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An Exhibit on Language

Words of the People

The Principles of the International Phon... (by International Phonetic Association)
Selections from Chaucer's Canterbury Tal... (by Chaucer, Geoffrey)
The Tower of Babel, A Poetical Drama (by Alfred Austin)
The Canterbury Tales (by Chaucer, Geoffrey)
The Science Of Language Vol I (by F. Max Muller K. M.)
A Comparative Grammar of the Gaudian Lan... (by Hoernle, August Frederich Rudolf)
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

Esperanto Teacher, The (by Fryer, Helen)
A Comparative Grammar of the Gaudian Lan... (by Hoernle, August Frederich Rudolf)
Awful German Language, The (by Twain, Mark)
The King's English (by Fowler, Henry Watson)
The Esperanto Teacher a Simple Course fo... (by Fryer, Helen)
The Tragedie of Romeo and Juliet (by Shakespeare, William)
Just so Stories (by Rudyard Kipling)
The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn (Tom ... (by Twain, Mark)
A Dictionary of Modern English Usage (by H. W. Fowler)
The Three Musketeers (by Dumas, Alexandre)
Stickeen (by Muir, John)
Tractatus Logico-Philosophicus (by Wittgenstein, Ludwig)
Familiar Quotations; A Collection of Pas... (by Bartlett, John)
The Divine Comedy : Inferno (by Alighieri, Dante)
Around the World in Eighty Days (by Verne, Jules)

Top 100 books on Education

Leviathan (Books I and II) (by Hobbes, Thomas)
The Trojan Women (by Euripides)
Concerning Civil Government, Second Essa... (by Locke, John)
Elements of Style, The (by Strunk Jr, William)
Free Schools; A Documentary History of t... (by Finegan, Thomas Edward)
A Doll's House (by Ibsen, Henrik)
The Scarlet Letter (by Hawthorne, Nathaniel)
Rights of Man, Score Aor Rom Volume Vol. II (by Paine, Thomas)
Some Thoughts Concerning Education (by Locke, John)
Anna Karenina -2 (by Tolstoy, Leo)
Leviathan (by Hobbes, Thomas)
Metamorphosis (by Kafka, Franz)
Twilight of the Idols or How to Philosop... (by Nietzsche, Friedrich, Dr.)
Development of the Education of Wage-Ear... (by Hey, Spurley)
The Confessions of Jean-Jacques Rousseau (by Jean-Jacques Rousseau)

Top 100 books on Children's Early Learning

The Three Bears
Little Red Balloon (by Hofman, Caroline)
The Children's Book of Stars; (by Mitton, Gerldine Edith)
Original Poems, for Infant Minds (by Ann Taylor, Jane Taylor, O'Keeffe (Adelaide))
Ozma of Oz (by Baum, Lyman Frank)
Old Roly Bear Visits His Cousins (by Lowe, Samuel E.)
The Story of Ferdinand (by Leaf, Munro)
Little Tot's Picture Book (by Sheila Thibodeau Lambrinos Collection - York Unive...)
Stories for Little Children (by Doughty, Sarah Parsons)
German Fairy Tales (by Andersen, Hans Christian)
The velveteen rabbit, or, how toys becom... (by Bianco, Margery Williams)
Story of Mankind, The (by van Loon, Hendrik)
Grimm's Fairy Tales (by Grimm, Jacob)
The Dutch Twins (by Perkins, Lucy Fitch)
Green Fairy Book, The (by Lang, Andrew)

Top 100 books on Literature and Fiction

Tanglewood Tales for Girls and Boys: Bei... (by Nathaniel Hawthorne)
A Tale of Two Cities (by Dickens, Charles)
The Odyssey (by Homer)
Moby Dick, or the Whale (by Melville, Herman)
The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe (th... (by C. S. Lewis)
The Legend of Sleepy Hollow (by Irving, Washington, 1783-1859)
Silas Marner the Weaver of Raveloe (by Eliot, George)
The Grapes of Wrath (by Steinbeck, John)
Anna Karenina (by Tolstoy, Leo)
The Prisoner of Zenda (by Hope, Anthony)
The Red Badge of Courage (by Crane, Stephen)
The Diary of a Nobody (by Grossmith, George)
The Thousand and One Nights; Or, The Ara...
Hunchback of Notre Dame, The (by Hugo, Victor)
Anna Karenina -2 (by Tolstoy, Leo)

Top 100 books on Classic Children's Literature

King Arthur and His Knights (by Radford, Maude L.)
Seven Little Australians (by Turner, Ethel)
Five Children And It (by E. Nesbit)
A Dog of Flanders (by Rame, Maria Louise)
Lorna Doone, a Romance of Exmoor (by Blackmore, Richard Doddridge)
A Token for Children : Being an Exact Ac... (by Janeway, James)
Voyages of Doctor Dolittle, The (by Lofting, Hugh)
Legend of Sleepy Hollow, The (by Irving, Washington)
Three Musketeers, The (by Dumas, Alexandre)
Peter and Wendy (by James Matthew Barrie)
Kidnapped (by Stevenson, Robert Louis)
King of the Golden River, The (by Ruskin, John)
Velveteen Rabbit, The (by Williams, Margery)
Peter and Wendy (by Barrie, J. M. (James Matthew), 1860-1937)
The story of King Arthur and his knights (by Pyle, Howard)

Top books on Shakespeare

The Book of Love (by Wagstaff, Blanche Shoemaker)
Taming of the Shrew, The (by Shakespeare, William)
The Tempest; A Comedy by William Shakesp... (by Shakespeare, William)
Tempest, The (by Shakespeare, William)
Love's Labours Lost (by Shakespeare, William)
As You Like It (by Shakespeare, William)
The Tragedy of King Lear (by Shakespeare, William)
A Midsummer Night's Dream (by William Shakespeare)
The Winter's Tale (by William Shakespeare)
Timon of Athens (by Shakespeare)
Macbeth (by Shakespeare, William)
Twelfth Night or What You Will (by Shakespeare, William)
Measure For Measure (by Shakespeare, William)
Two Gentlemen of Verona, The (by Shakespeare, William)
Richard III (by Shakespeare, William)

Top books on Contemporary Children's Literature

Giggle, Giggle, Quack : Preformed by Wal... (by Doreen Cronin)
Curious George and the Pizza : Preformed... (by Margret and H.A. Rey)
Clifford and the Grouchy Neighbors : Pre... (by Norman Bridwell)
Clifford The Big Red Dog : Preformed by ... (by Norman Bridwell)
Jump, Frog, Jump : Preformed by Wally Am... (by Robert Kalan)
The Beckonong Cat, Based on a Japenese F... (by Koko Nishizuka)
How Rocket Learned to Read : Preformed b... (by Tad Hills)
The Lion and the Mouse : Preformed by Wa... (by Eric Carle)
Click, Clack, Moo: Cows That Type : Pref... (by Doreen Cronin)
Peter's Chair : Preformed by Wally Amos (by Ezra Jack Keats)
The Greatest : Preformed by Wally Amos (by Kenny Rogers)
The Cow Who Clucked : Preformed by Wally... (by Denise Fleming)
RRRALPH : Preformed by Wally Amos
Calabash Cat : Preformed by Wally Amos (by James Rumford)
The Treasure : Preformed by Wally Amos (by Uri Shulevitz)

Top 100 books on Hawaiiana

Place Names of Hawaii - Hawaii Dictionar... (by Mary Kawena Pukui)
Kumu Kou (by Larry Kimura)
Kane'Ohe : Where I Live (by Julie Stewart Williams)
A Dictionary of the Hawaiian Language (by Lorrin Andrews)
Iosepa Kaho'Oluhi Nawahiokalani'Opu'U (by William H. Wilson)
Na Keiki 'Elima (by William H. Wilson)
Pauahi - the Kamehameha Legacy (by Kamehameha Schools Press)
He Lumi Hou Ko Ka Hale (by William H. Wilson)
Kumu'Ulu (by Keoni Kelekolio)
Ke Keiki Paionia (The Pioneer Boy) (by Samuel C. Andrews)
Introduction to Hawaiian Grammar (by Alexander, W. D. (William De Witt))
Hawaiian Dictionary (by Mary Kawena Pukui)
The Ks Impact : Increasing Access to Qua... (by State Department of Education)
No Na Hale (by Liana Iaea Honda)
Ma Uka, Ma Kai (by Eve Furchgott)

Top books on Poetry

A Profeta Kertje (by Gibran, Khalil)
Stray Birds (by Sir Rabindranath Tagore)
Leaves of Grass (by Whitman, Walt)
The Prelude Or, Growth of a Poets Mind (by Wordsworth, William)
In Memoriam (by Tennyson, Alfred Lord)
The Poetical Works of Percy Bysshe Shell... (by Percy Bysshe Shelley)
When I Was King: Poems (by Henry Lawson)
The Poems Of Robert Frost (by Frost, Robert.)
Poems (by Owen, Wilfred)
Poems by Currer, Ellis, And Acton Bell (... (by Bell, Acton)
Rhymes of a Red Cross Man (by Robert W. Service)
The Selected Poems of Rainer Maria Rilke (by Rilke, Rainer, Maria)
Songs of Innocence and of Experience and... (by Blake, William)
Collected Poems of John Keats : Volume 5... (by Keats, John)
Verses 1889-1896 (by Kipling, Rudyard)

Yiddish Book Center

Geklibene Shrifn : Vol. 7 Volume Vol. 7 (by Kats, Pinye)
A Han Farshrayb Miniaurn (by Tenenbaum, Shea)
Paryoizmus Un Inernatsyonalie (by Hamann, Albert)
Gezamle Verk : Vol. 3 Volume Vol. 3 (by Nomberg, Hersh David)
Di Vel Dertseyl Mayselekh Un Verlakh : V... Volume Vol. 2 (by Lipson, Mordekhai)
Shulamit, Oder, Bas-Yerusholayim Eyne Mu... (by Goldfaden, Abraham)
Di Rol Fun Yidn in Di Neger-Kamfn (by Novik, P.)
Yosef Leshshinski (Y. Khmorner) Zayn Leb... (by Kazdan, Ayyim Solomon)
In der Roymisher Geo Hisorisher Roman Fu... (by Apter, S.)
Der Broyner Bukh Vegn der Unertsindung F... (by World Committee for the Victims of German Fascism)
Yudishe Folks-Lieder (by Warshawski, Mark)
Mosheh Mendelson Zektsn Sepember, 1729 -... (by Hurvits-Zalkes, Sh.)
Shmerl Nar Di Geshikhe Fun an Umbakann H... (by Simon, Solomon)
100 Aynes Tsu Amerike Humorisishe Shrifn (by Der Lebediker)
Der Masmid (by Bialik, Hayyim Nachman)