1. Language Estimated in 6,909 languages in world
-only 11 languages spoken by more than 100 million people
-153 languages spoken by at least 3 million
-remaining languages spoken by fewer than 3 million people

2. Language
Language:
A system of communication through speech, a collection of sounds that a group of people understands to have the same meaning
Many languages have a literary tradition
A system of written communication
Those that lack literary tradition leave no records to document distribution of language
Many countries designate at least one official language
One used by government for laws, signs, money and stamps

3. Language Definitions Proto-tongue Language divergence Language shift
Language is a culture trait learned from one generation to another
Speculated that nearly 2.5 million years ago language developed in order to organize human activity
All original speakers communicated in the proto-tongue or original language
Once speakers migrated, language divergence occurred
Language divergence
When speakers of the same language scatter and develop variations of that original form of language
Language shift
When speakers come into contact with other languages, a blending of the two or more languages can occur.
Language replacement
Occurs when invaders replace the language of those places they conquer
Can lead to language extinction
When a language is no longer used
Reverse Reconstruction
Process begins with the most recent places of the languages existence and moves backward through time comparing words with geographic places and groups of people using the same or similar words

4. Language Definitions Dialect Language family Language branch
Regional variations within a standard language
Differences in pronunciation, grammar, and vocabulary
Language family
Collection of individual languages believed to be related in their prehistorical origin
Most widely spoken is Indo- European
Example: Indo-European
Language branch
Collection of languages that possesses a definite common origin but has split into individual languages
Example: Romance
Language group
Collection of several individual languages that is part of a language branch, shares a common origin in the recent past, and has relatively similar grammar and vocabulary
Example: Spanish, French

5. Where are English-language speakers distributed
Key Issue #1
Where are English-language speakers distributed

6. Origin of English English English Colonies
1st language for 328 million people
Spoken fluently by half-billion people
Official language in 57 countries
Predominate language in 2 countries
Australia
United States
2 billion people (1/3rd) live in a country where English is the official language
English Colonies
Contemporary distribution of English speakers around the world exists because the people of England migrated with their languages when they established colonies in the past four centuries
Diffusion
From England to North America
Jamestown, VA 1607
Plymouth, Mass 1620
English assured as dominant language after French-Indian war
England conquered other colonies in late 17th, 18th and 19th centuries
Ireland
Southeast Asia
Africa

7. Origin of English in England
British Isles inhabited for thousands of years but nothing is known of early languages
1st known- the Celts arrived
Arrived 2000 B.C.E.
Around 450 C.E. tribes invaded from mainland Europe invaded
Celts pushed into Northern and Western parts of England, Scotland, and Wales
German Invasion
Invading Tribes
Angles, Jutes, Saxons
Shared a similar language
Anglo-Saxons
Modern English derived from
At some time all Germans spoke same language
Predates recorded history
Other invasions contributed to language
Vikings 9th century

8. Origin of English in England
Norman Invasion
English is different from German today thanks to the Normans
Normans invaded in 1066 C.E.
Spoke French
Language in England for 300 yrs
Mainly only Royals spoke
England lost control of Normandy in 1204 C.E.
Conflict with French
English dominate again
Mix of English and French created new hybrid

9. Dialects of English Dialect: Migration
A regional variation of a language distinguished by distinctive vocabulary, spelling, and pronunciation
Reflects distinctive features of the environments in which groups live
Distribution of dialects studied through study of particular words
Isogloss:
A boundary that separates regions in which different language usages predominate
Collected data directly from people
Migration
When speakers of a language migrate to other locations, various dialects of that language might develop
Example:
English speakers migration to North America
English varies by regions within individual countries
In a language with multiple dialects, one dialect may be recognized as the standard language
Most acceptable for government, business, education, and mass communication
Ex. British Received Pronunciation

10. Dialects in England English originated with three invading groups
Angles, Jute, Saxons
All basis of distant regional regional dialects of Old English
Southeast- Kentish
Southwest- West Saxon
North- Northumbrian
Center- Mercian
After French Invasion
Five major dialects emerged
Northern, East Midland, West Midland, Southwestern and Southeastern/ Kentish
Standard language
Dialect used by upper-class residents emerged as standard for writing and speech
Diffusion occurred thanks to Printing press in 1476
Grammar books and dictionaries printed in “London” dialect
Strong regional differences remain
Three main dialect
Northern
Midland
Southern

11. Differences Between British and American English
English language brought to North America with Colonists in 17th century
Early Colonists spoke language spoken in England
Later immigrants found English already implanted here
Made significant contributions to American English
Why is American English so different?
Isolation
U.S. and England evolved independently in 18th and 19th centuries
Vocabulary
Settlers encountered new experiences
Physical features, animals, inventions
Ex. Elevator = lift in England
Spelling
Diverged due to demand for independent identity
Noah Webster
Determined to develop a uniquely American dialect of English
Wanted to establish a national language
Ex. Honour= honor
Pronunciation
Began with arrival of colonists
Changed more in England than U.S.
Americans didn’t speak proper English

12. Differences

13. Dialects in the United States
Different dialects originated because of differences in dialects among original settlers
Settlement in the East
New England
Established and inhabited by colonist from England
Mainly from SE England
Southeastern
½ came from SE England
Diverse social-classes
Middle Atlantic
Most diverse
Penn- Quakers (North England)
Scots/ Irish
Germans
Swedes
English dialects in U.S. Southeast and New England easily recognizable today

15. Dialects in the United States
Pronunciation differences
New England
Drop the r
South
Make words into two syllables
Middle Atlantic
Diffused with western settlers
Diffused much like housing types
Mobility of Americans has been a major reason for the relatively uniform language that exists throughout much of the West
Current dialect differences in the East
Major dialect differences continue to exist within the U.S.
Primarily on the East Coast
Ex. Soda vs. Pop vs. Coke

16. Why is English Related to Other Languages
Key Issue #2
Why is English Related to Other Languages

17. Language Hearths
Traditional approaches in cultural geography have identified the source areas of the world’s languages and the paths of diffusion of those languages from their places of origins.

18. Indo- European Branches
Language family
Collection of languages related through a common ancestral language that existed long before recorded history
Indo-European most common family
Language branch
Collection of languages related through a common ancestral language that existed several thousand years ago
Indo-European family is divided into eight branches
Germanic
Clustered in NW Europe and North America
Indo-Iranian
Clustered in South Asia
Baltic languages
Clustered in Eastern Europe
Romance
Clustered in SW Europe and Latin America
Other branches
Albanian
Armenian
Greek
Celtic

19. Germanic Branch Language group West Germanic Further divided
A collection of languages within a branch that share a common origin in the relatively recent past and display relatively few differences in grammar and vocabulary
West Germanic
Language group in Germanic branch
English is a part of this group
English and German are structurally similar and have many words in common
Further divided
High Germanic and Low Germanic

20. West Germanic Branch High Germanic Low Germanic North Germanic
Found in high elevations in Germany
Spoken in southern mountains
Basis for modern standard German language
Low Germanic
Includes:
English
Dutch
Flemish
North Germanic
Includes languages spoken in Scandinavia
Swedish
Norwegian
Danish
Icelandic
All derived from Old Norse

21. Indo-Iranian Branch Part of the Indo-European family
Includes more than 100 million speakers
Branches include more than 100 individual languages
Branch is divided into:
Eastern group (Indic)
Iranian

22. Indo-Iranian Branch Indic (Eastern Branch) Most widely used in
India
Pakistan
Bangladesh
One of main elements of cultural diversity among the 1 billion plus residents in India is language
Official language of India is Hindi
Proposed as official language
Rejected, remains English
Only official way to write is using script called Devanagari
India recognizes 22 “Scheduled languages”
15 are Indo-European
Iranian (Western Branch)
Includes
Persian (Farsi)
Spoken in Iran
Pashto
Spoken in Afghanistan and western Pakistan
Kurdish
Spoken in Western Iran, Northern Iraq, and Eastern Turkey
Written in Arabic alphabet
Spoken in
Iran
Southwestern Asia

23. Baltic-Slavic Branch Slavic once a single language
Differences developed in 7th century A.D. when several groups migrated from Asia into Eastern Europe
Divided into:
East
West
South
Baltic

24. Balto-Slavic East Slavic Most widely used of Slavic languages Russian
One of 6 languages of U.N.
Importance increased after rise of Soviet Union to power
S.U. forced people to speak
After break-up other languages re-emerged
Ukrainian and Belarusian

25. Balto-Slavic West Slavic South Slavic Includes
Polish (most widely spoken)
Czech
Slovak
Former Czechoslovakia tried to balance Czech and Slovak languages
Country contained 2X Czechs
Switched languages at sporting events
Effective until split in 1993
South Slavic
Spoken in
Bosnia and Herzegovina
Croatia
Montenegro
Serbia
All once spoke Serbo-Croatian
All once part of Yugoslavia
Split= tensions
Bosnians and Croats take offense
Bosnian Muslims introduced Arabic words into language
Croats have replaced “Serbian words”
May be very different in future
All Slavic languages similar and can be understood….. For now.

26. Romance BRanch Evolved from Latin spoken by Romans 2,000 years ago
Four most widely used:
Spanish
Portuguese
French
Italian
Languages spoken mainly within nation borders
Mountains serves as barriers
Strong intervening obstacles
Also included Romanian
Spoken in Romania and Moldova
Separated from Western Europe by Slavic speakers
Distribution of Romance Languages highlights difficulty in trying to establish #s of distinct languages in the world
Several more Romance languages
Ex. Catalan, Sardinian, Romansh
Some have individual literary traditions

27. Romance Branch Origin Diffusion All derived from Latin
Spread of Roman Empire = spread of Latin
Conquered languages often suppressed or extinguished
Empire so large = Latin varied
Provinces spoke “Vulgar Latin”
Vulgar means “the masses”
Introduced by soldiers
Diffusion
Following collapse of Roman Empire communication declined
Some reverted to old language
Led to new, distinct languages

28. Romance Branch Dialects Languages evolved over time
Numerous dialects are spoken within each province
Creation of standard national languages are relatively recent
France
Standard form = Francien
From Ile-de-France region
Became official in 16th cent.
Dialect difference
North- Langue d’oil
South- Langue d’oc
Often called Occitan

29. Romance Branch Spain Differences
Contained many dialects during Middle Ages
Castilian spread throughout the country as it unified
Spain reached approximate present day boundaries in 15th century
Castilian became official language
Now called Spanish
Regional dialects survived only in secluded rural areas
Expansion
Both Spain and Portuguese have achieved worldwide importance because of colonization
90% of speakers live outside two nations
Spanish is official language of 18 Latin American nations
Portuguese is spoken in Brazil
Differences
Two languages diffused thanks to exploration in 15th century
Treaty of Tordesillas 1493
Two languages differ from West Hemisphere and East Hemisphere
Forces in both hemispheres “standardize” the languages

30. Distinguishing between Dialect and Languages
Difficulties arise in determining whether two languages are distinct or whether they are merely two dialects of the same language
Romance languages spoken in some former colonies can be classified as separate languages because they differ substantially from the original introduced by European colonizers.
French Creole
Papiamento (Creolized Spanish)
Portuguese Creole
A Creole or creolized language is defined as a language that results from the mixing of the colonizer’s language with the indigenous language of the people being dominated.

31. Origin and Diffusion of Indo-European
Germanic, Romance, Balto-Slavic, and Indo- Iranian languages are all part of the same Indo-European language family
Must be descended from a single common ancestral language
Called Proto-Indo-European
Can’t be proven
Existed before writing
B.C.E.
Internal Evidence
Physical attributes of words themselves in various Indo-European languages
Beech, oak, bear, deer, bee
Probably lived in a cold climate
Modern Indo-European languages share word for “snow”
No contact with oceans
Most agree that Proto-Indo-European existed
Disagree on when and where it originated and how it diffused
Two theories
Nomadic Warrior Thesis (Conquest)
1st speakers were Kurgan people
Homeland near steppes near present day Russia and Kazakhstan
Earliest evidence 4300 B.C.E.
Nomadic herders
First to domesticate
Migrated for grasslands
Later developed weapons, conquered South Asia
Sedentary Farmer Thesis (Agrarian)
1st speakers lived 2000 yrs before Kurgan
Homeland in East Anatolia
Diffused towards Mediterranean
With agricultural practices not military conquest

32. Origin and Diffusion of Indo-European
Map of Indo-European Migrations
B.C.E.