LanguageAP HUMAN GEOGRAPHY - SMITH

What is language?

Language Essential element of

culture

Affect attitude &

perceptions

Shows cultural

diversity

Regional distribution

of culture

What can language distribution

show us?

Classification

Family

Branches

Group

Language

Language Families - have a

common ancestor

Indo European 2.910 Billion

Sino-Tibetan 1.268 Billion

Niger-Congo 437 Million

Austronesian 386 million

Afro-Asiatic 380 Million

Dravidian 229 Million

Altaic 170 Million

Quickly – as a table – you have 5

minutes

Sino-Tibetan

Niger-Congo

Austronesian

Afro-Asiatic

Dravidian

Altaic

A few of the major languages

from the family

Where we would find the

languages from this family

How these languages diffused.

Language BranchesGroups of languages

that share a common

origin but have

evolved into different

languages

Language Groups (like twigs on a branch)

Languages on a branch

that share a more recent

common origin

Closer grammar and

vocabulary

French, Spanish & Italian

have very similar grammar

and vocabulary