Chapter 6 Language The World is a babel of languages-tower of babel connection. Painting in the background is Brueghel’s work called the Tower of Babel-a biblical explanation for the many languages of the world.

Language Language – a set of sounds, combinations of sounds, and symbols that are used for communication.

World Language Families

Major Language Families Percentage of World Population Fig. 5-11a: The percentage of world population speaking each of the main language families. Indo-European and Sino-Tibetan together represent almost 75% of the world’s people.

Major World Languages Pre-literate societies where spoken languages are not written downs are an endangered species-many are on the verge of extinction. August 1999 National Geographic article: 10,000 languages spoken at one time Today only about 6,000 remain About 300 are spoken by over 1 million people In another 100 years about ½ will be gone. Especially those not being taught to children.

Major World Languages It is difficult to classify languages and dialects. Some scholars treat Quebecan French as a separate language while others consider it a dialect. Many areas have a very complex linguistic geography- Africa-has perhaps 1,000 languages India has about 600

Language Terms Standard language-an official language sustained by the state in the form of state examination for teachers, civil servants and others. Dialect-regional variation of a standard language. Language family-a group of languages descended from a single, earlier tongue. Language subfamily-a further division of language groups. E.g. Romance language is a subfamily of Indo-European. Language-a means of communicating ideas or feelings by means of a conventionalized system of signs, gestures, marks or articulate vocal sounds. In short, communication is symbolic, based on commonly understood meanings or signs. Language is the heart of culture and a matter of cultural identity. Standard language is the language of the capital city. Dialect may be regional or by class-a change in the vocabulary, pronunciation, rhythm and the speed at which a language is spoken. There is still mutually comprehension among dialects of the same language. Language families have a shared, but distant common origin. Language subfamilies-have more in common since they split from each other more recently. Language groups are further divisions of language subfamilies.

Regional differences in a standard language; Syntax-the way words are put together Vocabulary Pronunciation Cadence or rhythm Accents can reveal the regional home of a person. Isogloss-a geographic boundary within which a particular linguistic feature is found. Sample isogloss map on the right- Northern dialect and its subdivisions are found in New England and Canada, extending southward to a secondary dialect are centered on New York. Midland speech is found along the Atlantic coast from New Jersey southward to central Delaware, but spreads more extensively across the interior of the US and Canada. The Southern dialect dominates the East coast from the Chesapeake Bay south. Examples-North Midlands & South pail bucket brook run or branch bossie to call cow Sook or Sookie or Sook cow co or come cow co-wench or co-inch or coo ee spider skillet or frying pan

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

Origin & Diffusion of Languages Mother Tongue-the first language spoken by Homo sapiens about 200,000 years ago. Deep reconstruction-by studying sound shifts, linguists try to re-create an extinct language. Language divergence-the differentiation that takes place over time and distance. Language convergence-when long isolated languages make contact through diffusion. Language replacement-traditional languages of small groups of less advanced people were replaced or greatly modified by an invading tongue. Linguists can find linkages among languages by examining sound shifts – a slight change in a word across languages over time. Sound shifts occur as languages change over time and space. Hard consonants tend to soften over time such as – v and t in the German word vater softened into vader in Dutch and father in English. These shifts are referred to by linguists as “Grimm’s law”. English linguist, William Jones studied ancient Sanskrit in South Asia and first noticed the resemblance to ancient Greek and Latin. The Grimm Brothers of late 19th century Germany collected and wrote fairy tales from the German oral tradition. They suggested that sound shifts could be used to scientifically prove the relationship between languages.

An example of sound shift: Latin for milk is lacte Italian is latta Spanish is leche French is lait Another example of sound shift is: German vater Dutch vader English father Still another example is Latin for eight is octo Spanish is ocho French is huit Picture at right is the Via Appia at Casal Rotondo outside of Rome-built by the Censor Appius Claudius Caecus to join Rome to Capua and Brindisi in the South around 312 BC. Latin is the ancient ancestor of most of the Western European languages spoken today, especially the Romance languages of French, Italian, Spanish, Portuguese and Romanian.

How are Languages Formed? 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. Mutual Intelligibility- means two people can understand each other when speaking. Problems: Cannot measure mutual intelligibility Many “languages” fail the test of mutual intelligibility Standard languages and governments impact what is a “language” and what is a “dialect”

How do Languages Diffuse? human interaction-2,000 years ago-Han China, Roman Empire-spread languages over vast empires print distribution-Gutenberg’s movable type printing press (1452-first Gutenberg Bible) helped to diffuse, standardize & stabilize European languages Migration-ancient & more recent migration from 16th century to now diffused languages e.g. Spanish, Portuguese, English & French Trade-encouraged the spread of goods & languages Rise of nation-states-stabilized & standardized languages Colonialism-mercantilism & colonies spread European languages in the Americas, Africa & Asia

Spatial Interaction helps create: Lingua franca – A language used among speakers of different languages for the purposes of 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. First known lingua franca was a pidgin language created in the 1200s along the Mediterranean Sea-Southern France – Franks language mixed with Italian, Greek, Spanish and Arabic-came to be known as a Frankish language or lingua franca Arabic became a lingua franca during the Islamic expansion-English did so in the colonial period Swahili is the lingua franca of the East African coast-developed from African bantu mixed with Arabic & Persian-50 million speakers from southern Somalia to East African Lakes region. Creole-stems from a pidgin language formed in Caribbean from English, French & Portuguese mixed with African languages South East Asia-Bazaar Malay is spoken from Myanmar to Indonesia, Philippines to Malaysia-a lingua franca in the region.

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 should a multilingual state adopt an official language? Monolingual states-Japan, Uruguay, Venezuela, Iceland, Denmark, Portugal, Poland and Lesotho. Multilingual State-Canada, Belgium, India, Peru-with Indigenous languages Official Language-many former African colonies adopted English, French or Portuguese as official languages to tie people together, Angola-Portuguese, Nigeria & Ghana-English, Ivory Coast-French India-Hindi & English are official languages Tanzania-English & Swahili

The vocabulary of a ancient language can reveal its cultural hearth. The Indo-European branches of the language tree at right illustrates the concept of language divergence. August Schleicher was the first to compare the world’s language families to the branches of a tree. For example linguists know that the origin of the Proto-Indo-European language family was somewhere north of the Black Sea in the steppes of the Ukraine or Russia. The people used horses and had the wheel and traded widely over 5,000 years ago.

Language Family Trees

Russian scholars have led the way on research of ancient languages Proto-Indo-European Russian scholars have led the way on research of ancient languages Nostratic-the ancient ancestor of Indo-European languages-were hunter-gatherers of 14,000 yrs. ago Nostratic is the ancestor of Indo-European, Kartvelian, Uralic-Altaic , Afro-Asiatic & Dravidian Hearth of Indo-European was Black Sea or east-central Europe some 5,000 to 9000 years ago Thule-Greenland-bone and ivory spears, harpoons and other tools

Postulated diffusion of an Indo-European proto-language

The approximate timing of the westward dispersal of the Indo-European languages.

Renfrew Hypothesis British scholar Colin Renfrew proposed 3 hearth areas near the Fertile Crescent. Renfrew hypothesis claims that Anatolia was the source of Europe’s Indo-European languages, from the western Fertile Crescent North African & Arabic languages, from the eastern Fertile Crescent the languages of Iran, Afghanistan, Pakistan & India Michael Oppenheimer claims that Indo-European languages originated in India over 50,000 years ago