1. OBJECTIVE
Students will examine the minority language Euskara in order to draw conclusions regarding efforts to preserve local language.

2. General Classifications of Languages
INDO-EUROPEAN FAMILY = spoken by 48%
SINO-TIBETAN = 26% (mostly in China)
“Chinese” = most spoken language in the world
AFRO-ASIATIC FAMILY = 6% (mostly Middle East)
AUSTRONESIAN FAMILY = 5% (mostly SE Asia)
DRAVIDIAN FAMILY = 4% (mostly in India)
ALTAIC FAMILY = 3% (mostly in Asia)
NIGER CONGO = 3% (mostly in Africa)
JAPANESE (ITS OWN FAMILY) = 2% (mostly in Japan)
REMAINING 3% SPEAK A LANGUAGE BELONGING TO ANOTHER FAMILY

3. SAME INFORMATION IN A PIE CHART

4. DISTRIBUTION OF THE LANGUAGE FAMILIES

5. LANGUAGE TREES

6. Sino-Tibetan Family Mostly in the Sinitic Branch:
Languages spoken in People’s Republic of China
Includes Mandarin and Cantonese = all written the same way yet spoken differently

7. Mandarin
Mandarin = 420 one syllable words (exceeds the possible one syllable sounds that humans can make)
Shi  lion, corpse, house, poetry, ten, swear, or die
Additional words created through the combination of syllables:
i.e. Shang hai = above sea

8. Mandarin Method of writing
Most = ideograms representing specific ideas or concepts NOT specific pronunciations
Difficulty in writing = 16%of the population over 16 years old cannot read or write more than a few characters