CHAPTER 5: LANGUAGE

Essential element of cultureMost important medium of culture transmissionDistribution of language:

Historical/conquest Isolation or Cultural integration Migration Economic Domination Money and technology Political boundaries Physical boundaries

LANGUAGE

English is/was diffused primarily from migration.Evolves from interaction and isolationOriginated in EnglandDiffused to the other world areas via colonies In recent years, US responsible for diffusing EnglishEngland to North America, Ireland (17th century)England to South Asia, South Pacific (18th century)England to South Africa (19th century)

LANGUAGE: ENGLISH

French

English

English

Celts pushed to Wales, Scotland, CornwallVikings, Germans brought “German English” = GermanicNormans brought French; 300 year reign w/French as official

languageAnglo/Saxon/Jutes: gave regional dialectsCommoner Germanic mixed with aristocratic French to form

“Modern English”

INVASIONS

Colonists responsible for dominant patterns in English Western Hemisphere

Vocabulary American settlers gained new objects/experiences from Native

Americans New inventions = new names

Spelling Desire to be independent of England Noah Webster’s dictionary/grammar books helped to create this

independence-hoping to inspire national pridePronunciation

Isolation: Communication was from letters/printed materials between England and colonies.

BRITISH VS AMERICAN ENGLISH

Our dialects are different due to the original settlers Isogloss: -word usage boundary

REGIONAL PRONUNCIATION

New Englanders drop the ‘r’ sound : ‘cah’ for ‘car’Southerners known for a ‘twang’ or long ‘i’ sound

REGIONAL PRONUNCIATION

Mandarin Chinese #1; English #2Chinese: Sino-Tibetan Family (PRC and small SE Asia

countries)English: Indo-European Family (50% of world)Mandarin is official language, though no SINGLE Chinese

languageChinese Language is based on 420 one-syllable words,

speakers must combine to make 2 syllable, listener must read context to determine meaning.

Use ideograms: ideas/concepts not pronunciationsUse characters; not letters

ENGLISH VS CHINESE

Acculturation: process of adopting the cultural traits or social patterns of another group

Assimilation: process where a minority group gradually adopts the customs and attitudes of the prevailing culture

What’s the difference?

Examples: Both can occur due to conquest/war. (British colonies, Normans) English’s globalization due to media = acculturation Slavic Mandarin Chinese

ACCULTURATION/ASSIMILATION OF LANGUAGE

INDO-EUROPEAN

High German-standard German language

Low German- EnglishNorth German-Scandinavia-

Swedish, Danish, Norwegian, and Icelandic

GERMANIC BRANCH

100+ individual languages

Eastern- Indic (widely used)

Western-IranianMost speakers of Indo-

European familyHindi (Indic)Urdu (Indic-Pakistan) India has 18 official

languages Iranian-Iran,

Afghanistan, W Pakistan, N Iraq, E Turkey

INDO-IRANIAN

SOUTH ASIAN BRANCH

Slavic was single language, migration from Asia to E Europe created several differences

East Slavic- Russian, Ukrainian, Belarusian

West Slavic: Polish, Czech, Slovak

South Slavic: Serbo-Croatian, Bulgarian

BALTO-SLAVIC BRANCH

Includes 3 of the 12 most widely spoken languages in world (French, Spanish, Portuguese)

ROMANCE BRANCH

People’s Republic of China and smaller countries in SE Asia

Sinitic BranchAustro-Thai BranchTibeto-Burman

Branch

SINO-TIBETAN FAMILY

¾ of people speak Mandarin

Tens of millions speak other languages

Government imposing Mandarin country wide

Austronesian: Indonesia, Madagascar

Austro-Asiatic: SE Asia, VietnamTai Kadai: Thailand, Phillipines JapaneseKorean

CONNECTIONS TO SINO-TIBETAN

Arabic = official languageHebrew LanguageMiddle East, Northern Africa,

Southwestern Asia

AFRO-ASIATIC

ALTAIC FAMILY

Estonia, Finland, HungaryUral Mtns (7,000 yrs ago)

URALIC FAMILY

95% speak language from this family

6 branches

NIGER CONGO

SwahiliStrong Arabic

influencesExtensive literature

BENUE-CONGO BRANCH

Few million in North-Central Africa

Maasi-best known spoken by warrior-herdsmen of East Africa

NILO-SAHARAN FAMILY

3rd important family in sub-Saharan Africa

In southwestUses clicking sounds

KHOISAN FAMILY

Extinct language: no longer spoken or read in daily activities by anyone in the world

Numbers in the 1000s16th century Amazon- 500; today- 57 w/ ½ looking at

extinction

PRESERVING LANGUAGE

After 4th century only used in Jewish religious services1948: became Israel’s official language w/ Arabic4,000 new words created along w/modern dictionary

HEBREW: LANGUAGE REVIVED

Celtic: 2,000 years ago: spoken in Germany, France, Italy and the UK

Today: Remote parts of Scotland, Wales, Ireland and France’s Brittany peninsula

75,000 speak Irish GaelicLess than 80,000 in Scotland¼ in WalesBritain’s 1988 Education Act allowed

language training of Welsh: history/music1996-Irish TV stationFew hundred fluent in Cornish

ENDANGERED LANGUAGES

International Communication Language: Most will refer to English if speak different languages

GLOBALIZATION OF ENGLISH

English surpasses all for internet host language

Lingua Franca: language of international communication

“Language of the Franks”Pidgin Language: two groups

that learns English or other lingua Franca in simplified form

Creole: mixing of a colonizer’s language w/indigenous language

Other LF: Swahili, Hindustani, Russian

LF Dialects: African-Americans, Appalachia Residents

Ebonics

TECHNOLOGY LANGUAGES

Franglais French and English French not happy.

Spanglish Spanish and English “Cubonics”

Denglish Deutsch (German) and English

ENGLISH DIFFUSION WITH OTHER LANGUAGES

Language can be the essence of a cultural groupPreserving it means preserving their heritage and who they

areLose the language = lose the foundational soul of the people It is an element of cultural identity. When you hear a

language you can define the people.

LANGUAGE = CULTURE