Chapter 5

Chapter 5Language1Q: What do you call a person who speaks multiple languages?A: A polyglotsQ: What do you call a person who speaks two languages?A: BilingualQ: What do you call a person who speaks only one language?A: AmericanWhy do so few Americans know more than one language?Geography of LanguageLanguage is the most important way culture is transmittedLanguage can shape the attitudes, understandings, and the responses of the society to which it belongs.There are literally thousands of languages that are spoken throughout worldLanguage is a mark of cultural diversity and identity that helps distinguish social groups.

4Intro to LanguagesEthnologue estimates there are 6,909 languages.Language: an organized system of spoken words by which people communicate with each other with mutual comprehension.Many languages have many levels of comprehension. Chinese is actually many languages like Cantonese, mandarin, and others. They share same writing.More than half of the worlds people speak just 8 languagesBetween 20-50% of languages are no longer being taught to kidsSome estimate that only 600 languages will exist by 21005

6Classification of LanguagesProto-languages: the earliest forms of languageLanguage Family: large groups of languages that come from the same proto-language are calledLanguage Branch: Within a language family, languages that come from the same ancient ancestorLanguage Group: Within a language branch, languages that share a more recent ancestor

Example: English belongs to the West Germanic group of the Germanic language branch in the Indo-European family of an ancient proto-language

7Key Issue 1Where Are English-Language Speakers Distributed?Diffusion of EnglishEnglish coloniesNorth AmericaIrelandSouth Asia (India)South PacificSouth AfricaPhilippines (U.S. colony)

9Origin of EnglishCelts inhabited British Isles until mainland tribes invaded.German InvasionAngles, Saxons, and Jutes (Germanic Tribes)Norman InvasionEnglish is very different from German because of the Normans (French-speaking)Simpler words are from Germanic rootsFancy words are from French

Invasions of England5th11th centuries

Fig. 5-2: The groups that brought what became English to England included Jutes, Angles, Saxons, and Vikings. The Normans later brought French vocabulary to English.11Dialects of EnglishDialect: regional variation of a language distinguished by distinctive vocabulary, spelling, and pronunciation.Differences reflect distinctive features of the environmentIsogloss: a boundary that separates regions in which different language usages predominate.Dialects caused by migrationEnglish Speaking Countries

Fig. 5-1: English is the official language in 42 countries, including some in which it is not the most widely spoken language. It is also used and understood in many others.13Dialects in EnglandEnglish originated with three invading groups (Germanic) who spoke dialects of Old EnglishNormans were French-speaking5 Major Regional dialects emergedNorthern, East Midland, West Midland, Southwestern, and Southeastern (Kentish)Dialects can be sub-dividedOld and Middle English Dialects

Fig. 5-3: The main dialect regions of Old English before the Norman invasion persisted to some extent in the Middle English dialects through the 1400s. 15Differences Between British & American EnglishWhy is English in the U.S. so different from that in England?IsolationThree significant differencesVocabularySpelling (Cultural nationalism)PronunciationDialects in the U.S.Regional differences date back to 17th century settlementMajor dialect differencesEast Coast: Two important Isoglosses separate the east into 3 regionsNorthern, Midlands, SouthernRegionally distinctive words are now national due to globalizationRegional dialectical differences still exist Example: soft drinksDialects in the Eastern U.S.

Fig. 5-4: Hans Kurath divided the eastern U.S. into three dialect regions, whose distribution is similar to that of house types (Fig. 4-9).18Soft-Drink Dialects

Fig. 5-8: Soft-drink dialects. Soft drinks are called soda in the Northeast and Southwest, pop in the Midwest and Northwest, and Coke in the South. Pronunciation DifferencesThese are more common than word differencesSouthern and New England DialectsBoth sound unusual to the majority because standard pronunciation comes from the Middle Atlantic states Western settlers came from mostly came from Middle-Atlantic statesMobility of Americans is a major reason for relatively uniform languageKey Issue 2Why is English Related to Other Languages?Language FamilyEnglish is part of the INDO-EUROPEAN language familyA language family is collection of languages related through a common ancestor long before recorded historyIndo-European is the worlds most extensively spoken language with 3 billion speaking an Indo-European language.

22Language Branch A language branch is a group of languages within a family that have similar ancestors several thousand years ago.Within the Indo-European languages there are 8 main branchesCan you name them?After we look at the branches of the Indo-European languages we will look at the Origin and diffusion of Indo-European languagesIndo-European Language Family

Fig. 5-5: The main branches of the Indo-European language family include Germanic, Romance, Balto-Slavic, and Indo-Iranian.24Indo-European LanguagesGermanic BranchEnglish is a Germanic language because of the Germanic tribes that invaded England 1500 years ago.English and German are both part of the West Germanic group because they are structurally similar and have many words in commonGerman spoken today is High German because it comes from the southern German highlands.English comes from Low German which was spoken in the northern parts of Germany. Dutch, Afrikaans, and Northern German dialects are Low GermanGermanic also included the Scandinavian languages of Swedish, Danish, Norwegian and Icelandic, which all come from Old Norse.

25Germanic Branch of Indo-European

Fig. 5-6: The Germanic branch today is divided into North and West Germanic groups. English is in the West Germanic group. 26Indo-Iranian BranchThis is the largest Indo-European branchThis is divided up into two groups, Indic and IranianIndo-Indic which includes languages used in India, Pakistan, and Bangladesh.There are many different Hindi language dialects, which led to 18 official languages in India.Urdu is spoken in Pakistan, and Bengali in Bangladesh.Indo-Iranian is the second group. These are the languages spoken by people in Iran and neighboring countries. In Iran they speak Persian, sometimes called Farsi. Pathan, and Kurdish are other languages spoken from this branch27South Asian Languages and Language Families Fig. 5-7: Indo-European is the largest of four main language families in South Asia. The country of India has 18 official languages.

28Balto-Slavic BranchSlavic was once one language, but in the seventh century slaves from Asia migrated to eastern Europe and now it is divided into West and East.East Slavic languages include Russian, Ukrainian and Belarusian.Russian increased in importance with the rise of the Soviet Union.West and South Slavic groups include Polish, Czech, and Slovak in the West, and Serbo-Croatian and Bulgarian in the South.Slavic languages are fairly similar, however since the breakup of the former Yugoslavia, Bosnia and Croatia have begun to develop their own identity and because of isolation from each other could become completely different. 29Romance BranchEvolved from the Latin language spoken by Romans 2,000 years ago.Spanish, Portuguese, French, and Italian are the four main romance languagesRomanian is the 5th important romance language but is separated by the rest by Slavic speakers.Other Romance languages include Romansh of Switzerland, Catalan of Andorra, and Sardinian from the Island of Sardinia.30Romance Branch of Indo-European

Fig. 5-8: The Romance branch includes three of the worlds 12 most widely spoken languages (Spanish, French, and Portuguese), as well as a number of smaller languages and dialects.31Origin and Diffusion of Indo-European Languages Origin of the Indo-European LanguageIt can not be proven that there was a single ancestor to the Indo-European language family but there is evidence that a Proto-Indo-European language did exist.Evidence is found in similar words in different languages such as oak, bear, deer, and pheasant and other words that could have been a part of daily life.Indo-European languages share similar words for winter and snow, but not for ocean. Linguists believe that the Proto-Indo-European language came from a cold climate that did not have contact with the ocean.32Diffusion of the Indo-European languageThere are two theories about the diffusion of the language.First is called the Kurgan Theory (Nomadic Warrior Thesis) Named after the Kurgan people who lived in 4300 B.C. they came from the steppes near the boarder of Russia and Kazakhstan. They were nomads who domesticated the horse and cattle and moved west in search of grasslands. They used the horse as a weapon to conquer Southwest Asia and the Balkan peninsula. 33Kurgan Theory of Indo-European Origin

Fig. 5-9: In the Kurgan theory, Proto-Indo-European diffused from the Kurgan hearth north of the Caspian Sea, beginning about 7,000 years ago. 34The second is called the Renfrew Theory (Sedentary Farmer Thesis) is that it diffused from Anatolia westward to Greece. This idea believes the language spread by agricultural practices through Greece, Italy, and Turkey up into central and western EuropeWe are not sure which is correct but both theories have valid points. One spread by military means, the other through contact of better agricultural practices.35Anatolian Hearth Theory of Indo-European Origin

Fig. 5-10: In the Anatolian hearth theory, Indo-European originated in Turkey before the Kurgans and diffused through agricultural expansion.36Key Issue 3Where Are Other Language Families Distributed?Classification of LanguagesIndo-European 46%Sino-Tibetan 21%Afro-Asiatic 6%Austronesian 6%Niger-Congo Family 6%Dravidian 4%Altaic 2%Austro-Asiatic 2%Japanese 2%5% speak other languages

Major Language FamiliesPercentage of World Population

Fig. 5-11a: The percentage of world population speaking each of the main language families. Indo-European and Sino-Tibetan together represent almost 75% of the worlds people. 39Distribution of Other Language Families Sino-Tibetan language family

Other East and Southeast Asian language families

Languages of the Middle East

African language families40Language Families of the World

Fig. 5-11: Distribution of the worlds main language families. Languages with more than 100 million speakers are named.41Language Family Trees

Fig. 5-12: Family trees and estimated numbers of speakers for the main world language families.

42Chinese Ideograms

Fig. 5-13: Chinese language ideograms mostly represent concepts rather than sounds. The two basic characters at the top can be built into more complex words. 43Language Families of Africa

Fig. 5-14: The 1,000 or more languages of Africa are divided among five main language families, including Austronesian languages in Madagascar. 44Languages of Nigeria

Fig. 5-15: More than 200 languages are spoken in Nigeria, the largest country in Africa (by population). English, considered neutral, is the official language. 45Key Issue 4Why Do People Preserve Local Languages?IntroductionDistribution of a language is a measure of the fate of an ethnic groupThe number of English speakers shows the cultural dominance compared to Icelandic which remains in Isolation.Language shows the battle between globalization and local diversity47Preserving Language DiversityExtinct languages were once used but are no longer in use.Once there were over 500 languages in the Amazon region, now there are 57 or fewer.Gothic was spoken in Northern and Eastern Europe in third century A.D. but it and its entire language group are gone.Languages die through integration, when other stronger cultures take over through politics or cultural preference.

48Preservation ContSome Languages are being preserved. European Bureau of Lesser Used Languages try and preserve mainly languages of the Celtic branch of Indo-European languagesLinguists (people who study languages) predict that hundreds of languages will die in the 21st century. There may only be 300 that are safe from extinction.49Hebrew: Reviving Extinct LanguagesHebrew is a rare case where it went basically extinct then it was revived.Bible was mostly written in Hebrew and Aramaic. Hebrew lost popularity in the 4th century BC and only Jews remained using it for religious use.Eliezer Ben-Yehuda is one person who led the way to revive Hebrew after Israel became independent. He wrote the first Hebrew dictionary, and created over 4,000 new Hebrew words for modern things that did not exist.

50Celtic: Preserving Endangered LanguagesCeltic was the major language of the British Isles before Germanic invasions.2,000 years ago Celtic was spoken in Germany, France and northern Italy as well as the UK.Today it only survives in Scotland, Wales, Ireland and Brittany France.51Celtic GroupsTwo branches, Goidelic (Gaelic) and Brythonic.Only Gaelic languages that survive are Irish and Scottish. It is the second official language of Ireland but few speak either.Most used Brythonic languages are Welsh and Breton which 300,000 still speak on the Brittany peninsula of France. Only 10,000 speak it more than French52Revival of Celtic LanguageWelsh has made a comeback because of the efforts of the Welsh Language Society and Welsh being taught in schoolsIrish Gaelic also has grown with the help of the younger Irish. It is also taught, and it is being used in pop culture more and more. Even an Irish Gaelic T.V. station started broadcasting in 1996A couple hundred people have even revived Cornish (a Brythonic language) but they fight over how to spell things.53Multi Lingual StatesBelgium is divided between the French speaking Walloons in the South and the Flemish (Dutch) in the north.Historically the French speakers were wealthier and ran politics. From pressure from the Flemish they divide the country into two regions. Each ran independently. Mayor of Voeren (Fouroms) caused prime minister to resign when he refused to speak Dutch in Flanders.Today many amendments have been added to the constitution to give each region more autonomy (self rule)54Language Divisions in Belgium

Fig. 5-16: There has been much tension in Belgium between Flemings, who live in the north and speak Flemish, a Dutch dialect, and Walloons, who live in the south and speak French.55SwitzerlandSwitzerland peacefully exists with several languages including German, French, Italian, and Romansh56Language Areas in Switzerland

Fig. 5-17: Switzerland remains peaceful with four official languages and a decentralized government structure. 57Isolated LanguagesIsolated Languages are unrelated to any other and not attached to any language family and occur because of lack of interaction with other languages.Basque is the only language spoken in Europe that was there before the Indo-Europeans came. It is spoken in the Pyrenees mountains of N. Spain and S. France.Icelandic IS related to North Germanic languages although it has changed less in the last 1,000 years than any other Germanic language because of isolation58Global Dominance of EnglishLingua Franca: A language of international communication.EnglishSwahiliHindiIndonesianRussianPidgin language: Simplified form of a lingua franca It has no native speakers as is always a second language.59More EnglishEnglish is taught to 83 % of High school students in EU countries, and more than 90% in some.200 million speak English fluently as a second language and Millions more have a working knowledge of it.Japan has even considered making it a second official language.60Expansion Diffusion of EnglishEnglish originally spread through migration and conquest today it spreads through expansion diffusionFranglais: combination of French and English languagesSpanglish: combination of Spanish and English languagesDenglish: combination of German and English languagesAll mark the diffusion of English vocabulary into another language61French-English Boundary in Canada

Fig. 5-18: Although Canada is bilingual, French speakers are concentrated in the province of Qubec, where 80% of the population speaks French.62African American DialectsEbonics: Classified as a distinct dialect with a recognized vocabulary, grammar and word meaning.Use of double-negatives I aint going there no more She be at homeIts use is controversial. Some regard it as substandard and a measure of poor education. Others see it as a means fro preserving African American culture.

English on the InternetEnglish was the dominant language of the Internet in the 1990s. 1998: 71% of people online were using EnglishFrom 1998-2008: English users dropped to 29%. Chinese increased from 2 to 20%. Internet Hosts

Fig. 5-1-1: A large proportion of the worlds internet users and hosts are in the developed countries of North America and western Europe.65Internet Hosts, by Language

Fig 5-1-1a: The large majority of internet hosts in 1999 used English, Chinese, Japanese, or European languages.66FOR THE TESTKnow VocabularyFocus on Key Issues Read the summary at the end of the ChapterKnow the Major Language FamiliesKnow the Indo-European BranchesOrigin and Diffusion of English

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