Languages

1. Language An organized system of spoken (and usually written) words which give people the ability to communicate

Language a.Currently there are approximately 6,000 living (used in everyday speech and continuing to evolve) languages in the world b.Africa and Asia contain the most linguistic diversity (India has > 800 and Papua New Guinea > 1,000 languages!) c.Can be used to unify or divide a country d.Linguistic Diversity: The knowledge (individuals) or use (societies) of more than one language

Types of Languages

a. Standard language: The accepted community norms of syntax (grammar), vocabulary, and pronunciation

b. Vernacular: Nonstandard language or dialect adopted by a social group

c. Dialects: Regional variations of a dominant language 1)Example: American, South African, Australian, and British English 2)Since the Revolutionary War, America has had three major dialects: Northern, Southern, and Midland 3)There are also sub-dialects, such as Bostonian, Cajun, and Appalachia (US)

d. Isogloss: Borders of individual words or pronunciations 1) No two words have identical isoglosses but tend to “bundle,” forming dialect boundaries 2) Examples: soda vs. pop; “you guys” vs. “y’all”

e. Slang: Words and phrases that are not a part of a standard, recognized vocabulary for a given language

f. Pidgin: A language with a small vocabulary and simple syntax derived from two or more languages used for trading purposes

Pidgin Languages Map

g. Creole: A complete language resulting from the blend of two or more languages (often can’t be understood by speakers of the original languages!)

Major Creole Languages 1)Creole (French and African languages) 2)Cajun (French and English) 3)Swahili (Bantu, Arabic, and Persian) 4)Afrikaans (English and Dutch)

h. Lingua Franca: A language of communication and commerce used over a wide area where it is not the mother tongue Swahili in East Africa, Russian in former Soviet Union, Chinese in SE Asia, English globally

i. Extinct languages 1) Thousands of languages are already extinct due to migration, colonization, and conquest as small indigenous populations died out or adopted the dominant culture’s language 2) 90% (5400) of the current living languages are expected to be extinct by the end of the century

3) Eventually the world will be dominated by five megalanguages: Language % of world population # of countries it is an official language Chinese12%3 Spanish5%21 English5%53 + UN,EU Hindi3%5 Arabic3%25

4) Hebrew: Became extinct as a living language in the 4 th century BC but was revived when Israel became a modern state in 1948

j. Isolated language: A language unrelated to any other and, therefore, not attached to any language family (Example: Basque )

3. Official Language The required language of all official and semiofficial public and private activities in a country (schools, government, etc.)

Dark Blue: English is official language Light blue: Two official languages

a. Multilingual Country: State with more than one official languages Purple = Multiple official languages Green = Single official language, functionally multilingual Blue = No official language, functionally multilingual

1) Canada: French and English are the official languages

2) Belgium: Divided into two independent regions because of language a) Wallonia (South) speaks French b) Flanders (North) speaks a variation of Dutch called Flemish

3) Switzerland: German, French, Italian, and Romansh are all official languages

4) Nigeria English is the official language, but more than 230 languages are spoken (Hausa, Yoruba, Ibo the largest)

b. Monolingual country: Nation with only one official language which is used exclusively throughout the country (Ex: Japan, Iceland)