Chapter 5 Flashcards
language
a system of communication through speech, movement, sounds, or symbols that a group of people understands to have the same meaning
centripetal force
a force that tends to unify people
centrifugal force
a force that tends to pull people apart
institutional language
used in education, work, mass media, and government
developing language
in daily use by people of all ages, from children to elderly individuals
vigorous language
in daily use by people of all ages, but it lacks a literary tradition
threatened language
used for face-to-face communication, but is losing users
dying language
still used by older people, but is not being transmitted to children
literary tradition
it is written as well as spoken
language family
collection of languages related through a common ancestral language that existed long before recorded history
language branch
languages within a family related through a common ancestral language that existed several thousand years ago
language group
a collection of languages within a branch that share a common origin in the relatively recent past and display many similarities in grammar and vocabulary
Vulgar Latin
a form of Latin used in daily conversation by Romans
lingua franca
a language mutually understood and commonly used in trade by people who have different native languages
logogram
a symbol that represents a word rather than a sound
