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Babel

(Encyclopedia)Babel bāˈbəl [key] [Heb.,=confused], in the Bible, place where Noah's descendants (who spoke one language) tried to build a tower reaching up to heaven to make a name for themselves. For this presu...

lexicography

(Encyclopedia)lexicography, the applied study of the meaning, evolution, and function of the vocabulary units of a language for the purpose of compilation in book form—in short, the process of dictionary making. ...

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...

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...

Walpi

(Encyclopedia)Walpi wälˈpē [key] [Hopi,=place of the gap], pueblo, NE Ariz., on a mesa NE of Flagstaff; founded c.1700. Its inhabitants are Pueblo who speak the Hopi language (Uto-Aztecan linguistic family). One...

Tillamook

(Encyclopedia)Tillamook, Native North Americans whose language belongs to the Salishan branch of the Algonquian-Wakashan linguistic stock (see Native American languages). In the early 19th cent. they lived on Tilla...

Bessenyei, György

(Encyclopedia)Bessenyei, György dyörˈdyə bĕˈshĕnyā [key], 1747–1811, Hungarian dramatist and writer. In Vienna he came in contact with French rationalism and was an ardent follower of Voltaire and the Enc...

Samoyedes

(Encyclopedia)Samoyedes or Samoyeds both: sămˈəyĕdzˌ [key], partly nomadic, partly settled agricultural tribes found in N Siberia and the Taimyr Peninsula, especially in the basin of the Ob and Yenisei rivers....

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...

San Ildefonso, pueblo, United States

(Encyclopedia)San Ildefonso săn ēlˌdəfŏnˈsō [key], pueblo (1990 pop. 447), N central N.Mex., on the Rio Grande, established in the early 1700s. The inhabitants are Pueblo who speak a Tanoan language. The pue...