Language

Language

• One spatial display of language: Toponyms (place names)

• Toponyms is a part of cultural identity –a sense of belonging– Language is considered the unifier of cultural

identity

• Report out on the discovery of place names

Indo-European Language Family

Fig. 5-5: The main branches of the Indo-European language family include Germanic, Romance, Balto-Slavic, and Indo-Iranian.

Kurgan Theory of Indo-European Origin

Fig. 5-9: In the Kurgan theory, Proto-Indo-European diffused from the Kurgan hearth north of the Caspian Sea, beginning about 7000 years ago.

Anatolian Hearth Theory of Indo-European Origin

Fig. 5-10: In the Anatolian hearth theory, Indo-European originated in Turkey before the Kurgans and diffused through agricultural expansion.

Germanic Branch of Indo-European

Fig. 5-6: The Germanic branch today is divided into North and West Germanic groups. English is in the West Germanic group.

Invasions of England

5th - 11th

centuries

Fig. 5-2: The groups that brought what became English to England included Jutes, Angles, Saxons, and Vikings. The Normans later brought French vocabulary to English.

English Speaking Countries

Fig. 5-1: English is an official language in 50 countries, including some in which it is not the most widely spoken language. It is also used and understood in many others.

Official Language• Empires led to hierarchical diffusion -

introduced language becomes an official language.

• Official language – a language designated for business, education, and government

• A language usually becomes official after serving as an unofficial lingua franca

• Lingua franca is a mutually understood language used as default communication e.g. trade

E-Commerce Languages 2000 & 2004

Fig 5-1.2: English and English-speaking countries still dominate e-commerce, but other languages are growing rapidly.

Official Language• English – 40 countries• French – 27 • Arabic – 21• Spanish – 20• Some countries have multiple official languages:• Switzerland – French, German, Italian, Romansh• Belgium – Flemish (North – Flanders), French

(South – Wallonia), German

Language Divisions in Belgium

Fig. 5-16: There has been much tension in Belgium between Flemings, who live in the north and speak Flemish, a Dutch dialect, and Walloons, who live in the south and speak French.

Language Areas in Switzerland

Fig. 5-17: Switzerland remains peaceful with four official languages and a decentralized government structure.

Official Language

• Canada – French, English• Paraguay – Guarani, Spanish• Guyana – Caribbean Hindustani, English

French-English Boundary in Canada

Fig. 5-18: Although Canada is bilingual, French speakers are concentrated in the province of Quebec, where 80% of the population speaks French.

Language Complexity - Region

Language complexity –Africa

Nations adopted foreign colonial language to unite diverse speakers

Language Complexity - Nigeria

• 3 Language families• 15 major local languages• 230 lesser local languages• English is no one’s native tongue, but used in

all education• Mainstream acceptance requires tri-lingualism

(control Yoruba, Hausa, and Ibo power struggle)

Languages of Nigeria

Fig. 5-15: More than 200 languages are spoken in Nigeria, the largest country in Africa (by population). English, considered neutral, is the official language.

Dialects

• Recognizable variants of speech (usually ethnic or regional)

• Differences in vocabulary, syntax, pronunciation, cadence, and pace

• Dialect chains (similarities to regions close in proximity)

• Remember: (Vernacular is everyday folk talk)

Dialects in the Eastern U.S.

Fig. 5-4: Hans Kurath divided the eastern U.S. into three dialect regions, whose distribution is similar to that of house types (Fig. 4-9).

Language

• Lingua franca – one language or a combination– Pidgin – combining parts of 2 languages in simple

structure and vocabulary

• Examples of historic lingua franca– 1200s – Frankish (sea traders in Med.)– Arabic – Islamic Expansion– English – British colonialism

• Lingua franca today:– English in India– Swahili (Bantu & Arabic/Persian) in East Africa

• When a pidgin language becomes native tongue of locals it is creolized– Many on the edge of developed society

• Afrikaans, French Creole in Haiti, Mauritius, Jamaica

• Why do people preserve local languages?– Lost languages article from the Post– Language extinction and Revival– Emerging languages

• Spanglish, Denglish, Franglais

• Isolated Languages: geographic isolation – Indigenous people– Icelandic, the Basques