great authority on ancient Persian religion, language, and litera...

Otomí

(Encyclopedia)Otomí ōtōmēˈ [key], a Macro-Otomanguean language spoken by Native Americans of W central Mexico. See Native American languages. ...

Zend

(Encyclopedia)Zend zĕnd [key], term formerly used for the language of the Avesta (see Zoroastrianism). ...

African languages

(Encyclopedia)African languages, geographic rather than linguistic classification of languages spoken on the African continent. Historically the term refers to the languages of sub-Saharan Africa, which do not belo...

Native American languages

(Encyclopedia)Native American languages, languages of the native peoples of the Western Hemisphere and their descendants. A number of the Native American languages that were spoken at the time of the European arriv...

Faliscan

(Encyclopedia)Faliscan fəlĭsˈkən [key], extinct language belonging to the Italic subfamily of the Indo-European family of languages. See Italic languages. ...

Browse by Subject