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Barbosa, Ruy

(Encyclopedia)Barbosa, Ruy ro͞oˈē bärbōˈsä [key], 1849–1923, Brazilian jurist, writer, and statesman. He was largely responsible for the republican constitution of Brazil and was the champion of law and li...

Canarsee

(Encyclopedia)Canarsee kənärˈsē [key], Native North Americans whose language belongs to the Algonquian-Wakashan linguistic stock (see Native American languages). They occupied the western part of Long Island, N...

Pryor, Richard

(Encyclopedia)Pryor, Richard, 1940–2005, American comedian, b. Peoria, Ill. His iconoclastic, wildly inventive, and racially explosive comic style was expressed in language that was often crude and frequently bri...

Ribeiro, Bernardim

(Encyclopedia)Ribeiro, Bernardim bərnərdēmˈ rēbāˈro͝o [key], 1482?–1552?, Portuguese poet. Ribeiro was a figure at the Lisbon court and is said to have gone mad after an unhappy love affair. Saudades, or ...

Villani, Giovanni

(Encyclopedia)Villani, Giovanni jōvänˈnē vēl-läˈnē [key], c.1275–1348, Italian historian of Florence. As a Florentine government functionary, he participated in some of the events he narrates. His 12-volu...

Celt

(Encyclopedia)Celt kĕlt [key]. 1 One who speaks a Celtic language or who derives ancestry from an area where a Celtic language was spoken; i.e., one from Ireland, the Scottish Hebrides and Highlands, the Isle of M...

Ferreira, António

(Encyclopedia)Ferreira, António äntôˈnyo͝o fərēˈrə [key], c.1528–69, Portuguese dramatist and poet. Ferreira served as a privy councillor and a magistrate. Influenced by the Italian Renaissance, he wrote...

aphasia

(Encyclopedia)aphasia əfāˈzhə [key], language disturbance caused by a lesion of the brain, making an individual partially or totally impaired in his ability to speak, write, or comprehend the meaning of spoken ...

Amyot, Joseph

(Encyclopedia)Amyot or Amiot, Joseph ämyōˈ [key], 1718–1794?, French Roman Catholic missionary in China, a Jesuit. He wrote a long treatise on the history, sciences, and customs of the Chinese (15 vol., 1776�...

Jyväskylä

(Encyclopedia)Jyväskylä yüˈvăsküˌlă [key], city (1998 pop. 76,948), Western Finland prov., S central Finland. Situated on Lake Päijänne, it is an important port. Paper and wood products, metals, wool, and...