1 / 29

CHAPTER 8 CLASS NOTES A GEOGRAPHY OF LANGUAGE

CHAPTER 8 CLASS NOTES A GEOGRAPHY OF LANGUAGE. Language is at the Heart of Culture. No Culture exists w/out Language Change constantly HOW??? 5,000 – 6,000 Languages in use today in the world (1 dies every 2 weeks) Why might this be true today?.

heathertaylor
Download Presentation

CHAPTER 8 CLASS NOTES A GEOGRAPHY OF LANGUAGE

An Image/Link below is provided (as is) to download presentation Download Policy: Content on the Website is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use and may not be sold / licensed / shared on other websites without getting consent from its author. Content is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use only. Download presentation by click this link. While downloading, if for some reason you are not able to download a presentation, the publisher may have deleted the file from their server. During download, if you can't get a presentation, the file might be deleted by the publisher.

E N D

Presentation Transcript

  1. CHAPTER 8 CLASS NOTESA GEOGRAPHY OF LANGUAGE

  2. Language is at the Heart of Culture • No Culture exists w/out Language • Change constantly • HOW??? • 5,000 – 6,000 Languages in use today in the world (1 dies every 2 weeks) • Why might this be true today?

  3. LANGUAGE – Communication of Sound (vocalization) is crucial • Meanings of sounds must be learned • Preliterate Society – People who speak a language, but don’t write it • Disadvantage ??? • No written record

  4. STANDARD LANGUAGE – (In advanced societies) what the elite seek to use as the norm (some variation) • “The Queen’s English” in UK • Matter of cultural and national identity • Use in gov’t, docs, schools, media, courts

  5. OFFICIAL LANGUAGE - • Official State Language of a Country • Nationally Recognized to promote internal cohesion • USA is one of few countries NOT to have one (table on p. 147)

  6. \

  7. DIALECTS – • Regional variants of a standard language • Differences in: Syntax, pronunciation, cadence etc. • “You all” = “Y’all” in TX • “Oil” in NE might sound like “Ahll” in the South

  8. USA vs. ENGLAND • REsearch vs. reSEARCH • GaRAge vs. GAR…rarge • Sch (k) edule vs. Shhedule

  9. ISOGLOSSES – Geographic boundary marking linguistic features • (extent to where one term is used, then switch) • Say “Dinner” in N. IL, but in S. IL… • say “Supper” in S. IL • Say “Water Fountain” in IL, but in WI… • It’s a “Bubbler”

  10. WORLD LANGUAGES • Chinese = single most spoken language (Sino-Tibetan Family) • Language Family – Way to group languages thought to have shared, but distant origins • Language Family # of speakers % of Pop • Indo-European- 2.562 billion 45% • Sino-Tibetan- 1.276 billion 22% • Niger-Congo- 358 million 6% • Afro-Asiatic- 340 million 5%

  11. INDO-EUROPEAN FAMILY • More people speak a language from this one family than any other • English, Spanish, German, Russian, French • Why?

  12. Left: Original locations of language families (before age of exploration Right: Places where an Indo-European language is either the official language or one of the more commonly spoken languages

  13. MORE FAMOUS ENGLISH SAYINGS Where did they ever come from???

  14. “Don’t throw the baby out with the bath water.”

  15. “Its raining cats and dogs.”

  16. “Dirt poor.” • “The Threshold.”

  17. “Go to a wake.”

  18. “Chew the fat.”

  19. “The Graveyard Shift.” • “Saved by the Bell.”

  20. “Ring around the Rosie, Pockets full of posies, Ashes, ashes, We all fall down!”

More Related