LANGUAGE Language is not merely communication… but a symbolic form of communication -- i.e.: chimpanzee grooming (social communication)

What is Language? language: an organized system of spoken words by which people communicate with mutual comprehension. • ideas, attitudes, signs, sounds, or gestures • language is an open-system, not a closed-system • finite sounds exist with potential for infinite meaning • contains displacement c ya r u? :) ginormous Why is a “book” not a “gumrf”?

Anatomical Ability to Speak 1. The throat & the position of the pharynx 2. Cranial Capacity Left hemisphere of human brain with language centers— Broca’s area & Wernicke’s area

CLASSIFICATIONS OF LANGUAGE -- More than half the world: speak just 8 tongues isogloss: a geographic area where a language is spoken 5,000 years ago: 10,000-15,000 tongues Today: about 4,000 remain

Approx. number of speakers Most Widely Spoken Languages in the World??? Language Approx. number of speakers  1. Chinese (Mandarin) 1,075,000,000  2. English 514,000,000  3. Hindustani1 496,000,000  4. Spanish 425,000,000  5. Russian 275,000,000  6. Arabic 256,000,000  7. Bengali 215,000,000  8. Portuguese 194,000,000  9. Malay-Indonesian 176,000,000 10. French 129,000,000 First Language: 1. Mandarin Chinese - 882 mill 2. Spanish - 325 mill 3. English - 312-380 mill 4. Arabic - 206-422 mill 5. Hindi - 181 mill 6. Portuguese - 178 mill 7. Bengali - 173 mill 8. Russian - 146 mill 9. Japanese - 128 mill 10. German - 96 mill English: official language of 83 countries!

English Speaking Countries

Percent of People 5 Years and Older Who Speak a Language other than English at Home

language family: a group of languages descended from a single, earlier tongue (Indo-European most widely distributed) Indo-European --- Latin --- Romance Languages (Italian, Spanish, Portuguese, French, & Romanian) Afro-Asiatic --- Semitic--- Arabic (Moroccan, Palestinian, Egyptian, Iraqi, Tunisian, & Arabian) Chinese --- Mandarin, Cantonese, Jin, Wu, Xiang, Gan, Hakka, (Minbei, Minnan, Yue, Hokkien, Teochew, Pinghua , Taiwanese)

Chinese Ideograms

Language Families of the World Languages with more than 100 million speakers are named

protolanguage: an earlier language that led to other tongues Ex: panis pane pan pine lacte latta leche lait

Indo-European Language Family

WORLD PATTERN OF LANGUAGES: World language distribution reflects the dynamic pattern of: human movements, settlements, & colonization How do languages spread? --relocation diffusion --hierarchical diffusion (i.e.: English in India)