Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. All rights reserved.

Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. All rights reserved.
Chapter 6: Language © Barbara Weightman Concept Caching: Burmese Script -Burma Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. All rights reserved.

Field Note: What Should I Say?
“In stores throughout Brussels, Belgium, you can see the capital city’s bilingualism all around you—literally. From McDonald’s to health insurance offices to the metro, signs in Brussels are posted in duplicate, with one in Flemish (a variant of Dutch) and one in French.” *Could be an audio file. Figure 6.1 Brussels, Belgium. A health insurance offi ce in the bilingual capital city of Brussels displays duplicates of each of their posters, one in French and one in Flemish. © Erin H. Fouberg. © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. All rights reserved.

What Are Languages, and What Role Do Languages Play in Cultures?
Language is a set of sounds and symbols that is used for communication. Language is an integral part of culture. Language and Culture Language reflects where a culture has been and what it values. Language makes people in a culture visible to each other and to the world. © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. All rights reserved.

Language and Culture American, Canadian, Australian, Russian, and New Zealand governments had policies of forced assimilation during the twentieth century, including not allowing indigenous peoples to speak native languages. Language is so closely tied to culture that people use language as a weapon in cultural conflict and political strife. Figure 5.2 United States. Although biologically there is only one human race, we are constantly asked to choose race “boxes” for ourselves. This page of the 2010 United States Census asks the individual, “What is your race?” and directs the individual to “Mark one or more races to indicate what you consider yourself to be.” © U.S. Census Bureau © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. All rights reserved.

In 1993, the Quebec government passed a law requiring the use of French in advertising. Figure 6.6 Quebec Province, Quebec. The imprint of the French Canadian culture is evident in the cultural landscape of Rue Saint-Louis in Quebec. Here, the architecture and store signs confi rm that this region is not simply Canadian; it is French Canadian. © Andre Jenny/Alamy. © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. All rights reserved.

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 Role of government in standardizing a language

Many countries designate at least one official language to be used for official documents and public objects— like road signs and money.

What Is a Language? Mutual intelligibility: Two people can understand each other when speaking. Is almost impossible to measure. Some languages are separate but are mutually intelligible. Decision of what a standard language will be has to do with influence and power. © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. All rights reserved.

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 government impact on what is a “language” and what is a “dialect” Dialect: variant of standard language by ethnicity or region Vocabulary Syntax Cadence, pace Pronunciation

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.' 14 14 14

Dialects Variants of a standard language along regional or ethnic lines Differences in vocabulary, syntax, pronunciation, cadence, and pace of speech Dialect chains across space Dialects frequently marked by actual differences in vocabulary Isogloss: geographic boundary within which a particular linguistic feature occurs © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. All rights reserved.

Minor Dialects Today 16 16 16

What American Do You Speak?
17 17

Linguist Bert Vaux’s study of dialects in American English points to the differences in words for common things such as soft drinks and sandwiches. Describe a time when you said something and a speaker of another dialect did not understand the word you used. Where did the person with whom you were speaking come from? Was the word a term for a common thing? Why do you think dialects have different words for common things, things found across dialects, such as soft drinks and sandwiches? © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. All rights reserved.

Key Question Why are languages distributed the way they are?
© 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. All rights reserved.

Why Are Languages Distributed the Way They Are?
Definition and Debate The classification of languages is subject to intense debate. Some linguists argue that there are not just a few but many dozens of language families. © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. All rights reserved.

Language Formation Sound shift is a slight change in a word across languages within a subfamily or through a language family from the present backward toward its origin Ex.: Italian, Spanish and French as members of the Romance language subfamily Proto-Indo-European language: first major linguistic hypothesis; from studies of Jakob Grimm and William Jones © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. All rights reserved.

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

Reconstructing the Vocabulary of Proto-Indo-European and Its Ancient Ancestor Backward reconstruction: to track sound shifts and hardening of consonants “backward” toward the original language Extinct language, a language without any native speakers Deep reconstruction: recreating the language that preceded it Vladislav Illich-Svitych and Aharon Dolgopolsky: Nostratic language © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. All rights reserved.

Locating the Hearth of Proto-Indo-European German linguist August Schleicher: language divergence, where new language forms from old one. Language convergence: collapsing two languages into one. Language extinction occurs when all descendants perish or they choose to use another language (typically occurs over several generations). Linguists theorize that the hearth of the Proto-Indo- European language was somewhere in the vicinity of the Black Sea or east-central Europe. © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. All rights reserved.

Figure 6.10 Northwest Amazon, Colombia. The Barasana people, who live in the northwest Amazon in Colombia, have maintained their language and land-use systems despite external pressures. In 1991, the government of Colombia recognized the legal right of the Barasana to their land, which has aided the maintenance of their language. ©Eye Ubiquitous/Superstock © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. All rights reserved.

Tracing the Routes of Diffusion of Proto-Indo-European
Why Are Languages Distributed the Way They Are? Tracing the Routes of Diffusion of Proto-Indo-European Commonality among language diffusion theories is a focus on Europe. For Proto-Indo-European, it is clear that that the language diffused into Europe over time, and that a significant body of historical research and archaeology focuses on the early peopling of Europe. © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. All rights reserved.

Tracing the Routes of Diffusion of Proto-Indo-European Conquest theory: early speakers of Proto-Indo- European spread east to west on horseback, overpowering earlier inhabitants and beginning the diffusion/differentiation of Indo-European tongues. An alternative Agricultural Theory proposes that Proto-Indo-European diffused westward through Europe with the diffusion of agriculture. © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. All rights reserved.

Agriculture Theory With increased food supply and population, migration of speakers from the hearth of Indo-European languages into Europe

Tracing the Routes of Diffusion of Proto-Indo-European Dispersal hypothesis: the Indo-European languages that arose from Proto-Indo- European were first carried eastward into Southwest Asia, next around the Caspian Sea, and then across the Russian-Ukrainian plains and on into the Balkans. © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. All rights reserved.

Dispersal Hypothesis From the hearth eastward into present-day Iran
Around the Caspian Into Europe

The Languages of Europe

The Subfamilies Romance languages: French, Italian, Spanish, Romanian, and Portuguese Have much in common because of their Latin connection, but are not mutually comprehensible Germanic languages (English, German, Danish, Norwegian, and Swedish) reflect the expansion of peoples out of northern Europe west and south. Slavic languages (Russian, Polish, Czech, Slovak, Ukrainian, Slovenian, Serbo-Croatian, & Bulgarian) developed as Slavic people migrated from a base in present-day Ukraine about 2,000 years ago. © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. All rights reserved.

There are EIGHT MAIN BRANCHES of the Indo-European family.
English is a language of the INDO-EUROPEAN family. This is the most widely spoken family, with about 46% of people on Earth speaking one of its tongues. There are EIGHT MAIN BRANCHES of the Indo-European family.

FIGURE 5-9 BRANCHES OF THE INDOEUROPEAN LANGUAGE FAMILY Most Europeans speak languages from the Indo-European language family. In Europe, the three most widely used branches are Germanic (north and west), Romance (south and west), and Slavic (east). The fourth major branch, Indo-Iranian, clustered in southern and western Asia, has more than 1 billion speakers, the greatest number of any Indo-European branch

Let’s look at the largest four languages of the Indo-European family.

Four most widely spoken branches
1.) Germanic branch Spoken primarily in northwestern Europe and North America Divided into High and Low Germanic subgroups English is classified in the Low Germanic subgroup English belongs to Indo-European, the world’s most widely spoken language family. Indic 438 languages spoken in India, including 29 with at least 1 million speakers. Iranian Major languages include Persian (aka Farsi) in Iran, Pashto (eastern Afghanistan and western Iran), and Kurdish (Kurds in western Iran, northern Iraw, and eastern Turkey). All written with the Arabic alphabet.

FIGURE 5-10 LANGUAGE GROUPS OF THE GERMANIC BRANCH Germanic languages predominate in Northern and Western Europe.

Four most widely spoken branches
2.) Indo-Iranian branch Spoken primarily in South Asia Subdivided into eastern group (Indic) and western group (Iranian)

Balto-Slavic branch Spoken primarily in Eastern Europe
Divided into… East Slavic/Baltic Groups: most widely used language is Russian, followed by Ukrainian and Belarusian. West/South Slavic Groups: most spoken west Slavic language is Polish, followed by Czech and Slovak.

FIGURE 5-9 BRANCHES OF THE INDOEUROPEAN LANGUAGE FAMILY Most Europeans speak languages from the Indo-European language family. In Europe, the three most widely used branches are Germanic (north and west), Romance (south and west), and Slavic (east). The fourth major branch, Indo-Iranian, clustered in southern and western Asia, has more than 1 billion speakers, the greatest number of any Indo-European branch

4.) Romance branch Spoken primarily in southwestern Europe and Latin America Most widely used are Spanish, Portuguese, French, and Italian. Lingual divisions tend to correspond to the political boundaries of Spain, Portugal, France, and Italy.

FIGURE 5-13 ROMANCE BRANCH OF THE INDO-EUROPEAN LANGUAGE FAMILY Romance branch languages predominate in southwestern Europe.

Language and Politics A comparison of Europe’s linguistic and political maps shows a high correlation between the languages spoken and the political organization of space. A few important exceptions: French speakers in Belgium, Switzerland, and Italy; German speakers in Hungary; Hungarian speakers in Slovakia Romania and Yugoslavia; Romanian speakers in Moldavia and Greece; Turkish speakers in Bulgaria; Albanian speakers in Serbia. The Basque language of Euskera covers a very small land area and is in no way related to any other language family in Europe. © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. All rights reserved.

Figure 6.13 San Sebastián, Spain. Graffi ti on the wall of this building uses the English language, “Freedom for the Basque Country,” to show support for the Basque separatist movement. © Denise Powell Figure 6.13 San Sebastián, Spain. Graffiti on the wall of this building uses the English language, “Freedom for the Basque Country,” to show support for the Basque separatist movement. © Denise Powell © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. All rights reserved.

Languages of Subsaharan Africa Niger-Congo language family dominates. Oldest Subsaharan languages are the Khoisan languages, which include a “click” sound. © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. All rights reserved.

Languages of Subsaharan Africa Nigeria’s 141 million people speak more than 500 different languages. The three most prominent languages are distributed regionally: Hausa in the north; 35 million people Yoruba in the southwest; 25 million people Ibo in the southeast; over 25 million people When Nigeria gained independence in 1962, it adopted English as the “official” language, as the three major regional languages are too politically charged and thus unsuitable as national languages. © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. All rights reserved.

Education also affects the distribution of languages across the globe and within regions and countries. Thinking about different regions of the world, consider how education plays a role in the distribution of English speakers. Who learns English in each of these regions and why? What role does education play in the global distribution of English speakers? © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. All rights reserved.

Key Question How do languages diffuse?

How Do Languages Diffuse?
By 2,000 years ago, languages such as Chinese and Latin had successfully diffused over large regions. In the late Middle Ages, the invention of the Gutenberg printing press and the rise of nation- states worked to spread literacy and stabilize certain languages through widely distributed written forms. The rise of relatively large independent states was equally important, for these political entities had a strong interest in promoting a common culture, often through a common language. Globalization is shrinking the world’s linguistic heritage. © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. All rights reserved.

Lingua Franca How Do Languages Diffuse? A lingua franca is a language used among speakers of different languages for the purposes of trade and commerce. Can be a single language or a mixture of two or more languages. Pidgin language: When people speaking two or more languages are in contact and they combine parts of their languages in a simplified structure and vocabulary. Creole language is a pidgin language with a more complex structure and vocabulary that has become the native language of a group of people. © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. All rights reserved.

Figure 6.16 Dubai, United Arab Emirates. The message on the back of the bench is written in the lingua franca known to virtually all Indian migrants to the Arabian Peninsula. © Alexander B. Murphy. © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. All rights reserved.

Multilingualism Monolingual states are countries where almost everyone speaks the same language. Ex.: Japan, Uruguay, Iceland, Denmark, Portugal, Poland, Lesotho Countries in which more than one language is in use are called multilingual states. © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. All rights reserved.

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

Official Languages Countries with linguistic fragmentation often adopt an official language (or languages) to tie the people together. A State adopts an official language in the hope of promoting communication and interaction among peoples who speak different local and regional languages. The official languages in a country are a reflection of the country’s history. © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. All rights reserved.

Widest extent of British Empire, 18th century

Countries where ENGLISH is a national language

Global Languages The principal language people use around the world in their day-to-day activities A common language of trade and commerce used around the world © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. All rights reserved.

LINGUAL PRESERVATION & SURVIVAL

Difficulties can arise at the boundary between two languages
Difficulties can arise at the boundary between two languages. Different countries face this challenge with varying degrees of success.

A DEVELOPED country that faces domestic strife because of its mixed lingual character is BELGIUM

Belgium has two lingual regions-
the FLEMISH-SPEAKING North (Flanders) the FRENCH-SPEAKING south (Wallonia)

FIGURE 5-27 LANGUAGES IN BELGIUM FLEMINGS in the north speak Flemish, a Dutch dialect. Walloons in the south speak French. The two groups have had difficulty sharing national power.

If Belgium was to split into two , Flanders would instantly become one of Europe’s richest countries, while Wallonia would rank among its poorest.

The country’s capital- BRUSSELS- is officially bilingual
The country’s capital- BRUSSELS- is officially bilingual. Signs and official documents are written in both FLEMISH and FRENCH.

Nearby Switzerland, however, has succeeded in creating a stable multilingual state.

The SWISS are notoriously tolerant, and have enacted official recognition of even the smallest of locally spoken languages. 4 official languages German (65%) French (18%) Italian (10%) Romansh (1%)

With a history of mountainous isolation, decisions in Switzerland are made largely on the LOCAL level. FIGURE 5-29 LANGUAGE DIVERSITY IN SWITZERLAND The map shows Switzerland’s four official languages. The photo shows a sign that prevents hikers, vehicles, and horses from entering the forest because of timber cutting. German is top left, French top right, Italian lower left, and Romansh lower right. Switzerland lives peacefully with four official languages, including Romansh, which is used by only 1 percent of the population.

The largest three each represent only 1/8 of speakers.
Many developing countries have difficulty balancing a mix of languages. A good example is NIGERIA- a country of 220 million people where there are 527 spoken tongues. The largest three each represent only 1/8 of speakers.

An ISOLATED LANGAUGE is one unrelated to any other language or family.

Basque in Europe Only language currently spoken that survives since the period before the arrival of Indo-European speakers. Spoken by 666,000 people in the Pyrenees Mountains of northern Spain and southwestern France.

Icelandic Isolated on an island, this has changed less than any other Germanic language

An EXTINCT LANGUAGE is one that is no longer spoken or read in daily activities by anyone in the world. Hebrew is a rare case of a language being revived. Efforts are being made to update the ancient language to reflect modern advances, such as words for telephones, cars, and electricity.

Presently, 473 languages nearly extinct
- 46 in Africa - 182 in Americas - 84 in Asia - 9 in Europe - 152 in Pacific

74 now-extinct languages in the United States were once spoken by Native Americans.

Extinct languages can be REVIVED, as long as extensive documentation of the language exists.
HEBREW, the language of the Jewish people, was extinct for 2,000 years before it was revived in the late 19th century.

Eliezer Ben-Yehuda worked to revive spoken Hebrew
Eliezer Ben-Yehuda worked to revive spoken Hebrew. He published dictionaries incorporating new words and pushed for Jews to adopt the language. His son Itamar was raised to be the first native speaker of Hebrew since 200 bce.

Today, Hebrew is spoken by more than 6 million people, mostly in Israel and other places with high Jewish populations.

CROWN HEIGHTS, BROOKLYN

Linguists expect hundreds of languages will become extinct during the twenty-first century.
Only about 300 languages are said to be ‘safe’ from extinction.

Field Note “English is an important part of the curriculum even at a small school for deaf children in remote Bhutan. The children and I began communicating by writing questions to each other on the blackboard. Their English is quite good, and I am reminded once again of the incredible global reach of English, despite its idiosyncrasies. In English, light is pronounced as if it were lite, the past tense of the verb to read is read, but the past tense of the word to lead is led.” Figure 6.18 Paro, Bhutan. © Alexander B. Murphy © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. All rights reserved.

Choose a country in the world. Imagine you become a strong leader of a centralized government in the country. Pick a language used in the country other than the tongue spoken by the majority. Determine what policies you could put in place to make the minority language an official language of the country. What reactions would your initiative generate? Who would support it and who would not? © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. All rights reserved.

Key Question What Role Does Language Play in Making Places?

What Role Does Language Play in Making Places?
Cultural geographer Yi-Fu Tuan has studied the role and function of language in the shaping of places. Each place has a unique location and constitutes a reflection of human activities, ideas, and tangible, durable creations. Tuan argued that by simply naming a place, people in effect call that place into being, and thereby impart a certain character to it = toponyms. © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. All rights reserved.

Toponyms and Globalization
What Role Does Language Play in Making Places? Toponyms and Globalization The toponyms we see on a map depend in large part on who produced the map. Some embattled locales have more than one name at the same time. Ex.: Argentineans refer to a small cluster (archipelago) of islands off the southeast coast of South America as the Malvinas, but the British call the same cluster of islands the Falkland Islands. © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. All rights reserved.

Changing Toponyms Tuan said when people change the toponym of a place, they have the power to “wipe out the past and call forth the new.” Figure 6.19 Llanfairpwllgwyngyllgogerychwyrndrobwllllantysiliogogogoch, Wales. The town with the self-proclaimed longest name in the world attracts hordes of tourists each year to a place whose claim to fame is largely its name. © Alexander B. Murphy. © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. All rights reserved.

What Role Does Language Play in Making Places?
Changing Toponyms Postcolonial Toponyms: New governments renamed several countries and newly independent countries also changed the names of cities and towns to reflect their independence. Postrevolution Toponyms: Changes in power through coups and revolutions prompt name changes. Memorial Toponyms: People change a toponym to memorialize an important person or event. © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. All rights reserved.

Guest Field Note Greenville, North Carolina
“Greenville, North Carolina, changed West Fifth Street to Martin Luther King Jr. Drive in Originally, African American leaders wanted all of Fifth Street renamed—not just part of it— but residents and business owners on the eastern end strongly opposed the proposal. After driving and walking down the street, I quickly realized that King Drive marked an area that was predominantly black with limited commercial development, whereas East Fifth was mostly white and more upscale. When I interviewed members of Greenville’s African American community, they expressed deep frustration over the marginalization of the civil rights leader.” Figure 6.21 Credit: Derek Alderman, East Carolina University © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. All rights reserved.

This place was first named by Gabrielino Indians. In 1769, Spanish Franciscan priests renamed the place. In 1850, English speakers renamed the place. Do not use the Internet to help you. Use only maps in this book or in atlases to help you deduce what this place is. Maps of European exploration and colonialism will help you the most. Look at the end of the chapter summary for the answer. © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. All rights reserved.

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