CHAPTER 7 LECTURE OUTLINE THE GEOGRAPHY OF LANGUAGE Human Geography by Malinowski & Kaplan Copyright © The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. Permission required for reproduction or display. 7-1 Photo © Jon Malinowski. All rights reserved. Used with permission.

Chapter 7 Modules 7ABasic Components of Language 7B Dialects, Accent, Linguae Francae, Pidgins, & Creoles 7C Language Families 7D Geography of English 7ELanguage Isolation and Language Extinction 7F Toponymy 7G Language Conflict Copyright © The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. Permission required for reproduction or display. 7-2

Geographer’s Perspective on Language Language is an essential element of culture, possibly the most important medium by which culture is transmitted. Languages even structure the perceptions of their speakers. Attitudes, understandings, and responses are partly determined by the words available. Languages are a hallmark of cultural diversity with distinctive regional distributions.

7A: Basic Components of Language Language A system of communication using sounds, gestures, marks, and signs Phonemes The sounds in a language Early writing was often pictographic Such as cuneiform 7-4 Copyright © The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. Permission required for reproduction or display.

How to Write Down a Language?

Ideograms - Chinese; Japanese - Sumerian and Egyptian have both ideographic and phonetic components. How to Write Down a Language?

Roots of Language How to Write Down a Language? Phonetic Most languages, including Romance languages Symbols (letters) generally represent sounds, not ideas. A phonetic alphabet is the key innovation.

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Copyright © The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. Permission required for reproduction or display Figure 7A.2 The Rosetta Stone

Important Takeaway Alphabets change not only with time but with location Writing systems became modified to accommodate existing culture traits present there Copyright © The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. Permission required for reproduction or display. 2-11

7B: Dialects, etc. Dialect – Variations of sounds & vocabulary in a language Accent – Differences in how a language sounds or is spoken Idiom – A language peculiar to a certain group or region Patois – Generally refers to rural or provincial speech Vernacular – Also refers to a local form of a language Copyright © The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. Permission required for reproduction or display. 7-12

7B: Lingua Franca Lingua Franca – A common language used for cross-cultural communication or for trade – Examples include Kiswalhili, Russian, French, Pidgin – A simplified language used by people who don’t speak the same language Different from a lingua franca because it generally refers to a language that is nobody’s native language Usually has a simplified vocabulary Creole – A pidgin that is adopted by a group as its primary language 7-13 Copyright © The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. Permission required for reproduction or display.

7C: Language Families Language Family – Collection of languages with a common ancestor Today, 6,800 languages grouped into about 120 language families 7-14 Copyright © The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. Permission required for reproduction or display.

Language Divisions Language Families Language Branches Language Groups Languages Dialects Accents

Language Divisions for English Language Families Language Branches Language Groups Languages Dialects Accents -- Indo-European -- Germanic -- West Germanic -- English -- Northeastern -- Boston (Pak da ka o-fa dere, pleese!)

Indo-European Language Branches Non-Indo-European Language Families and Branches

Which languages share a common ancestor? Many Indo-European languages have common words for snow, winter, spring; for dog, horse, cow, sheep bear but not camel, lion, elephant, or tiger; for beech, oak, pine, willow, but not palm or banyan tree. Some Indo-European Shared Words

Indo-European Language Family (50% of World) Main Branches: Germanic - Dutch, German Romance - Spanish, French Baltic-Slavic - Russian Indo-Iranian - Hindu, Bengali

Indo-European Language Family - Germanic Branch West Germanic English (514 million) German (128) Dutch (21) East Germanic Danish (5) Norwegian (5) Swedish (9)

Germanic Branch - Icelandic Iceland colonized by Norwegians in AD 874. Largely unchanged because of isolation combined with literary tradition. Highly developed literary tradition. Ancient sagas can be read by modern speakers of Icelandic.

Germanic Branch - English Diffused throughout the world by hundreds of years of British colonialism. Brought to New World by British colonies in 1600s. Has become an important global lingua franca.

Development of English Germanic Tribes (Germany/Denmanrk) Jutes Angles Saxons Vikings (Norway) 9th - 11th Centuries Normans (French) Battle of Hastings, 1066 French was official language for 150 years.

Development of English - Adopted Words Germanic Tribes (Germany/Denmark) kindergarten, angst, noodle, pretzel Vikings (Norway) take, they, reindeer, window Normans (French) renaissance, mansion, village, guardian Video

Indo-European Language Family - Romance Branch Like English these languages have been spread by Colonialism. Spanish (425 million) Portuguese (194) - most in Brazil French (129) Italian (62) Romanian (26)

Indo-European Family - Romance Branch The Roman Empire, at its height in 2nd century A.D., extinguished many local languages. After the fall of Rome in the 5th century, communication declined and languages evolved again. Literature was all written in Latin until the 13th and 14th centuries. Dante Alighieri’s 1314 Inferno written in vulgar latin (Florentine).

Sino-Tibetan Language Family (20%) Branches: Sinitic - Mandarin (1075), Cantonese (71), Austro-Thai (77) - Thai, Hmong Tibeto-Burman - Burmese (32) Chinese languages based on 420 one syllable words with meaning infered from context and tone.

Language Families of Africa Fig. 5-14: The 1,000 or more languages of Africa are divided among five main language families, including Austronesian languages in Madagascar.

Afro-Asiatic Language Family Main Branch: Semitic Arabic (256) Language of the Koran; spread by Islamic Faith and Islamic (Ottoman) Empires Hebrew (5) Language of the old Testament (with Aramaic); completely revived from extinction in Israel, 1948.

Islamic World circa A.D. 1500

Niger-Congo Difffusion proto-Bantu peoples originated in Cameroon- Nigeria They spread throughout southern Africa AD Bantu peoples were agriculturalists who used metal tools Khoisan peoples were hunter-gatherers and were no match for the Bantu. Pygmies adopted Bantu tongue and retreated to forest Hottentots and Bushmen retained the clicks of Khoisan languages

7D: Geography of English “Standard” English is known as Received Pronunciation (RP) The English of educated British speakers in London American English starts splitting 500 years ago Regional dialects and pidgins such as Gullah Distinct varieties in Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, India, etc Copyright © The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. Permission required for reproduction or display.

Where Are Languages Distributed? Origin and diffusion of English Origin and diffusion of English – English is spoken by 328 million as a first language – English colonies – Origin of English in England German Invasions German Invasions Norman Invasions Norman Invasions

English Speaking Countries English is the official language in 42 countries, including some in which it is not the most widely spoken language. It is also used and it is not the most widely spoken language. It is also used and understood in many others. understood in many others.

Invasions of England 5 th –11 th centuries The groups that brought what became English to England included Jutes, Angles, Saxons, and Vikings. The Normans later brought French vocabulary to English. Saxons, and Vikings. The Normans later brought French vocabulary to English.

Where Are English Language Speakers Distributed? Dialects of English Dialects of English – Dialect = a regional variation of a language – Isogloss = a word-usage boundary – Standard language = a well-established dialect – Dialects In England In England Differences between British and American English Differences between British and American English dialects

Old and Middle English Dialects The main dialect regions of Old English before the Norman invasion persisted to some extent in the Middle English dialects through the 1400s. persisted to some extent in the Middle English dialects through the 1400s.

Where Are English Language Speakers Distributed? Dialects of English Dialects of English – Dialects in the United States Settlement in the eastern United States Settlement in the eastern United States – Current differences in the eastern United States » Pronunciation differences

Hans Kurath divided the eastern U.S. into three dialect regions, whose distribution is similar to that of house types. Dialects in the Eastern U. S.

Soft Drink Differences Looking at language usage.

Why Is English Related to Other Languages? Indo-European branches Indo-European branches – Language branch = collected of related languages – Indo-European = eight branches Four branches have a large number of speakers: Four branches have a large number of speakers: – Germanic – Indo-Iranian – Balto-Slavic – Romance

Branches of the Indo-European Family The main branches of the Indo-European language family include Germanic, Romance, Balto-Slavic, and Indo-Iranian.

Linguistic Differences in Europe and India The Germanic branch today is divided into North and West Germanic groups. English is in the West Germanic group. Indo-European is the largest of four main language families in South Asia. The country of India has 18 official languages.

Romance Branch of Indo-European The Romance branch includes three of the world’s 12 most widely spoken languages (Spanish, French, and Portuguese), as well as a number of languages (Spanish, French, and Portuguese), as well as a number of smaller languages and dialects. smaller languages and dialects.

Why Is English Related to Other Languages? Origin and diffusion of Indo-European Origin and diffusion of Indo-European – A “Proto-Indo-European” language? Internal evidence Internal evidence Nomadic warrior theory Nomadic warrior theory Sedentary farmer theory Sedentary farmer theory

Nomadic Warrior Theory In the Kurgan theory, Proto-Indo-European diffused from the Kurgan hearth north of the Caspian Sea, beginning about 7,000 years ago. hearth north of the Caspian Sea, beginning about 7,000 years ago.

Sedentary Farmer Theory In the Anatolian hearth theory, Indo-European originated in Turkey before the Kurgans and diffused through agricultural expansion. the Kurgans and diffused through agricultural expansion.

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Why Do People Preserve Local Languages? Global dominance of English Global dominance of English – English: An example of a lingua franca Lingua franca = an international language Lingua franca = an international language Pidgin language = a simplified version of a language Pidgin language = a simplified version of a language Expansion diffusion of English Expansion diffusion of English Ebonics Ebonics Pidgin Language - Hawaii facebook-share&utm_source=m.facebook.com&utm_content=awesm-bookmarklet&utm_campaign

Why Do People Preserve Local Languages? Global dominance of English Global dominance of English – Diffusion to other languages Franglais Franglais – The French Academy (1635) = the supreme arbiter of the French language Spanglish Spanglish Denglish (English spelling) Denglish (English spelling) – Denglisch (German spelling) is a portmanteau of the German words Deutsch and Englisch. Used in all German-speaking countries, it describes an influx of English, or pseudo-English, vocabulary into the German language through travel and widespread usage of English in advertising, business and information technology. – English words within Denglisch will have a flexion added to them, so they can be conjugated (or declined) in the same manner as German words. EX: neu booten / rebooten (reboot)

7E: Language Isolation & Extinction Languages change over space & time Language Divergence When a language splits into two new languages Latin became French, Spanish, Romanian, etc. Language Convergence When two languages merge into one Language Isolate A language that belongs to no language family Language Extinction The death of a language 300 languages have died since the year Copyright © The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. Permission required for reproduction or display.

7-54 Figure 7E.2 Nearly Extinct Languages

7F: Toponymy The study of place names A place name can reflect: – Physical features Stony Point – A function that happened at a place Minersville, PA – Current or past cultures in the area – Ideas such as Patriotism Independence, MO Copyright © The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. Permission required for reproduction or display. 7-55

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7G: Language Conflict Conflict over language and place names is common – Macedonia’s name angered Greece – Israelis and Palestinians have changed names to indicated control of a space – Arabian Gulf or Persian Gulf? Official language debates in the U.S. Quebec nationalist movements The French battle against loan words Copyright © The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. Permission required for reproduction or display. 7-58