S (programming language)

S is a statistical programming language developed primarily by John Chambers and (in earlier versions) Rick Becker and Allan Wilks of Bell Laboratories. The aim of the language, as expressed by John Chambers, is "to turn ideas into software, quickly and faithfully".

The two modern implementations of S are:

History

"Old S"

S is one of several statistical computing languages that were designed at Bell Laboratories, and first took form between 1975–1976. Up to that time, much of the statistical computing was done by directly calling Fortran subroutines; however, S was designed to offer an alternate and more interactive approach. Early design decisions that hold even today include interactive graphics devices (printers and character terminals at the time), and providing easily accessible documentation for the functions.

The first working version of S was built in 1976, and operated on the GCOS operating system. At this time, S was unnamed, and suggestions included Interactive SCS (ISCS), Statistical Computing System, and Statistical Analysis System (which was already taken: see SAS System). The name 'S' (used with single quotation marks, until 1979) was chosen, as it has the common letter used in statistical computing, and is consistent with other programming languages designed from the same institution at the time (namely the C programming language).

Bru language

Bruu (also spelled Bru, B'ru, Baru, Brou) is a Mon–Khmer dialect continuum spoken by the Bru people of mainland Southeast Asia. Sô and Khua are dialects.

Names

There are various local and dialect designations for Bru (Sidwell 2005:11).

Distribution

The distribution of the Bru language spreads north and northeast from Salavan, Laos, through Savannakhet, Khammouane, and Bolikhamsai, and over into neighboring Thailand and Vietnam (Sidwell 2005:11).

Dialects

Thailand has the following Western Bru dialects (Choo, et al. 2012).

References

External links

Chulym language

Chulym (Russian: Чулымский язык), also known as Chulim, Chulym-Turkic, Küerik, Chulym Tatar or Melets Tatar (not to be confused with the closely related Siberian Tatar language) is the language of the Chulyms. The name the people use to refer to themselves, and also to their language, is Ös, literally ‘self’ or ‘own’. It is also spoken by the Kacik (Kazik, Kuarik). This name originated from a now extinct tribe.

Description

The language is closely related to the Shor and Khakas languages. Though all these are considered by some as one language, the Ös speakers themselves do not believe this to be the case.

Chulym comprises distinct dialects, corresponding to locations along the Chulym River: Lower Chulym (now believed extinct), Middle Chulym, and Upper Chulym.

Chulym is a moribund language and will most likely be extinct by the 2030s. It is listed in the UNESCO Red Book of Endangered Languages. During the filming of the 2008 American documentary film The Linguists, linguists Greg Anderson and K. David Harrison interviewed and recorded 20 speakers and estimated there may be between 35–40 fluent speakers out of a community of overall 426 members. The youngest fluent speaker was 54 at the time of filming.