Chapter 5: language

1. Chapter 5: language UNIT 3

2. LANGUAGE • Language: 1of the most obvious examples of culture • Estimated 7,299 languages spoken • 10 spoken by 100M+ • 100 spoken by 5M+

3. Indo-European Language

4. language • Language: system of communication through speech, a collection of symbols that a group of people understands to have the same meaning • Literary tradition: system of written communication • Official language: the one used by the gov’t for laws, reports, and public objects; road signs, $, & stamps

5. Big 2 • Where different languages are used • How these languages can be grouped in space • Why languages have distinctive distributions • Language like luggage • Look at similarities to understand diffusion and interaction of people around the world

6. Where are English-language speakers distributed? ORIGIN AND DIFFUSION OF ENGLISH • ½ billion people speak it • Only Mandarin is spoken more • Official language in 50 countries • 1/3 of the world live in a country where English is an official language (might not speak it)

7. English spoken

8. Origin & diffusion of english ENGLISH COLONIES • English speakers exist because of the spread of England • Spread throughout the world • NA • Ireland • South Asia • South Pacific • Southern Africa

9. Origin & diffusion of english ORIGIN OF ENGLISH IN ENGLAND • Germanic language say whatttttt? • Celts (2000 B.C.) • Pushed north (Scotland/Wales) ZEE GERMANS ARE COMING • Angles, Jutes (Denmark), and Saxons (German) • Angles’ Land  England • Evolving through invasion

10. Origin & diffusion of english NORMAN INVASION 1066 • Norman as in Normandy France • French spoken for 300 years • Commoners continued English • English/French which is it? • English official language of Parliament in 1489 • 300 years of mingling

11. Dialects of english • Dialect: regional variation of a language distinguished by distinctive vocabulary, spelling, and pronunciation • Several dialects in U.S. and other English speaking countries • Standard language: dialect that is well est. and widely recognized as the most acceptable for gov. business, edu, mass communication • Printing press spreads English

12. Brit/Am Differences • Isolation • Vocab: New discoveries, animals, and inventions • Forests, chipmunk, bonnet/hood, boot/trunk • Spelling • Noah Webster • Pronunciations • A and R difference • Brit: /ah/ Am: /a/ ~fauhst/fast, pauth/path • Brits don’t pronounce r’s except when it proceeds a vowel

13. u.s. dialects • American settlers; 13 colonies • East: New England and Southeastern settlers came from southern and southeastern England • Mid Atlantic: Scots/Irish, German, Dutch, Swedes • Differences? • isogloss: a boundary that separates regions in which different language usages predominate • Bucket/pail, brook/creek/run, skillet/pan • Car (cahr) heart (haht) lark (lahrk)

16. Indo-European branches • Language family: collection of languages related through a common ancestral language that existed long before recorded history • Language branch: “ “ several thousand years ago • 4 major branches: • Indo-Iranian: South Asia • Romance: Southwestern Europe & Latin America • Germanic: Northwestern Europe & North America • Balto-Slavic: Eastern Europe • 4 minor branches: Albanian, Armenian, Greek, and Celtic

17. Branches of the Indo-European Family Figure 5-9

18. Indo-European branches GERMANIC • Language group: collection of languages within a branch that share a common origin in the relatively recent past and have few differences in grammar and vocab. • English/German • High/Low Germanic: English-Low, German-High • Scandinavian: Swedish, Danish, Norwegian, and Icelandic

20. Indo-European branches IRANIAN • 100 languages spoken by 1 billion people • East (Indic) West (Iranian) • Eastern: India, Pakistan and Bangladesh • India’s language dispute (north/south) • 18 official languages • Western: Iran and Southwestern Asia • Persian: Iran, Pakistan, and Afghanistan • Kurdish: (western Iran) Iraq and Turkey

21. Indo-Iranian

22. Indo-European branches BALTO-SLAVIC • East/Baltic: Russia, Ukrainian, and Belarusian • Russia’s dominance during cold war • West/South: Polish, Czech, and Slovak • Czech and Slovak very similar • Bosnia, Herzegovina, Croatia, Montenegro, and Serbia

23. Indo-European Branches ROMANCE BRANCH • Evolved from Latin spoken by Romans 2,000 y.o. • Spanish, Portuguese, French, and Italian • Rugged mountains separate their language • Romansh and Catalán • Romansh: 40,000 ppl in Switzerland • Catalán: official lang. of Andorra, eastern Spain (Barca)

25. Indo-European Branches ORIGIN & DIFFUSION OF ROMANCE LANGUAGES • All branch from Latin • At its height, stretched from Atlantic to Black Sea • With conquering comes diffusion • Each province adds its own flavor • Vulgar Latin: used in daily convo’s opposed to standard dialect (official docs) • Fall of Romans 5thC • Regional variations of Latin • Revert back to old language

26. Origin & diffusion of Indo-European • Germanic, Romance, Balto-Slavic, & Indo-Iranian come from the same family: • Proto-Indo-European (can’t be fully proven) • Beech, oak, bear, deer, pheasant, and bee • Winter and snow…not ocean • Accept that Proto-Indo-European existed • But not when/where/diffused • Possible Kurgans (4300 B.C.) • Possible Anatolians (6300 B.C.) • Agriculture or war?

27. Kurgan migration

28. Anatolian migration

29. Classification of languages • Language in Indo-European (Eng) spoken by 48% of the world • Language in Sino-Tibetan (Mandarin) spoken by 26% • Language in Afro-Asiatic (Arabic) spoken by 6% • Language in Austronesian(SE Asia) spoken by 5% • Language in Dravidian (India) spoken by 4% • Language in Altaic (Africa) spoken by 3% • Language in Niger-Congo (Africa) spoken by 3% • Japanese(separate family) spoken by 2% • Remaining 3% belong to one of 100 smaller families

30. Language Families

31. Distribution of language families SINO-TIBETAN • ¼ of world speakers • China and SE Asia • SINITIC BRANCH • No single Chinese language (Mandarin and Cantonese) • Words spelled the same, pronounced differently • 420 1-syllable words: Shi: lion, corpse, house, poetry, ten, swear, or die. Listener must infer meanings • Thousands of characters • Ideograms: represent concepts or ideas, not specific pronunciations

32. Afro-asiatic language family • Arabic and Hebrew, others in N Africa and SE Asia • Spread of language because of the Bible and Quran • Arabic spread from Morocco to Arabian Peninsula

34. African Language families • 1,000+ languages, several thousand dialects doc. • Niger-Congo: 95% of sub-Saharans speak it • Largest branch: Benue-Congo • Swahili: secondary language of 30M Africans • Nilo-Saharan: North Central • Khosian: South West • Austronesian: Indonesia • Javanese and Malay

35. Preserving language diversity • Extinct language: language no longer spoken or read • 516 nearly extinct: 46 African, 170 Americas, 78 Asian, 12 European and 210 Pacific • Religious influences: Goths and Peru • Reviving Hebrew • Biblical language • Jewish celebrations • Israel establishes as one of 2 official languages (Arabic) • Eliezer Ben-Yehuda

36. Celtic: preserving endangered languages • Celtic originated in Germany, France, and N Italy • Celtic Groups: Goidelic (Gaelic) and Brythonic • Irish Gaelic (7%) and Scottish Gaelic (1%) • Brythonic (Cymric or Britannic)  • Wales: 1/6 still speak Welsh. Lost dominance in 19th C • All gov’t & utility companies must provide services in Welsh, BBC broadcasts in Welsh • Cornwall: Cornish extinct in 1777 • Brittany Pen.: ½ Mil speak Breton, French infusion

37. Multilingual states • Belgium: split into Flemings (North/Flanders) and Walloons (South/Wallonia) • Flanders speak Flemish (close to Dutch) • Wallonia speak French • Each region controls cultural affairs, public health, road construction, and urban development • Brussels is truly bilingual • Switzerland: peacefully exists w/ multiple languages • Decentralized gov’t is the key • Most power is with local authorities

38. Switzerland

39. Isolated language • Isolated language: language unrelated to any other and therefore not attached to any language family • Arise from lack of interaction w/ speakers of other languages • Basque: Before arrival of Indo-European speakers • Spoken by 600,000 people in Pyrenees Mts in N Spain & S France • Isolation • Icelandic: North Germanic group • Changed less than any other Germanic lang. in the past 1,000 years • ISOLATION

40. English: Lingua franca • Lingua Franca: a language mutually understood and commonly used in trade by ppl who have dif. Native tongues • Pidgin language: form of speech that adopts a simplified grammar and limited vocab of a lingua franca, use for comm. among speakers of 2 dif. Lang • no native speakers, spoken for trade purposes • Swahili, Hindustani, Indonesian, and Russian (others) • Knowing Eng. is the most effective way to work in a global econ.

41. Diffusion of English • Distribution mainly from migration and conquest • Recently through expansion diffusion • Spread of an idea rather than through relocation • Expansion 2 ways: 1) new vocab, spelling, and pronunciation 2) fusing words w/ other languages • Ebonics: combination of ebony and phonics • Preserved in African American communities • Language that slave masters could not understand • Appalachian dialect: hollowholler, creekcrick • Regional identity and poor education

42. Diffusion of other languages • Franglais: combination of françaisand anglais • French aren’t happy about English gaining dominance • Spanglish: combination of Spanish and English • Cubonics in Cuban-American communities • More integration of English with Spanish than just borrowing English words • Parquin, taipearbipiar, and i-meiliar • Denglish: German and English

43. English/French boundaries