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An Exhibit on Language

Words of the People

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

An Essay Concerning Human Understanding (by John Locke)
The Secret Garden (by Burnett, Frances Hodgson)
Dubliners (by Joyce, James)
Les Miserables (by Hugo, Victor)
Just so Stories (by Kipling, Rudyard)
Les Fleurs du Mal (by Baudelaire, Charles)
An Essay Concerning Human Understanding (by John Locke)
An Intermediate Greek English Lexicon
The Complete Works of William Shakespear... (by Shakespeare, William)
The Mabinogion (by Charlotte. Guest)
A manual of style, containing typographi... (by University of Chicago. Press)
An Elementary Spanish Reader (by Louis Marie Auguste Loiseaux)
A Sanskrit Grammar : Including Both the ... (by William Dwight Whitney)
1811 Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue (by Grose, Captain)
Adventures of Huckleberry Finn (by Twain, Mark)

Top 100 books on Education

Odyssey, The (by Homer)
The Child and the Curriculum (by Dewey, John)
The Moral Judgment of the Child (by Jean Piaget)
Common Sense (by Paine, Thomas)
Vocational education and guidance of you... (by Robison, Emily)
The Elements of Style (by Strunk, William)
Anna Karenina -2 (by Tolstoy, Leo)
Leaves of Grass (by Whitman, Walt)
A Doll's House (by Ibsen, Henrik)
Ivanhoe NL (by Scott, Walter, Sir)
Critique of Practical Reason, The (by Kant, Immanuel)
Some Thoughts Concerning Education (by Locke, John)
The Grapes of Wrath (by Steinbeck, John)
The Federalist Papers (by Hamilton, Alexander)
Beowulf (by Gummere, Francis B.)

Top 100 books on Children's Early Learning

The velveteen rabbit, or, how toys becom... (by Bianco, Margery Williams)
Picture Book Garden
The Adventures of Pinocchio (by Collodi, C.)
Just so Stories (by Kipling, Rudyard)
Bambi Vald Mayele (by Salten, Felix)
A Book of Discoveries. Illustrated by Go... (by Masefield, John)
Mr. Rabbit at Home (by Harris, Joel Chandler)
Three Blind Mice (by Ivimey, John William)
Mother Earth's Children; The Frolics of ... (by Gordon, Elizabeth)
Song of Hiawatha, The (by Longfellow, Henry Wadsworth)
Anne of Green Gables (by Montgomery, Lucy Maud)
The Story of Hiawatha
Old Roly Bear (by Lowe, Samual E.)
The purple cow! (by Burgess, Gelett)
The Little People of the Snow (by William Cullen Bryant)

Top 100 books on Literature and Fiction

Adventures of Tom Sawyer, The (by Twain, Mark)
Siddhartha (by Hesse, Hermann)
The Diary of a Nobody [By] George Grossm... (by Grossmith, George)
The Book of the Thousand Nights and a Ni... (by Burton, Richard Francis, Sir)
Allan Quatermain (by Haggard, Henry Rider)
Paradise Lost (by John Milton)
Moby Dick; Or the Whale (by Melville, Herman)
Democracy in America (by Tocqueville, Alexis De)
The Three Musketeers (by Roberts, John P., Iii)
Diary of a Nobody, The (by Grossmith, George)
A Tale of Two Cities (by Dickens, Charles)
Prince, The (Version 3) (by Machiavelli, Niccolo)
Awakening, The (version 2) (by Chopin, Kate)
The Iliad (by Butler, Samuel)
The Pilgrim's Progress (by Bunyan, John)

Top 100 books on Classic Children's Literature

Just so Stories (by Kipling, Rudyard)
King Solomon's Mines (by Haggard, Henry Rider)
Merry Adventures of Robin Hood, The (by Pyle, Howard)
Alice's Adventures in Wonderland (by Carroll, Lewis)
White Fang (by London, Jack)
Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea (by Verne, Jules)
Coral Island, The (by Ballantyne, R.M.)
Slovenly Peter (by Hoffmann, Heinrich)
Wide, Wide World, The (by Warner, Susan)
Twenty Thousand Leagues under the Sea (by Verne, Jules)
Story of the Treasure Seekers, The (by Nesbit, E. (Edith))
Ivanhoe NL (by Scott, Walter, Sir)
King Solomon's Mines (by Haggard, H. Rider)
The Tale of Genji (by Murasaki Shikibu)
Treasure Island (by Nor, Lisa)

Top books on Shakespeare

The Two Gentlemen of Verona (by Shakespeare, William)
Antony and Cleopatra (by Shakespeare, William)
Comedy of Errors (by Shakespeare)
The Tragedy of Romeo and Juliet (by Shakespeare, William)
All's Well, That Ends Well (by Shakespeare, William)
Macbeth (by Shakespeare, William)
As You Like It (by Shakespeare, William)
The Tragedy of King Lear (by Shakespeare, William)
Othello (by Shakespeare, William)
Merchant of Venice (by William Shakespeare)
King Richard Iii (by Shakespeare, William)
The Sonnets of William Shakespeare (by Shakespeare, William)
Troilus and Cressida (by Shakespeare)
Two Gentlemen of Verona, The (by Shakespeare, William)
The Merry Wives of Windsor (by Shakespeare, William)

Top books on Contemporary Children's Literature

Click, Clack, Moo: Cows That Type : Pref... (by Doreen Cronin)
Where the Wild Things Are : Preformed by... (by Maurice Sendak)
The Lion and the Mouse : Preformed by Wa... (by Eric Carle)
Stephanie's Ponytail : Preformed by Wall... (by Robert Munsch)
All the Places to Love : Preformed by Wa... (by Patricia MacLachlan)
Koala Lou : Preformed by Wally Amos (by Mem Fox)
More Pies : Preformed by Wally Amos (by Robert Munsch)
The Cow Who Clucked : Preformed by Wally... (by Denise Fleming)
The Wolf and the Lamb : Preformed by Wal... (by Eric Carle)
Squashed in the Middle : Preformed by Wa... (by Elizabeth Winthrop)
The Paper Bag Princess : Preformed by Wa... (by Robert Munsch)
Hunches in Bunches : Preformed by Wally ... (by Dr. Seuss)
Jump, Frog, Jump : Preformed by Wally Am... (by Robert Kalan)
The Crayon Box that Talked : Preformed b... (by Shane DeRolf)
The Cat in the Hat : Preformed by Wally ... (by Dr. Seuss)

Top 100 books on Hawaiiana

Na Mele Aimoku (by Hawaiian Historical Society)
Introduction to Hawaiian Grammar (by Alexander, W. D. (William De Witt))
He Mau Mele Kula Sabati (Sunday School S... (by Reverend Laiana)
Punia (by Lokahi Antonio)
Princess Bernice Pauahi Bishop (by Julie Stewart Williams)
Pehea 'O Ia E Holo Ai (by Lilinoe Andrews)
Ma Uka, Ma Kai (by Eve Furchgott)
Na Keiki 'Elima (by William H. Wilson)
Wai'Anae: Where I Live (by Julie Stewart Williams)
O Pa'Ao (by Kekoa Roback)
Yankees in Paradise the New England Impa... (by Bradford Smith)
Ehia I Loa'A (by University of Hawaii At Hilo)
Moku Ka Pawa (by Keoni Kelekolio)
Ku'U Tutu (by Dawn Kahalaomapuana)
He Moolelo No Kekahi Mau Koa Kaulana (A ... (by M. Goldberg)

Top books on Poetry

Collected Poems of John Keats : Volume 5... (by Keats, John)
The Prelude Or, Growth of a Poets Mind (by Wordsworth, William)
One Hundred Poems of Kabir, Tr. By Rabin... (by Kabir)
Leaves of Grass (by Whitman, Walt)
The Collected Poems (by Yeats, William Butler)
Stray Birds (by Sir Rabindranath Tagore)
Songs of Innocence and of Experience and... (by Blake, William)
In Memoriam (by Tennyson, Alfred Lord)
Poetical Works : Volume 1 (by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow)
Poems (by Owen, Wilfred)
The Poems Of Robert Frost (by Frost, Robert.)
The Negro Speaks of Rivers (by Hughes, Langston)
When I Was King: Poems (by Henry Lawson)
The Selected Poems of Rainer Maria Rilke (by Rilke, Rainer, Maria)
Poems by Currer, Ellis, And Acton Bell (... (by Bell, Acton)

Yiddish Book Center

In Shurem Fun Geshikhe Aroysgerisene Ble... (by Koigen, David)
Zikhroynes Fun a Folks-Komisar (by Steinberg, Isaac Nachman)
Azyaishe Dertseylungen (by Dayksel, Shemuel)
Tsvishn Urbn Un Geule in Gerangl Far der... (by Hering, Z)
Der Inernatsyonaler Arbeer Ordn in Idish... (by Zaltsman, R. (Reuven))
In Shon Fun Hunger (by Maltz, Sol)
Der Foer Kameraden; Muer-Liebe Un Sharke... Volume Vol. 2 (by Strindberg, August)
Elye Boer Poeishe Shafungen in Yidish (by Levita, Elijah)
A Vor Far a Vor Aforizmen, Epigramen, Li... (by Liptsin, Sem)
In der tayge Usurier Kan (by Arsenev, Vladimir Klavdievich)
Skitsen (by Silberbusch, David Isaiah)
Arbeer Un Masndeklamatsyes Far Shuln, Ke... (by Twersky, Pine)
Yidishe Geshikhte : Volume 1 (by Graetz, Heinrich)
Di Ershe Libe (by Turgenev, Ivan Sergeevich)
Di Milome Fun Di Yidishe Parizaner in Mi... Volume Vol. 1 (by Kahanovich, Moshe)