Languages, HAL-INV
Language, a system of conventional spoken, manual, or written symbols by means of which human beings, as members of a social group and participants in its culture, express themselves. The functions of language include communication, the expression of identity, play, imaginative expression, and emotional release.
Languages Encyclopedia Articles By Title
Halang language
Halang language, language spoken chiefly in the central highlands of south-central Vietnam near Kon Tum. The number......
Hale, Horatio
Horatio Hale was an American anthropologist, who made valuable linguistic and ethnographic studies of North American......
Halliday, Michael
Michael Halliday was a British linguist, teacher, and proponent of neo-Firthian theory who viewed language basically......
Hamilton, Edith
Edith Hamilton was an American educator and author who was a notable popularizer of classical literature. Born......
handwriting
handwriting, writing with the hand as distinguished from print. The term handwriting has come to be more or less......
Hangul
Hangul, alphabetic system used for writing the Korean language. The system, known as ChosĆn muntcha in North Korea,......
Hapgood, Isabel Florence
Isabel Florence Hapgood was an American translator and writer, noted for making many classic Russian works available......
Harington, Sir John
Sir John Harington was an English Elizabethan courtier, translator, author, and wit who also invented the flush......
Harizi, Judah ben Solomon
Judah ben Solomon Harizi was a man of letters, last representative of the golden age of Spanish Hebrew poetry.......
Harris, Zellig S.
Zellig S. Harris was a Russian-born American scholar known for his work in structural linguistics. He carried the......
Hasdeu, Bogdan Petriceicu
Bogdan Petriceicu Hasdeu was a scholar and archivist who was a pioneer in Romanian language and historical studies.......
Hass, Robert
Robert Hass is an American poet and translator whose body of work and tenure as poet laureate of the United States......
Hattian language
Hattian language, non-Indo-European language of ancient Anatolia. The Hattian language appears as hattili âin Hattianâ......
Hatzidakis, GÄorgios N.
GÄorgios N. Hatzidakis was the first and most important linguist of modern Greece, noted for his studies of ancient,......
Hausa language
Hausa language, the most important indigenous lingua franca in West and Central Africa, spoken as a first or second......
Hay, Sir Gilbert
Sir Gilbert Hay was a Scottish translator of works from the French, whose prose translations are the earliest extant......
Heaney, Seamus
Seamus Heaney was an Irish poet whose work is notable for its evocation of Irish rural life and events in Irish......
Hearn, Lafcadio
Lafcadio Hearn was a writer, translator, and teacher who introduced the culture and literature of Japan to the......
Hebrew alphabet
Hebrew alphabet, either of two distinct Semitic alphabetsâthe Early Hebrew and the Classical, or Square, Hebrew.......
Hebrew language
Hebrew language, Semitic language of the Northern Central (also called Northwestern) group; it is closely related......
Hecht, Anthony
Anthony Hecht was an American poet whose elegant tone, mastery of many poetic forms, and broad knowledge and appreciation......
Hedayat, Sadeq
Sadeq Hedayat was an Iranian author who introduced modernist techniques into Persian fiction. He is considered......
Heinicke, Samuel
Samuel Heinicke was a German advocate for and teacher of oralism (one of many early communication methods devised......
Hermann, Eduard
Eduard Hermann was a German linguist who specialized in comparative studies of Indo-European languages and whose......
Herodian
Herodian was a Greek grammarian of Alexandria who is important primarily for his work on Greek accents. A son of......
Hesychius of Alexandria
Hesychius of Alexandria was an author of the most important Greek lexicon known from antiquity, valued as a basic......
Heyse, Paul Johann Ludwig von
Paul Johann Ludwig von Heyse was a German writer and prominent member of the traditionalist Munich school who received......
Heywood, Jasper
Jasper Heywood was a Jesuit priest and poet whose translations of the works of the Roman playwright Seneca, including......
hieratic script
hieratic script, ancient Egyptian cursive writing, used from the 1st dynasty (c. 2925âc. 2775 bce) until about......
hieroglyph
hieroglyph, a character used in a system of pictorial writing, particularly that form used on ancient Egyptian......
hieroglyphic writing
hieroglyphic writing, system that employs characters in the form of pictures. Those individual signs, called hieroglyphs,......
Hindi language
Hindi language, member of the Indo-Aryan group within the Indo-Iranian branch of the Indo-European language family.......
Hindustani language
Hindustani language, lingua franca of northern India and Pakistan. Two variants of Hindustani, Urdu and Hindi,......
hiragana
hiragana, one of two sets of syllabic Japanese script. It is the set used to write Japanese grammatical particles......
Hiri Motu
Hiri Motu, pidgin variety of vernacular Motu, an Austronesian language originally spoken in the area surrounding......
Hirt, Hermann
Hermann Hirt was a German linguist whose comprehensive Indogermanische Grammatik, 7 vol. (1921â37; âIndo-European......
Hittite language
Hittite language, most important of the extinct Indo-European languages of ancient Anatolia. Hittite was closely......
Hmong-Mien languages
Hmong-Mien languages, family of languages spoken in southern China, northern Vietnam, Laos, and Thailand. Although......
Hoby, Sir Thomas
Sir Thomas Hoby was an English diplomat and translator of Baldassare Castiglioneâs Il libro del cortegiano (âThe......
Hoffmann von Fallersleben, August Heinrich
August Heinrich Hoffmann von Fallersleben was a German patriotic poet, philologist, and literary historian whose......
Hokan hypothesis
Hokan hypothesis, proposed but controversial and largely abandoned grouping, or phylum, of American Indian languages.......
Holder, Alfred Theophil
Alfred Theophil Holder was an Austrian-born language scholar of astonishing productivity in classical and medieval......
Homophone
Homophone, one of two or more words that sound the same but have distinctly different meanings. Homophones may......
Honorific
Honorific, a grammatical form used in speaking to a social superior. In English it has largely disappeared, retained......
Hopi language
Hopi language, a North American Indian language of the Uto-Aztecan family, spoken by the Hopi people of northeastern......
Horsing Around: 7 of the Weirdest Racehorse Names in History
The naming of racehorses is governed in the U.S. by the Jockey Club. They have the difficult task of deciding which......
Hovey, Richard
Richard Hovey was a U.S. poet, translator, and dramatist. After graduating from Dartmouth in 1885, Hovey studied......
How Gen Z Speaks
Low-key, goated, crash out. Youâve probably heard these terms tossed around online, in class, or at work, but what......
Howard, Richard
Richard Howard was an American poet, critic, and translator who was influential in introducing modern French poetry......
HroznĂœ, BedĆich
BedĆich HroznĂœ was a Czech archaeologist and language scholar who deciphered cuneiform Hittite, opening a major......
Hu Shih
Hu Shih was a Chinese Nationalist diplomat and scholar, an important leader of Chinese thought who helped establish......
Hua Hengfang
Hua Hengfang was a Chinese mathematician and translator of Western mathematical works. Apparently inspired by Li......
Huet, Pierre-Daniel
Pierre-Daniel Huet was a French scholar, antiquary, scientist, and bishop whose incisive skepticism, particularly......
Hughes, Ted
Ted Hughes was an English poet whose most characteristic verse is without sentimentality, emphasizing the cunning......
Hulme, T.E.
T.E. Hulme was an English aesthetician, literary critic, and poet, one of the founders of the Imagist movement......
Humboldt, Wilhelm von
Wilhelm von Humboldt was a German language scholar, philosopher, diplomat, and educational reformer whose contribution......
Hungarian language
Hungarian language, member of the Finno-Ugric group of the Uralic language family, spoken primarily in Hungary......
Hurrian language
Hurrian language, extinct language spoken from the last centuries of the 3rd millennium bce until at least the......
Hviezdoslav
Hviezdoslav was one of the most powerful and versatile of Slovak poets. Hviezdoslav was a lawyer until he became......
Hyder, Qurratulain
Qurratulain Hyder was an Indian writer, editor, scholar, and translator who helped the novel become a serious genre......
hyphen
hyphen, punctuation mark (-) used to connect word elements that are written disjointedly or to divide a word at......
HĂ€lsinge Runes
HĂ€lsinge Runes, greatly abbreviated runic alphabet, found mainly in inscriptions dating from the 10th to the 12th......
Hölderlin, Friedrich
Friedrich Hölderlin was a German lyric poet who succeeded in naturalizing the forms of classical Greek verse in......
i
i, ninth letter of the alphabet. It corresponds to the Semitic yod, which may derive from an early symbol for hand,......
Ibn Durayd
Ibn Durayd was an Arab philologist who wrote a large Arabic dictionary, Jamharat al-lughah (âCollection of Languageâ).......
Ibn JanÄáž„
Ibn JanÄáž„ was perhaps the most important medieval Hebrew grammarian and lexicographer. Known as the founder of......
Ibn Qutaybah
Ibn Qutaybah was a writer of adab literatureâthat is, of literature exhibiting wide secular eruditionâand also......
ibn Tibbon, Jacob ben Machir
Jacob ben Machir ibn Tibbon was a French Jewish physician, translator, and astronomer whose work was utilized by......
ibn Tibbon, Judah ben Saul
Judah ben Saul ibn Tibbon was a Jewish physician and translator of Jewish Arabic-language works into Hebrew; he......
ibn Tibbon, Moses ben Samuel
Moses ben Samuel ibn Tibbon was a Jewish physician like his father, Samuel ben Judah ibn Tibbon, and his paternal......
ibn Tibbon, Samuel ben Judah
Samuel ben Judah ibn Tibbon was a Jewish translator and physician whose most significant achievement was an accurate......
Icelandic language
Icelandic language, national language of Iceland, spoken by the entire population, some 330,000 in the early 21st......
Ideal language
Ideal language, in analytic philosophy, a language that is precise, free of ambiguity, and clear in structure,......
Ido
Ido, artificial language constructed by the French logician and Esperantist Louis de Beaufront and presented at......
Igboid languages
Igboid languages, a language cluster that constitutes a subbranch of the Benue-Congo branch of the Niger-Congo......
Ijoid languages
Ijoid languages, the smallest branch of the Niger-Congo language family. It consists of a language cluster, Ijo......
Ikoot language
Ikoot language, a language isolate (i.e., a language with no known relatives) on the Pacific coast in the Mexican......
Illyrian language
Illyrian language, Indo-European language spoken in pre-Roman times along the eastern coast of the Adriatic Sea......
Immediate constituent analysis
Immediate constituent analysis, in linguistics, a system of grammatical analysis that divides sentences into successive......
Indian languages
Indian languages, languages spoken in the state of India, generally classified as belonging to the following families:......
Indic writing systems
Indic writing systems, writing systems that include the syllabic Kharosthi and semialphabetic Brahmi scripts of......
Indigenous languages of Mesoamerica
Indigenous languages of Mesoamerica, group of more than 125 languages classified into some 10 language families......
Indigenous languages of North America
Indigenous languages of North America, those languages that are indigenous to the United States and Canada, and......
Indo-Aryan languages
Indo-Aryan languages, subgroup of the Indo-Iranian branch of the Indo-European language family. In the early 21st......
Indo-European languages
Indo-European languages, family of languages spoken in most of Europe and areas of European settlement and in much......
Indo-Hittite languages
Indo-Hittite languages, hypothetical family of languages composed of the Indo-European and Anatolian languages.......
Indo-Iranian languages
Indo-Iranian languages, group of languages constituting the easternmost major branch of the Indo-European family......
Indonesian languages
Indonesian languages, broadly, the Austronesian languages of island Southeast Asia as a whole, including the languages......
Indus script
Indus script, system of symbols used in inscriptions of the Indus civilization. It is known from a few thousand......
Inflection
Inflection, in linguistics, the change in the form of a word (in English, usually the addition of endings) to mark......
Initial Teaching Alphabet
Initial Teaching Alphabet, alphabet of 44 characters designed by Sir James Pitman to help children learn to read......
Innocent Veniaminov, Saint
Saint Innocent Veniaminov ; canonized Oct. 6, 1977) was the most famous Russian Orthodox missionary priest of the......
Intension and extension
Intension and extension, in logic, correlative words that indicate the reference of a term or concept: âintensionâ......
interior monologue
interior monologue, in dramatic and nondramatic fiction, a narrative technique that exhibits the thoughts passing......
Interjection
Interjection, an exclamatory word or phrase used to express an emotional reaction or to emphasize a thought. It......
Interlingua
Interlingua, simplified form of Latin intended for use as an international second language. Interlingua was originally......
International Phonetic Alphabet
International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA), an alphabet developed in the 19th century to accurately represent the pronunciation......
intonation
intonation, in phonetics, the melodic pattern of an utterance. It conveys differences of expressive meaning (e.g.,......
Inuit language
Inuit language, the northeastern division of the Eskimo languages of the Eskimo-Aleut (Eskaleut) language family......
inversion
inversion, in literary style and rhetoric, the syntactic reversal of the normal order of the words and phrases......