Languages

Languages are defined as forms of structured human communication in the form-factors of speech, writing, or gestures. The structure of languages includes grammar, vocabulary, and other factors.

Languages are usually organized according to their known language family. A language family is a collection of languages derived from a common ancestor. For example, English, Latin, and Greek are derived from the Indo-European family of languages. That is why they share common words. Unclassified languages are generally known as linguistic isolates; or languages that have no known ancestor. Examples of linguistic isolates include the Sumerian language and the Basque language.

Attested languages

Attested languages are languages that have documented written sources. This means that all attested languages have to utilize some system of writing, or script.

List of attested languages: Family › A–Z

Language
Status
Entries
Afro-Asiatic (Family)
Ancient
3
Ancient
3
Ancient
5
Historic
1
Ancient
1
Indo-European (Family)
Historic
3
Living
7
Living
1
Living
1
Ancient
2
Living
1
Historic
2
Ancient
1
Living
1
Japonic (Family)
Living
1
Koreanic (Family)
Living
1
Sino-Tibetan (Family)
Living
1
Unclassified (Family)
Living
1
Ancient
3

Proto-languages

In contrast to attested languages, proto-languages are languages that are not documented in the written record; however, scholars believe in their existence because of findings in the field of comparative linguistics. Examples of proto-languages include Proto-Indo-European and Proto-Afro-Asiatic.

List of proto-languages: A–Z

Citation

MLA 8

PsychLing Contributors. "Languages." PsychLing, OMNIKA Foundation, 30 Jul. 2023, psylng.org/mli/languages. Accessed 21 Dec. 2024.

APA 6

PsychLing (2023, July 30). Languages. Retrieved from https://psylng.org/mli/languages

CMS 16

PsychLing Contributors. "Languages." Las Vegas, NV: OMNIKA Foundation. Created July 30, 2023. Modified August 6, 2023. Accessed December 21, 2024. https://psylng.org/mli/languages.

Bibliography

Ethnologue

Eberhard, David M., Gary F. Simons, and Charles D. Fennig, eds. "Ethnologue: Languages of the World. 25th ed." Dallas, TX: SIL International, 2022. Accessed August 20, 2023. https://www.ethnologue.com. [Visit]

Glottolog

Hammarström, Harald, Robert Forkel, Martin Haspelmath, and Sebastian Bank. "Glottolog: A Database of Languages." Leipzig, Germany: Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology. Created 2011. Accessed July 28, 2023. https://glottolog.org. [Visit]

IDS

Key, Mary R., and Bernard Comrie, eds. "IDS: The Intercontinental Dictionary Series." Leipzig, Germany: Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology. Created 2013. Accessed August 28, 2023. https://ids.clld.org. [Visit]

Allo

OMNIKA Foundation Contributors. "Allo: A Modern Dictionary for Dead Ancient Languages." Las Vegas, NV: OMNIKA Foundation. Created March 15, 2019. Accessed July 28, 2023. https://ancientlanguages.org. [Visit]

OMNIKA

OMNIKA Foundation Contributors. "OMNIKA: Digital Mythology Library." Las Vegas, NV: OMNIKA Foundation. Created January 21, 2019. Accessed July 28, 2023. https://omnika.org. [Visit]

ISO 639-3

SIL International Contributors. "ISO 639-3 Registration Authority: International Standard for Language Codes." Dallas, TX: SIL International. Accessed July 28, 2023. https://iso639-3.sil.org. [Visit]

ScriptSource

SIL International Contributors. "ScriptSource: Index of Languages and Writing Systems." Dallas, TX: SIL International. Created June 11, 2011. Accessed July 28, 2023. https://scriptsource.org. [Visit]

CEWAL

Woodard, Roger D., ed. The Cambridge Encyclopedia of the World’s Ancient Languages. Cambridge, United Kingdom: Cambridge University Press.

PsychLing Glossary

Attested Language is a term in Historical Linguistics that means a language with documented writing.

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PsychLing MLI

Basque is a language that belongs to the Unclassified language family.

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PsychLing Glossary

Comparative Linguistics is a field of study that concerns the scientific study of comparing languages.

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PsychLing MLI

Indo-European is a language family.

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PsychLing Glossary

Language is a term in Linguistics that means structured human communication like speech, writing, or gestures.

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PsychLing Glossary

Language Family is a term in Historical Linguistics that means a collection of languages derived from a common ancestor.

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PsychLing MLI

Proto-Afro-Asiatic is a proto-language that belongs to the Afro-Asiatic language family.

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PsychLing MLI

Proto-Indo-European is a proto-language that belongs to the Indo-European language family.

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PsychLing Glossary

Proto-Language is a term in Historical Linguistics that means a hypothetical ancestor language of other languages.

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PsychLing Glossary

Script is a term in Grammatology that means a collection of symbols used to transcribe human speech into writing.

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PsychLing MLI

Sumerian is a language that belongs to the Unclassified language family.

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PsychLing MLI

Unclassified is a language family.

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