Languages, WAD-’BR
Language, a system of conventional spoken, manual, or written symbols by means of which human beings, as members of a social group and participants in its culture, express themselves. The functions of language include communication, the expression of identity, play, imaginative expression, and emotional release.
Languages Encyclopedia Articles By Title
Wade-Giles romanization, system of romanizing the modern Chinese written language, originally devised to simplify......
Arthur David Waley was an English sinologist whose outstanding translations of Chinese and Japanese literary classics......
Rex Warner was a British novelist, Greek scholar, poet, translator, and critic who in his fictional work warned—in......
Sylvia Townsend Warner was an English writer who began her self-proclaimed “accidental career” as a poet after......
Welsh language, member of the Brythonic group of the Celtic languages, spoken in Wales. Modern Welsh, like English,......
West Germanic languages, group of Germanic languages that developed in the region of the North Sea, Rhine-Weser,......
Diedrich Westermann was a German scholar of African languages and culture who refined and extended the work of......
Richard Francis Weymouth was a philologist and biblical scholar who made one of the major 20th-century translations......
Of course, since there was no recording technology in Shakespeare’s time, we can never really know what the bard......
It is widely agreed among historians that Jesus primarily spoke Aramaic, the common language of Palestine and Syria.......
Alfred’s avid dedication to learning defined the years of his reign as king of Wessex following his victory at......
People from certain U.S. states go by unusual names—Connecticuter, Michigander, Utahn, to name a few—but Hoosiers......
Some countries in southern and central Asia and some of Russia’s republics have names that end in the suffix -stan.......
Europe existed as a conceptual construct long before geographers began arguing whether there are seven continents......
whisper, speech in which the vocal cords are held rigid, preventing the vibration that produces normal sounds.......
John Robert Whiting was a playwright whose intellectually demanding dramas avoided the audience-pleasing formulas......
William Dwight Whitney was an American linguist and one of the foremost Sanskrit scholars of his time, noted especially......
Benjamin Lee Whorf was a U.S. linguist noted for his hypotheses regarding the relation of language to thinking......
Filipinos commonly bear Spanish surnames as a result of a colonial administrative reform introduced in 1849, when......
Your voice changes as you become an adult and may change even further as you age. The pitch of a person’s voice......
Charlotte, North Carolina, is called the Queen City because it was named for Queen Charlotte, the wife of King......
While the wind might blow off Lake Michigan, the nickname “Windy City” is rooted in Chicago’s reputation for verbose......
Chicago is called the “Second City” due to a combination of historical and cultural factors, primarily stemming......
The nickname Constitution State refers to Connecticut’s adoption of the Fundamental Orders in 1638, a pioneering......
Los Angeles is called the “City of Angels” because its name literally means “The Angels” in Spanish. The city’s......
Missouri has long been known as the Show Me state, but the origins of that nickname aren’t entirely clear. Perhaps......
New Jersey became known as the Garden State in the 18th century because of its fertile land and agricultural productivity.......
New York is called the “Empire State” due to its historical significance, economic power, and cultural influence.......
Oklahoma earned its “Sooner State” nickname from settlers who jumped the gun—literally—during the Land Rush of......
There are a number of different explanations for Paris being called the “City of Light” (“la Ville Lumière”). One......
Philadelphia is called the “City of Brotherly Love” because its name is derived from the Greek words “philia,”......
The abbreviation “lbs” for the unit of weight pounds comes from the Roman term libra. The word libra means “scales”......
Seattle is called the Emerald City because of its abundant parks and greenbelts, which give it a vibrant, lush......
Tennessee earned the nickname the “Volunteer State” due to its residents’ remarkable willingness to serve in the......
Texas is called the Lone Star State because of its historical association with the single star on its flag. This......
Utah is called the Beehive State because the beehive is a symbol of industry and hard work, which are values deeply......
Many cities are known by nicknames. But why? Here’s how nine of the world’s most famous cities earned their iconic......
Christoph Martin Wieland was a poet and man of letters of the German Rococo period whose work spans the major trends......
Richard Wilbur was an American poet associated with the New Formalist movement. Wilbur was educated at Amherst......
Jan Frans Willems was a Flemish poet, playwright, essayist, known as the "Father of the Flemish Movement," and......
William of Moerbeke was a Flemish cleric, archbishop, and classical scholar whose Latin translations of the works......
Józef Wittlin was a Polish novelist, essayist, and poet, an Expressionist noted for his humanist views. Having......
Friedrich August Wolf was a German classical scholar who is considered the founder of modern philology but is best......
Wolof language, an Atlantic language of the Niger-Congo language family genetically related to Fula and Serer.......
Sarah Chauncey Woolsey was an American children’s author whose vivacious and mischievous heroines presented a popular......
James Wright was an American poet of the postmodern era who wrote about sorrow, salvation, and self-revelation,......
writing, form of human communication by means of a set of visible marks that are related, by convention, to some......
Wu language, variety of Chinese dialects spoken in Shanghai, in southeastern Jiangsu province, and in Zhejiang......
Ellis Wynne was a clergyman and author whose Gweledigaetheu y Bardd Cwsc (1703; “Visions of the Sleeping Bard”)......
Xhosa language, a Bantu language spoken by seven million people in South Africa, especially in Eastern province.......
Xia Yan was a Chinese writer, journalist, and playwright known for his leftist plays and films. Xia was sent to......
Xiang language, Chinese language that is spoken in Hunan province. The two major varieties of Xiang are New Xiang......
Xinkan languages, a small family of four languages from southeastern Guatemala: Chiquimulilla Xinka, Guazacapán......
Xu Guangqi was an official of the Ming dynasty (1368–1644), and the most influential Chinese convert to Christianity......
Xuanzang was a Buddhist monk and Chinese pilgrim to India who translated the sacred scriptures of Buddhism from......
Yan Fu was a Chinese scholar who translated into Chinese works by T.H. Huxley, John Stuart Mill, Herbert Spencer,......
Andrew Chi-Chih Yao is a Chinese American computer scientist and winner of the 2000 A.M. Turing Award, the highest......
Herbert Osborne Yardley was an American cryptographer who organized and directed the U.S. government’s first formal......
Yeniseian languages, small group of languages generally classified among the Paleo-Siberian languages. That category......
Yiddish language, one of the many Germanic languages that form a branch of the Indo-European language family. Yiddish......
Yoruba language, one of a small group of languages that comprise the Yoruboid cluster of the Defoid subbranch of......
Yucatec language, American Indian language of the Mayan family, spoken in the Yucatán Peninsula, including not......
Yukaghir language, language spoken by not more than a few hundred persons in the Kolyma River region of Sakha (Yakutiya)......
Yupik language, the western division of the Eskimo languages, spoken in southwestern Alaska and in...
Abu al-Qāsim Maḥmūd ibn ʿUmar al-Zamakhsharī was a Persian-born Arabic scholar whose chief work is Al-Kashshāf......
L.L. Zamenhof was a Polish physician and oculist who created the most important of the international artificial......
Zhou Zuoren was a Chinese essayist, critic, and literary scholar who translated fiction and myths from many languages......
Zhuang language, language spoken by the Zhuang people, an official minority group of southern China, mostly in......
Vasily Andreyevich Zhukovsky was a Russian poet and translator, one of Aleksandr Pushkin’s most important precursors......
Zimbabwe, landlocked country of southern Africa. It shares a 125-mile (200-kilometre) border on the south with......
Louis Zukofsky was an American poet, the founder of Objectivist poetry and author of the massive poem “A.” The......
Zulu language, a Bantu language spoken by more than nine million people mainly in South Africa, especially in the......
İbrahim Şinasi was a writer who founded and led a Western movement in 19th-century Turkish literature. Şinasi became......
ʿAbd al-Malik was the fifth caliph (685–705 ce) of the Umayyad Arab dynasty centred in Damascus. He reorganized......
al-Ḥarīrī was a scholar of Arabic language and literature and government official who is primarily known for the......
Ḥisdai ibn Shaprut was a Jewish physician, translator, and political figure who helped inaugurate the golden age......
Ḥunayn ibn Isḥāq was an Arab scholar whose translations of Plato, Aristotle, Galen, Hippocrates, and the Neoplatonists......
’Brom-ston was a Tibetan Buddhist, member of the school of the 11th-century reformer Atīśa. He translated much......