Appetizer
By Justin Hanson
Isogloss
A boundary that separates regions in which different language usages predominate
Isolated language
A language that is unrelated to any other languages and therefore not attached to any language
Ex Basque and Tarascan
Literary tradition
A language that is written as well as spoken.
Creole
A language that results from the mixing of a colonizer's language with the indigenous language of the people being dominated.
Standard language
The form of a language used for official government business, education and mass communications.
Pidgin language
A form of speech that adopts a simplified grammar and limited vocabulary of a lingua Franca
Ex. Denglish
Ideograms
The system of writing in which each symbol represents an idea or a concept rather than a sound
Ex. Chinese
Language family
A collection of languages related to each other through a common ancestor long before recorded history.
Language group
A collection of languages within a branch that share a common origin in the relatively recent past and display relatively few differences in grammar and vocabulary.