| A | B |
|---|
| language | A system of communication through the use of speech, a collection of sounds understood by a group of people to have the same meaning |
| language branch | a collection of languages related through a common ancestor that existed several thousand years ago |
| language family | a collection of languages related through a common ancestor long before recorded history |
| language group | a 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 |
| literary tradition | a language that is written as well as spoken |
| logogram | s symbol that represents a word rather than a sound |
| official language | the language adopted for use by the government for the conduct of business and publication of documents |
| vulgar Latin | a form of the language used by the ancient Romans for daily conversation as opposed to the standard dialect, which was used for official documents |
| Romance language | a branch of language that evolved from Latin spoken by the Romans 2,000 years ago |
