1. Chapter 5 Key Issue 3 Why do Individual Languages Vary Among Places?

2. Big Question
What is a dialect and describe the dialects present in English in general, the United Kingdom, and the United States?
What attempts have been made to standardize languages and how have multilingual countries dealt with language diversity?

3. Key Terms Dialect Standard language Received Pronunciation (RP)
Isogloss
Ebonics
Creole

4. English Dialects
Dialect – a regional variation of a language distinguished by distinctive vocabulary, spelling, and pronunciation (subdialects also exist)
English has a large number of dialects from the original in England (North American, Australian, South African, etc.)
Isolation is extremely important when understanding dialects
After people of the same language split, they begin to create words that pertain to their situation (British English vs. American English)
English variations see variations in vocabulary, spelling, and pronunciation

5. English Dialects
England itself also sees several dialects from the original standard language, which is the dialect that is well established and widely recognized by governments, education, media, and business
In English, the standard language is called Received Pronunciation (RP)
RP developed out of the London elite and academics from Oxford and Cambridge Universities…three main dialects stem from that in England – Northern, Midland, and Southern

6. U.S. Dialects
Dialects are created with words and spellings that are only used regionally
These words have boundaries to their use known as isogloss
The U.S. has 4 major dialects: North, Midland, South, and West which can also be divided into subdialects

7. U.S. Dialects
The three East Coast dialects diffused from the original locations of English colonies
The Northern colonies were populated by Puritans from Eastern and Southern England, known for dropping the /r/ sound from words
The Middle colonies were made up of Quakers from Northern England, Scots, Irish, Germans, and Dutch who learned English when they got to America

8. U.S. Dialects
The Southern colonies came from lower classes of Southeastern England, deported prisoners, servants, and refugees who didn’t speak “Proper English”
From the colonies, those dialects diffused west as America expanded
The Midland dialect has become the standard dialect of America and is the one that also became the dialect of the West

9. U.S. Dialects
Other dialects that occur in America are African-American (Ebonics), Appalachian, and Creole English

10. Dialects of Language?
Globalization has often created tension between regional dialects and standard languages, as dialects have been suppressed and strengthened
It is sometimes difficult to distinguish between a language and a dialect
Examples of the Romance branch include: Catalan-Valencian-Balear (Spanish), Galician (Spanish-Portuguese), Moldovan (Romanian), Italian dialects such as Lombard, Sicilian, Venetian, Occitan (French)

11. Dialect of Language?
English is not the only language that has dialects
French varies widely across France itself as well as its overseas possessions
Spanish and Portuguese that is spoken in Spain and Portugal is different than that spoken in Latin America
To unify these languages, efforts have been made by language organizations in France, Spain, and Portugal to standardize words, rules, and pronunciations
The standardization of English occurs in the Oxford-English Dictionary

12. Multilingual Places
Multiple languages coexist in some countries, with varying degrees of success
Switzerland uses 4 official languages (German, French, Italian, and Romanish) with much success
Canada uses 2 (English and French) languages with recent cooperation between the speakers. There have been conflicts and cultural isolation in the past

13. Multilingual Places
Nigeria has 529 distinct languages with the most common only being spoken by 14% of the country. The country is further divided into Northern Muslims and Southern Christians. Igbo and Yoruba have been the leading languages but have also led to very deadly conflicts and talks of secession from the two groups
Belgium is sharply divided by the two main language groups (French-speaking Walloons in the South and Dutch-speaking Flemings in the North). The country has been split into two since it was created and has even talked about forming two countries

14. Big Question & Key Terms
What is a dialect and describe the dialects present in English in general, the United Kingdom, and the United States?
What attempts have been made to standardize languages and how have multilingual countries dealt with language diversity?
Dialect
standard language
Received Pronunciation (RP)
Isogloss
Ebonics
Creole

15. Chapter 5 Key Issue 4 Why do Local Languages Survive?

16. Big Question
Describe the difference between endangered, extinct, isolated, unchanged, new, and growing languages. Give examples for each.

17. Key Terms
Endangered Languages
Isolated languages
Unchanged languages
Extinct languages
New languages
Growing languages

18. Endangered Languages
The distribution of a language is a measure of the fate of a cultural group (English vs. Icelandic)…globalization vs. isolation
Of the 7,102 languages on earth, 2,447 are endangered and 916 are dying
Languages are endangered or dying because parents are not teaching them to their children
The regions of Earth with the largest number of dying languages are the South Pacific, Latin America, and North America

19. Endangered Languages
In Australia and New Zealand, English is the most widely spoken language and the native Aboriginees and Maroi languages are struggling to survive
In North America, 142 Native American languages are dying in the U.S. alone
Efforts are being made to reawaken these languages but it proving to be difficult

20. Preserving Languages
Many efforts are being made by organizations such as the United Nations and the European Union to preserve endangered and dying languages
The Celtic branch of the Indo-European family is of particular interests due to its cultural connection to so many cultures throughout Northern and Western Europe

21. Preserving Languages
The Celtic branch is divided into two groups: Brythonic and Goildelic
Brythonic includes those people who fled west and south to escape the invading Angles, Saxons, and Jutes and consists of the Welsh, Cornish, and Breton languages
Goildelic includes the languages of Scotich Gaelic and Irish Gaelic

22. Isolated and Extinct Languages
Some languages bear no similarity to any other language…this is due to their isolation from others
Isolation can help to preserve a language or lead to its demise
Isolated languages are unrelated to any other language and are not a part of any languages family. They are considered vigorous as long as they are in full use in the community and are being learned by children as their first language.
Basque, from the Pyrenees Mountains of northern Spain and southern France, is an example of a vigorous isolated language in Europe

23. Isolated and Extinct Languages
Icelandic is not considered an isolated language since it is part of the Germanic branch of the Indo-European family, but due to its distance from other languages and cultures, it has changed less than any other language in its branch
Because of this, it is known as an unchanged language since Iceland has had so little interaction with other cultures

24. Isolated and Extinct Languages
An extinct language is one that was used by people in daily activities but is no longer used
Examples of extinct languages are Latin, Aramaic, Ancient Greek, and Old English
The loss of many languages is a reflection of globalization as people choose to use a widely used language instead of their native one, causing their native language to disappear over time

25. New and Growing Languages
Even though the total number of languages is declining, some are being invented and revived
New Languages are classified as such if they are discovered to be separate from any other language, group, branch, or family
Some languages are even discovered from time to time
Growing Languages are those that may have been extinct or endangered but have made a significant comeback
Hebrew is an example of a growing language after it was made the official language of Israel in 1948

26. Big Question & Key Terms
Describe the difference between endangered, extinct, isolated, unchanged, new, and growing languages. Give examples for each.
Endangered Languages
Isolated languages
Unchanged languages
Extinct languages
New languages
Growing languages