Columbia Encyclopedia

Search results

500 results found

umlaut

(Encyclopedia)umlaut o͝omˈlout [key] [Ger.,=transformed sound], in inflection, variation of vowels of the type of English man to men. In this instance it is the end product of the effect of a y (long since disapp...

Ponca

(Encyclopedia)Ponca, Native North Americans whose language belongs to the Siouan branch of the Hokan-Siouan linguistic stock (see Native American languages). According to tradition the group lived in the Ohio valle...

Aymara

(Encyclopedia)Aymara īmäräˈ [key], Native South Americans inhabiting the Lake Titicaca basin in Peru and Bolivia. The originators of the great culture represented by the ruins of Tiahuanaco were very likely Aym...

papyrus

(Encyclopedia)papyrus pəpīˈrəs [key], a sedge (Cyperus papyrus), now almost extinct in Egypt but so universally used there in antiquity as to be the hieroglyphic symbol for Lower Egypt and a common motif in art...

Gullah

(Encyclopedia)Gullah gŭlˈə [key], a creole language formerly spoken by the Gullah, an African-American community of the Sea Islands and the Middle Atlantic coast of the United States. The word is probably a corr...

Kansa

(Encyclopedia)Kansa kănˈsô [key], people whose language belongs to the Siouan branch of the Hokan-Siouan linguistic stock (see Native American languages), also known as the Kansas or Kaw. Closely related to the ...

Yamasee

(Encyclopedia)Yamasee, Yamasi yĕmˈ– [key], Native North Americans whose language belongs to the Muskogean branch of the Hokan-Siouan linguistic stock (see Native American languages). In the late 16th cent., wh...

Wappinger

(Encyclopedia)Wappinger wŏpˈĭnjər [key], confederation of Native North Americans of the Algonquian branch of the Algonquian-Wakashan linguistic stock (see Native American languages). In the early 17th cent. the...

Limpopo, province, South Africa

(Encyclopedia)Limpopo, province (2011 pop. 5,404,868), 48,554 sq mi (125,754 sq km), NE South Africa. In 1994, under South Africa's post-apartheid constitution, Limpopo was created from the northern portion of the ...

Assiniboin

(Encyclopedia)Assiniboin əsĭnˈəboinˌ [key], Native North Americans whose culture is that of the N Great Plains; their language belongs to the Siouan branch of the Hokan-Siouan linguistic stock (see Native Amer...