Where are English language speakers distributed? Ch. 5 Language Where are English language speakers distributed?

Interesting Facts: How many words are there in the English language??? 1,025,109 English adds a new word every 98 minutes Average American uses 7500 words/day and knows 20,000 total How many languages are there? More than 2,700 (7000+ if you factor in dialects) 90% of these are spoken by less than 100,000 ppl

Around the World… 2,200 of the world’s languages can be found in Asia, while Europe has a mere 260 Nigeria has 500+ languages making it one of the most linguistically diverse places in the world There are over 583 different languages and dialects spoken in Indonesia

What is the MOST linguistically diverse country with 832 different languages? Papua New Guinea The Cambodian alphabet is the world's largest alphabet, with 74 letters The world's shortest alphabet, used in the Solomon Islands, has only 11

English Mania

Intro Behind Mandarin, English has the highest # of speakers (1/2 billion ppl) One country vs. Many countries Official language in 50+ countries (even though many don’t speak it) Most former British colonies Only 6 countries with majority English speakers – Can you name them? First diffused from England→N.A. in 17th century More recently, USA responsible for its diffusion i.e. in the Philippines (Spanish-American war 1899)

Origin of English in England Angles, Jutes, & Saxons (Germany & Denmark) invade the Celts in the British Isles (A.D.450) All 3 Germanic tribes “Anglo-Saxons” “Angles’ Land” = England Normans invaded in 1066; spoke French Became official language for 300 years (minority) Simple words = Germanic Fancier words = French

English Speaking Countries Fig English is the 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.

Invasions of England 5th–11th 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.

Dialects of English Regional variation of a language Spelling, pronounciation, vocabulary, pace Differences in North vs. South Isogloss: Geographic boundary within which a particular linguistic feature occurs

Differences: British vs. American Isolation Evolved independently during 18th & 19th centuries Influence of Natives, new encounters, Webster Spelling changes: Neighbor/Defense

Dialects in the USA Based on differences in dialects of original settlers from England East coast colonies Biggest differences in pronunciation

Pop vs Soda data as of Oct. 3, 2002

Pop vs Soda data as of Oct. 3, 2002

Pop vs Soda data as of Oct. 3, 2002

Pop vs Soda data as of Oct. 3, 2002

Pop vs Soda data as of Oct. 3, 2002

“Pop”

“Soda”

“Coke”

Other

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