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An Exhibit on Language

Words of the People

Selections from Chaucer's Canterbury Tal... (by Chaucer, Geoffrey)
The Canterbury Tales (by Chaucer, Geoffrey)
Psychology and Pathology of Speech Devel... (by Conradi, Edward)
The Principles of the International Phon... (by International Phonetic Association)
The Science Of Language Vol I (by F. Max Muller K. M.)
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 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

Beowulf (by Unknown)
Dictionary of Phrase and Fable : E. Cobh... (by Brewer, Rev. E. Cobham, Ll. D.)
The Land That Time Forgot (by Burroughs, Edgar Rice)
The Egyptian Book of the Dead (by Budge, Ernest Alfred Wallis, Sir)
Frankenstein (dramatic reading) (by Shelley, Mary Wollstonecraft)
1811 Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue (by Grose, Captain)
The Language and Thought of the Child
Around the World in Eighty Days (by Verne, Jules)
An Anglo-Saxon Primer : With Grammar, No... (by Henry Sweet)
Grimm's Fairy Tales (by Grimm, Jacob)
An Essay Concerning Human Understanding (by John Locke)
Sir Gawain and the Green Knight (by Anonymous)
The Elements of Style (by Strunk, William)
A Comparative Grammar of the Gaudian Lan... (by Hoernle, August Frederich Rudolf)
Canterbury Tales, The (by Chaucer, Geoffrey)

Top 100 books on Education

Tarzan of the Apes (by Burroughs, Edgar Rice)
Doll's House, A (by Ibsen, Henrik)
Walden (by Thoreau, Henry David)
A plan for improving female education (by Willard, Emma)
Medea (by Euripides)
History of the Peloponnesian War (by Thucydides)
Peter Parley's Universal History, On the... (by Peter Parley)
William Shakespeares King Henry Iv, Part... (by Shakespeare, William)
The New England Primer, Score Chr Nep (by Cornhill, Boston)
Common Sense (by Paine, Thomas)
The Egyptian Book of the Dead (by Budge, Ernest Alfred Wallis, Sir)
Jungle, The (by Sinclair, Upton)
Plutarch's Lives (by Plutarch)
Sir Gawain and the Green Knight (by Anonymous)
A Modest Proposal (by Swift, Jonathan)

Top 100 books on Children's Early Learning

The Story of Ferdinand (by Leaf, Munro)
The Tale of Mrs. Tiggy-Winkle (by Potter, Beatrix)
The History of Little Goody Two-Shoes : ... (by Goldsmith, Oliver)
Original Poems, for Infant Minds (by Ann Taylor, Jane Taylor, O'Keeffe (Adelaide))
The Story of Ferdinand (by Leaf, Munro)
The Adventures of Pinocchio (by Collodi, C.)
Little Almond Blossoms : A Book of Chine... (by Knox, Jessie Juliet)
The Story Hour (by Smith, Nora A.)
A Book for Boys and Girls; Or, Country R... (by Bunyan, John)
The Dutch Twins (by Perkins, Lucy Fitch)
Complete Version of Ye Three Blind Mice (by Ivimey, John William)
The Story of Little Jane and Me (by Blatchford, Mary E)
The velveteen rabbit, or, how toys becom... (by Bianco, Margery Williams)
The House That Jack Built (by Caldecott, Randolph)
Cinderella; Or, The Little Glass Slipper

Top 100 books on Literature and Fiction

Oliver Twist (by Dickens, Charles)
The Prisoner of Zenda : Being the Histor... (by Hope, Anthony, 1863-1933)
Democracy in America (by Tocqueville, Alexis De)
Divine Comedy, The (by Dante Alighieri)
A Tale of Two Cities (by Dickens, Charles)
Bleak House (by Dickens, Charles)
Emma (by Austen, Jane)
Utopia (by More, Thomas)
Woman in White, The (by Collins, Wilkie)
Siddhartha (by Hesse, Hermann)
The Idiot (by Dostoevsky, Fyodor)
Little Women (by Alcott, Louisa May)
The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn (Tom ... (by Twain, Mark)
Picture Of Dorian Gray (1891 Version), T... (by Wilde, Oscar)
Sense and Sensibility (by Austen, Jane)

Top 100 books on Classic Children's Literature

Seven Little Australians (by Turner, Ethel)
Midsummer Night's Dream, A (by Shakespeare, William)
Les Miserables (by Hugo, Victor)
Blue Beard
Nicholas Nickleby (by Dickens, Charles)
Twas the Night Before Christmas (A Visit... (by Moore, Clement Clarke)
The Arabian Nights (by Burton, Richard)
The Call of the Wild (by London, Jack)
At the Back of the North Wind (by MacDonald, George)
Ivanhoe (by Scott, Walter, Sir)
Secret Garden, The (by Burnett, Frances Hodgson)
King Solomon's Mines (by Haggard, Henry Rider)
King of the Golden River, The (by Ruskin, John)
Beauty and the Beast (by Crane, Walter)
The Little Gingerbread Man (by Herbert, Robert Gaston, Ill)

Top books on Shakespeare

The History of Troilus and Cressida (by Shakespeare, William)
Pericles, Prince of Tyre (by Shakespeare, William)
Merchant of Venice, The (by Shakespeare, William)
King Richard Ii (by Shakespeare, William)
Hamlet (by Shakespeare, William)
King John (by Shakespeare, William)
The Tempest (by Shakespeare, William)
William Shakespeares King Henry Iv, Part... (by Shakespeare, William)
The Taming of the Shrew (by Shakespeare, William)
As You Like It (by Shakespeare, William)
The Complete Works of William Shakespear... (by Shakespeare, William)
Shakespeare's Sonnets (version 2) (by Shakespeare, William)
Hamlet (by Shakespeare, William)
The Tragedy of King Lear (by Shakespeare, William)
The Winter's Tale (by Shakespeare)

Top books on Contemporary Children's Literature

Zomo the Rabbit : A Trickster Tale from ... (by Gerald McDermott)
Squashed in the Middle : Preformed by Wa... (by Elizabeth Winthrop)
The Wolf and the Lamb : Preformed by Wal... (by Eric Carle)
Where the Wild Things Are : Preformed by... (by Maurice Sendak)
Stephanie's Ponytail : Preformed by Wall... (by Robert Munsch)
Curious George and the Pizza : Preformed... (by Margret and H.A. Rey)
The Beckonong Cat, Based on a Japenese F... (by Koko Nishizuka)
The Cow Who Clucked : Preformed by Wally... (by Denise Fleming)
The Greatest : Preformed by Wally Amos (by Kenny Rogers)
The Rabbit and the Turtle : Preformed by... (by Eric Carle)
Cows Can't Fly : Preformed by Wally Amos (by David Milgrim)
The Treasure : Preformed by Wally Amos (by Uri Shulevitz)
One Fish, Two Fish, Red Fish, Blue Fish ... (by Dr. Seuss)
Koala Lou : Preformed by Wally Amos (by Mem Fox)
The Very Greedy Bee : Preformed by Wally... (by Steve Smallman)

Top 100 books on Hawaiiana

Kamehameha V : Lot Kapuaiwa (by Rosalin Uphus Comeau)
Aia I Hea (by Eve Furchgott)
The Ks Impact : Increasing Access to Qua... (by State Department of Education)
Lili'Uokalani (by Ru Hasegawa Lowe)
Hawaiian Dictionary (by Mary Kawena Pukui)
Annual Report of the Governor of Hawaii ... Volume Year 1959 (by Hawaii. Governor)
Na Koko O Keia Keiki Hawai'I (by William H. Wilson)
No Ka Wai O Ka Puna Hou (by Eve Furchgott)
He Moolelo No Kekahi Mau Koa Kaulana (A ... (by M. Goldberg)
Kuleana (by William K. Wallace)
Oiwi Vol. 1 Volume 1 (by Lokahi Antonio)
Ma Uka, Ma Kai (by Eve Furchgott)
Kaua Kuloko 1895 (by Robert W. Wilikoki)
Pauahi - the Kamehameha Legacy (by Kamehameha Schools Press)
He Ka'Ao No Hauwahine Laua O Meheanu (by Samuel M. Kamakau)