Language

A language is a system of communication using symbols (including physical gestures, sounds, and other means of expression). The origin of human language is not fully known, but the use of complex language is often said to be what separates humans from the rest of the animal kingdom. Humans use language almost constantly, as we continually communicate information.

In and around these classifications, there are many types of languages in use today, numbering in the thousands worldwide.  Some languages, such as English and Japanese, are widely spoken within a certain culture; others, like languages of many indigenous peoples, have largely died out as their populations of native speakers were marginalized. Languages such as Latin are considered "dead", having no native speakers, but are still studied in academic circles. Still other languages, such as Perl or HTML, were designed specifically for communication with machines. Signed languages make use of gestures instead of sounds, a special innovation of the deaf community. And linguistic innovation continues unabated: LOLspeak and Emoji are only two of the language-related developments born of online communication.

In the blogosphere, posts tagged with language may have to do with learning a foreign tongue, or with reflection on words or sounds; they may explore the meaning of language, discuss a child's vocabulary learning process, or use words in a new way (e.g. poetry). One thing they'll all have in common, however, is that they are written or expressed using one of the world's many functioning languages.

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Latest blogosphere posts tagged “Language”

• Poetry Series Spurs Debate on the Use of an Old Slur Against Latinos – “Spic Up/Speak Out” — at El Museo del Barrio

  
  HispanicTips — Authority: 160
  Aggregated by HispanicTips :: Hispanic & Latino News & Information
  1 hour ago

• Weekend Spatchcock of Mixed Tastes

  
  Women of Mystery — Authority: 472
  1) Where did Okay (or O.K.) come from? I was wondering about this other day, and if you scroll through the answers, the expansion from 1830s American slang seems solid, especially when I consider how well other replacement or rhyming slang persists through public affection for using it, and how contagious ...
  3 hours ago

• Intro SQL Server Reporting Services – SRSS (9 Videos)

  
  IdealProgrammer.com — Authority: 104
  Here is a collection of video tutorials on SQL Server Reporting Services ( SSRS ). SQL Server Reporting Services (SSRS) is from Microsoft abd it is a server-based report generation software system. It can be used to create a variety of interactive and printed reports. It is administered via a web interface. ...
  3 hours ago

• Work at Home: Berlitz Spanish Virtual Instructors

  
  Work at Home Mom Revolution — Authority: 131
  Berlitz is seeking Spanish language instructors to teach in their virtual classrooms.  You must be a U.S. citizen with a BA or equivalent degree.  You must have native fluency in Spanish.  You must be outgoing, enthusiastic, flexible, and willing to travel in your local area.  Compensation is $13.33 per hour. ...
  3 hours ago

• Communion

  
  Walking On Fire — Authority: 418
  ה בכסלו תש"ע Shamash 6 From my previous entry Working Magic , one particular quote from Carl Sagan: What an astonishing thing a book is. Its a flat object made from a tree with flexible parts on which are imprinted lots of funny dark squiggles. But one glance at it and youre inside the mind of another ...
  3 hours ago

• Tickle Your Toes

  
  Talking Story with Rosa Say — Authority: 118
  My goodness. In doing my Weekly Review this weekend I had that moment . You know the one: The moment you realize Thanksgiving is mere days away, which means that holiday season is here whether you are ready for it or not , which means there are only six weeks left to the end of one year and beginning of another ...
  4 hours ago

• Drona renamed

  
  IndiHot.Com — Authority: 156
  Director Shaji Kailas has renamed his upcoming movie from Drona to Drona 2010. This is because two films, Hindi and Telugu with the name Drona, have both flopped. He definitely doesn’t want the same fate for his film. The film stars Mammootty in the lead. His role is that of a ‘sanyasi’ with mystical powers. ...
  6 hours ago

• Thats what they said

  
  MetaFilter — Authority: 746
  The Michigan Corpus of Academic Spoken English is a searchable collection of almost 2 million words of transcribed spoken English from the University of Michigan, including student study groups , office hours , dissertation defenses , and campus tours . Researchers use the Michigan corpus to investigate ...
  6 hours ago

• Brooklyn based Body Language hits the road for a major city opening gig with Zero 7

  
  The Dead Hub — Authority: 146
  Brooklyn based Body Language hits the road for a major city opening gig with Zero 7 Dates kick off on November 27th at Terminal 5 Last night they killed it headlining the Brooklyn Future Sounds Rumble Party “Headlining is a band that should be on everyone’s radar by now, BODY LANGUAGE, with their ...
  6 hours ago

• Fun Esl Classroom Games for English Teachers

  
  Socyberty — Authority: 549
  Now teaching English as a foreign language should be something that is fun, or at least that’s the way I and my students view it. The more fun you can inject into your English lessons the more your students will enjoy the experience, and learning English will seem like effortless fun to them! One way to inject a ...
  6 hours ago

• ‘Twitteren’ Dutch word of the year 2009

  
  24 oranges — Authority: 516
  I just got back from the Onze Taal (’Our Language’) congress in Utrecht, where the word ‘twitteren’ was elected Word of the Year 2009. The word, which simply means ‘to twitter,’ was chosen over Koninginnedagdrama , the deeply racist kopvoddentax , Mexicaanse griep and vuvuzela by 600 of the ...
  6 hours ago

• Fun Esl Classroom Games and Activities for Kids

  
  Socyberty — Authority: 549
  One of the best ways to teach the English language to kids whose first language is not English is through fun games and activities. The key to successful teaching is simplicity! The simpler the game or activity is the easier it will be for you the teacher to explain it and the easier it will be for your kids to ...
  6 hours ago

• Learn Turkish

  
  Socyberty — Authority: 549
  Learn Turkish   the easy way by setting yourself simple  targets and objectives. A majority of people who start out to learn Turkish give up half way through because they say it is too complicated. However with time, dedication and a few helpful hints and tips,  it can be done.  1 – Learn Turkish ...
  6 hours ago

• full throated sort

  
  clusterflock — Authority: 617
  I meet with the gays here and there. They were in my house two weeks ago. I don’t mind gays. But I don’t want ‘em stuffing it down my throat all the time .
  7 hours ago

• Quotes, Pics, and Clips VI

  
  Gently Hew Stone — Authority: 126
  I’m resurrecting an installment I used to do, a bite-sized anthology of things I had recently seen or been thinking about in the various areas that interest me.  Here are the first five parts of this series: Part I, Part II, Part III, Part IV, Part V.ARTSLike him or not, it’s fun watching Jackson Pollock [...]
  7 hours ago

• Threefer

  
  Futility Closet — Authority: 586
  MINE (English), MIEN (French), and MEIN (German) are synonyms and anagrams in three languages.
  7 hours ago

• Steven Pinker talks to Robert Wright.

  
  Althouse — Authority: 756
  On Bloggingheads. Theyre talking about language and evolution.
  8 hours ago

• SP leader files case against Raj Thackeray in Uttar Pradesh court

  
  Thaindian News — Authority: 710
  Lucknow, Nov 21 (IANS) Accusing Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) president Raj Thackeray and four legislators of his party of degrading the national language Hindi and the Indian Constitution, an application seeking action against them was moved Saturday at a court in Uttar Pradesh’s Sultanpur district, officials ...
  8 hours ago

• Your Japanese Studies

  
  All About Weight Loss — Authority: 155
  There are many reason that one might want to learn Japanese. Some people are interested in Japanese because of the cultural phenomenon that many products from Japan have become... from video games to anime.
  9 hours ago

• Large Chinese presence at ACTFL language show

  
  The Linguist - language learning should be fun — Authority: 132
  ACFTL second day. A few impressions before I walk into the morning fog for my daily 45 minute walk to the Convention site from my hotel (while listening to Russian) The presence of Chinese teachers, Chinese exhibitors, Chinese seminars etc. is amazing. The interest in China and the Confucius Institute are obviously ...
  9 hours ago

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