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AP Human Language Flashcards

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7990913996Language BranchA collection of languages related through a common ancestor that existed several thousand years ago. Differences are not as extensive or old as with language families, and archaeological evidence can confirm that these derived from the same family.0
7990935721Language FamilyA collection of languages related to each other through a common ancestor long before recorded history.1
7990944043Language GroupA collection of languages within a branch that share a common origin in the relatively recent past and display relatively few differences in grammar and vocabulary.2
7990948929Languagea systematic means of communicating by the use of sounds or conventional symbols3
7990953622Isolated LanguageA language that is unrelated to any other languages and therefore not attached to any language family.4
7990958649IsoglossA boundary that separates regions in which different language usages predominate5
7990967236Indo-European Familya family (or phylum) of several hundred related languages and dialects,[1] including most major languages of Europe, Iran, and northern India, and historically also predominant in Anatolia and Central Asia.6
7990981467CreoleA language that mixes colonizer's language with an indigenous language7
7990984292Dialectlocal or regional characteristics of a language8
7990991747Linga FrancaA language mutually understood and commonly used in trade by people who have different native languages9
7990995699Official LanguageThe language adopted for use by the government for the conduct of business and publication of documents.10
7991001773Oral TraditionStories passed down through generations by word of mouth.11
7991019248Pidgin Languagemix of grammar and words of a lingua franca and a local language12
7991021828Sino-Tibetan FamilyThis language family is the most important Asian language family (Mandarin), and covers nearly all of Southeastern Asia and most of China13
7991029187Standard Languagea language that is published, widely distributed, and purposefully taught14
7991042153Toponymplace names15
7991047427Niger-Congo FamilyA language family which includes most of the languages of sub-Saharan Africa, including Swahili, Yoruba, and Zulu. Largest language family in Africa.16
7991061284Endangered Languagelanguages of the world that are in their final generation of speakers, they are close to becoming extinct17

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