Chapter 5: Language Essential Questions:  Where are English-language speakers located?  What is the origin of the English language?  How did the English language diffuse throughout the world?

Random language facts   In the US only 30% of graduates from high school have studied 3 years or more of a language, 53% 1 or 2 years and 17% have had none   Dutch—62% have learned at least 3!

  There are 7,299 languages but of all these only 10 are spoken by more than 100 million people.   English, Spanish, Portuguese, Russian, German, Mandarin, Hindi, Bengali, Arabic and Japanese   100 are spoken by at least 5 million, another 70 between 2 & 5 million and the remaining 6,000 or more are spoken by fewer than 2 million people

What is language?  Language is a system of communication through speech, a collection of sounds that a group of people understands to have the same meaning.  Not all languages have a literary tradition, or a system of writing.  What are the problems with this for linguists?

How are Languages Formed?

A language originates at a particular place and then diffuses to other locations through the migration of its speakers

Languages develop distinctly through migration and subsequent isolation

 Can find linkages among languages by examining sound shifts – a slight change in a word across languages over time. eg. Milk =lacte in Latin latta in Italian leche in Spanish lait in French

 Language divergence – when a lack of spatial interaction among speakers of a language breaks the language into dialects and then new languages.  Language convergence – when peoples with different languages have consistent spatial interaction and their languages collapse into one.

Language and Culture “No one was allowed to speak the language – the Dena’ina language. They [the American government] didn’t allow it in the schools, and a lot of the women had married non-native men, and the men said, ‘You’re American now so you can’t speak the language.’ So, we became invisible in the community. Invisible to each other. And, then, because we couldn’t speak the language – what happens when you can’t speak your own language is you have to think with someone else’s words, and that’s a dreadful kind of isolation [emphasis added].” - Clare Swan, elder, Kenaitze band, Dena’ina Indians

What is an official language? Used by the government for laws, reports, public objects and documents, Name a country with more than 1.

Mandarin and English  1. Mandarin 2. English (1/3 of world live in a country with official language)  Difference between Mandarin and English?

ENGLISH!!!!! English is a good illustration of the development and diffusion of languages in general. Most languages follow a similar pattern.

The origin of English  Celts arrived around 2,000 BC and spoke Celtic  Around 450 AD tribes (Jutes, Angles and Saxons) arrived from mainland Europe, pushing Celts North and West  Modern English is rooted in the languages spoken by these tribes, from present-day Germany and Denmark.

French in ENGLAND!!!  In 1066 the Normans invaded England and conquered it.  They established French as the official language for the next 300 years.  Nobles, royalty, clergy, judges and other educated people spoke French.  Most people did not know French so they continued to speak English.

And so, the languages mingled…  Mother  Sky  Horse  Man  Woman  Maternal  Celestial  Equestrian  Masculine  Feminine

What exactly is a dialect?  A dialect is a regional variation distinguished by distinctive vocabulary, spelling and pronunciation.  Many countries that have numerous dialects may recognize one as the standard language.  British Received Pronunciation (BRP) is the standard language for the UK.  There were numerous dialects in Britain, following the Norman invasion. The printing press (introduced 1476) encouraged diffusion and books printed in the 18 th century established the London dialect.

What’s the difference between British and American English?  Most differences account for separation  Differences are mainly vocabulary, spelling and pronunciation  Vocab differences are accounted for in new animals and objects and inventions that began to appear i.e. lift/elevator  Spelling—good ole’ Miriam Webster honour, colour, defence  Pronunciation differences mainly because of isolation. Mainly r and a 

Dialects in the US  Three original dialect patterns: New England, Middle Atlantic and Southeast  New England—most settlers were Puritans from southeast England  Half of southeasterners came from southeast, but varying backgrounds  Settlers in Middle Atlantic were much more diverse—Northern England, Scots, Irish, and even German, Dutch and Swedish

New England  Pahk the cah in hahvahd yahd  _pVhT10s2E&feature=related (New England) _pVhT10s2E&feature=related _pVhT10s2E&feature=related  Similar to south of England and reflects the contact

Current Dialect Differences  Dialects are easily studied through usage of words  A Word usage boundary is known as an ISOGLOSS.  Example: calling a cow  New England—co, come,Boss, bossie,  Midlands—sook, sookie, sook cow  South Co-wench, Co-inch and Co-ee

Dialect variants of a standard language along regional or ethnic lines - vocabulary -syntax - pronunciation - cadence - pace of speech Isogloss A geographic boundary within which a particular linguistic feature occurs

Middle Atlantic  aauYOsG6uE aauYOsG6uE aauYOsG6uE  New England and Southern accents sound weird to Midwesterners because most settlers came from the Middle Atlantic states.

The South  Hay, ya’all. I was wondrin if she was gowin to the po-ur howyuss on sundy.  QvjtttVurg&feature=related (NC) QvjtttVurg&feature=related QvjtttVurg&feature=related  The diffusion of these accents resembles that of the folk houses.

 UgpfSp2t6k UgpfSp2t6k UgpfSp2t6k