1. Chapter 5 – Language AP Human Geography Boucher

2. What Are Languages, and What Role Do They Play in Culture? Language – A set of sounds, combinations of sounds, and symbols that are used for communication Standard Language – One that is published, widely distributed, and purposefully taught.

3. Language Key Terms Dialects – Variants of a standard language along regional or ethnic lines Isogloss – Geographic boundary where a particular linguistic feature occurs (Pop v. Soda) Mutual Intelligibility – When two people can understand each other when speaking – Problems?

4. World Language Families

5. A Boring, Yet Important, Language Slide Distribution of World Languages – Families – Shared, but fairly distant, origin (Indo- European, Afro-Asiatic, Niger-Congo, etc.) – Subfamilies – Commonalities are more definite and the origin is more recent (Romance, Germanic, Slavic, etc.) How Are Languages Formed? – Can find linkages among languages by examining sound shifts (eg. Milk = lacte (Latin), latta (Italian), leche (Spanish), lait (French)

6. Proto-Indo-European Hypothesis Languages began at one hearth and moved westward.

7. The Renfrew Hypothesis Proposes that three sources of agriculture each gave rise to a major language family.

8. Dispersal Hypothesis Theory argues that the Indo-European language family began in the Caucasus Mountain region and dispersed eastward before diffusing westward.

9. The Languages of Europe Romance (French, Spanish, Italian, Romanian, and Portuguese) Germanic (English, German, Danish, Norwegian, Swedish) Slavic (Russian, Polish, Czech, etc.) Euskera – Isolated Language – Spoken by Basques in the Andorra Mtn. region between Spain and France – Maintain strong identity tied to language

10. Languages of Subsaharan Africa Extreme Language Diversity Effects of Colonialism Profile: Nigeria – More than 500 different languages – English taught first in school, however many do not use English once they enter daily Nigerian society

11. How Do Languages Diffuse? That Would Make a Good FRQ! – Answers: Human interaction, print distribution, migration, trade, rise of nation-states, colonialism Spatial Interaction Helps to Create: – Lingua Franca – A language used among speakers of different languages for the purposes of trade and commerce – Pidgin Language – A language created when people combine parts of two or more languages into a simplified structure and vocabulary – Creole Language – A pidgin language that has developed a more complex structure and vocabulary and has become the native language of a group of people

12. Dubai, United Arab Emirates Example of a lingua franca – The message on the back of the bench is written in the lingua franca known to virtually all Indian migrants to the Arabian Peninsula

13. Monolingual State – A country in which only one language is spoken (Japan, Uruguay, Iceland, etc.) Multilingual State – A country in which more than one language is in use (most countries) Official Languages – Often adopted to unite the country’s people Global Language – Common language for trade and commerce

14. What Role Does Language Play in Making Places? Place – the uniqueness of a location, what people do in a location, what they create, how they impart a certain character, a certain imprint on the location by making it unique Toponym – Place name – Imparts a certain character on a place – Reflects the social processes in a place – Can give us a glimpse of the history of a place

15. Changing Toponyms Major reasons people change toponyms: – After decolonization – After a political revolution – To memorialize people or events – To commodify or brand a place ($$$) When people change a toponym, they have the power to “wipe out the past and call forth the new.”

16. U.S. Cities with Martin Luther King Streets Do a quick 4 Level Analysis in your mind with this map! What can it tell us about our cultural landscape?