1. Historic Development of Languages (The Monster)
By Alan D. DeSantis 1

2. Geographic Distribution of Living Languages, 1996
Area of World # of Languages % of World
Languages
The Americas 1, %
Africa 2, %
Europe %
Asia 2, %
The Pacific 1, %
TOTAL 6,703 2

3. The population figures in this table refer to first language speakers in all countries (* = U.N. Languages)
11 JAVANESE
Indonesia, Java, Bali 75,500,800
12 KOREAN
Korea, S. 75,000,000
*13 FRENCH
France 72,000,000
14 VIETNAMESE
Viet Nam 67,662,000
15 TELUGU
India 66,350,000
16 CHINESE, YUE
China 66,000,000
17 MARATHI
India 64,783,000
18 TAMIL
India 63,075,000
19 TURKISH
Turkey 59,000,000
20 URDU
Pakistan 58,000,000
*ARABIC’S Total
Middle East , 000,000
*1 CHINESE, MANDARIN
China 885,000,000
*2 SPANISH
Spain 332,000,000
*3 ENGLISH
UK 322,000,000
4 BENGALI
Bangladesh 189,000,000
5 HINDI
India 182,000,000
6 PORTUGUESE
Portugal ,000,000
*7 RUSSIAN
Russia 170,000,000
8 JAPANESE
Japan 125,000,000
9 GERMAN, STANDARD
Germany 98,000,000
10 CHINESE, WU
China 77,175,000 3

4. Introduction to World Languages
There are over 6,000 languages currently spoken in the world
English is the most spoken language
Most use it as their second (2 Billion)
Many are unstudied languages
New Guinea has 3 million people and 900 languages, many in remote communities
Most of these emerged out of four common parents!! 4

5. The World’s 4 Major Language Families
Aus-tro-ne-sian
Af-ro-as-i-at-ic 5

6. Example of “Comparative Reconstruction” in the Romance Languages6

7. The Big Problem Language reconstruction is not an exact science
“Truth” emerges by consensus
Consensus is harder and harder to reach as we go back further and further
Many of these “families” are debated/contested
It is argued that every 10,000 years, the continuous cycle of change completes itself
Nothing exists from the initial (first generation) language

8. I. Indo-European Languages
Proto Indo-European spoken 5,000 BC
This is the group we are most influenced by
English, French, Spanish, Italian, German
Of the 12 languages with more than 100 million speakers, 8 of them are I-E
The widespread use of I-E languages is due to colonization, imperialism, and missionaries
But of the thousands of languages in the world, only about 150 are I-E 7

9. Major Indo-European Language Family (First and Second Generation)
more 8

10. Minor Indo-European Language Family (First, Second, & Third Generations)
more 9

11. Ia. Germanic Languages (Second, Third, & Fourth Generations)
-Afrikaans is a derivative of Dutch
-Gothic, spoken in central Europe, disappeared in 8th century 10

12. Ib. Italic Languages (Second, Third, & Fourth Generations)
-Latin Derivatives are known as Romantic Languages
-Fathered by “vulgar Latin” (language of Roman Empire) not “formal Latin.”
-Provencal is spoken in the South of France
-Catalan is spoken in northern Spain
-Rumanian is the most different
-Oscan and Umbrian were languages of southern Italy 11

13. Ic. Slavonic Languages (Second, Third, & Fourth Generations)
-All Slavonic languages are remarkably similar
-Russian is the most widely spoken 12

14. Id. Indo-Iranian Languages (Second, Third, & Fourth Generations)
-Persian, also called Farsi, is spoken in Iran
-Pashto is spoken in Afghanistan and northern Pakistan
-All the other languages are spoken in different parts of India by
its 1 billion people 13

15. II. Sino-Tibetan Family
300 East Asian Languages
Many of which remain unexplored
There are Two Major Divisions:
1) Sinitic/Chinese (1 Billion Speakers)
5 Major Dialects
2) Tibeto-Burman
Many different languages, very few speakers
Burmese (20 mill) and Tibetan (3 mill) are the only members with more than million speakers 14

16. II. Sino-Tibetan Family15

17. III. Austronesian Family
1,000 Different Languages
Two Major Sub-Divisions
1) Formosan
3 Ancient Languages
Spoken only in the hills of Taiwan
2) Malayo-Polynesian
West: Malayo Polynesian
Indonesia, Malaysia, Madagascar, Philippines
Recently Thai (40 mil) and Lao (10 mil) have been added
East: Oceanic
Papua New Guinea, Fijian, Islands of Pacific 16

18. III. Austronesian Family
Indonesian-Malay (150 mill) in Indonesian and Malaysia
Javanese (60 mill) in Java and Indonesia
Pilipino is the official language of Philippines
Malagasy (9 mill) of Madagascar
Most others have under 1 mill 17

19. IV. Afroasiatic Family Comprises about 250 Languages
Arabic being the biggie--150 Mill
From northern Africa and the Middle East:
Iran, Iraq, Chad, Israel, Jordan, Saudi Arabia, Lebanon, Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia, Egypt, Ethiopia, Somalia, Sudan,
It is the language of Judaism, Christianity, and Islam
Moses, Jesus, and Mohammed 18

20. IV. Afroasiatic Family
-Hausa is one of Africa’s major languages spoken in Chad &
Nigeria (20 mill)
-Akkadian was the first written language (Semitic)
-Jesus spoke Palestinian Aramaic 19

21. V. Sub-Saharan Africa
South of the Sahara Desert, there are three other language families:
1) Niger-Congo Family
Several hundred languages
From Senegal to Kenya to South Africa
2) Nilo-Saharan Family
100 languages by 10 million people
3) Khoisan (Coisan) Family
Southern Africa (uses click sounds)
50 languages spoken by fewer than 75,000
*Remember, North Africa is Afroasiatic 20

22. VI. Other Families of Asia and Europe
1) Altaic Family (many speakers)
250 Mil Speakers Total
Vast area from USSR to China
Turkic, Mongolian, Manchu
Recently, Japanese (150 mil) and Korean (50 mil) have been added
2) Dravidian Family (many speakers)
Southern India 21

23. VI. Other Families of Asia and Europe
3) Austro-Asiatic (many speakers)
100 Languages in Southeast Asia
Found in Vietnam, Laos, Cambodia, Thailand
4) Caucasian Family
Georgian is best known
30 Languages of Soviet Union, Turkey, and Iran
5) Uralic Family
Finland, Hungary, Estonia 22

24. VII. The Americas
It was assumed that there were 300 Languages belonging to 50 families
Greenburg has found that there are only 3
Eskimo Aleut
Upper and most of the Eastern regions of Canada
Na-Dene
Western and Central Canada (not touched by E A)
Also, Navaho and Apache (Texas, OK)
Amerind
Everything Else from California to New York to Mexico to Brazil to Argentina 23

25. VII. The Americas
Each year more and more Native American Languages are dying out with no speakers left: Since
Tillamook, Wiyot, Algonquian, Huron, Chumash, Salinan, Chinook, Natchez, Tonkawa have died.
Languages with fewer than 50 speakers:
Abnaki-Penobscot, varieties of Apache, Coeur d’Alene, Squamish, Cupeno, Miwok, Yokuts, Pmo, Shasta, Tuscarora 24

26. VIII. Pidgin and Creole Pidgin Creole
Members of the subordinate (colonized) area create a simplified variety of the dominant language
Used in very limited situations (work, business)
Bamboo, China Coast, Cameroon
Many based on English and French
Creole
Today, most pidgins give way to Creole
Used in many contexts
More complex and developed over generations
Louisiana, Jamaican, Caribbean 25

27. And the totals are . . . 1. Indo-European--2 Bill (Europe)
2. Sino Tibetan--1,040 Bill (Asia)
3. Niger-Congo--260 Mill (Africa)
4. Altaic--250 Mill (Asia)
5. Austonesian--250 Mill (Asian Pacific)
6. Afroasiatic--230 Mill (N. Af & M. East)
7. Dravidian--140 Mill (Asia)
8. Austro-Asiatic--60 Mill (Asia) 26

28. Nostratoc Super Family
Researchers from Russia and US have found a Super Family of 10,000 BC
It gave birth to the Indo-European, Afroasiatic, Uralic, Altaic, Dravidian, and Eskimos Aleut families
This being the case, English, Hebrew, Arabic, Finnish, Korean, Turkish, and Eskimo would all be cousins
But this is still highly contested