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An Exhibit on Language

Words of the People

National Symposium on Learning Disabilit... (by Department of Education)
Selections from Chaucer's Canterbury Tal... (by Chaucer, Geoffrey)
The Principles of the International Phon... (by International Phonetic Association)
A Comparative Grammar of the Gaudian Lan... (by Hoernle, August Frederich Rudolf)
The Canterbury Tales (by Chaucer, Geoffrey)
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 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 Secret Garden (by Burnett, Frances Hodgson)
Cassell's Latin Dictionary : Latin-Engli... (by Marchant, James Robert Vernam)
The Tragedie of Romeo and Juliet (by Shakespeare, William)
Anne of Green Gables Illustrated By Anon... (by Montgomery, L.M.)
Beowulf (by Gummere, Francis B.)
The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn (Tom ... (by Twain, Mark)
An Introduction to the Study of Language (by Bloomfield, Leonard, 1887-1949)
Ancient Alphabets and Hieroglyphic Chara... (by Amad Ibn Ali Ibn Washiyah, Ahmed Ibn Ali Ibn Al Mu...)
The Land That Time Forgot (by Burroughs, Edgar Rice)
The Language and Thought of the Child
The Selected Poems of Rainer Maria Rilke (by Rilke, Rainer, Maria)
The Elements of Style (by Strunk, William)
Course in General Linguistics (by Saussure, Ferdinand)
An Essay Concerning Human Understanding (by John Locke)
A Room of One's Own (by Woolf, Virginia)

Top 100 books on Education

The Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin, ... (by Franklin, Benjamin)
Metamorphosis, The (by Kafka, Franz)
Trojan Women, The (by Euripides)
William Shakespeares King Henry Iv, Part... (by Shakespeare, William)
A Doll's House (by Ibsen, Henrik)
Vocational education and guidance of you... (by Robison, Emily)
Peter Parley's Universal History, On the... (by Peter Parley)
New Hampshire : a poem with notes and gr... (by Frost, Robert)
Walden (by Thoreau, Henry David)
Rights of Man, Score Aor Rom Volume Vol. II (by Paine, Thomas)
Herodotus' Histories Vol 1 (by Herodotus of Halicarnassus)
Development of the Education of Wage-Ear... (by Hey, Spurley)
The Adventures of Pinocchio (by Collodi, C.)
The Iliad (by Butler, Samuel)
Hippolytus (by Euripides)

Top 100 books on Children's Early Learning

The Dutch Twins (by Perkins, Lucy Fitch)
Baby's Lullaby Book : Mother Songs (by Pratt, Charles Stuart)
The Adventures of Pinocchio (by Collodi, C.)
The Story of Hiawatha
The Orbis Pictus of John Amos Comenius (by Comenius, Johann Amos)
Mrs. Peter Rabbit (by Burgess, Thornton Waldo)
The Book of Nonsense (by Lear, Edward)
Beauty and the Beast (by Crane, Walter)
Raggedy Ann stories (by Gruelle, Johnny)
The Tiny Picture Book
Raggedy Ann's Alphabet Book (by Gruelle, Johnny)
Ferdinand Frog (by Bailey, Arthur Scott)
The Marquis of Carabas Picture Book
The Story of Chicken Little: Rhymed and ... (by Kenneth Graham Duffield)
Three Little Pigs

Top 100 books on Literature and Fiction

Emma (by Austen, Jane)
Uncle Tom's Cabin (by Stowe, Harriet Beecher)
The Divine Comedy : Inferno (by Alighieri, Dante)
Alice's Adventures in Wonderland (abridg... (by Carroll, Lewis)
Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea (by Verne, Jules)
King Solomon's Mines (by Haggard, H. Rider)
Bhagavad Gita (by Various)
Das Kapital (by Karl Marx)
Pride and Prejudice (by Austen, Jane)
Alice's Adventures in Wonderland (by Carroll, Lewis)
The Sun Also Rises (by Hemingway, Ernest)
Northanger Abbey (by Austen, Jane)
The Man in the Iron Mask (by Maquet, Auguste, 1813-1888)
Moby Dick, or the Whale (by Melville, Herman)
Moby Dick; Or the Whale (by Melville, Herman)

Top 100 books on Classic Children's Literature

Andersen's Fairy Tales (by Andersen, Hans Christian)
Gulliver's Travels. (by Jonathan Swift)
King of the Golden River, The (by Ruskin, John)
The Orbis Pictus of John Amos Comenius (by Comenius, Johann Amos)
Coral Island, The (by Ballantyne, R.M.)
Merry Adventures of Robin Hood, The (by Pyle, Howard)
Tom Brown's School Days : By Thomas Hugh... (by Hughes, Thomas)
Little Lord Fauntleroy (by Burnett, Frances Hodgson, 1849-1924)
Ragged Dick (by Alger, Horatio, Jr.)
Peter and Wendy (by James Matthew Barrie)
Princess and the Goblin, The (by Macdonald, George)
The Railway Children (by Nesbit, Edith)
Grimm's Fairy Tales (by Grimm, Jacob)
Tale of Two Cities, A (by Dickens, Charles)
Gulliver's Travels (by Swift, Jonathan)

Top books on Shakespeare

Measure For Measure (by Shakespeare, William)
The Merchant of Venice (by William Shakespeare)
King Richard the Second (by Shakespeare, William)
Macbeth (by Shakespeare, William)
The Comedy of Errors (by Shakespeare, William)
The Winter's Tale (by Shakespeare)
The tragedy of Julius Caesar (by Shakespeare, William)
As You Like It the Pennsylvania State Un... (by Shakespeare, William)
A Midsummer Night's Dream (by Shakespeare, William)
The Tragedy of Titus Andronicus (by Shakespeare, William)
Merchant of Venice (by William Shakespeare)
Measure for Measure Shakespeare (by Shakespeare, William)
Timon of Athens (by Shakespeare, William)
Much Ado About Nothing (by Shakespeare, William)
Two Gentlemen of Verona, The (by Shakespeare, William)

Top books on Contemporary Children's Literature

Click, Clack, Moo: Cows That Type : Pref... (by Doreen Cronin)
The Beckonong Cat, Based on a Japenese F... (by Koko Nishizuka)
The Treasure : Preformed by Wally Amos (by Uri Shulevitz)
The Rabbit and the Turtle : Preformed by... (by Eric Carle)
How Rocket Learned to Read : Preformed b... (by Tad Hills)
The Wolf and the Lamb : Preformed by Wal... (by Eric Carle)
Loony Little: An Environmental Tale : Pr... (by Dianna Hutts Aston)
Clifford and the Grouchy Neighbors : Pre... (by Norman Bridwell)
Koala Lou : Preformed by Wally Amos (by Mem Fox)
Hunches in Bunches : Preformed by Wally ... (by Dr. Seuss)
Green Eggs and Ham : Preformed by Wally ... (by Dr. Seuss)
The Greatest : Preformed by Wally Amos (by Kenny Rogers)
Curious George and the Pizza : Preformed... (by Margret and H.A. Rey)
The Very Greedy Bee : Preformed by Wally... (by Steve Smallman)
The Carrot Seed : Preformed by Wally Amo... (by Ruth Krauss)

Top 100 books on Hawaiiana

No Ka Wai O Ka Puna Hou (by Eve Furchgott)
Punia (by Lokahi Antonio)
Ka Mo'Olelo O Lonoikamakahiki (by Abraham Fornander)
Kumu Kou (by Larry Kimura)
Kamehameha Iv : Alexander Liholiho (by Ru Hasegawa Lowe)
He Moolelo No Kamapuaa (by Kuleana Kope)
Kamehameha the Great (by Julie Stewart Williams)
An Account of the Polynesian Race : Its ... Volume Vol. 2 (by Fornander, Abraham)
Annual Report of the Governor of Hawaii ... Volume Year 1959 (by Hawaii. Governor)
Na Mele O Hawaii Nei: 101 Hawaiian Songs (by Samuel H. Elbert)
Ai'Ai (by Kawike Napoleon)
The Ks Impact : Increasing Access to Qua... (by State Department of Education)
Kamehameha V : Lot Kapuaiwa (by Rosalin Uphus Comeau)
Ke Aupuni Moi (by Samuel Manaiakalani Kamakau- Kamehameha School Pre...)
Na Hana a Ka La’I (by Hokulani Cleeland)

Top books on Poetry

The Raven (by Poe, Edgar Allan)
When I Was King: Poems (by Henry Lawson)
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)
Collected Poems of John Keats : Volume 5... (by Keats, John)
Poems (by Owen, Wilfred)
The Selected Poems of Rainer Maria Rilke (by Rilke, Rainer, Maria)
A Profeta Kertje (by Gibran, Khalil)
The Complete Poems of Paul Laurence Dunb... (by Paul Laurence Dunbar)
The Poems Of Robert Frost (by Frost, Robert.)
Poetical Works : Volume 1 (by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow)
Verses 1889-1896 (by Kipling, Rudyard)
Rhymes of a Red Cross Man (by Robert W. Service)
The Negro Speaks of Rivers (by Hughes, Langston)

Yiddish Book Center

Geven Amol a Shel (by Strauss-Marko, Shlomo)
Bilder Un Geshaln Fun Soroki (by Seltzer, David)
Mensh Un Goyrl (by Menshes, David)
Zshan Krisof : Volume 4 (by Rolland, Romain)
Dos Leben Un Shafen Fun Ofets Ayyim : Vo... Volume Vol. 2 (by Yashar, Mosheh Meir)
Ale Verk : Vol. 8 Volume Vol. 8 (by Mendele Mokher Sefarim)
Der Eror Gegen Sotsyalisen in Rusland Un... (by Jewish Socialist Verband)
Funken in Ash Lider (by Rapp, Naman)
Mayn Lebens Geshikhe : Di Layden Un Frey... (by Thomashefsky, Bessie)
Kinder Onfanger Lernbukh Farn Ershn Yor (by Tarant, Deborah)
Ale Verk Fun Sholem Aleykhem : Vol. 12 Volume Vol. 12 (by Sholem Aleichem)
Yidishe Geshikhe in Lektsyes : Volume 2 (by Senderey, M. (Moisés))
Kropokin Zamlbukh Gevidme dem 25-N Yorts... (by Sigal, Jacob)
Ikh Vil Fliyen (by Koltsov, M)
A-mames Bukh Bay Rivḳah Feldman (by Feldman, Rebecca)