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An Exhibit on Language

Words of the People

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

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

Animal Farm (by Orwell, George)
Jane Eyre (by Brontë, Charlotte)
Grimm's Fairy Tales (version 2) (by Grimm, Jacob & Wilhelm)
Northanger Abbey (by Austen, Jane)
A Dictionary of Modern English Usage (by H. W. Fowler)
The Mabinogion (by Charlotte. Guest)
From Ritual to Romance (by Weston, Jessie L.)
Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Cour... (by Twain, Mark)
Northanger Abbey (by Austen, Jane)
Sir Gawain and the Green Knight (by Anonymous)
An Elementary Spanish Reader (by Louis Marie Auguste Loiseaux)
The Brothers Karamazov (by Dostoyevsky, Fyodor, 1821-1881)
The Language and Thought of the Child
Adventures of Huckleberry Finn (by Twain, Mark)
Pygmalion (by Shaw, George Bernard)

Top 100 books on Education

Hippolytus (by Euripides)
The Montessori Method (by Montessori, Maria)
Elements of Style, The (by Strunk Jr, William)
The Child and the Curriculum (by Dewey, John)
Beowulf
Jungle, The (by Sinclair, Upton)
Aristotle on Education, Being Extracts f... (by Aristotle)
The Organization and Administration of a... (by Lefevre, Arthur)
Anna Karenina -2 (by Tolstoy, Leo)
Metamorphoses, Score Ovid Meta (by Ovid)
The Wonderful Wizard of Oz (by Baum, Lyman Frank)
The Way to Wealth; Or, Poor Richard Impr... (by Franklin, Benjamin)
Moby Dick, or the Whale (by Melville, Herman)
Critique of Practical Reason, The (by Kant, Immanuel)
Meno, Score Plato Meno (by Plato)

Top 100 books on Children's Early Learning

Grimm's Fairy Tales (by Jacob Grimm, Wilhelm Grimm)
Green Fairy Book, The (by Lang, Andrew)
Adventures of Goody Two Shoes (by Goldsmith, Oliver)
Pollyanna (by Porter, Eleanor H.)
Adventures of Sonny Bear (by Fox, Frances Margaret)
Story of Mankind, The (by van Loon, Hendrik)
The History of the Fairchild Family : Or... (by Mary Martha Sherwood)
Little Tot's Picture Book (by Sheila Thibodeau Lambrinos Collection - York Unive...)
Stories for Children. First Reader Grade (by Mrs. Charles A. Lane)
Velveteen Rabbit, The (by Williams, Margery)
The Story Hour (by Smith, Nora A.)
Alice's Adventures in Wonderland (by Carroll, Lewis)
Three Hundred Aesop's Fables (by Aesop)
Harrison's New Nursery Picture Book : Co... (by Bewick, Thomas)
Bambi (by Salten, Felix)

Top 100 books on Literature and Fiction

The Napoleon of Notting Hill (by Chesterton, Gilbert Keith)
Emma (version 5) (by Austen, Jane)
The Portrait of a Lady (by James, Henry)
Bhagavad Gita (by Various)
The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn (Tom ... (by Twain, Mark)
The Wonderful Wizard of Oz (by Baum, Lyman Frank)
The Wonderful Wizard of Oz (by Baum, Lyman Frank)
Catch 22 a Novel (by Joseph Heller)
Les Miserables (by Hugo, Victor)
King Solomon's Mines (by Haggard, H. Rider)
Moby Dick; Or the Whale (by Melville, Herman)
The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe (th... (by C. S. Lewis)
Man in the Iron Mask, The (by Dumas, Alexandre)
The Iliad (by Homer)
Secret Garden, The (by Burnett, Frances Hodgson)

Top 100 books on Classic Children's Literature

The Wind in the Willows (by Grahame, Kenneth)
White Fang (by London, Jack)
The Children of the New Forest (by Frederick Marryat)
Alice's Adventures in Wonderland (by Carroll, Lewis)
Gulliver's Travels (by Swift, Jonathan)
Coral Island, The (by Ballantyne, R.M.)
Tale of Two Cities, A (by Dickens, Charles)
The Red Badge of Courage
Moonfleet (by Falkner, John Meade)
Ivanhoe (by Scott, Walter, Sir)
Merry Adventures of Robin Hood, The (by Pyle, Howard)
The Wonderful Wizard of Oz (by Baum, Lyman Frank)
The Story of Doctor Dolittle (by Lofting, Hugh)
Seven Little Australians (by Turner, Ethel)
Tom Brown's School Days (by Hughes, Thomas)

Top books on Shakespeare

Twelfth Night (by Shakespeare)
Titus Andronicus (by Shakespeare, William)
Hamlet (by Shakespeare, William)
Romeo and Juliet (by Shakespeare)
The Comedy of Errors (by Shakespeare, William)
Twelfth Night or What You Will (by Shakespeare, William)
The Tragedy of King Lear (by Shakespeare, William)
Pericles, Prince of Tyre (by Shakespeare, William)
The Taming of the Shrew by William Shake... (by Shakespeare, William)
Hamlet (by Shakespeare, William)
As You Like It the Pennsylvania State Un... (by Shakespeare, William)
Richard II (by Shakespeare, William)
William Shakespeares King Henry Iv, Part... (by Shakespeare, William)
Coriolanus (by Shakespeare, William)
Othello (by Shakespeare, William)

Top books on Contemporary Children's Literature

The Cat in the Hat : Preformed by Wally ... (by Dr. Seuss)
Love You Forever : Preformed by Wally Am... (by Robert Munsch)
Stephanie's Ponytail : Preformed by Wall... (by Robert Munsch)
Otto : Preformed by Wally Amos (by Steven Kroll)
The Beckonong Cat, Based on a Japenese F... (by Koko Nishizuka)
Green Eggs and Ham : Preformed by Wally ... (by Dr. Seuss)
Clifford The Big Red Dog : Preformed by ... (by Norman Bridwell)
Peter's Chair : Preformed by Wally Amos (by Ezra Jack Keats)
Clifford and the Grouchy Neighbors : Pre... (by Norman Bridwell)
The Cow Who Clucked : Preformed by Wally... (by Denise Fleming)
Zomo the Rabbit : A Trickster Tale from ... (by Gerald McDermott)
Koala Lou : Preformed by Wally Amos (by Mem Fox)
Squashed in the Middle : Preformed by Wa... (by Elizabeth Winthrop)
RRRALPH : Preformed by Wally Amos
The Crayon Box that Talked : Preformed b... (by Shane DeRolf)

Top 100 books on Hawaiiana

Pehea 'O Ia E Holo Ai (by Lilinoe Andrews)
Kulu Wai Liilii : He Mau Mele Hoole Waio... (by Mission Houses Museum Library)
He Ka'Ao No Hauwahine Laua O Meheanu (by Samuel M. Kamakau)
Moloka'I: Where I Live (by Julie Stewart Williams)
Unwritten Literature of Hawaii : the Sac... (by Emerson, Nathaniel Bright, 1839-1915)
Resource Units in Hawaiian Culture (by Kamehameha Schools)
Hawaiian Dictionary (by Mary Kawena Pukui)
Pauahi - the Kamehameha Legacy (by Kamehameha Schools Press)
No Ka Wai O Ka Puna Hou (by Eve Furchgott)
Kamehameha IV : Alexander Liholiho (by Ru Hasegawa Lowe)
Ma Uka, Ma Kai (by Eve Furchgott)
Yankees in Paradise the New England Impa... (by Bradford Smith)
Na Mele O Hawaii Nei: 101 Hawaiian Songs (by Samuel H. Elbert)
Hawaiian Language Imprints (by Bernice Judd)
Aia I Hea (by Eve Furchgott)