Language Families

Objectives Definition of language family Indo-European-languages Proto-Indo-European-languages

language family A language family is a set of languages deriving from a common ancestor or "parent." Languages with a significant number of common features in phonology, morphology and syntax are said to belong to the same language family. Subdivisions of a language family are called "branches."

It is estimated that there are more than 250 established language families in the world, and over 6,800 distinct languages, many of which are threatened or endangered.

The number of languages that make up a language family varies greatly. There are many languages that do not appear to be related to any other. These single-member language families are referred to as language isolates.

English, along with most of the other major languages of Europe, belongs to the Indo- European language family.

Indo-European languages A family of languages (including most of the languages spoken in Europe, India, and Iran) descended from a common tongue spoken in the third millennium B.C. by an agricultural people originating in southeastern Europe.

The Indo-European homeland Home of Indo-European –Area between northern Europe and southern Russia –Early Indo-Europeans have been identified with the Kurgan culture –Lived northwest of the Caucasus and north of the Caspian Sea

–Domesticated cattle for milk, meat, and transportation –Combined farming with herding –Were a mobile people, used 4-wheeled wagons –Built fortified palaces on hilltops

–Had a stratified society, with warrior nobility and laboring class –Believed in life after death, constructed elaborate burial sites –Expanded into the Balkans and northern Europe, then Iran, Anatolia, and southern Europe

Branches of Indo-European (IE) include Indo-Iranian (Sanskrit and the Iranian languages), Greek, Italic (Latin and related languages), Celtic, Germanic (which includes English), Armenian, Balto-Slavic, Albanian, Anatolian, and Tocharian.

Proto-Indo-European Languages PIE was the first proposed proto- language to be widely accepted by linguists The Proto-Indo-European language (PIE). The term proto-language means an ancient parent language from which a group of related languages have descended through slow modification.:

PIE are languages thus brought into relationship by descent or progressive differentiation from a parent speech are conveniently called a family of languages. The surviving languages show various degrees of similarity to one another, the

similarity bearing a more or less direct relationship to their geographical distribution.

Proto-Indo-European languages It can be said that Proto-Indo-European refers to English--along with a whole host of languages spoken in Europe, India, and the Middle East.

Proposed geographic location of original home of the Proto-Indo-European tribes

They accordingly fall into eleven principal groups: Indian, Iranian, Armenian, Hellenic, Albanian, Italic, Balto-Slavic, Germanic, Celtic, Hittite, and Tocharian. It is by far the most well-understood of all proto-languages of its age.

PIE The languages thus brought into relationship by descent or progressive differentiation from a parent speech are conveniently called a family of languages.

There for, English is a Germanic language which belongs to the Indo-European languages.

Indo-Iranian One of the oldest languages on record Indic dialects –Vedic hymns (written in early Sanskrit) date from at least 1000 B.C. –Classical Sanskrit appeared about 500 B.C. Early grammarians formulated rules for its use Sanskrit means ‘well-made’ or ‘perfected’ Panini wrote a grammar of Sanskrit in 4 th century B.C. still admirable today

–Bengali, Hindi, and Urdo developed from Prakrits (natural dialects) –Romany (Gypsy) contains loan words from other languages Iranic dialects –Old Persian is the ancestor of Modern Iranian –Avestan is a sacred language preserved in the Avesta (a religious book)

Italic Latin was the main language in ancient Italy –Spread influence to Gaul, Spain, and other countries –Became a koine –Survives in Romance languages Portuguese, Spanish, French, Italian, Romanian –Romance languages developed from Vulgar Latin Spoken by common people

–Dialect of Paris, Picard, became standard French –Dialect of the kingdom of Castile became standard Spanish –Dialect of Tuscany became standard Italian

Celtic Used to be spoken in central & western Europe before Christian era Gaulish was spoken in present day France Brythonic threatened by arrival of Angles, Saxons, and Jutes Welsh and Breton are closely related

Cornish, no native speakers since 19 th century Goidelic (Gaelic) survived in Scots Gaelic, Manx, and Irish Gaelic

Germanic Includes English Proto-Germanic was not recorded, only spoken Spread over a large area, developed marked dialectal differences –North Germanic –Danish, Swedish, Norwegian, Icelandic, Faeroese

–West Germanic High German, Low German (Dutch, Flemish, Afrikaans), Frisian, English Modern German and Yiddish developed from High German Afrikaans developed from Dutch spoken in South Africa

–East Germanic Gothic Earliest of Germanic languages No modern Germanic languages developed from Gothic

Hellenic Ancient Hellenic dialects –Mycenaean -Aeolic –Doric -Attic-Ionic Attic became the basis of Greek because it was the dialect of Athens. –The koine (common dialect which ultimately dominated other Hellenic dialects

Exercise What is a language family? What are the branches of the PIE? Languages that have no common features among each other are known as………….

Using the Proto- Indo-European family map trace the history of the Modern English language.

Suggested Topics for research Language Families The Endo-European Languages French Influences on the English Language Latin and Greek Influences on the English Language The Anglo-Saxon Period The Vikings Period

Old English Literature: Characteristics & a model: Beowulf Middle English Literature: Characteristics & a model: The Canterbury Tales Modern English literature: Characteristics and a model.

The Differences Between the Old English and the Middle English Phonological Systems. The Development of the Noun System of the English Language The Development of the Verb System of the English Language

The Distinctive Features of Old English Morphology The Distinctive Features of Middle English Morphology The Differences Between Old English and Middle English Syntax

The Differences Between Middle English and Modern English Morphology. The Differences Between Middle English and Modern English Syntax. Differences Between British and American English