Chapter 5 Language

Language Diversity Earth’s heterogeneous collection of languages is one of its most obvious examples of cultural diversity. Estimates of distinct languages in the world range from 2,000 to 4,000. Only 10 languages, however, are spoken by at least 100 million people, including English.

Language Language is a system of communication through speech, a collection of sounds that a group of people understands to have the same meaning. Many languages also have a literary tradition, or a system of written communication. An official language is one used by the government for laws, reports, and public objects, such as signs, money, and stamps. Some countries may have more than one official language. Countries with ties to Great Britain retain English officially even though many citizens can’t speak it.

The Global v. The Local (Languages) English has achieved an unprecedented globalization because people around the world are learning it to participate in a global economy and culture. On the other hand, people are trying to preserve local diversity in language, because language is one of the basic elements of cultural identity and a major feature of a region’s uniqueness.

Distribution The contemporary distribution of languages around the world results largely from past migrations of peoples. Geographers study languages to understand the diffusion and interaction of people around the world.

Distribution Continued Language distribution results from a combination of interaction and isolation. People in two locations speak the same language because of migration from one of the locations to another. If the two groups have few connections with each other after the migration, the language spoken by each will begin to differ. After a long period without contact, the two groups will speak languages that are so different they are classified as separate languages.

English English is spoken fluently by one-half billion people, second only to Mandarin. Whereas Mandarin speakers are clustered in China, English is distributed around the world. English is the official language in 42 countries. Two billion people- 1/3 of the world- live in a country where English is an official language, even if they can’t speak it. English is an official language in most of the former British colonies.

English Speaking Countries: How did English Evolve and Diffuse Across the Globe? Fig. 5-1: 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 understood in many others.

Origin, Evolution, & Diffusion of English Stages: Indo-European Hearth Kurgan & Anatolian Germanic Branch German Invasion of the British Isles The Angels, Saxons, & Jutes Norman Invasion Brings French Influence to English English Colonies Around the World English as an Official Language

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.

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 along with military conquest, beginning about 7,000 years ago.

German 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.

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.