The Mosaic of Languages

1. The Mosaic of Languages Chapter 5 The Human Mosaic

2. Why geographers study language • Provides the single most common variable by which cultural groups are identified • Provides the main means by which learned customs and skills pass from one generation to the next • Facilitates cultural diffusion of innovations • Because languages vary spatially, they reinforce the sense of region and place • Study of language called linguistic geography and geolinguistics by geographers

3. Terms used in the study of language • Language — tongues that cannot be mutually understood • Dialects — variantforms of a language that have not lost mutual comprehension • A speaker of English can understand the various dialect of the language • A dialect is distinctive enough in vocabulary and pronunciation to label its speaker • Some 6,000 languages and many more dialects are spoken today

4. Terms used in the study of language • Pidgin language — results when different linguistic groups come into contact • Serves the purposes of commerce • Has a small vocabulary derived from the various contact groups • Official language of Papua, New Guinea is a largely English-derived pidgin language, which includes Spanish, German, and Papuan words

5. Terms used in the study of language • Lingua franca — a language that spreads over a wide area where it is not the mother tongue • A language of communication and commerce • Swahili language has this status in much of East Africa

6. Kenya

7. Kenya • Kenya has two official languages: Swahili and English. These lingua franca facilitate communication among Bantu, Nilotic, and Cushitic language speakers. • Swahili developed along the coast of East Africa where

8. Kenya • Bantu came in contact with Arabic spoken by Arab sea traders. • English became important during the British colonial period and is still associated with high status.

9. Kenya • This shopping center caters to Maasai herders who speak a Nilotic language and Kikuyu farmers who speak a Bantu language. • Jambo means “hello” in Swahili.

10. The Mosaic of Languages • Linguistic Culture Regions • Linguistic Diffusion • Linguistic Ecology • Culturo-Linguistic Integration • Linguistic Landscapes

11. Language characteristics used to define linguistic culture regions • isoglosses — bordersof individual word usages or pronunciations • No two words, phrases, or pronunciations have exactly the same spatial distribution • Spatially isoglosses crisscross one another • Typically cluster together in “bundles” • Bundles serve as the most satisfactory dividing lines among dialects and languages

13. Language characteristics used to define linguistic culture regions • Overlap of languages complicates drawing of linguistic borders • In any given area more than one tongue may be spoken — Ecuador • Language barriers are rarely sharp

15. Language characteristics used to define linguistic culture regions • Geographers encounter a core/periphery pattern rather than a dividing line • Dominance of language diminishes away from the center of the region • Outlying zone of bilingualism • Linguistic “islands” often further complicate the drawing of language borders

16. Language characteristics used to define linguistic culture regions • Dialect terms often overlap considerably, making it difficult to draw isoglossess • Linguistic geographers often disagree about how many dialects are present • Disagreement also occurs on where lines should be drawn • Boundaries are necessarily simplified and at best generalizations

19. Language families • The Indo-European language family • Largest most wide-spread family • Spoken on all continents • Dominant in Europe, Russia, North and South America, Australia, and parts of southwestern Asia and India • Subfamilies—Romance, Slavic, Germanic, Indic, Celtic, and Iranic • Subfamilies are divided into individual languages • Seven Indo-European tongues are among the top 10 languages spoken in the world • By comparing vocabularies in various languages one can see the kinship

20. Language families • The Afro-Asiatic family • Has two major divisions—Semitic and Hamitic • Semitic covers the area from Tigris-Euphrates valley westward through most of the north half of Africa to the Atlantic coast • Domain is large but consists of mostly sparsely populated deserts • Arabic is the most widespread Semitic language • Arabic has the most number of native speakers—about 186 million • Hebrew was a “dead” language used only in religious ceremonies • Today Hebrew is the official language of Israel • Amharic a third major Semitic tongues has 20 million speakers in the mountains of East Africa

21. Language families • The Afro-Asiatic family • Has two major divisions—Semitic and Hamitic • Smaller number of people speak Hamitic languages • Share North and East Africa with Semitic speakers • Spoken by the Berbers of Morocco and Algeria • Spoken by the Tuaregs of the Sahara and Cushites of East Africa • Originated in Asia but today only spoken in Africa • Expansion of Arabic decreased the area and number of speakers

22. Other major language families • Africa south of the Sahara Desert is dominated by the Niger-Congo family • Spoken by about 200 million people • Greater part of the Niger-Congo culture region belongs to the Bantu subgroup • Includes Swahili—the lingua franca of East Africa

23. Other major language families • Altaic language family • Includes Turkic, Mongolic, and several other subgroups • Homeland lies largely in deserts, tundras, and coniferous forests of northern and central Asia • Uralic family • Finnish and Hungarian are the two most important tongues • Both have official status in their countries

24. Other major language families • Austronesian language family • Most remarkable language family in terms of distribution • Speakers live mainly on tropical islands • Ranges from Madagascar, through Indonesia and the Pacific Islands, to Hawaii and Easter Island • Longitudinal span is more than half way around the world • Latitudinally, ranges from Hawaii and Taiwan in the north to New Zealand in the south • Largest single language in this family is Indonesian —5O million speakers • Most widespread language is Polynesian

25. Other major language families • Sino-Tibetan language family • One of the major language families of the world • Extends throughout most of China and Southeast Asia • Han Chinese is spoken in a variety of dialects as a mother tongue by 836 million people • Han serves as the official form of speech in China

26. Other major language families • Japanese/Korean language family • Another major Asian family with nearly 200 million speakers • Seems to have some kinship to both the Altaic and Austronesian

27. Other major language families • Austro-Asiatic language family • Found in Southeast Asia, Vietnam, Cambodia, Thailand, and spoken by some tribal people of Malaya and parts of India • Occupies a remnant peripheral domain • Has been encroached upon by Sino-Tibetan, Indo-European, and Austronesian

29. London, England • This display of newspapers illustrates the fact that London is an international city as well as a major migration destination. • In South Kensington, sizable foreign contribute complexity

30. London, England • to the linguistic landscape. • Both Indo-European (e.g. French, Spanish and Swedish) and Afro-Asiatic (Arab) language families are represented here.

31. Other major language families • Occupy refuge areas after retreat before rival groups • Khoisan — found in the Kalahari Desert of southwestern Africa, characterized by clicking sounds • Dravidian — spoken by numerous darker-skinned people of southern India and northern Sri Lanka • Others include — Papuan, Caucasic, Nilo-Saharan, Paleosiberian, Inukitut, and a variety of Amerindian • Basque — spoken on the borderland between Spain and France is unrelated to any other language in the world

32. English dialects in the United States • Dialects reveal a vivid geography • American English is hardly uniform from region to region • At least three major dialects, corresponding to major culture regions, developed in the eastern United States by the time of the American Revolution • Northern • Midland • Southern

34. English dialects in the United States • The three subcultures expanded westward and their dialects spread and fragmented • Retained much of their basic character even beyond the Mississippi River • Have distinctive vocabularies and pronunciations • Drawing dialect boundaries is often tricky

36. English dialects in the United States • Today, many regional words are becoming old-fashioned, but new words display regional variations • The following words are all used to describe a controlled-access divided highway • Freeway — a California word • Turnpike and parkway — mainly northeastern and Midwestern words • Thruway, expressway, and interstate

37. English dialects in the United States • Many African-Americans speak their own form of English — Black English • Once dismissed as inferior substandard English • Grew out of a pidgin that developed on early slave plantations • Today, spoken by about 80 percent of African-Americans • Used by ghetto dwellers who have not made their compromises with mainstream American culture • Many features separate it from standard speech, for example: • Lack of pronoun differentiation between genders • Use of undifferentiated pronouns

38. English dialects in the United States • Many African-Americans speak their own form of English — Black English • Not recognized as part of the proper grammar of a separate linguistic group • Considered evidence of verbal inability or impoverishment • In the Southern dialect, African-Americans have made substantial contributions to speech • Southern dialect is becoming increasingly identified with African-Americans • Caucasians in the Southern region are shifting to Midland speech

39. English dialects in the United States • American dialects suggest we are not becoming a more national culture by overwhelming regional cultures • Linguistic divergence is still under way • Dialects continue to mutate on a regional level • Local variations in grammar and pronunciation proliferate • The homogenizing influence of radio, television, and other mass media is being defied

40. London, England

41. London, England • While English is spoken in many pats of the world, all English words are not mutually intelligible. • This London tube (subway) sign say that anyone performing there (eg singing or playing for money) is subject to a fine of subsection. • Are tubs, subway, and busking dialect words?

42. The Mosaic of Languages • Linguistic Culture Regions • Linguistic Diffusion • Linguistic Ecology • Culturo-Linguistic Integration • Linguistic Landscapes

43. Indo-European diffusion • Earliest speakers apparently lived in southern and southeastern Turkey (Anatolia) about eight or nine thousand years ago • Diffused west and north into Europe • Represented expansion of farming people at expense of hunters and gatherers • As people dispersed and lost contact, different variant forms of the language caused fragmentation of the family

44. Indo-European diffusion • Later language diffusion occurred with the spread of great political empires, especially Latin, English, and Russian • Relocation and expansion diffusion were not mutually exclusive • Relocation diffusion by conquering elite implanted their language • Implanted language often gained wider acceptance by expansion diffusion • Conqueror’s language spread hierarchically • Spread of Latin with Roman conquests • Spanish in Latin America

45. Austronesian diffusion • Presumed hearth in the interior of Southeast Asia 5,000 years ago • Initially spread southward into the Malay Peninsula • In a process lasting several thousand years, people sailed in tiny boats across the. uncharted vast seas to New Zealand, Easter Island, Hawaii, and Madagascar • Sailing and navigation was the key to Austronesian spread, not agriculture

47. Austronesian diffusion • The remarkable diffusion of the Polynesian people • Form the eastern part of the Austronesian culture region • Occupy hundreds of Pacific islands in a triangular-shaped realm • New Zealand, Easter Island, and Hawaii form the three apexes of the realm • Made a watery leap of 2,500 miles from the South Pacific to Hawaii • Used outrigger canoes • Went against prevailing winds into a new hemisphere with different navigational stars • No humans had previously found the isolated Hawaiian Islands • Sailors had no way of knowing that land existed in the area

49. Austronesian diffusion • Geographers John Webb and Gerard Ward studied the prehistoric Polynesian diffusion • Their method involved the development of a computer model building in data on: • Winds • Ocean currents • Vessel traits and capabilities • Island visibility • Duration of voyage, etc. • Both drift and navigated voyages were considered

50. Austronesian diffusion • Over one hundred thousand voyage simulations were run through the computer • Their conclusions • Triangle was probably entered from the west—direction of the ancient Austronesian hearth area • “Island hopping”—migrated from one visible island to another • Core of eastern Polynesia likely reached by navigated voyages • Outer arc from Hawaii through Easter Island to New Zealand reached by intentionally navigated voyages