LANGUAGES AND TONGUES.
Chicago, Ill.
What is the difference between a language and a tongue? How many languages and tongues are now spoken?
J. G. Smith.
Answer.—Language is a term that is applicable to any mode of conveying ideas, whether by speech, writing, hieroglyphics, or a system of gestures or pantomime. Even the deaf and dumb have several languages, but cannot be properly said to have “tongues.” Tongue is an English term for the spoken language of a particular people, as the French tongue, the German tongue, and so on. The number of languages of all the kinds above designated or the number of tongues in all the world is not known. There are over 6,000 known languages and dialects: how many more will be discovered when we have thoroughly explored Africa and Central and Northern Asia is still a matter of conjecture.
AMERICAN VESSELS SOLD.
Sheboygan, Wis.
What proportion of American shipping was sold to foreigners during the civil war? How much was sold last year?
Subscriber.