1. Culture V – Language Domination, Preservation, and Extinction

2. Language and Ethnicity
The distribution of language is a direct measure of the fate of an ethnic group
If an ethnic group dies out, usually the language goes with them
Ethnic groups that can diffuse their language can ensure the survival of their culture

3. Language Domination
The development of alphabets and literary traditions were used to dominate and conquer cultures
Invention of agricultural societies, alphabets, and record keeping allowed cultures to spread and dominate illiterate cultures

4. European Imperialism
European colonial powers colonized Africa and the Americas
Language was imposed on native populations
Europeans had alphabets
NA’s passed on language through verbal transmission
One step in the process of cultural extinction
After decolonization, language remained
Treaty of Tordesillas

5. Language Extinction No longer spoken by any living person
Thousands are extinct
Process has accelerated during past 300 years
Imperialism
Globalization
Economic and social acculturation

6. Language Conflicts Nigeria 493 languages 3 in widespread use Hausa
Yoruba
Igbo
Ethnic conflict
Political conflict
Moved capital from Lagos (Yoruba) to Abuja (center of Nigeria)

7. Reviving Endangered Languages
Basque
Welsh
Irish Gaelic
Cornish – extinct in 1777
Hebrew – post WWII

8. Multilingual States Most states contain multiple languages
Divided by isoglosses
Some states identify multiple official languages
Canada
Belgium
Israel
Switzerland
African preservation of languages

9. Isolated Languages Not associated with any other language family
Lack of interaction
Basque – pre-Indo-European

10. Lingua Franca Common communication for business
Originated with Arab traders in Europe
English
Russian
Swahili
Indonesian
Pidgin Language

11. Global Dominance of English
ESL
EU – 90%
World – 500 million
Japan – considering added English as a second official language
Airlines

12. Diffusion of English
Historically – relocation diffusion through trade and conquest
Today – expansion diffusion
Expansion diffusion of English
English is changing through diffusion of new vocab, spelling, and pronunciation
English words are fusing w/other languages
Usually, diffusion occurs from the elite to the masses, but today changes in English originate from common usage or ethnic dialects
African Americans – Ebonics – “she be at home”
Appalachia – “I’m fishing in the crick”, “a-sitting”

13. Diffusion of Other Languages
Franglais
Spanglish
Chores (shorts), bacuncliner (vacuum cleaner)
Parquin (instead of estacionameiento)
Denglish
Cityverbindungen (local call)

14. Language Manifestations in Landscape
Cultures name features with a toponym
In the USA, names reveal the dominate culture of the first inhabitants or the Europeans that conquered them
Two parts to a toponym
Generic – classifies what is being described
Specific – modifies the classification

15. 2007 FRQ
At the same time that English is solidifying its role as the world’s premier lingua franca, lesser-used minority languages (such as Welsh, Basque, and Inuktitut) are undergoing revival.
Discuss three distinct factors promoting the revival of minority languages in the face of globalization.