Language

Human capacity for acquiring and using complex systems of communication. Cultural trait that is learned from one generation to the next. Fundamental component in cultural identity. The scientific study of language in any of its senses is called linguistics.

One of the oldest, most geographically diverse, and most complex cultural traits on earth.

It is speculated that nearly 2.5 million years ago language first developed to organize human activity.

Occurs when languages or dialects grow from one original source because of the migration of original speakers to new lands or contact with new languages.

Prehistory- at least 10,000 languages spoken throughout the world. Today- about 5,000 to 7,000 languages remain. WHY?????

Language Family Branches Groups Language Dialects

Africa Over 2100 languages spoken (some counts over 3000) Asia Over 2100 languages spoken

World’s great concentration of linguistic diversity. Rugged terrain and limited interaction between tribal groups 900 languages Different from world trend.

A collection of many languages, all of which came from the same original tongue long ago, that have since evolved different characteristics. Percent of World’s Speakers Indo-European % Sino-Tibetan % Niger-Congo- 6.26% Afro-Asiatic- 5.93% Austronesian- 5.45% Dravidian- 3.87%

Almost 50% of the world’s people speak languages belonging to this family. Dominant in Europe, Russia, North and South America, Australia, and parts of Southwestern Asia and India. Includes the Germanic and Romance Languages Also the Slavic, Indic, Celtic, and Iranic.

Over 20 % of the world’s people speak languages from this family. Most of Southeast Asia and China Comprised of Chinese (language with the most speakers), Burmese, Tibetan, Japanese, and Korean.

30% of the world’s populations speak languages from these families.

A natural language with no demonstrable genealogical (or "genetic") relationship with other languages. One that has not been demonstrated to descend from an ancestor common with any other language. They are in effect language families consisting of a single language. Commonly cited examples include Basque, Ainu, and Burushaski.

A set of languages with a relatively recent common origin and many similar characteristics. Romance Languages (French, Italian, Portuguese, Romanian, Spanish)

Geographically distinct versions of a single language that vary somewhat from the parent form.

Geographical boundary lines where different linguistic features meet.

Language that may develop when two groups of people with different languages meet. The pidgin has some characteristics of each language. Creole A pidgin language that evolves to the point at which it becomes the primary language of the people who speak it.

Working Language, Bridge Language, Vehicular Language An extremely simple language that combines aspects of two or more other, more-complex languages used for quick and efficient communication. Can be a developed language.

English= Current lingua franca of international business, science, technology, and aviation. There are many other lingua francas centralized on particular regions, such as Arabic, Chinese, Russian, Spanish, and Swahili.

Language in which all government business occurs in a country. What’s the official language of the United States of America?

Acceptable form of a given language as declared by political or societal leaders.

Mandarin Chinese (885,000,000 speakers) Spanish (332,000,000 speakers) English (322,000,000 speakers) Bengali (189,000,000 speakers) Hindi (182,000,000 speakers) Portuguese (170,000,000 speakers) Russian (170,000,000 speakers) Japanese (125,000,000 speakers) German (standard) (98,000,000 speakers) Wu Chinese (77,175,000 speakers)

A multilingual state

Occurs when a language is no longer in use by any living people. Thousands of languages have become extinct since language first developed, but the process of language extinction has accelerated greatly during the past 300 years.

The ability to read and write.

11 Georgia˜ Cuba Estonia Latvia Barbados Slovenia Belarus Lithuania Ukraine Armenia Kazakhstan Tajikistan Azerbaijan Turkmenistan Russia Hungary Kyrgyzstan Poland Tonga Albania Antigua and Barbuda Australia Austria Belgium Canada Czech Republic North Korea Denmark Finland France Germany Guyana Iceland Ireland Japan South Korea Luxembourg Netherlands New Zealand Norway Slovakia Sweden Switzerland United Kingdom 99.0

Place names given to certain features on the land such as settlements, terrain features, and streams. The various ways different cultures have named the land throughout history can provide insights into historical cultural migration patterns and diffusion processes across the globe. Gives insight on: Ownership Origins Aspirations