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An Exhibit on Language

Words of the People

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

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

A Room of One's Own (by Woolf, Virginia)
Grimm's Fairy Tales (by Grimm, Jacob)
The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn (Tom ... (by Twain, Mark)
L'Innocente (by Dannunzio, Gabriele)
1811 Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue (by Grose, Captain)
Secret Garden, The (by Burnett, Frances Hodgson)
Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, The (by Twain, Mark)
An Essay Concerning Human Understanding (by John Locke)
Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man, A (by Joyce, James)
The Secret Garden (by Burnett, Frances Hodgson)
Stickeen (by Muir, John)
An Intermediate Greek English Lexicon
The Divine Comedy : Inferno (by Alighieri, Dante)
Graded Selections for Memorizing : Adapt... (by John Bradley Peaslee)
The Land That Time Forgot (by Burroughs, Edgar Rice)

Top 100 books on Education

Moby Dick, or the Whale (by Melville, Herman)
Gorgias (by Plato (Platon))
Modest Proposal, A (by Swift, Jonathan)
The Jungle (by Sinclair, Upton)
Beowulf (by Unknown)
The Wonderful Wizard of Oz (by Baum, Lyman Frank)
Development of the Education of Wage-Ear... (by Hey, Spurley)
Christendom and Islam Their Contacts and... (by W. Wilson Cash)
Free Military School for Applicants for ... (by Supervisory Committee for Recruiting Colored Regim...)
Adventures of Pinocchio, The (by Collodi, Carlo)
The Wonderful Wizard of Oz (by Baum, Lyman Frank)
Tarzan of the Apes (by Burroughs, Edgar Rice)
A Curious Hieroglyphick Bible : Or, Sele...
The Way to Wealth; Or, Poor Richard Impr... (by Franklin, Benjamin)
Free Schools; A Documentary History of t... (by Finegan, Thomas Edward)

Top 100 books on Children's Early Learning

The Story of Little Jane and Me (by Blatchford, Mary E)
Just so Stories (by Kipling, Rudyard)
Old Roly Bear (by Lowe, Samual E.)
The Tale of Mrs. Tiggy-Winkle (by Potter, Beatrix)
Alice's Adventures in Wonderland (by Carroll, Lewis)
The Tale of Peter Rabbit (by Potter, Beatrix)
The History of Little Goody Two-Shoes : ... (by Goldsmith, Oliver)
The Green Fairy Book (by Lang, Andrew, Ed)
Complete Version of Ye Three Blind Mice (by Ivimey, John William)
The Ugly Duckling (by Andersen, Hans Christian)
The Little Engine That Could (by Lenski, Lois L.)
Raggedy Andy Stories (by Gruelle, Johnny)
Adventures of Maya the Bee, The (by Bonsels, Waldemar)
Velveteen Rabbit, The (by Williams, Margery)
Raggedy Ann stories (by Gruelle, Johnny)

Top 100 books on Literature and Fiction

Adventures of Tom Sawyer, The (by Twain, Mark)
The Sound and the Fury and as I Lay Dyin... (by William Faulkner)
Thus Spoke Zarathustra (by Nietzsche, Friedrich Wilhelm)
Mansfield Park (by Austen, Jane)
Crime and Punishment (by Dostoevsky, Fyodor)
The Man in the Iron Mask (by Dumas, Pere Alexandre)
Lorna Doone (by Schaeffer, Mead)
Emma (by Austen, Jane)
War and Peace, Book 01: 1805 (by Tolstoy, Leo)
A Christmas Carol (by Dickens, Charles)
Metamorphosis, The (by Kafka, Franz)
Frankenstein : Or, The Modern Prometheus (by Shelley, Mary Wollstonecraft)
Walden (by Thoreau, Henry David)
Mrs. Dalloway (by Woolf, Virginia)
Walden Or, Life in the Woods (by Thoreau, Henry David)

Top 100 books on Classic Children's Literature

Gulliver's Travels. (by Jonathan Swift)
King Solomon's Mines (by Avon Comics)
Twas the Night Before Christmas (A Visit... (by Moore, Clement Clarke)
The Little Gingerbread Man (by Herbert, Robert Gaston, Ill)
Andersen’s Fairy Tales (by Andersen, Hans Christian)
Little Women (by Alcott, Louisa May)
The Wonderful Wizard of Oz (by Baum, Lyman Frank)
Velveteen Rabbit, The (by Williams, Margery)
The Count of Monte Cristo (by Dumas, Alexandre)
Andersen's Fairy Tales (by Andersen, Hans Christian)
Beauty and the Beast (by Crane, Walter)
Ivanhoe NL (by Scott, Walter, Sir)
The Tale of Peter Rabbit (by Potter, Beatrix)
Oliver Twist (by Dickens, Charles)
Blue Fairy Book, The (by Lang, Andrew)

Top books on Shakespeare

Tempest, The (by Shakespeare, William)
Hamlet (by Shakespeare, William)
Tragedy of Macbeth, The (by Shakespeare, William)
The Complete Works of William Shakespear... (by Shakespeare, William)
Coriolanus (by Shakespeare, William)
Hamlet (by Shakespeare, William)
William Shakespeares King Henry Iv, Part... (by Shakespeare, William)
Measure For Measure (by Shakespeare, William)
The Tragedy of Titus Andronicus (by Shakespeare, William)
The Two Gentlemen of Verona (by Shakespeare, William)
King Lear (version 2) (by Shakespeare, William)
Romeo and Juliet (by Shakespeare)
King Henry IV, Part 1 (by Shakespeare, William)
A Midsummer Night's Dream (by William Shakespeare)
Pericles, Prince of Tyre (by Shakespeare, William)

Top books on Contemporary Children's Literature

Green Eggs and Ham : Preformed by Wally ... (by Dr. Seuss)
Calabash Cat : Preformed by Wally Amos (by James Rumford)
Love You Forever : Preformed by Wally Am... (by Robert Munsch)
I'm A Caterpillar : Preformed by Wally A... (by Jean Marzollo)
The Carrot Seed : Preformed by Wally Amo... (by Ruth Krauss)
How Rocket Learned to Read : Preformed b... (by Tad Hills)
More Pies : Preformed by Wally Amos (by Robert Munsch)
The Lion and the Mouse : Preformed by Wa... (by Eric Carle)
The Paper Bag Princess : Preformed by Wa... (by Robert Munsch)
All the Places to Love : Preformed by Wa... (by Patricia MacLachlan)
The Wolf and the Lamb : Preformed by Wal... (by Eric Carle)
Where the Wild Things Are : Preformed by... (by Maurice Sendak)
Olivia...and the Missing Toy : Preformed... (by Ian Falconer)
Clifford and the Grouchy Neighbors : Pre... (by Norman Bridwell)
Koala Lou : Preformed by Wally Amos (by Mem Fox)

Top 100 books on Hawaiiana

Ke Aupuni Moi (by Samuel Manaiakalani Kamakau- Kamehameha School Pre...)
Hawaiian Language References-'Olelo Maku... (by Kamehameha Schools)
He Mo'Olelo No 'Aukelenuia'Iku (by Abraham Fornander)
No Wai Ke Kuleana (by Pohakalani Tolentino-Perry)
He Mau Mele Kula Sabati (Sunday School S... (by Reverend Laiana)
Ai'Ai (by Kawike Napoleon)
Ku'U Tutu (by Dawn Kahalaomapuana)
Lehua 'Ahihi (by Kuleana Kope)
He Moolelo No Kekahi Mau Koa Kaulana (A ... (by M. Goldberg)
Yankees in Paradise the New England Impa... (by Bradford Smith)
Na Kanawai O Ka Repubalika O Hawaii, ... (by Hawaii)
Kumu'Ulu (by Keoni Kelekolio)
Guide To Newspapers of Hawaii, 1834-2000 (by Helen G. Chapin)
Ka Mo'Olelo O Lonoikamakahiki (by Abraham Fornander)
Life in Hawaii : An Autobiographic Sketc... (by Coan, Titus)

Top books on Poetry

The Collected Poems (by Yeats, William Butler)
Poems (by Owen, Wilfred)
Stray Birds (by Sir Rabindranath Tagore)
A Masque of Poets : Including Guy Vernon... (by Emily Dickinson)
A Profeta Kertje (by Gibran, Khalil)
Songs of Innocence and of Experience and... (by Blake, William)
The Poetical Works of Percy Bysshe Shell... (by Percy Bysshe Shelley)
Rhymes of a Red Cross Man (by Robert W. Service)
One Hundred Poems of Kabir, Tr. By Rabin... (by Kabir)
Poems by Currer, Ellis, And Acton Bell (... (by Bell, Acton)
Collected Poems of John Keats : Volume 5... (by Keats, John)
Poetical Works : Volume 1 (by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow)
The Poems Of Robert Frost (by Frost, Robert.)
Verses 1889-1896 (by Kipling, Rudyard)
The Raven (by Poe, Edgar Allan)

Yiddish Book Center

In Glik Un in Royer (by Dayan, Deborah)
Der Emes Vegen Ekonomishe Krizisen Un Vi... (by Fishman, Jacob)
Der Morgn Iz Eybik (by Cohen, Yosl)
Zshon Krisof, Jean Christoff : Volume 2 (by Rolland, Romain)
Der Liever Rebe Hisorishe Drame in Fir A... (by Davidsohn, Michl)
Rezolyutsyes Fun XVIII Alfarbandisher Ko...
Vilner Geo, 1941-1944 (by Sutzkever, Abraham)
Afsnay Lider (by Fefer, Itzik)
Kolonye Lusienvil Tsu der Geshikhte Fun ... (by Hurvitz, S. I)
In Land-- Fun Mayn Gebeyn (by Molodowsky, Kadia)
Tsvishn Berg Dertseylungen (by Guman, Golde)
Shriftn : Volume 1
Der Royer Fodim (by Auerbach, Ephraim)
Fun Unzer Alen Oytser Geklibene Perl Fun... Volume Vol. 6 (by Justman, Moshe Bunem)
Lider (by Margolin, A.)

Svensk Litteratur Samling

Värderingsuppgift (by Filipsborgsarkivet)
Brev Från Robert Bergman 1851 (by Grytnäsarkivet)
Brev Från Robert Bergman 1856 (by Grytnäsarkivet)
Stockfångst M. Fl. Privilegier I Norr- O... (by Bergmankällor)
Brev Från Robert Bergman År 1854 (by Grytnäsarkivet)
Virkeslagring (by Filipsborgsarkivet)
Ett Brev Från Robert Bergman 1853 (by Grytnäsarkivet)
Brev Till Emanuel Deutsch 1879 (by Grytnäsarkivet)
Brev Till Emanuel Deutsch 1881
Timmerförteckning (by Filipsborgsarkivet)
Nordiska Museet (by Grytnäsarkivet)
Meddelande (by Filipsborgsarkivet)
Virkesrapport (by Filipsborgsarkivet)
Meddelande (by Filipsborgsarkivet)
P. M. Om Järnvägens Dragning Genom Stock... (by Grytnäsarkivet)

Ebooks Libres et Gratuits Collection

Le Roman de Miraut Chien de Chasse (by Pergaud, Louis)
Les Quarante-Cinq Tome Ii (by Dumas, Alexandre)
La Cour de Louis XIV (by De Saint-Amand, Imbert)
Assez ! Extrait du Journal D'Un Peintre ... (by Tourgueniev, Ivan Sergueievitch)
Le Loup Blanc (by Féval, Paul)
Le Coeur Cambriole (by Leroux, Gaston)
Le Triangle D'Or (by Leblanc, Maurice)
La Terre Qui Meurt (by Bazin, René)
Une Page Dhistoire (by Daurevilly, Jules Amedee Barbey)
Nord Contre Sud (by Verne, Jules)
Robin Hood le Proscrit (by Dumas, Alexandre)
Le Grillon du Foyer Histoire Fantastique... (by Dickens, Charles)
Lhomme Invisible (by Wells, Herbert George)
Ce Que George Walker Bush a Fait de Bien... (by Killroy, George)
Les Premiers Hommes Dans la Lune (by Wells, Herbert George)