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| Word |
Definition |
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| Language |
The words, their pronunciations and the methods of combining them that are used and understood by a community. |
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| Language Attitudes |
The way people react towards the use of various langages. |
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| Language Development |
The task of working with speakers of lesser-known languages, to facilitate them achieving their own goals as a community, through language planning and intercultural development efforts. In many cases, this will involve the development and promotion of written forms of their language and the production of literature, such as the Christian Scriptures. Language Development involves a series of ongoing planned steps taken by people to ensure that their language will continue to serve them throughout any social, cultural, political, economic and spiritual changes. The production of dictionaries, health books, literacy materials, folk stories, mother-tongue Scriptures, etc., is considered part of the broad language development task. |
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| Language Family |
A group of languages that are similar (e.g. the Mayan languages of Guatemala and Mexico belong to one family). |
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| Language Groups |
Groups of people classified according to what language they speak. This is the way that Wycliffe looks at the world’s population and the global Bible translation task. |
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| Language of Wider Communication |
The language people commonly use to communicate across language and cultural boundaries (e.g. Swahili in many parts of Africa, English in India, Bahasa Indonesian in Indonesia, etc.). In popular usage, this has also been called lingua franca or trade language. |
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| Language-related Ministries |
The activities that enable a given people group to use its own language more effectively for the overall good of its speakers. Such activites may include: Bible Translation, Scripture Use, Translation, Linguistic Research, Dictionaries, Literacy, Orthography Research, Anthropology, and Training. |
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| Linguistic Research |
Linguistic research and analysis includes the common studies of phonology, morphology and grammar, semantics, and discourse. |
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| Linguistics |
The science of language. It provides a theoretical framework, guiding principles, and practical methods for learning, analyzing and describing languages. It also produces insights into the principles and problems of communication and translation. In Wycliffe, linguistics focuses on: (1) researching indigenous languages and publishing the findings; (2) training field linguists; (3) providing resources to assist in linguistic data collection and analysis; and (4) informing theories and techniques of Bible translation.
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| Literacy |
Facilitating the process of learning as people/communities develop skills in reading and writing. |