Delicious Definitions!
The appetizer
Languages have many forms
Literary Tradition is a term used when a language is both spoke and written. English and French creole would both be examples of literary traditions.
Chinese and Japanese characters are considered ideograms. Ideograms are a system of writing with the use of symbols representing concepts or ideas, instead of letters representing a sound.
Living and Dead Languages
An isolated language is a language that is not related to any other language or language family. Two examples of isolated languages are Basque and Ainu. Basque and Ainu puzzle linguistics as to where they originated.
Languages are written in many different ways
Gothic
The gothic language was used by tribes in Europe before the spread of Latin and Romance languages.
Chinese Ideograms
These characters represent the concept of respecting and honoring one's parents. Would English be easier to read and write if it were written in ideograms?
Basque
In the 1900's, many Basque speaking men were sheepherders. They carved words and pictures into Aspen trees to pass time on long summer days.
Language groups
A language group is a group of languages in a branch with a common origin. Romance, Germanic and Balto-Salvic are all examples of language groups in Europe.
Formal and Informal Langauge
Also like a standard language, a lingua franca is a universally used language in business or trade when native language differs. English is the most widely used lingua franca in business today.
Unlike standard language and lingua francas, vulgar Latin was Latin used in everyday conversation, not used in official documents. Everyday English slang can be compared to vulgar Latin.
Lingua Franca
English is used by business people of all different ethnic groups.
Vulgar Latin
Vulgar Latin was the name for everyday communication.
Standard Language
British Received Pronunciation was a widespread setting of a standard language in the United Kingdom.