Ch. 5: LANGUAGE

Objective: Explain the

cultural importance of

language.

Defining Language

Pronunciation and combination of words used to communicate within a group of people

Important cultural index

Structures individual perception of world

World’s Major Languages

3,000 distinct languages50% of world population speak

one of 12 major languagesMandarin Chinese is largest with

885 millionEnglish is the primary language of

350 million and is the official language of about 50 countries

The Geographer’s Perspective of Language

What is the distribution of world languagesdensity concentrationPatterns

How is culture influenced or limited by this language distribution?

How does the language reflect the culture?

Language Distribution

Indicates

History and conquestIsolation or integration of culturesMigration of peoplesEconomic Domination of certain

culturesInfluence of wealth and

technology Political Divisions (country

boundaries)Physical geography barriers

(mts., deserts)

Cultural Values A Language May Indicate

class structuregender differences in

vocabularyenvironmentally specific

vocabularyformal and informal

relationships technology of a culture

Official Languages of Countries

Language can be used as a political tool

Language often used as a cultural weapon (English vs. Spanish)

many states have adopted “Official English” policies as a result

What Role does Language Play in Making Places?

PlacePlace – the uniqueness of a location, what people do in a location, what they create, how they impart a certain character, a certain imprint on the location by making it unique.

Toponym Toponym – a place name

A toponym: Imparts a certain character

on a placeReflects the social

processes in a placeCan give us a glimpse of the

history of a placeHas its roots in migration

9 Categories of ToponymsCategory Examples

Descriptive toponyms Rocky Mountains, Chicago (Stinking Onions in the language of the first inhabitants)

Associative Toponyms Mill River (a mill was on the river), Springfield

Incident Names Battle Creek, Bloody Ridge, Cut and Shoot

Possessive Names Castro Valley, Pittsburgh

Commemorative (commemorating someone well-known or in honor of a famous person)

St Louis, San Jacinto, Houston, Seattle (named after Chief Seattle), Austin, Pennsylvania (Penn's Woods), Illinois (after the Illini Indians)

Commendatory (praising) Pleasant Valley, Greenland

Manufactured (made up names)Tesnus (Sunset spelled backwards), Reklaw (Walker spelled backwards) Iraan (Ira and Ann name the town after each other)

Mistaken (historic errors in identification or translation)

West Indies (not west of the Indies and not the Indies)

Shift Names (relocated names or names from settler's homeland)

Athens (Greece and Texas), Palestine (Middle East and Texas), New Mexico (settlers from Mexico named their new home after their previous home), New England,

Changing Toponyms When people change the toponym of a place, they have

the power to “wipe out the past and call forth the new.” - Yi-Fu Tuan, geographer

Changing Toponyms

Major reasons people change toponyms: After decolonization After a political revolution To memorialize people or events

(Martin Luther King Jr. ) To commodify or brand a place

(amusement parks, stadiums) Also changes the cultural landscape

Martin Luther King, Jr. Streets

Geographer Derek Alderman asks:* Where are MLK streets?* Why are they where they are?* What controversies surround memorializing MLK with a street name?