Swahili is a Bantu language spoken widely across East Africa. It’s a significant language for communication and trade in the region. Key Characteristics / Core Concepts Bantu Language Family: Swahili belongs to the Bantu branch of the Niger-Congo family, sharing grammatical structures and vocabulary with other Bantu languages. Significant Vocabulary from Arabic: Its vocabulary shows … Read more
Slavic languages are a branch of the Indo-European language family spoken by roughly 300 million people across Eastern Europe, Central Europe, and parts of Asia. They share common ancestral roots and exhibit significant similarities in grammar and vocabulary. Key Characteristics / Core Concepts Common ancestor: Proto-Slavic, a reconstructed language believed to have existed centuries ago. … Read more
Sanskrit is an ancient Indo-Aryan language of India, considered a classical language of Hinduism, Buddhism, and Jainism. It’s known for its rich literary tradition and significant influence on many other languages in the Indian subcontinent and beyond. Key Characteristics / Core Concepts Highly inflected grammar: Sanskrit exhibits a complex system of verb and noun conjugations … Read more
Romance languages are a group of languages derived from Vulgar Latin, the language spoken in the Roman Empire. They share a common ancestor and exhibit many similarities in grammar and vocabulary. Key Characteristics / Core Concepts Descended from Vulgar Latin: They evolved from the everyday spoken Latin, not the Classical Latin of literature. Shared grammatical … Read more
Portuguese is a Romance language originating from the Galician-Portuguese dialect spoken in medieval Galicia and Portugal. It’s the official language of Brazil, Portugal, Angola, Mozambique, and several other countries. Key Characteristics / Core Concepts Romance Language: Descends from Vulgar Latin, sharing similarities with Spanish, French, Italian, and Romanian. Phonetics: Distinctive sounds and pronunciation, including nasal … Read more
Pali is a Middle Indo-Aryan language, closely related to Sanskrit and Prakrit. It’s primarily known as the language of the Theravada Buddhist scriptures. It’s an ancient language, no longer spoken natively, but still holds immense significance for Buddhist studies and religious practice. Key Characteristics / Core Concepts Middle Indo-Aryan Language: Derived from earlier Prakrit languages, … Read more
Persian, also known as Farsi, is a Western Iranian language primarily spoken in Iran, Afghanistan (as Dari), and Tajikistan (as Tajiki). It’s a major language with a rich history and literature. Key Characteristics / Core Concepts Indo-European Language: Belongs to the Indo-Iranian branch of the Indo-European language family. Right-to-left Script: Written using a modified Arabic … Read more
Korean is a language spoken by around 77 million people, primarily in South Korea and North Korea. It’s an agglutinative language, meaning it uses suffixes to modify words, and it features a unique writing system called Hangul. Key Characteristics / Core Concepts Agglutinative Structure: Korean adds suffixes to verbs, nouns, and adjectives to indicate tense, … Read more
Japanese is a language spoken primarily in Japan, characterized by its unique writing system and grammatical structure. It’s an East Asian language with a rich history and cultural significance. Key Characteristics / Core Concepts Three Writing Systems: Japanese uses three writing systems: hiragana (phonetic script), katakana (phonetic script), and kanji (logographic characters borrowed from Chinese). … Read more
French is a Romance language (meaning it descended from Vulgar Latin) spoken primarily in France and several other countries around the world. It’s known for its elegance, rich vocabulary, and significant cultural influence. Key Characteristics / Core Concepts Romance Language: Descended from Vulgar Latin, sharing similarities with Spanish, Italian, Portuguese, and Romanian. Verb Conjugation: Complex … Read more