OBJECTIVE Students will analyze the key points of language in order to determine how language is a fundamental element of cultural identity.

Language Set of sounds, combinations of sounds, and symbols that are used for communications Reflecting on the Native Americans of Alaska, why was language such an important aspect of culture?

Dialects Local or regional characteristics of a language NOT AN ACCENT (pronunciation difference of a standard language) In addition to its pronunciation variation, there is a distinctive grammar and vocabulary

Dialects and Mutual Intelligibility Variants of the standardized language yet the ability of people from each area to understand each others

Language and Culture The ability to name objects places a value on that object Value is not just positive, it can be negative Power Relationships

Standardized Language one that is published, widely distributed, and purposefully taught a standardized language is not necessarily an official language

Language Families/Subfamilies Proto-Indo European Language Sound Shift (words for milk… lacte, latta, leche, and lait) Backward Reconstruction… track sound shifts and hardening of consonants Deep Reconstruction… finding the preceding language of an extinct language

Convergence v. Divergence Convergence… collapsing two languages into one, which occurs when interaction increases between the people of the two languages Divergence… a lack of spatial interaction among speakers of a language breaks the language into dialects and discrete language when isolation is maintained.

Locating the Hearth of Proto-Indo-European Linguists theorize that the hearth of the Proto- Indo-European language was somewhere in the vicinity of the Black Sea or east-central Europe. Colin Renfrew, a British scholar, developed his own theory regarding the diffusion of Proto- Indo-European and agriculture.

Renfrew Agricultural, Conquest, and Dispersal

Locating the Hearth of Proto-Indo-European The Renfrew hypothesis claims that from Anatolia (present day Turkey) diffused Europe’s Indo- European languages. Others contrast Renfrew’s location of the hearth of Proto-Indo-European language and even the role of agriculture in its diffusion. Stephen Oppenheimer used genetic evidence and argued that people came out of Central Africa, following now-flooded coastlines of East Africa, the southern Arabian Peninsula, and into India about 80,000 years ago.

Oppenheimer’s Theory Oppenheimer’s research supports theories by some linguists indicating that the hearth of the Proto-Indo-European language could lie in India. He then claims that people from India migrated into Europe and Renfrew’s hearths less than 50,000 years ago.

Tracing the Routes of Diffusion of Pronto-Indo-European The study of the diffusion of Proto-Indo- European is typically on Europe for two reasons : one, it is clear the language diffused into Europe over time; and two, there is a significant body of historical research and archaeology focused on the early peopling of Europe Presence of Europe’s oldest language (Celtic) in the far west supports the idea that the newer languages came from the east.

Tracing the Routes of Diffusion of Pronto-Indo-European One explanation is the conquest theory. This theory states that early speakers of Proto- Indo-European spread from east to west on horseback, overpowering earlier inhabitants. An alternative agricultural theory proposes that Proto-Indo-European diffused westward through Europe with the diffusion of agriculture.

Tracing the Routes of Diffusion of Pronto-Indo-European Some linguistic geographers continue to favor the dispersal hypothesis. This holds that the Indo-European languages that arose from Proto-Indo-European were first carried eastward into Southwest Asia, next around the Caspian Sea and then across the Russian-Ukrainian plains and on into the Balkans.

Tracing the Routes of Diffusion of Pronto-Indo-European We still don’t know where the Proto-Indo- European language was born, or the location of its hearth. Some scholars have even suggested that Nostratic is a direct successor of a proto-world language that goes back to the dawn of human history, but this notion is highly speculative.

The Languages of Europe The Indo-European language family is widely spread across the globe. It dominates Europe, significant parts of Asia, North and South America, Australia, and portions of Southern Africa. About half of the world’s people speak Indo- European languages.

The Languages of Europe French, Spanish, Italian, Romanian, and Portuguese are examples of Romance languages. Romance languages lie in the areas that were not subsequently overwhelmed.

The Languages of Europe English, German, Danish, Norwegian, and Swedish are examples of Germanic languages. Germanic languages reflect the expansion of peoples out of northern Europe to the west and south. Some Germanic peoples spread into areas dominated by Rome.

The Languages of Europe Russian, Polish, Czech, Slovak, Ukrainian, Slovenian, Serbo-Croatian, and Bulgarian are examples of Slavic languages. Slavic tongues came to dominate much of eastern Europe over the succeeding centuries.

The Languages of Europe The French linguistic region extends into Belgium, Switzerland, and Italy, but in France, French coexists with Basque in the southwest, a variant of Dutch in the north, and a Celtic tongue in the northeast. Celtic languages survive in the western region of France called Brittany, in the northern and western parts of Wales, in western Ireland, and in the Western Highlands and islands of Scotland.

The Languages of Europe Greek and Albanian are also Indo-European languages. The Basque language, Euskera stands out in Europe. One reason is it covers a very small land area and second, it is in no way related to any other language family in Europe. The Basques have a strong identity tied to their language and independent history.

Diffusion and Economics Lingua Franca… language used among speakers of different languages for purposes of trade and commerce

Diffusion and Economics Lingua Franca Pidgin Language… when the lingua franca combines parts of two or more languages

Diffusion and Economics Lingua Franca Pidgin Language Creole Language… a pidgin language that develops into a more complex structure and vocabulary and has become the native language

Diffusion and Economics Global Language… a common language of trade and commerce used around the world