Culture Part 2: Language AP Human Geography Parkview High School

Introduction Only 30% of U.S. students graduate with 3 or more years of a foreign language 17% have had no foreign language at all! In contrast, 62% of graduates from Dutch high schools have learned at least THREE foreign languages!

Introduction Continued… There are an estimated 7,299 languages in the world. Only 10 of them are spoken by at least 100 million people. The global distribution of languages is a result of: --interaction --isolation

Common Languages

Introduction Continued… Language: a system of communication through speech, a collection of sounds that a group of people understands to have the same meaning. Literary Tradition Official Language: used by the government for laws, reports, and official objects (signs, money, stamps, etc.).

Where Are English-Language Speakers Distributed? Key Issue 1: Where Are English-Language Speakers Distributed?

Origin & Diffusion of English English is spoken fluently by ½ billion people. English is an official language in over 50 countries!

English is Official… Antigua and Barbuda Australia Barbados Belize Botswana Cameroon Canada Dominica Federated States of Micronesia Fiji Islands Ghana Grenada Guyana India Ireland Jamaica Kenya Kiribati Lesotho Liberia Malawi Malta Marshall Islands Mauritius Namibia New Zealand Nigeria Palau Papua New Guinea Philippines Rwanda Saint Lucia Samoa Sierra Leone Singapore Solomon Islands South Africa Saint Kitts and Nevis Saint Vincent and the Grenadines Swaziland Tanzania The Bahamas The Gambia Tonga Trinidad and Tobago Tuvalu Uganda United Kingdom United States Vanuatu Zambia Zimbabwe

English Colonies The people of England migrated with their language when they established colonies all over the world (relocation diffusion!). More recently, the U.S. has been responsible for diffusing English to several places.

Origin of English in England Celts arrived around 2000 B.C. speaking Celtic. Around A.D. 450, tribes from mainland Europe invaded, pushing the Celts to the “fringes”…

Areas where Celtic Culture Survives

Origin of English Continued… German Invasion: The invading tribes were the Angles (southern Denmark), Jutes (northern Denmark), & Saxons (northwestern Germany). England comes from Angles’ land. Their language was called englisc. Other people came and added their languages to basic English (including the Vikings in the 9th century).

Origin of English Continued… Norman Invasion: English is very different from Germany today primarily because the French-speaking Normans invaded England in 1066. In 1204, King John of England lost control of Normandy and entered a period of conflict with France. The Statute of Pleading in 1362 English mixed with French…

Battle of Hastings Bayeux Tapestry 1073-83

Dialects of English Dialect: a regional variation of a language distinguished by distinctive vocabulary, spelling, pronunciation, and cadence. Standard Language: a dialect that is well established and widely recognized as the most acceptable for government, business, education, and mass communication. British Received Pronunciation (BRP)

Dialects in England Examples? 5 major regional dialects Origin of BRP 3 main groups today: --Northern --Midland --Southern

British vs. American English Why is American English different than British English? New things needed new words Americans wanted independence from Britain Isolation New vocabulary for new inventions

Dialects in the U.S. Settlement in the East --New England --Middle Atlantic --Southeastern Current Dialects Differences in the East --Isogloss: geographic boundary within which a particular linguistic feature occurs; boundary that divides word usage.

Example of U.S. Isogloss

Dialects in the U.S. Continued… Pronunciation Differences --Southern --New England --Midwest Let’s listen to dialect differences (a.k.a. accents!): http://accent.gmu.edu/browse_atlas.php

Where are English-language speakers distributed? So… Where are English-language speakers distributed?