| language |
In
the context of this glossary, a means of verbal communication used
by a large community, including the words, their pronunciation and
the methods of combining them. |
| language,
colloquial |
Form
of  language used in informal speech, differing
noticeably from that used in formal speech and writing. See also dialect;
diglossia. |
| language,
donor |
See
language, source. |
| language,
indigenous |
Language
native to a given region. |
| language,
literary |
Written
form of a language, regarded as the desirable standard
for works of literature. May also form the basis of formal speech.
Example: Arabic Naw_ as against colloquial dialects. See also diglossia. |
| language,
minority |
In
a specific region, a language which is different from
the official language of state administration and which
is spoken by a national minority. It may or may not have official
status. Examples: Swedish in Finland, Breton in France, Frisian in
the Netherlands. |
| language,
national |
Language
in widespread and current use throughout a specific country or in
parts of its territory, and often representative of the identity of
its speakers. It may or may not have the status of an official
language. Example: Rhæto-Romance (Rtoromanisch) in parts
of Switzerland. |
| language,
non-official or unofficial |
Language
which, though relatively widely used, lacks officially sanctioned
status in a particular legally constituted political entity. Example:
French in Lebanon; English in Isræl. |
| language,
official |
A
language which has legal status in a particular legally
constituted political entity such as a state or part of a state,
and which serves as a language of administration. Examples: Spanish
in Chile; Italian and German in Alto Adige (Italy). |
| language,
principal |
In
a linguistic community where more than one language
is in use, that language which has the most adherents. Example: German,
not Italian, in Alto Adige (Italy); English, not Welsh, in Wales. |
| language,
receiver |
See
language, target. |
| language,
source |
Language
from which a name is transformed to, or adopted by, another language,
the target language. Example: in conversion
from Russian to Chinese, the former is the source language. |
| language,
standard |
That
form of speech and/or writing of a language which is specified as
correct by an officially appointed or widely recognized authority,
or, in the absence of such an authority, which is generally accepted
as correct in a linguistic community. Examples: Hochdeutsch
in German; Algemeen Beschaafd Nederlands in the Netherlands. |
| language,
target |
Language
in terms of which a toponym may be adopted or transformed from its
source language. Example: in conversion from
Arabic to French, the latter is the target language. |
| language,
vehicular |
Language
which serves communication between members of different linguistic
communities. Example: English is the vehicular language of civil
aviation throughout most of the world. |
| letter |
Graphic
symbol serving as unit character in an alphabet. |
| letter,
basic |
Fundamental
form of a letter without diacritics. Examples:
Polish l as against _; Icelandic D as against Ð. |
| letter,
consonant |
Letter
of an alphabet representing a consonant. Examples: Roman
b, d; Greek â, ä; Thai # , # ; Arabic _ , _ ; Korean # , # . |
| letter,
vowel |
Letter
of an alphabet representing a vowel. Examples: Roman a,
e, i, o, u; Greek á, å, ç, é, o, õ, ù; Russian _, _, _, _, _;
Hebrew ; Thai # , Korean # , # . |
| lettering,
map |
(a)
Map script in an alphabetic writing system.
In a wider sense, map script. (b) Activity of inserting (alphabetic)
script in a map. |
| lettering,
multilingual |
Map
lettering in a multilingual map. |
| lettering,
multiscriptual |
Map
lettering in a multiscriptual map. |
| letters,
cardinal |
Those
letters of a script which are contained in
most alphabets that use this script. Examples: the Roman
alphabet excluding e.g. the letters K, Q, X; the traditional Arabic
letters of the Persian (Farsi) alphabet. Complementary term: letters,
special. |
| letters,
special |
Those
letters of the alphabet of a particular language
which are characteristic of, or unique to, this language, being absent
in all or most other alphabets using the same script. Examples: Danish
ø; Icelandic þ, ð; German ß; Persian # . Complementary term:
letters, cardinal. |
| lexicon |
(a)
A dictionary or glossary relating to a particular language
or sphere of interest. (b) The vocabulary of an individual person,
an occupational group or a professional field. |
| lexicon,
logographic |
An
ordered list of the characters of a logographic
script; the counterpart of an alphabet in alphabetic
script and of a syllabary in syllabic script. |
| ligature
|
A
graphic stylized combination of two letters, or a connecting
line or stroke, indicating that successive sounds are to be pronounced
as one. Examples: œ (derived from o + e); kh,
pronounced as IPA /x/ or German ch in ach. |
| lingua
franca linguistic area |
Auxiliary
language used for communication between groups of people with different
native languages. Examples: Swahili in East Africa, Quechwa in the
Andean regions. See also pidgin. See linguistic region. |
| linguistic
community |
A
group of people who communicate with relative ease in a common language
or dialect. |
| linguistic
region |
Region
or area where a particular language constitutes the official
or principal language. Example: the Flemish and Walloon
regions in Belgium. |
| linguistics |
The
scientific study of human language in all its aspects, including,
phonetics, phonology, morphology,
syntax and semantics. |
| literary
language |
See
language, literary. |
| local
name |
See
name, local. |
| logogram |
Graphic
symbol or combination of symbols which represents an entire free morpheme
such as a word, without separately representing its constituent
phonemes or syllables. Examples: Chinese
# for zhong (middle); Japanese Kanji # for san or yama (mountain). |
| logographic |
Consisting
of or relating to logograms. |
| logographic
lexicon |
See
lexicon, logographic. |
| logographic
script long form (of a name) |
See
script, logographic. Complete form of a toponym (in particular the
name of a country), including all components. Examples: Al-Mamlakah
al-H_shim_yah al-Urdun_yah (The Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan); Zhonghua
Renmin Gongheguo (People's Republic of China). Complementary term:
short form; in the above examples Al-Urdun (Jordan);
Zhongguo (China). |
| lunar
name |
See
name, lunar. |
|
