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An Exhibit on Language

Words of the People

The Science Of Language Vol I (by F. Max Muller K. M.)
Psychology and Pathology of Speech Devel... (by Conradi, Edward)
The Tower of Babel, A Poetical Drama (by Alfred Austin)
National Symposium on Learning Disabilit... (by Department of Education)
A Comparative Grammar of the Gaudian Lan... (by Hoernle, August Frederich Rudolf)
The Principles of the International Phon... (by International Phonetic Association)
Selections from Chaucer's Canterbury Tal... (by Chaucer, Geoffrey)
The Canterbury Tales (by Chaucer, Geoffrey)

The Words of the People: An Exhibit on Language

From the oldest forms of writings with pictographs and Cuneiform in 3500 B.C. to the generation of the first alphabet; of all the strides that we have made in technology, Language has been the single most important "invention" since the dawn of man. In fact, language defies time. Language is the greatest man-made achievement. Tone, intonation, inflection, the tongue, the throat, the breath and the brain: all lifeforms have some form of communication. The proceeding Collections in "The Words of the People: An Exhibit on Language" includes the most significant books on the subject of language.

Language, Literature, Children's Literature, Hawaiiana, Poetry and more.

Language and Learning

The root of the word language comes from the Latin term lingua, meaning "tongue." This definition’s attention to the human tongue highlights this muscle as the primary tool used by the body to shape combinations of uttered sounds to form the words of a spoken language. However, we can examine how languages also have a life of their own beyond an individual body. The “Words of the People: An Exhibit on Language" illustrates how language can be studied through its human biological and cognitive properties, as well as through its temporal and relational nature.

Language depends upon social customs and the ability for other humans to learn and adapt to social stimuli. The Science of Language Volume I, details theories on how early humans created words through vocalizations with the speech organs such as the throat, nose, tongue, palate, teeth, and lips, producing thousands of sounds. However, a typical language group utilizes only a limited number of sounds, usually between 10 and 60, which are interpreted aurally (The Science of Language, Volume 1, K.M. Max Muller).

In The National Symposium on Learning Disabilities in English Language Learners, proffers that the capacity to learn a language is based on individual factors, such as neurobiology, and contextual factors, such as environmental and social support (U.S. Department of Education, The National Symposium on Learning Disabilities in English Language Learners, U.S. Department of Education). Edward Conradi, a Professor of Psychology, wrote a thesis titled Psychology and Pathology of Speech Development of the Child. In this work, Conradi details how the various sounds a child makes after birth becomes the foundation for learning his mother tongue (Conradi, Psychology and Pathology of Speech Development of the Child, Edward Conradi). Later, the author became the President of the Florida State College of Women, the first women’s college in the south approved by the Association of American Universities (“Edward Conradi,” World Heritage Encyclopedia). Perhaps it was through his studies in child psychology that Conradi believed all people should be given the opportunity to develop their language, and contribute to their culture and society.

Language Across Time

Writing allowed particular languages to be remembered for longer periods of time. The oldest writing is traced to the Sumerians, whose records go back to at least 3500 B.C. They used a form of picture writing that told a story or gave a message. The use of pictures as a writing style became so highly developed that it could express abstract ideas. Many present-day Asian countries such as China continue to use this form of writing (“Language,” World Heritage Encyclopedia and "The History of the Alphabet," World Heritage Encyclopedia).

However, alphabetic systems of writing differ from picture writing because they are not static. Alphabetic writing is comprised of symbols, such as letters of the alphabet, that represent a vocalized sound (“Language”). Alphabetic writing changes to reflect the evolution of spoken language (“Language,” World Heritage Encyclopedia and "Letter Alphabet," World Heritage Encyclopedia). The Canterbury Tales was told by storyteller and poet Geoffrey Chaucer is an example, The original writing of this work used different spellings, reflecting pronunciations of words according to the vernacular of Chaucer’s time. However, when the work was written in later editions, the spellings of words changed to reflect pronunciations during those times (The Canterbury Tales, Geoffrey Chaucer). The International Phonetic Association (IPA) has transcribed words in this book, using symbols to demarcate specific speech sounds. The Principles of the International Phonetic Association, 1912 chronicles the history of the IPA, creating a tool often used in dictionaries to assist readers in the pronunciation of words as they are spoken in their contexts (The Principles of the International Phonetic Association, International Phonetic Association).

The Great Vowel Shift

Before Modern English, there were "Old English" and Middle English." In 1550 A.D., a documented event called "The Great Vowel Shift occurred.

Language Families

The Tower of Babel: A Poetical Drama by Alfred Austin is a dramatization of a biblical story that tells us that all languages were at once one. However, a heavenly intervention confused people’s languages and scattered them around the world (Tower of Babel, Alfred Austin). Despite the differences of today, it is possible to examine the relationships between languages. One way to classify these relations are through the concept of language families, or a group of languages that are related through descent from a common ancestor, or proto-language. Language families can be divided into smaller phylogenetic units, or branches of the language family. For example, the Celtic, Germanic, Slavic, Romance and Indo-Iranian languages are phylogenetic units of the indo-European language family (“Tower of Babel,” World Heritage Encyclopedia).

Different languages can also transform one another when they come into contact. These are called "Sprachbund." The book, A Comparative Grammar of the Gaudian Languages, With Special Reference to the Eastern Hindi, Accompanied by a Language-Map and a Table of Alphabets details how the Indian Subcontinent is a Sprachbund, or "...a geographical region that has several languages that feature common linguistic structures due to language contact and not common origin..." (A Comparative Grammar of the Gaudian Languages, With Special Reference to the Eastern Hindi, Accompanied by a Language-Map and a Table of Alphabets, August Frederich Rudolf Hoernle). "Language Isolates" are languages that have no known relatives, such as the Basque language (“Basque Language,” World Heritage Encyclopedia). "Contact Languages" are created when languages that do not come from a single ancestor come into contact to create "mixed" or Creole languages (“Language,” World Heritage Encyclopedia). Hawaiian Pidgin, for instance, is an example of a Creole. Of note: Hawaiian Pidgin is the only known language in history to be created by children. On pineapple, coffee and sugar cane plantations in Hawaii, there was such a diversity of workers that the children (in order to be able to socialize together) unconsciously created a Creole that is still spoken widely in the State of Hawaii. Hawaiian Creole is a mixture of "loanwords" and phrases from over a dozen languages, including Hawaiian, Modern English, Japanese, Chinese, Filipino and Portuguese.

Debates on the study of language revealed its multi-dimensionality. Language has been studied biologically and cognitively, as an action of the vocal chords to create sounds with the use of the tongue. Languages function as organisms that survive over time through becoming a written language, or a spoken language that endures as a descendant of a proto-language. Spoken language can also dynamically transform by taking on the properties of other languages it is in contact with. The “Words of People: An Exhibit" on Language” features language as a multi-dimensional subject that covers the biological, historical and cultural aspects of human communication.

Works Cited

Austin, Alfred. The Tower of Babel, A Poetical Drama. Edinburgh: William Blackwood and Sons, 1874.

"Basque Language." World Heritage Encyclopedia. WorldLibrary.org. Web. 2014.

Chaucer, Geoffrey. The Canterbury Tales. New York: Macmillan, 1910.

Conradi, Edward. Psychology and Pathology of Speech Development of the Child. Volume 11. Pedagogical Seminary, September, 1904.

Department of Education. The National Symposium on Learning, Disabilities in English Language Learners. Office of Special Education and Rehabilitation Services, U.S. Department of Education, 2003.

"Edward Conradi." World Heritage Encyclopedia. WorldLibrary.org. Web. 2014.

"The History of the Alphabet." World Heritage Encyclopedia. WorldLibrary.org. Web. 2014.

Hoernle, August Frederich Rudolf. A Comparative Grammar of the Gaudian Languages, With Special Reference to the Eastern Hindi, Accompanied by a Language-Map and a Table of Alphabets. London: Trubner and Co., 1880.

International Phonetic Association. The Principles of the International Phonetic Association. Paris: Association Phonétique Internationale, 1912.

"Language." World Heritage Encyclopedia. WorldLibrary.org. Web. 2014.

"Letter Alphabet." World Heritage Encyclopedia. WorldLibrary.org. Web. 2014.

Muller K.M. Max. The Science of Language. Volume 1. London: Longmans, Green and Co., 1899.

"Tower of Babel." World Heritage Encyclopedia. WorldLibrary.org. Web. 2014.

Language Collections

Learn more about the evolving nature of languages in these collections:

Top 100 books on Language

The Lives of the Twelve Caesars, Volume ... (by Tranquillus, C. Suetonius)
Shakespeare's Sonnets (by Shakespeare, William)
Alice's Adventures in Wonderland (by Carroll, Lewis)
Les Miserables (by Hugo, Victor)
Northanger Abbey (by Austen, Jane)
The Mabinogion (by Charlotte. Guest)
The Iliad (by Homer)
The Canterbury Tales (by Geoffrey Chaucer)
Animal Farm (by Orwell, George)
Beowulf (by Unknown)
Frankenstein : Or, The Modern Prometheus (by Shelley, Mary Wollstonecraft)
The Aeneid, Score Virgil Aen (by Virgil)
Alice's Adventures in Wonderland (abridg... (by Carroll, Lewis)
Esperanto Teacher, The (by Fryer, Helen)
The Iliad (by Butler, Samuel)

Top 100 books on Education

Anna Karenina (by Tolstoy, Leo)
Oresteia, The (by Aeschylus)
Harriet, The Moses of Her People (by Bradford, Sarah Hopkins)
Metamorphoses (by Ovidius Naso, Publius (Ovid))
Rights of Man, Score Aor Rom Volume Vol. II (by Paine, Thomas)
Beowulf (by Unknown)
Peter Parley's Universal History, On the... (by Peter Parley)
The New England Primer, Score Chr Nep (by Cornhill, Boston)
A Curious Hieroglyphick Bible : Or, Sele...
Common Sense (by Paine, Thomas)
Medea (by Euripides)
The Wonderful Wizard of Oz (by Baum, Lyman Frank)
Meno, Score Plato Meno (by Plato)
Uncle Tom's Cabin; Or, Life Among the Lo... (by Stowe, Harriet Beecher)
The Way to Wealth; Or, Poor Richard Impr... (by Franklin, Benjamin)

Top 100 books on Children's Early Learning

The Story of Little Jane and Me (by Blatchford, Mary E)
The Dutch Twins (by Perkins, Lucy Fitch)
Alice's Adventures in Wonderland (by Carroll, Lewis)
The Orbis Pictus of John Amos Comenius (by Comenius, Johann Amos)
Harry's Ladder to Learning
Dutch Twins, The (by Perkins, Lucy Fitch)
Alice's Adventures in Wonderland (by Carroll, Lewis)
Little Red Balloon (by Hofman, Caroline)
Baby's Lullaby Book : Mother Songs (by Pratt, Charles Stuart)
The Tales of Mother Goose (by Perrault, Charles)
THE STORY OF HIAWATHA
Adventures of Goody Two Shoes (by Goldsmith, Oliver)
Aesop's Fables (by Aesop)
The Children's Book of Stars; (by Mitton, Gerldine Edith)
The Purple Cow! (by Burgess, Galett)

Top 100 books on Literature and Fiction

Lorna Doone (by Schaeffer, Mead)
Ivanhoe NL (by Scott, Walter, Sir)
Emma (by Austen, Jane)
Madame Bovary (by Flaubert, Gustave)
A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Co... (by Twain, Mark)
The Sound and the Fury and as I Lay Dyin... (by William Faulkner)
Black Beauty (by Sewell, Anna)
The Fortunes and Misfortunes of the Famo... (by Defoe, Daniel)
Les Miserables (by Hugo, Victor)
The Red Badge of Courage (by Crane, Stephen)
Oliver Twist (by Dickens, Charles)
Catch 22 a Novel (by Joseph Heller)
Awakening, The (version 2) (by Chopin, Kate)
The Aeneid, Score Virgil Aen (by Virgil)
The Mayor of Casterbridge (by Hardy, Thomas)

Top 100 books on Classic Children's Literature

Princess and the Goblin, The (by Macdonald, George)
A Midsummer-Night's Dream (by William Shakespeare)
Nights with Uncle Remus (by Harris, Joel Chandler)
Lorna Doone (by Schaeffer, Mead)
King Solomon's Mines (by Haggard, H. Rider)
Pollyanna (by Porter, Eleanor H.)
Ragged Dick (by Alger, Horatio, Jr.)
Grimm's Fairy Tales (by Grimm, Jacob)
The Tale of Peter Rabbit (by Potter, Beatrix)
Moonfleet (by Falkner, John Meade)
Dog of Flanders, A (by Ouida)
Little Princess, A (by Burnett, Frances Hodgson)
The Wide, Wide World (by Warner, Susan)
The Jungle Book (by Kipling, Rudyard)
Merry Adventures of Robin Hood, The (by Pyle, Howard)

Top books on Shakespeare

William Shakespeares King Henry Iv, Part... (by Shakespeare, William)
As You Like It (by Shakespeare, William)
Richard II (by Shakespeare, William)
Merchant of Venice (by William Shakespeare)
The Tempest (by Shakespeare, William)
Twelfth Night (version 2) (by Shakespeare, William)
The Tragedy of King Lear (by Shakespeare, William)
The Two Noble Kinsmen (by Shakespeare, William)
A Midsummer Night's Dream (by William Shakespeare)
Troilus and Cressida (by Shakespeare)
Hamlet (by Shakespeare, William)
The Book of Love (by Wagstaff, Blanche Shoemaker)
The Merry Wives of Windsor (by Shakespeare, William)
Measure for Measure (by Shakespeare)
Twelfth Night or What You Will (by Shakespeare, William)

Top books on Contemporary Children's Literature

RRRALPH : Preformed by Wally Amos
The Crayon Box that Talked : Preformed b... (by Shane DeRolf)
Calabash Cat : Preformed by Wally Amos (by James Rumford)
Jump, Frog, Jump : Preformed by Wally Am... (by Robert Kalan)
Zomo the Rabbit : A Trickster Tale from ... (by Gerald McDermott)
Curious George and the Pizza : Preformed... (by Margret and H.A. Rey)
Love You Forever : Preformed by Wally Am... (by Robert Munsch)
Koala Lou : Preformed by Wally Amos (by Mem Fox)
Loony Little: An Environmental Tale : Pr... (by Dianna Hutts Aston)
The Very Greedy Bee : Preformed by Wally... (by Steve Smallman)
Where the Wild Things Are : Preformed by... (by Maurice Sendak)
The Paper Bag Princess : Preformed by Wa... (by Robert Munsch)
The Treasure : Preformed by Wally Amos (by Uri Shulevitz)
All the Places to Love : Preformed by Wa... (by Patricia MacLachlan)
The Beckonong Cat, Based on a Japenese F... (by Koko Nishizuka)

Top 100 books on Hawaiiana

Life in Hawaii : An Autobiographic Sketc... (by Coan, Titus)
Ka Moolelo O Ka Moi Kalakaua I (The Hist... (by J. J. Williams)
Ao Kiko
The Hawaiian Language and Complete Gramm... (by Henry P. Judd)
Kane'Ohe : Where I Live (by Julie Stewart Williams)
He Ka'Ao No Hauwahine Laua O Meheanu (by Samuel M. Kamakau)
Na Hana a Ka La’I (by Hokulani Cleeland)
Hawaiian Language Imprints (by Bernice Judd)
Na Mele O Hawaii Nei: 101 Hawaiian Songs (by Samuel H. Elbert)
Hawaii Session Laws (by Hawaii)
Lehua 'Ahihi (by Kuleana Kope)
An Account of the Polynesian Race : Its ... Volume Vol. 2 (by Fornander, Abraham)
Hawaiian Canoe-Building Traditions (by Naomi N. Y. Chun)
Iosepa Kaho'Oluhi Nawahiokalani'Opu'U (by William H. Wilson)
The Memoirs of Hon. Bernice Pauahi Bisho... (by Krout, Mary Hannah)

Top books on Poetry

When I Was King: Poems (by Henry Lawson)
The Prelude Or, Growth of a Poets Mind (by Wordsworth, William)
The Complete Poems of Paul Laurence Dunb... (by Paul Laurence Dunbar)
In Memoriam (by Tennyson, Alfred Lord)
The Raven (by Poe, Edgar Allan)
A Masque of Poets : Including Guy Vernon... (by Emily Dickinson)
Poems by Currer, Ellis, And Acton Bell (... (by Bell, Acton)
A Profeta Kertje (by Gibran, Khalil)
Poetical Works : Volume 1 (by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow)
The Poems Of Robert Frost (by Frost, Robert.)
The Negro Speaks of Rivers (by Hughes, Langston)
Stray Birds (by Sir Rabindranath Tagore)
One Hundred Poems of Kabir, Tr. By Rabin... (by Kabir)
The Poetical Works of Percy Bysshe Shell... (by Percy Bysshe Shelley)
Poems (by Owen, Wilfred)

Yiddish Book Center

Di Geshikhe Fun an Ekhn Men’Shn (by Polevo, Boris Nikolaevich)
Di Fir Zayn Fun Mayn Velt (by Ravitch, Melech)
Teater-Zikhroynes Fun a Shturmisher Tsay... (by Turkow, Zygmunt)
Fun Mayn Gorn Kurtse Dertsaylungen (by Kaitz, Joseph)
Di Grinder Un Boyer Fun Yudenum Oder Di ... Volume Vol. 2 (by Weiss, Isaac Hirsch)
Der Geoyfer Id a Roman Fun Virklikhen Yu... (by Anenboym, A.)
Yidishe Geshikhe Virshafsgeshikhe : Volu... (by Schiper, Ignacy)
Dertseylungen (by Goldworth, Bella)
Yo'El (by Hirschbein, Peretz)
Pinkes Fun der Kehile in Buenos Ayres (by Asociacion Mutual Israelita Argentina)
Gezamle Verk : Vol. 1 Volume Vol. 1 (by Nomberg, Hersh David)
Dzshungls Un She Rayze Ayndrukn : Vol. 1 Volume Vol. 1 (by Paryszewski, Marcos)
Dramaishe Shrifn : Vol. 2 Volume Vol. 2 (by Asch, Sholem)
Doyres Dertseyln Maeryalen Tsu der Geshi... (by Lipschitz, Ezekiel)
Lamern in Vin Lid Un Balade (by Manger, Itzik)

Svensk Litteratur Samling

P. M. Om Järnvägens Dragning Genom Stock... (by Grytnäsarkivet)
Brev Till Emanuel Deutsch 1881
Brev Från Robert Bergman 1856 (by Grytnäsarkivet)
Virkeslagring (by Filipsborgsarkivet)
Stockfångst M. Fl. Privilegier I Norr- O... (by Bergmankällor)
Brev Till Emanuel Deutsch 1879 (by Grytnäsarkivet)
Brev Från Robert Bergman 1849 (by Grytnäsarkivet)
Om Sveriges Folksjukdomar (by Bergmankällor)
Brev Från Robert Bergman 1858 (by Grytnäsarkivet)
Brev Från Robert Bergman År 1854 (by Grytnäsarkivet)
Meddelande (by Filipsborgsarkivet)
Näringstillstånd (by Filipsborgsarkivet)
Brev Från Robert Bergman 1857 (by Grytnäsarkivet)
Sågnota (by Filipsborgsarkivet)
Virkesrapport (by Filipsborgsarkivet)

Ebooks Libres et Gratuits Collection

Le Joueur Dechecs (by Zweig, Stefan)
Reflexions Ou Sentences et Maximes Moral... (by De La Rochefoucauld, François Duc)
La Maison de Claudine (by Colette)
Lhomme a Loreille Cassee (by Meiser, D. M. Jean)
Les Voyages de Gulliver (by Swift, Jonathan)
Le General Dourakine (by De Segur, Mme La Comtesse)
Sherlock Holmes (by Gillette, Arthur Conan Doyle Et William)
La Tulipe Noire (by Dumas, Alexandre)
A Se Tordre (by Allais, Alphonse)
Lauberge de Lange-Gardien (by De Segur, Mme La Comtesse)
Un Drame au Labrador (by Dick, Vinceslas Eugene)
Un Mousse de Surcouf (by Mael, Pierre)
Le Journal Dun Fou (by Gogol, Nikolai Vassilievitch)
La Dame de Pique (by Pouchkine, Alexandre)
Le Vampire (by Polidori, John William)