Chapter 5: Language

1. Chapter 5: Language The Cultural Landscape: An Introduction to Human Geography

2. Warmup • Centrifugal force – pushes a region apart • Centripetal force – pulls a region together • Is a common language a centripetal or centrifugal force in a country?

3. Where Are English Language Speakers Distributed? • Origin and diffusion of English • English is spoken by 328 million as a first language • English colonies • Origins of English • German invasions • Norman invasions

4. Invasions of England Figure 5-3

5. English words from Latin • Kitchen • Anatomy • Dexterity • City • Paper Source: http://www.ruf.rice.edu/~kemmer/Words04/structure/borrowed.html

6. English words from Greek • Atmosphere • Catastrophe • Comedy • The suffixes –ism and -ize Source: http://www.ruf.rice.edu/~kemmer/Words04/structure/borrowed.html

7. English words from French • Attorney • Ballet • Chaplain • Salmon • Adventure Source: http://www.ruf.rice.edu/~kemmer/Words04/structure/borrowed.html

8. English words from German • Lager • Dachsund • Pretzel • Kindergarten Source: http://www.ruf.rice.edu/~kemmer/Words04/structure/borrowed.html

9. English-Speaking Countries Figure 5-2

10. Where Are English Language Speakers Distributed? • Dialects of English • Dialect = a regional variation of a language • Standard language = a well-established dialect • Dialects • In England • Differences between British and American English

11. Where Are English Language Speakers Distributed? • Dialects of English • Dialects in the United States • Settlement in the eastern United States • Current differences in the eastern United States • Pronunciation differences

12. Dialects in the Eastern United States

13. Examples • New England: doughnuts = cymbals or boil cakes • Eastern New England: A is pronounced AH • Hudson Valley: doughnuts = crullers • Inland northern: doughnuts = fried cakes • Chicago urban: doughnuts = any sweetcake • Rocky Mountain: jelly doughnuts = bismarks • North Midland: doughnuts = dunkers, fatcakes • Pacific Southwest: “Valley girl” accent and slang • Southwestern: Mix with Spanish

14. Isogloss = a word-usage boundarySoft Drink Differences Figure 5-8

15. On your map… • Shade in the country which is the origin of the English language. • In a different color, shade in the countries colonized by #1. • Draw arrows from #1 to #2. • Circle the most wealthy countries colonized by #1. • The United States -Australia • Canada -Israel • South Africa -India

17. Warm up #5 • Why do we know so much more about some ancient cultures than others? HINT: It has to do with language.

23. Similar words - “Me” • English – me • Latin – me • Greek – eme • Sanskrit – mam • Albanian – mua • Tagalog - ako • Lithuanian - mane Source: http://www.hinduwebsite.com/general/indoeuro.asp

24. Similar words - “You” • English – thou • Latin – tu • Greek – su • Russian - kak • Old Irish – tu • Albanian – ti • Hittie – tuke Source: http://www.hinduwebsite.com/general/indoeuro.asp

25. Why Is English Related to Other Languages? • Indo-European branches • Language branch = collected of related languages • Indo-European = eight branches • Four branches have a large number of speakers: • Germanic • Indo-Iranian • Balto-Slavic • Romance

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

27. Linguistic Differences in Europe and India Figure 5-10 Figure 5-11

28. Romance Branch Figure 5-12

29. Why Is English Related to Other Languages? • Origin and diffusion of Indo-European • A “Proto-Indo-European” language? • Internal evidence • Nomadic warrior theory • Sedentary farmer theory

30. Nomadic Warrior Theory Figure 5-14

31. Sedentary Farmer Theory Figure 5-15

32. Where Are Other Language Families Distributed? • Classification of languages • Indo-European = the largest language family • 46 percent of the world’s population speaks an Indo-European language • Sino-Tibetan = the second-largest language family • 21 percent of the world’s population speaks a Sino-Tibetan language • Mandarin = the most used language in the world

33. Language Families Figure 5-16

34. Put these in order from largest to smallest: • Language family • Language group • Language branch

35. Brace Map! • On a piece of paper, make a brace map of the Indo European family tree (p. 154-5) • Be sure to include all four language branches • Include at least 20 language groups.

37. Where Are Other Language Families Distributed? • African language families • Extensive linguistic diversity • 1,000 distinct languages + thousands of dialects • Niger-Congo • 95 percent of sub-Saharan Africans speak a Niger-Congo language • Nilo-Saharan • Khoisan • “Click” languages

38. African Language Families Figure 5-19

39. Nigeria’s Main Languages Figure 5-20

40. Why Do People Preserve Languages? • Preserving language diversity • Extinct languages • 473 “endangered” languages today • Examples • Reviving extinct languages: Hebrew • Preserving endangered languages: Celtic • Multilingual states • Walloons and Flemings in Belgium • Isolated languages • Basque • Icelandic

41. Languages in Belgium Figure 5-23

42. Why Do People Preserve Languages? • Global dominance of English • English: An example of a lingua franca • Lingua franca = an international language • Pidgin language = a simplified version of a language • Expansion diffusion of English • Ebonics

43. Why Do People Preserve Languages? • Global dominance of English • Diffusion to other languages • Franglais • The French Academy (1635) = the supreme arbiter of the French language • Spanglish • Denglish

44. English–French Language Boundary Figure 5-27

45. The End. Up next: Religion