Langland, William (b. c. 1330—d. c. 1400) Presumed author of the poem known as “Piers Plowman.” Little is known of his life, though he clearly had a deep knowledge of theology and was interested in the asceti¬ cism of St. Bernard de Clairvaux. One of the greatest Middle English allit¬ erative poems, “Piers Plowman” is an allegorical work in the form of a series of dream visions with a complex variety of religious themes; writ¬ ten in simple, colloquial language, it contains powerful imagery.
Langley, Samuel (Pierpont) (b. Aug. 22, 1834, Roxbury, Mass., U.S.—d. Feb. 27, 1906, Aiken, S.C.) U.S. astronomer and aeronautics pioneer. He taught for many years at the future University of Pittsburgh. He studied the effect of solar activity on weather and invented the bolom¬ eter (1878), a radiant-heat detector sensitive to extremely small tempera¬ ture differences. He began conducting experiments on lift and drag of wings by building flying machines, and in 1896 one of his heavier-than- air machines became the first to achieve sustained unmanned flight, fly¬ ing 3,000 ft (900 m) along the Potomac River.
Langmuir \'laq-,myur\, Irving (b. Jan. 31, 1881, Brooklyn, N.Y., N.Y., U.S.—d. Aug. 16, 1957, Falmouth, Mass.) U.S. physical chemist. He received a Ph.D. from the University of Gottingen, Ger. As a researcher for General Electric (1909-50), he investigated electrical discharges in gases, electron emission, and the high-temperature surface chemistry of tungsten, making possible a great extension in the life of tungsten-filament
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lightbulbs. He developed a vacuum pump and the high-vacuum tubes used in radio broadcasting. He formulated theories of atomic structure and chemical bond formation, introducing the term covalence. He received a Nobel Prize in 1932.
Langton, Stephen (d. July 9, 1228, Slindon, Sussex, Eng.) English cardinal and archbishop of Canterbury (1207-28). Langton was living in Rome when Innocent III nominated him as archbishop of Canterbury to settle a disputed election. When King John refused to allow him into England, the pope excommunicated John (1209). John finally submitted and received Langton in 1213. The new archbishop encouraged baronial opposition to the king but opposed violence. He was present at the sign¬ ing of the Magna Carta (1215) and influenced its provisions on ecclesi¬ astical liberties.
Langtry, Lillie orig. Emilie Charlotte Le Breton (b. Oct. 13,1853, Isle of Jersey, Channel Islands—d.
Feb. 12, 1929, Monte-Carlo,
Monaco) British actress. She married the socially prominent Edward Langtry in 1874 and later became known as the “Jersey Lily.” A famous beauty, she caused a sensation when she became the first society woman to go on the stage, starring in She Stoops to Conquer (1881). She played to enthusiastic audiences in England and the U.S., notably in As You Like It. Her lovers included the Prince of Wales (later Edward VII).
After her husband died, she married Hugo de Bathe (1899), and she later remodeled and managed the Imperial Theatre in London (1901-17).
language System of conventional spoken or written symbols used by people in a shared culture to com¬ municate with each other. A lan¬ guage both reflects and affects a culture’s way of thinking, and changes in a culture influence the devel¬ opment of its language. Related languages become more differentiated when their speakers are isolated from each other. When speech commu¬ nities come into contact (e.g., through trade or conquest), their languages influence each other. Most existing languages are grouped with other lan¬ guages descended “genetically” from a common ancestral language (see historical linguistics). The broadest grouping of languages is the language family. For example, all the Romance languages are derived from Latin, which in turn belongs to the Italic branch of the Indo-European language family, descended from the ancient parent language, Proto-Indo- European. Other major families include, in Asia, Sino-Tibetan, Austrone- sian, Dravidian, Altaic, and Austroasiatic; in Africa, Niger-Congo, Afro- Asiatic, and Nilo-Saharan; and in the Americas, Uto-Aztecan, AAaya, Otomanguean, and Tupian. Relationships between languages are traced by comparing grammar and syntax and especially by looking for cognates (related words) in different languages. Language has a complex structure that can be analyzed and systematically presented (see linguistics). All lan¬ guages begin as speech, and many go on to develop writing systems. All can employ different sentence structures to convey mood. They use their resources differently for this but seem to be equally flexible structurally. The principal resources are word order, word form, syntactic structure, and, in speech, intonation. Different languages keep indicators of num¬ ber, person, gender, tense, mood, and other categories separate from the root word or attach them to it. The innate human capacity to learn lan¬ guage fades with age, and languages learned after about age 10 are usu¬ ally not spoken as well as those learned earlier. See also dialect.
language, philosophy of Philosophical study of the nature and use of natural languages and the relations between language, language users, and the world. It encompasses the philosophical study of linguistic mean¬ ing (see semantics), the philosophical study of language use in communi¬ cation (see pragmatics), and philosophical reflection on the nature and scientific status of linguistic theories, known as the philosophy of linguis¬ tics. Major areas of investigation have included the theory of reference and the theory of truth. It was the dominant field in analytic philosophy for most the 20th century.
Languedoc \la n g-'dok\ Historical and cultural region, south-central France. Languedoc’s name is derived from the traditional language of southern France, in which the word oc means “yes” (see Occitan lan¬ guage). From 121 bc the region was part of the Roman province of Gal¬ lia Narbonensis. With the fall of the Roman Empire, it was controlled by the Visigoths in the 5th century. During the Middle Ages it came under the counts of Toulouse. Religious wars (see Albigensian Crusade) in the 13th century brought it under the French crown. From the 16th to 18th centuries Languedoc was the scene of Protestant persecution that culmi¬ nated in the war of the Camisards. Protestant revolt led to its division into departments.
Lanier \b-'nir\, Willie (Edward) (b. Aug. 21,1945, Clover, Va., U.S.) U.S. gridiron football player. He was selected to the Little All-America Team while at Morgan State University. An outstanding defensive player, he played middle linebacker for the Kansas City Chiefs (1967-77). He helped the Chiefs defeat the favoured Minnesota Vikings in Super Bowl IV (1970) and was selected to eight consecutive Pro Bowls.
Lansbury, George (b. Feb. 21, 1859, near Halesworth, Suffolk, Eng.—d. May 7, 1940, London) British politician. As a member of the House of Commons (1910-12, 1922^40), he became known as a social¬ ist and poor-law reformer, and he led the British Labour Party from 1931 to 1935. Pacifist in his leanings, he was unwilling to call for economic sanctions against Italy for its aggression in Ethiopia (1935), fearing it might lead to war, and lost his party leadership post. In 1937 he visited Adolf Hitler and Benito Mussolini in the vain hope that his personal influ¬ ence could stop the movement toward war.
Lansdowne, Henry Charles Keith Petty-Fitzmaurice, 5th marquess of (b. Jan. 14, 1845, London, Eng.—d. June 3, 1927, Clon¬ mel, County Tipperary, Ire.) Irish nobleman and British diplomat. He inherited his father’s title and wealth in 1866 and served in William E. Gladstone’s Liberal administration. In 1885, as governor-general of Canada (1883-88), he helped settle the rebellion led by Louis Riel. As viceroy of India (1888-94) under a Conservative government, he reorga¬ nized the police, reconstituted legislative councils, closed Indian mints to the free coinage of silver, and extended railway and irrigation works. As secretary of war (1895-1900), he was blamed for British unpreparedness in the South African War. As foreign secretary (1900-06), he concluded the Entente Cordiale.