Akkadian, although a dead language, has left deep imprints on Semitic and some Indo-European languages, and has played an important role in the history of mankind. It is accepted as the ancestor of all the Semitic languages. Beginning from the era of Sargon I, it became the official language in a vast area from Anatolia to Egypt and to India.…

Most of the ordinary words in a language do not mean; rather, they act as rigid designators, referring to the same object in all possible words in which the object exists. Most words are names that are used as rigid designators of kinds--natural kinds (species, genre, and so forth), artifacts, physical and social magnitudes, and sorts of…

Condensed, slightly revised version of an article which appeared in the Chinese Year Book, Shanghai, in 1937. (VM)

Highlighting this article which argues in defense of classical language, literature, and cultural studies is a brief description of the history and development of the Latin language, its emergence into modern tongues, its direct Etruscan derivation, and its fixed and formal nature. Other topics treated briefly include a distinction made between…

A social and linguistic history of the English language is presented in this book. Part 1, "History and Language," discusses such topics as the aims of language history, the beginning of language, grammars, and language meaning. Part 2, "Words and Meanings," explores Old English, Middle English, the establishment of modern English, creating new…

This report provides data on standard and non-standard African language varieties occurring in urban areas of South Africa, drawn from nine smaller reports. It illustrates the language use patterns in black urban communities and describes the language varieties spoken in them. It was found that the impact of non-standard varieties on the use of…

Papers from a workshop on the role and development of national languages include: "What Is a National Language Good for?" (Florian Coulmas); "To the Language Born: Thoughts on the Problem of National and International Languages" (Jacob Mey); "Swahili as a National Language in East Africa" (Marilyn Merritt, Mohamed…

A discussion of the situation of Idoma, a Nigerian language, begins with different accounts of the language's origin, referring to both local legend and cosmology. It then proceeds to a review of modern linguists' efforts, since 1927, to classify the language. A statistical overview contains information on the number of speakers of Idoma as a…