Historic Development of Languages (The Monster) By Alan D. DeSantis 1

Geographic Distribution of Living Languages, 1996 Area of World # of Languages % of World Languages The Americas 1,000 15% Africa 2,011 30% Europe 225 3% Asia 2,165 32% The Pacific 1,302 19% TOTAL 6,703 2

The population figures in this table refer to first language speakers in all countries (* = U.N. Languages) 11 JAVANESE Indonesia, Java, Bali 75,500,800 12 KOREAN Korea, S. 75,000,000 *13 FRENCH France 72,000,000 14 VIETNAMESE Viet Nam 67,662,000 15 TELUGU India 66,350,000 16 CHINESE, YUE China 66,000,000 17 MARATHI India 64,783,000 18 TAMIL India 63,075,000 19 TURKISH Turkey 59,000,000 20 URDU Pakistan 58,000,000 *ARABIC’S Total Middle East 150, 000,000 *1 CHINESE, MANDARIN China 885,000,000 *2 SPANISH Spain 332,000,000 *3 ENGLISH UK 322,000,000 4 BENGALI Bangladesh 189,000,000 5 HINDI India 182,000,000 6 PORTUGUESE Portugal 170,000,000 *7 RUSSIAN Russia 170,000,000 8 JAPANESE Japan 125,000,000 9 GERMAN, STANDARD Germany 98,000,000 10 CHINESE, WU China 77,175,000 3

Introduction to World Languages There are over 6,000 languages currently spoken in the world English is the most spoken language Most use it as their second (2 Billion) Many are unstudied languages New Guinea has 3 million people and 900 languages, many in remote communities Most of these emerged out of four common parents!! 4

The World’s 4 Major Language Families Aus-tro-ne-sian Af-ro-as-i-at-ic 5

Example of “Comparative Reconstruction” in the Romance Languages 6

The Big Problem Language reconstruction is not an exact science “Truth” emerges by consensus Consensus is harder and harder to reach as we go back further and further Many of these “families” are debated/contested It is argued that every 10,000 years, the continuous cycle of change completes itself Nothing exists from the initial (first generation) language

I. Indo-European Languages Proto Indo-European spoken 5,000 BC This is the group we are most influenced by English, French, Spanish, Italian, German Of the 12 languages with more than 100 million speakers, 8 of them are I-E The widespread use of I-E languages is due to colonization, imperialism, and missionaries But of the thousands of languages in the world, only about 150 are I-E 7

Major Indo-European Language Family (First and Second Generation) more 8

Minor Indo-European Language Family (First, Second, & Third Generations) more 9

Ia. Germanic Languages (Second, Third, & Fourth Generations) -Afrikaans is a derivative of Dutch -Gothic, spoken in central Europe, disappeared in 8th century 10

Ib. Italic Languages (Second, Third, & Fourth Generations) -Latin Derivatives are known as Romantic Languages -Fathered by “vulgar Latin” (language of Roman Empire) not “formal Latin.” -Provencal is spoken in the South of France -Catalan is spoken in northern Spain -Rumanian is the most different -Oscan and Umbrian were languages of southern Italy 11

Ic. Slavonic Languages (Second, Third, & Fourth Generations) -All Slavonic languages are remarkably similar -Russian is the most widely spoken 12

Id. Indo-Iranian Languages (Second, Third, & Fourth Generations) -Persian, also called Farsi, is spoken in Iran -Pashto is spoken in Afghanistan and northern Pakistan -All the other languages are spoken in different parts of India by its 1 billion people 13

II. Sino-Tibetan Family 300 East Asian Languages Many of which remain unexplored There are Two Major Divisions: 1) Sinitic/Chinese (1 Billion Speakers) 5 Major Dialects 2) Tibeto-Burman Many different languages, very few speakers Burmese (20 mill) and Tibetan (3 mill) are the only members with more than million speakers 14

II. Sino-Tibetan Family 15

III. Austronesian Family 1,000 Different Languages Two Major Sub-Divisions 1) Formosan 3 Ancient Languages Spoken only in the hills of Taiwan 2) Malayo-Polynesian West: Malayo Polynesian Indonesia, Malaysia, Madagascar, Philippines Recently Thai (40 mil) and Lao (10 mil) have been added East: Oceanic Papua New Guinea, Fijian, Islands of Pacific 16

III. Austronesian Family Indonesian-Malay (150 mill) in Indonesian and Malaysia Javanese (60 mill) in Java and Indonesia Pilipino is the official language of Philippines Malagasy (9 mill) of Madagascar Most others have under 1 mill 17

IV. Afroasiatic Family Comprises about 250 Languages Arabic being the biggie--150 Mill From northern Africa and the Middle East: Iran, Iraq, Chad, Israel, Jordan, Saudi Arabia, Lebanon, Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia, Egypt, Ethiopia, Somalia, Sudan, It is the language of Judaism, Christianity, and Islam Moses, Jesus, and Mohammed 18

IV. Afroasiatic Family -Hausa is one of Africa’s major languages spoken in Chad & Nigeria (20 mill) -Akkadian was the first written language (Semitic) -Jesus spoke Palestinian Aramaic 19

V. Sub-Saharan Africa South of the Sahara Desert, there are three other language families: 1) Niger-Congo Family Several hundred languages From Senegal to Kenya to South Africa 2) Nilo-Saharan Family 100 languages by 10 million people 3) Khoisan (Coisan) Family Southern Africa (uses click sounds) 50 languages spoken by fewer than 75,000 *Remember, North Africa is Afroasiatic 20

VI. Other Families of Asia and Europe 1) Altaic Family (many speakers) 250 Mil Speakers Total Vast area from USSR to China Turkic, Mongolian, Manchu Recently, Japanese (150 mil) and Korean (50 mil) have been added 2) Dravidian Family (many speakers) Southern India 21

VI. Other Families of Asia and Europe 3) Austro-Asiatic (many speakers) 100 Languages in Southeast Asia Found in Vietnam, Laos, Cambodia, Thailand 4) Caucasian Family Georgian is best known 30 Languages of Soviet Union, Turkey, and Iran 5) Uralic Family Finland, Hungary, Estonia 22

VII. The Americas It was assumed that there were 300 Languages belonging to 50 families Greenburg has found that there are only 3 Eskimo Aleut Upper and most of the Eastern regions of Canada Na-Dene Western and Central Canada (not touched by E A) Also, Navaho and Apache (Texas, OK) Amerind Everything Else from California to New York to Mexico to Brazil to Argentina 23

VII. The Americas Each year more and more Native American Languages are dying out with no speakers left: Since 1965 . . . Tillamook, Wiyot, Algonquian, Huron, Chumash, Salinan, Chinook, Natchez, Tonkawa have died. Languages with fewer than 50 speakers: Abnaki-Penobscot, varieties of Apache, Coeur d’Alene, Squamish, Cupeno, Miwok, Yokuts, Pmo, Shasta, Tuscarora 24

VIII. Pidgin and Creole Pidgin Creole Members of the subordinate (colonized) area create a simplified variety of the dominant language Used in very limited situations (work, business) Bamboo, China Coast, Cameroon Many based on English and French Creole Today, most pidgins give way to Creole Used in many contexts More complex and developed over generations Louisiana, Jamaican, Caribbean 25

And the totals are . . . 1. Indo-European--2 Bill (Europe) 2. Sino Tibetan--1,040 Bill (Asia) 3. Niger-Congo--260 Mill (Africa) 4. Altaic--250 Mill (Asia) 5. Austonesian--250 Mill (Asian Pacific) 6. Afroasiatic--230 Mill (N. Af & M. East) 7. Dravidian--140 Mill (Asia) 8. Austro-Asiatic--60 Mill (Asia) 26

Nostratoc Super Family Researchers from Russia and US have found a Super Family of 10,000 BC It gave birth to the Indo-European, Afroasiatic, Uralic, Altaic, Dravidian, and Eskimos Aleut families This being the case, English, Hebrew, Arabic, Finnish, Korean, Turkish, and Eskimo would all be cousins But this is still highly contested