1. LANGUAGE
AP Human Geography

3. The Internet: Globalization of Language

4. Language and Politics

5. Non-English Speakers
Political issue of speakers of Spanish and other languages vs. those desiring English only

6. Language and Cultural Identity6 6

7. Quebec vs. Canada Federal level: Provinces: Quebec- officially French
officially bilingual
Provinces:
Quebec-
officially French
New Brunswick
only province officially bilingual
Other provinces
officially English 7 7

9. English Speaking Countries
Fig. 5-1: English is the official language in 42 countries, including some in which it is not the most widely spoken language. It is also used and understood in many others. 9 9 9

10. Invasion of the British Isles
2000 BC- Celts spread on/from the British isles, speaking Celtic
450 AD- Germanic tribes invade British Isles (Angles, Jutes & Saxons)
800 AD- Vikings invade from Norway
1066 AD- Normans invade from present day France, speaking French

12. “Fancy” modern English words come from French influence.
Simple modern English words come from German influence.

13. What Are Languages, and What Role Do Languages Play in Culture?
Language: A set of sounds, combinations of sounds, and symbols used for communication
Standard language: A language that is published, widely distributed, and purposefully taught
Used by governments

14. Dialect: a regional variation of a language distinguished by distinctive vocabulary, spelling, and pronunciation.
Example of Dialect

15. The Queens English English has an especially large number of dialects.
One particular dialect of English is recognized in much of the English-speaking world as the standard form of British speech
Associated with upper-class Britons living in the London area
Known as British Received Pronunciation (BRP). 15 15 15

16. Differences in Vocabulary and Spelling
U.S. English differs from that of England in three significant ways: vocabulary, spelling, and pronunciation.
The vocabulary
Spelling diverged
Different because settlers in America had many new objects and experiences.
Many names were given by borrowing or adapting Native American names for the world.
Strong national feeling in the United States for an independent identity.
Webster’s dictionaries & grammar books purposely made U.S. dialect different from England 16 16 16

17. Differences in Pronunciation
Differences in pronunciation between British and U.S. speakers are immediately recognizable.
Interaction between the two groups was largely confined to exchange of letters and other printed matter rather than direct speech.
Surprisingly, pronunciation has changed more in England than in the United States.
People in the United States do not speak “proper” English because when the colonists left England, “proper” English was not what it is today. 17 17 17

18. British Slang Words Below are a few slang words commonly used in Britain.
Bloke - man. 'John is a nice bloke to know.'
Botched - poor quality repairs. 'He made a botched job of fixing the television.'
Bottle - courage. 'He doesn't have the bottle to ask her.'
Cheesed Off - fed up
Chuck it down - to rain, often heavily. 'It is going to chuck it down soon.'
Chuffed - If you are chuffed, you are happy with something. 'I was chuffed to win a medal!'
Daft - Crazy / stupid
Dosh - Money / cash 'I haven't got much dosh to give you.'
Gobsmacked - Incredibly amazed. 'I was gobsmacked when I saw my birthday presents.'
Gutted - Not happy because of an event that has occurred that didn't go your way. 'I was gutted when I didn't win the race'
Jammy - Used in place of lucky when describing someone else. 'He was very jammy winning the lottery'.
Scrummy - Delicious. Shortened from scrumptious. 'The food was very scrummy'
Skint - Broke. No money. 'I'm skint, I wont be able to buy the DVD today.'
to Snog - to long kiss
Telly - Television 'I watched the news on the telly last night.' 18 18 18

19. What American Do You Speak? 19 19

20. Dialects in America Today20 20 20

21. U.S. accent tour
Appalachian
Gullah

22. Why Are Languages Distributed the Way They Are?
Classification by language families (groups of related languages)

23. Language Formation
Linkages among languages marked by sound shifts, slight changes in a word across languages over time
Milk = lacte in Latin leche in Spanish
lait in French latta in Italian
Language divergence: Breakup of a language into dialects and then new languages from lack of interaction among speakers
Language convergence: When peoples with different languages have consistent interaction and their languages blend into one

25. Origins of Proto-Indo-European
Renfrew Hypothesis/Sedentary Farmer: Began in the Fertile Crescent
Europe’s languages are from Anatolia (modern day turkey)
Spread from Turkey to Greece (Greek Language branch)
Spread north through Italy, & the Mediterranean coast of France, Spain, and Portugal (Romance Language branch)
Indo-Iranian branch originated through eastern migration from Anatolia
**Diffusion caused the development of the rest of the branches
North Africa & Arabia’s languages from the Western Arc of Fertile Crescent
Southwest Asia and South Asia’s languages from the Eastern Arc of Fertile Crescent

26. Nomadic Warrior Thesis
Language originated near modern day Kazakhstan & Russia.
Migrated to find grassland for horses & cattle
West to Europe
South to South Asia

27. Mutual Intelligibility
Isogloss: A geographic boundary within which a particular linguistic feature occurs
Criterion for a language: Speakers can understand each other
Problems
Measuring “mutual intelligibility”
Standard languages and governments have an impact on what is considered a “language” and what is a “dialect”

30. The Study of Historical Languages
Backward reconstruction: Tracking sound shifts and the hardening of consonants backward to reveal an “original” language
Can deduce the vocabulary of an extinct language
Can recreate ancient languages (deep reconstruction)

31. Indo-European Family

32. The MAJOR Language Sub-Families of Europe
Romance languages
Germanic languages
Slavic languages

33. Language Families of India
India has many official languages, but 4 major language families represented…
Indo-European
Sino-Tibetan
Austro-Asiatic
Dravidian

34. South Asian Languages & Language Families
Indo-European is the largest of the families in South Asia. India has 18 official languages. 34

35. Languages of Subsaharan Africa
Dominant language family: Niger-Congo
Relatively recent migration
Continued recognizable similarities among subfamilies
Displacement of Khoisan family, now in southwestern Africa

37. Nigeria More than 400 languages Nigeria is a colonial creation
Choice of English as “official” language rather than any indigenous language

38. Essential Question: What are the largest language families and branches, and where are they located?
Use pages of textbook to complete language summary table notes
Color world map of major languages & create key using textbook page #153

39. Major World Languages Language Family Major Language
Numbers (in millions)
Indo-European
English
445
Hindi
366
Spanish
340
Sino-Tibetan
Chinese
1,211
Burmese 32
Japanese-Korean
Japanese
125
Korean 78
Afro-Asiatic
Arabic
211
Malay-Polynesian
Indonesian
154
Dravidian (India)
Telugu 69
Altaic
Turkish 61 39

42. How Do Languages Diffuse?
Human interaction
Print distribution
Migration
Trade
Rise of nation-states
Colonialism
Elizabeth J. Leppman

43. Effects of Spatial Interaction
Lingua franca: A language used among speakers of different languages for 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

44. Multilingualism
Monolingual state: A country in which only one language is spoken
Multilingual state: A country in which more than one language is in use
Official language: Government-selected language or languages to try to enhance communication in a multilingual state

45. Global Language English as lingua franca for
Commerce
Science
Travel
Business
Popular culture
Continued use of native languages for day-to-day activities

46. Global Dominance of English
One of the most fundamental needs in a global society is a common language for communication.
Increasingly in the modern world, the language of international communication is English.
When well-educated speakers of two different languages wish to communicate with each other in countries such as India or Nigeria, they frequently use English. 46 46 46

47. English – becoming a lingua franca of the world (commerce and science)
One Global Language?
Esperanto Experiment
occurred in early 1900s
based on Latin & other Eur. languages
failed – not a global tongue (Indo-Eur.), lacked practical utility
English – becoming a lingua franca of the world (commerce and science) 47 47

48. 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
Toponym: A place name
Imparts a certain character on a place
Reflects the social processes in a place
Can give a glimpse of the history of a place

49. Changing Toponyms Major reasons people change toponyms
After decolonization
After a political revolution
To commodify or brand a place
To memorialize people or events