Chapter 5 Language

What is language?

Language A system of communication through speech, a collection of sounds that a group of people understands to have the same meaning

Language Families of the World Fig. 5-11: Distribution of the world’s main language families. Languages with more than 50 million speakers are named.

Language Many languages also have a written system of communication- a literary tradition 100s of spoken languages don’t have a written system though

Language 7299 languages worldwide Only 10 are spoken by over 100 million people (English, Spanish, Portuguese, Russian, German, Mandarin, Hindi, Bengali, Arabic, and Japanese)

Big 10 Languages Mandarin- 885 million Hindi/Urdu- 426 Spanish- 358 English- 343 Arabic- 235 Bengali- 207 Portuguese- 176 Russian- 167 Japanese- 125 German- 100

French Road Signs, Québec- Many countries are influenced by more than 1 language.

Official Languages Some countries have an official language- the language that is used by the government and around the country (often by most people, but not always- former colonies of England for example)

Diffusion and Distribution of Language Many languages are spoken all around the world How did they spread? English is a good example

Origin, Diffusion, & Dialects of English Origin and diffusion of English –English colonies –Origin of English in England Dialects of English –Dialects in England –Differences between British & American English –Dialects in the United States

English Speaking Countries Fig. 5-1: English is an official language in 50 countries, including some in which it is not the most widely spoken language. It is also used and understood in many others.

English Spoken by ½ billion people (2 nd only to Mandarin in number) Mandarin is mostly in one country, but English is spoken on every continent Why?

English Over the past four centuries, the English have established colonies all over the world, taking their language with them English is spoken in most of England’s former colonies to this day

English The English settled the 13 original colonies They won Canada from France in 1763 after a war They settled colonies in Africa, Asia, Oceania, and Latin America as well Their colonies, once independent, also spread English- US to Philippines

Origin of English English is a Germanic language The British Isles were inhabited for thousands of years, but little is known about those groups until the Celts arrived around 2000 BC Romans took over some southern lands in England in the 1 st centuries AD

Origins of English Around AD 450, tribes from mainland Europe invaded, pushing the Celts to Scotland and Wales Those invaders were Angles, Jutes, and Saxons- all three were Germanic tribes This is why most Englishmen are referred to as Anglo-Saxons

Origins of English England comes from Angles’ land Modern English evolved from these tribes All German tribes at one point spoke the same language but it changed in each area- England had other influences like the Vikings from Norway in the 9 th century

Invasions of England 5 th - 11 th 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.

Origin of English Another invasion that brought newcomers to England and influenced the language was the Norman Invasion of 1066 The Normans came from Normandy, France and spoke French, spreading some French (although English was still the most common)

Origin of English The French did influence the language though New dialects also formed A dialect is a regional variation of a language distinguished by distinctive vocabulary, spelling, and pronunciation Dialects reflect distinctive differences between groups of speakers

Origin of English Generally, speakers of the same language with different dialects can understand each other Think English in England and English in America or northerners and southerners in the United States

Origin of English When there are lots of dialects, one dialect may be the standard language, which is a dialect that is well- established and widely recognized as the most acceptable for government, business, education, and mass communication British Received Pronunciation (BRP) is well known throughout the world

Origin of English There are different dialects in England too- in space and time Old English was what the first invaders spoke then Middle English Five regional dialects emerged after the French invasion From those, one emerged as the modern standard for literary tradition and speech, but many still exist

Old & Middle English Dialects Fig. 5-3: The main dialect regions of Old English before the Norman invasion persisted to some extent in the Middle English dialects through the 1400s.

Scene from “My Fair Lady” “If you use proper English, you’re regarded as a freak; why can’t the English learn to speak?”

Dialects in England Northern, Midland, and Southern are the main dialects See page 150 for some examples of differences How do they compare to the US?

English English vs. American English Differences in vocabulary- examples? Think of Harry Potter- the loo, snogging Differences in spelling- examples? Color vs. colour/ defence vs. defense/ realise vs. realize

English English vs. American English Differences in pronunciation- how we say things Different pronunciations of a and r pAHth vs. path What others?

English English vs. American English Why is there a difference? Separation Lots of immigration into the US from all over Lower classes and upper classes spoke differently in England- lower classes migrated here

Dialects in the US Lots of regional differences Lots of different languages of immigrants and different dialects The English had the biggest impact- we speak English, but the others all had an influence Our English is a product of this conglomeration of languages

Dialects in the US Today major dialect differences still exist Primarily on the East coast, but throughout (Upper Peninsula, Michigan *Yooper: how about a cOke in South DakOta? Fargo, anyone?) Some word boundaries, called isoglosses, do exist

Dialects in the Eastern U.S. Fig. 5-4: Hans Kurath divided the eastern U.S. into three dialect regions, whose distribution is similar to that of house types (Fig. 4-9).

US Dialects Two important isoglosses run through the eastern US- Northern, Midlands, and Southern are the regions created Mainly make different vocabulary and pronunciation The west has fewer differences- more migration from different parts

US Dialects Some words are commonly used within each area- pail in the north, bucket in the midland and south/ faucet and spigot/ brook and run and branch/ Calling cattle- Boss or Co Boss in North, Sook in the midlands, and Co-wench in the south

Animal Sounds A cat sounds like a cat in the US and in Japan How the people in those different countries make the sound varies though!

Animal Sounds Dog English- bow wow, ruff ruff Indonesian- gonggong Japanese- wanwan Greek- gav Cat English- meow Indonesian- ngeong Japanese- nyaa Greek- niaou

Animal Sounds Bird English- tweet tweet Indonesian- kicau Japanese- chunchun Greek- tsiou tsiou Rooster English- cockadoodledoo Indonesian- kikeriku Japanese- kokekokkoo Greek- ki-kiriki