Language

A system of communication through the use of speech, a collection of sounds understood by a group of people to have the same meaning.

A collection of languages related to each other through a common ancestor long before recorded history. (EX: Indo-European)

A collection of languages related through a common ancestor that existed several thousand years ago. Differences are not as extensive or old as with language families, and archaeological evidence can confirm that these derived from the same family. (EX: Romance)

A collection of languages within a branch that share a common origin in the relativity recent past and display relativly few differences in grammer and vocabulary

In multilingual countries the language selected, often by the educated and politically powerful elite, to promote internal cohesion; usually the language of the courts and government.

Languages that are recognized by the government and the intellectual elite as the norm for use in schools, government, media, and other aspects of public life.

A language of international communication. Spoken across a broad area outside the native country. Eg:English as a global language and Mandarin in East Asia.

A form of spoken communication with greatly reduced grammatical structure and limited vocabulary that is used by speakers of mutually unintelligible languages to communicate with each other (a pidgin is not the native language of any speaker).

A language that results from the mixing of a colonizer's language with the indigenous language of the people being dominated

Created by the English language diffusing into the Spanish language.

A distinct dialect in the English language. A way that many blacks in America have preserved their linguistic heritage. Is a combination of ebony and phonics.

The dialect of English associated With upper-class Britons living in the London area and now considered standard in the United Kingdom

Combination of German and English dialect distinguished by vocabulary, spelling, and pronunciation.

A term used by the French for English words that have entered the French language, a combination of franfais and anglai." the French words for "French" and "English," respectively.

Single letters or numbers that are used to represent words or noises associated with an action e.g. x = kiss zzz = sleeping.