Columbia Encyclopedia

Search results

500 results found

Lithuanian

(Encyclopedia)Lithuanian lĭthˌo͞oāˈnēən [key], a language belonging to the Baltic subfamily of the Indo-European family of languages (see Baltic languages). The official language of Lithuania since 1918, Lit...

Hesychius of Alexandria

(Encyclopedia)Hesychius of Alexandria hēsĭkˈēəs [key], fl. 5th cent.?, Alexandrian grammarian. Hesychius is known as the compiler of an invaluable lexicon, a glossary of unusual words and expressions occurring...

Prakrit

(Encyclopedia)Prakrit präˈkrĭt [key], any of a number of languages belonging to the Indic group of the Indo-Iranian subfamily of the Indo-European family of languages (see Indo-Iranian). The Prakrits are usually...

programming language

(Encyclopedia)programming language, syntax, grammar, and symbols or words used to give instructions to a computer. Once the program is written and has had any errors repaired (a process called debugging), it may ...

Gundulić, Ivan

(Encyclopedia)Gundulić, Ivan jōvänˈnē gōndəˈlä [key], 1588–1638, Croatian poet. Born in Ragusa (Dubrovnik) of an aristocratic Dalmatian family, he became chief magistrate of Ragusa. In his early work he ...

Wolin

(Encyclopedia)Wolin or Wollin both: vôˈlēn [key], island, 95 sq mi (246 sq km), off the coast of Pomerania, in the Baltic Sea, and belonging to Poland. Wolin is separated from the mainland by the Zalew Szczeciń...

Ethiopic

(Encyclopedia)Ethiopic ēthēŏpˈĭk [key], extinct language of Ethiopia belonging to the North Ethiopic group of the South Semitic (or Ethiopic) languages, which, in turn, belong to the Semitic subfamily of the A...

international language

(Encyclopedia)international language, sometimes called universal language, a language intended to be used by people of different linguistic backgrounds to facilitate communication among them and to reduce the misun...

Welsh language

(Encyclopedia)Welsh language, member of the Brythonic group of the Celtic subfamily of the Indo-European family of languages. See Celtic languages. ...

Gothic language

(Encyclopedia)Gothic language, dead language belonging to the now extinct East Germanic group of the Germanic subfamily of the Indo-European family of languages (see Germanic languages). Gothic has special value fo...

Browse by Subject