LanguageDiagram

Indo-Iranian BranchRomance Branch

Balto-Slavic BranchPg 153

1st period Quiz1. A system of written communication is a

_________________________

2. What is a dialect?

3. Explain why some words in British English and American English are spelled differently.

2nd period Quiz

1. What is a literary tradition?

2. List the 5 Romance languages.

3. Why are there spelling differences in British English and American English?

Prepare for map quiz.

Number a sheet of notebook paper 1-13.

For tomorrow’s presentations-Be prepared to explain what part you played-When you get done with the powerpoint email to jennifer.whitworth@dpsnc.net-If you are bringing food for extra credit bring any items that go along with it (forks, napkins, plates, etc)

Chapter 5

Languages!

• What do you call a person who speaks multiple language?– A polyglot

• What do you call a person who speaks two languages?– Bilingual

• What do you call a person who speaks one language?– American

Why do you think so few Americans speak another language?

Countries

• Monolingual:

• Multilingual:

• Most languages diffuse through literary tradition

Where are English-Language Speakers Distributed?

• English- spoken more than any other language except Mandarin

• Distributed around the world

• Official language in 50 countries– English is the most important language in

North America b/c • Diffusion of English colonies

Dialects of English

• Dialect- – Different in sound, speed, syntax

• Migration allows variation to exist

• English- large # of dialect

Dialects in the U.S.

• isogloss

• South- two syllables

• New England- drops the “r”

• West Coast/Midwest

Dialects of English

– Standard language• Acceptable for govt, education, mass

communication• British Received Pronunciation- politicians,

broadcasters, actors

Why is English Related to Other Languages?

• Language family

• Language Branch

• Language group

Indo-European Family

• 8 branches

• World’s most extensively spoke language family

• 3 billion people speak Indo-European

The Indo-European Language Family

• Germanic branch• Indo-Iranian branch• Balto-Slavic branch• Romance branch• Albanian• Armenian• Greek• Celtic

Indo-European Language Family

Fig. 5-5: The main branches of the Indo-European language family include Germanic, Romance, Balto-Slavic, and Indo-Iranian.

Germanic Branch of Indo-European

• Includes:– German and English– English included b/c German tribes that invaded

England (Angles, Saxons, Jutes)– West Germanic Branch

• Structurally similar and have many words in common

– East Germanic- EXTINCT– North Germanic Branch

• Scandinavia- Swedish, Danish, Norwegian, Icelandic• Icelandic- changed less than any other Germanic language

b/c of isolation from other places

– High and Low Germanic• Based on elevations• Low- English, Dutch, Flemish, Afrikaans

Germanic 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.

English is in the language family- Indo- European

English is in the language branch – Germanic

English is in the language group- West Germanic

Where are Other Language Families Distributed?

• Family Trees:* language families- TRUNKS

• Individual languages- LEAVES– The larger the leaves/trunks are the greater # of

speakers of those families and languages.– Trunks that divide into branches- language branches

Language Family Trees

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

Language Families of the World

Fig. 5-11: Distribution of the world’s main language families. Languages with more than 50 million speakers are named.

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 world’s people.

Language Family Activity

Remain silent while announcements are on

Get homework out!

Indo-Iranian Branch of Indo-European

• Most speakers (100 individual languages) spoken by 1 billion

• Eastern (Indic)

• Western (Iranian)

Indo-Iranian Branch of Indo-European

• Eastern (Indic)– Widely used language in India– Indians speak Hindi written in Devanagari

• Hindi Language

– Pakistan speak Urdu written in Arabic• Urdu Language

– Cultural diversity in India is due to language

Indo-Iranian Branch of Indo-European

• Iranian (Western)– Spoken in Iran– Iranians speak Persian

• Persian

– Afghans speak Pashto• Pashto

– Kurds speak Kurdish • Kurdish

Batlo-Slavic Branch of Indo-European

• East Slavic and Baltic Groups– Russian

• Russian

• West and South Slavic Groups– Polish by Czech and Slovak

• czech language

– Ukrainian• Ukrainian

– Belarusian• Belarusian

Russian Sign

Russian is an Indo-European language written in the Cyrillic alphabet, originally brought to Russia by Greek missionaries

South Asian Languages & 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.

Romance Branch of Indo-European

Fig. 5-8: The Romance branch includes three of the world’s 12 most widely spoken languages (Spanish, French, and Portuguese), as well as a number of smaller languages and dialects.

Signs in Barcelona, Spain

Signs in Barcelona are written both in Catalán (top) and Spanish (bottom).

Port-au-Prince, Haiti

Haitian Creole and French are both official languages in Haiti, although English is also used.

Romance Branch

• Evolved from Latin• Italian, Portuguese, French, Spanish, Romanian

– Italian– Portuguese– French– Spanish– Romanian

• Reason for differences is isolation of the countries in which the languages are spoken

Origin and Diffusion of Indo-European

• Proto-Indo-European:

• Cannot be proven with certainty

• All Indo-European languages share certain similar words

• Linguists agree that it existed but disagree on when and where the language originated and the process of diffusion

Two Theories of Proto-Indo-European

• Kurgan Theory– Nomadic herders– Migrated in search of grasslands– Conquered much of Europe and South Asia

Kurgan 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 7000 years ago.

Two Theories of Proto-Indo-European

• Anatolian– Migrated for agricultural reasons– Not military conquest– language flourished b/c grew food not hunting

Anatolian 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.

Distribution of Language Families

• 2nd largest family- Sino-Tibetan

• People’s Republic of China- world’s most populous state– Sinitic Branch– Austro-Thai and Tibetan-Burman two smaller

branches

Sino-Tibetan

• Sinitic Branch– No single Chinese language– Most important- Mandarin (most used

language in the world).– Official language of P.R.of C. and Taiwan

• Other Sinitic languages spoken in China

• Chinese govt. imposing Mandarin

Sino-Tibetan

• Source of national strength and unity

• Words written the same way

• 420 one syllable words– Each sound denotes more than one thing

• Ideograms- represent ideas or concepts, not specific pronunciation

Chinese 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.

Other East and S.E. Asian Language Families

• Japan and Korea have distinct language families– Japanese- written with Chinese ideograms

but also 2 systems phonetic symbols

• Korean- written in hankul (each letter represents a sound).– Vietnamese- most spoken language of

Austro-Asiatic language family

Afro-Asiatic Language Family

• Arabic and Hebrew

• 4th largest language family

• Language used to write the holiest books of the 3 major world religions

• Arabic major language- official language in 24 countries

African Language Families

• 1,000 distinct languages

• Lack written tradition

• Minimal interaction culturally

• 1800’s European missionaries starting recording

Language Families of Africa

Fig. 5-14: The 1000 or more languages of Africa are divided among five main language families, including Austronesian languages in Madagascar.

Niger-Congo

• 95% of Sub-Saharan Africa

• Swahili

Languages 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.

Nilo-Saharan

• 6 branches

• Very few speakers

• Very divided = problematic with classifying African languages

Khoisan Language Family

• Southwest

• Clicking sounds

Austronesian Language Family

• Indonesia

• Most widely used language Javanese

Nigeria: Conflict among speakers of different languages

• Nigeria- most populous country in Africa

• 493 distinct languages

• Great cultural diversity/language diversity in a small region

Languages 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.

Should English be the official language of the U.S.?

• Debate continues over whether English should be the official language of the U.S. and whether schools should teach in languages other than English. Give an argument for school being taught only in English, and one supporting teaching with other languages in our schools. Which argument do you support, and why?

Why do People Preserve Local Languages?

• Distribution of language is a measure of the fate of an ethnic group

• Competition trends of globalization and diversity

Preserving Language Diversity

• Extinct languages- no longer spoken or read

• 516 extinct languages

Preserving Language Diversity

• Hebrew– Extinct and revived– Diminished in 4th century B.C.– 1948 became official language of Israel

Jerusalem Street sign

A street in Jerusalem was re-named New York after Sept. 11, 2001. The street name is shown in Hebrew, Arabic, and English

Languages Die, but Not Their Last Word1. How many languages are spoken today?2. How do languages become extinct?3. In what regions are languages disappearing most

rapidly?4. What continent’s spoke tongues are nearly all

endangered?5. Why do the Kallawaya have a secret language?6. What language threatens the survival of the Northwest

Pacific languages?7. What have govt. officials in Siberia done for minority

language speakers?8. According to researchers, how fast are languages

becoming extinct?

Multilingual States

• Belgium:– Southern-French– Northern- Dutch/Flemish– Language boundary divides country into two

regions.– Economic/political differences

Language 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.

Language Areas in Switzerland

Fig. 5-17: Switzerland remains peaceful with four official languages and a decentralized government structure.

Multilingual States

• Switzerland:– Peacefully exists with multiple languages– Decentralized govt. – local authorities have

most of the power– 4 official languages- German, French, Italian,

Romansh

Isolated Languages

• Unrelated to any other and not attached to any language family

• Similarities and differences in languages measure the degree of interaction among groups of people

• Isolated languages lack interaction with speakers of other languages

Isolated Languages

• An unchanging language: Icelandic– Indo-European– Little interaction– isolated

Global Dominance of English

• Lingua franca- language of international communication

• Facilitate trade- mixing of languages

• Pidgin language- simplified form to communicate with speakers– English, Swahili, Indonesia, Russian

Ireland Road Signs

Road signs in Ireland are written in both English and Gaelic (Goidelic).

Bookstore in

Brussels, Belgium

The name of the bookstore is printed in both French (top) and Flemish (bottom).

Expansion Diffusion of English

• Past: migration and conquest

• Current: expansion diffusion– Diffusion of new vocab, spelling,

pronunciation– English words fusing with others.

Ebonics

• Combo of ebony and phonics

• South Africans migrated to NE and Midwest

• Double negatives

• Controversial– Poor education– Preserving an element of African American

culture

Diffusion to Other Languages

• Franglias- mix of French and English– Controversial- language is a sense of national

pride

• Spaniglish- mix of Spanish and English– Modify spelling of words– Popular in popular culture– Enriches both English and Spanish

• Denglish- English and Dutch

If you only learned a few things…

• Language is the means of communication b/t people.

• Many languages are dying out• Largest language family is Indo-European• Second largest is the Sino-Tibetan• Mandaran is the most spoken language in

the world• Dialects are a form of language based on

syntax, vocal, and speed.

French-English Boundary in Canada

Fig. 5-18: Although Canada is bilingual, French speakers are concentrated in the province of Quebec, where 80% of the population speaks French.

French Signs in Québec City

Spanish Signs in New York City

Use your book to describe the differences between British English and American English.

* include things such as pronunciation, vocab, and spelling

Pg 150

American slang vs. British slang

Ellen2