LANGUAGE AP Human Geography

The Internet: Globalization of Language

Language and Politics

Non-English Speakers Political issue of speakers of Spanish and other languages vs. those desiring English only

Language and Cultural Identity 6 6

Quebec vs. Canada Federal level: Provinces: Quebec- officially French officially bilingual Provinces: Quebec- officially French New Brunswick only province officially bilingual Other provinces officially English 7 7

English Speaking Countries 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. 9 9 9

Invasion of the British Isles 2000 BC- Celts spread on/from the British isles, speaking Celtic 450 AD- Germanic tribes invade British Isles (Angles, Jutes & Saxons) 800 AD- Vikings invade from Norway 1066 AD- Normans invade from present day France, speaking French

“Fancy” modern English words come from French influence. Simple modern English words come from German influence.

What Are Languages, and What Role Do Languages Play in Culture? Language: A set of sounds, combinations of sounds, and symbols used for communication Standard language: A language that is published, widely distributed, and purposefully taught Used by governments

Dialect: a regional variation of a language distinguished by distinctive vocabulary, spelling, and pronunciation. Example of Dialect

The Queens English English has an especially large number of dialects. One particular dialect of English is recognized in much of the English-speaking world as the standard form of British speech Associated with upper-class Britons living in the London area Known as British Received Pronunciation (BRP). 15 15 15

Differences in Vocabulary and Spelling U.S. English differs from that of England in three significant ways: vocabulary, spelling, and pronunciation. The vocabulary Spelling diverged Different because settlers in America had many new objects and experiences. Many names were given by borrowing or adapting Native American names for the world. Strong national feeling in the United States for an independent identity. Webster’s dictionaries & grammar books purposely made U.S. dialect different from England 16 16 16

Differences in Pronunciation Differences in pronunciation between British and U.S. speakers are immediately recognizable. Interaction between the two groups was largely confined to exchange of letters and other printed matter rather than direct speech. Surprisingly, pronunciation has changed more in England than in the United States. People in the United States do not speak “proper” English because when the colonists left England, “proper” English was not what it is today. 17 17 17

British Slang Words Below are a few slang words commonly used in Britain. Bloke - man. 'John is a nice bloke to know.' Botched - poor quality repairs. 'He made a botched job of fixing the television.' Bottle - courage. 'He doesn't have the bottle to ask her.' Cheesed Off - fed up Chuck it down - to rain, often heavily. 'It is going to chuck it down soon.' Chuffed - If you are chuffed, you are happy with something. 'I was chuffed to win a medal!' Daft - Crazy / stupid Dosh - Money / cash 'I haven't got much dosh to give you.' Gobsmacked - Incredibly amazed. 'I was gobsmacked when I saw my birthday presents.' Gutted - Not happy because of an event that has occurred that didn't go your way. 'I was gutted when I didn't win the race' Jammy - Used in place of lucky when describing someone else. 'He was very jammy winning the lottery'. Scrummy - Delicious. Shortened from scrumptious. 'The food was very scrummy' Skint - Broke. No money. 'I'm skint, I wont be able to buy the DVD today.' to Snog - to long kiss Telly - Television 'I watched the news on the telly last night.' 18 18 18

What American Do You Speak? http://www.alphadictionary.com/articles/yankeetest.html http://www.pbs.org/speak/seatosea/officialamerican/ http://popvssoda.com:2998/ 19 19

Dialects in America Today 20 20 20

U.S. accent tour Appalachian Gullah

Why Are Languages Distributed the Way They Are? Classification by language families (groups of related languages)

Language Formation Linkages among languages marked by sound shifts, slight changes in a word across languages over time Milk = lacte in Latin leche in Spanish lait in French latta in Italian Language divergence: Breakup of a language into dialects and then new languages from lack of interaction among speakers Language convergence: When peoples with different languages have consistent interaction and their languages blend into one

Origins of Proto-Indo-European Renfrew Hypothesis/Sedentary Farmer: Began in the Fertile Crescent Europe’s languages are from Anatolia (modern day turkey) Spread from Turkey to Greece (Greek Language branch) Spread north through Italy, & the Mediterranean coast of France, Spain, and Portugal (Romance Language branch) Indo-Iranian branch originated through eastern migration from Anatolia **Diffusion caused the development of the rest of the branches North Africa & Arabia’s languages from the Western Arc of Fertile Crescent Southwest Asia and South Asia’s languages from the Eastern Arc of Fertile Crescent

Nomadic Warrior Thesis Language originated near modern day Kazakhstan & Russia. Migrated to find grassland for horses & cattle West to Europe South to South Asia

Mutual Intelligibility Isogloss: A geographic boundary within which a particular linguistic feature occurs Criterion for a language: Speakers can understand each other Problems Measuring “mutual intelligibility” Standard languages and governments have an impact on what is considered a “language” and what is a “dialect”

The Study of Historical Languages Backward reconstruction: Tracking sound shifts and the hardening of consonants backward to reveal an “original” language Can deduce the vocabulary of an extinct language Can recreate ancient languages (deep reconstruction)

Indo-European Family

The MAJOR Language Sub-Families of Europe Romance languages Germanic languages Slavic languages

Language Families of India India has many official languages, but 4 major language families represented… Indo-European Sino-Tibetan Austro-Asiatic Dravidian

South Asian Languages & Language Families Indo-European is the largest of the families in South Asia. India has 18 official languages. 34

Languages of Subsaharan Africa Dominant language family: Niger-Congo Relatively recent migration Continued recognizable similarities among subfamilies Displacement of Khoisan family, now in southwestern Africa

Nigeria More than 400 languages Nigeria is a colonial creation Choice of English as “official” language rather than any indigenous language

Essential Question: What are the largest language families and branches, and where are they located? Use pages 154-155 of textbook to complete language summary table notes Color world map of major languages & create key using textbook page #153

Major World Languages Language Family Major Language Numbers (in millions) Indo-European English 445 Hindi 366 Spanish 340 Sino-Tibetan Chinese 1,211 Burmese 32 Japanese-Korean Japanese 125 Korean 78 Afro-Asiatic Arabic 211 Malay-Polynesian Indonesian 154 Dravidian (India) Telugu 69 Altaic Turkish 61 39

How Do Languages Diffuse? Human interaction Print distribution Migration Trade Rise of nation-states Colonialism Elizabeth J. Leppman

Effects of Spatial Interaction Lingua franca: A language used among speakers of different languages for trade and commerce Pidgin language: A language created when people combine parts of two or more languages into a simplified structure and vocabulary Creole language: A pidgin language that has developed a more complex structure and vocabulary and has become the native language of a group of people

Multilingualism Monolingual state: A country in which only one language is spoken Multilingual state: A country in which more than one language is in use Official language: Government-selected language or languages to try to enhance communication in a multilingual state

Global Language English as lingua franca for Commerce Science Travel Business Popular culture Continued use of native languages for day-to-day activities

Global Dominance of English One of the most fundamental needs in a global society is a common language for communication. Increasingly in the modern world, the language of international communication is English. When well-educated speakers of two different languages wish to communicate with each other in countries such as India or Nigeria, they frequently use English. 46 46 46

English – becoming a lingua franca of the world (commerce and science) One Global Language? Esperanto Experiment occurred in early 1900s based on Latin & other Eur. languages failed – not a global tongue (Indo-Eur.), lacked practical utility English – becoming a lingua franca of the world (commerce and science) 47 47

What Role Does Language Play in Making Places? Place: The uniqueness of a location, what people do in a location, what they create, how they impart a certain character, a certain imprint on the location Toponym: A place name Imparts a certain character on a place Reflects the social processes in a place Can give a glimpse of the history of a place

Changing Toponyms Major reasons people change toponyms After decolonization After a political revolution To commodify or brand a place To memorialize people or events