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Language and Religion: A Mosaic of Cultural Expressions

Explore the dynamic relationship between language and religion as enduring elements of culture. Discover the impact of language on perceptions, attitudes, and understanding in society. Learn about the diversity of languages spoken worldwide and their distribution across different regions. Delve into language families and the spread of languages through relocation and adoption. Understand how language change occurs and the dominance of English as a global language. Uncover the importance of dialects and vernaculars in reflecting social and professional differences.

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Language and Religion: A Mosaic of Cultural Expressions

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  1. Chapter 5 Language and Religion: Mosaics of Culture

  2. Language & Religion • Mentifacts: • the central, enduring elements of a culture expressing it’s values, & beliefs, including language, religion, folklore, artistic tradition • components of the ideological subsystem of culture that help shape the belief system of a society and transmit to succeeding generations • dynamic, in constant evolution

  3. Language • Is the means of transmission of culture and the medium through which its beliefs and standards are expressed

  4. Language…. • the most important medium to transfer culture • Can determine perceptions, attitudes, understanding, responses of a society • an organized system of spoken words by which people communicate with each other with mutual comprehension

  5. Language numbers • Prehistoric times: 10,000 to 15,000 tongues • Cultural divergence • 7,000 or so remaining: 20 to 50%, no longer being learned/ dead • 2100 A.D.: estimate is 600 approx. current languages in existence • Today: greater than ½ world’s population speak only 8 languages

  6. World distribution of living languages, 2004 - of perhaps 6800 languages still spoken today Asia: 33% Africa: 30% Pacific area: 19% Americas: 15% Europe: 3% Estimated 1-2 languages lost each week

  7. Language diversity • Gradations between languages • Chinese, Mandarin, Cantonese, Hakka, & others sound differently, but all use kanji characters • European languages: Spanish, Italian, French, Romanian • Arabic: a number of related but distinct tongues • Sub-Saharan languages: 1500+ languages & language variants

  8. Languages spoken • Highest numbers in millions: • Mandarin (China): 1076 • English: 551 • Hindi/Urdu (India, Pakistan): 498 • Spanish: 427 • Russian: 267 • Bengali (Bangladesh, India): 215 • Portuguese: 195 • Malay-Indonesian: 176 • Japanese:132 • French: 131 • German: 128

  9. Language families • A group of languages descended from a single, earlier tongue (classification by sounds) • Estimated: 30 to 100 language families worldwide • Romance languages • Latin in the Roman Empire, collapse = cultural divergence • Emergence of several different, but related languages • Protolanguage (ancestor) • For romance languages: Latin

  10. Indo-European Family • Largest family • Spoken by ½ world • 8700-10,000 years old • From Agri-Rev. & near the Caspian Sea

  11. Genetic classification • Classification of languages by origin & historical relationship • Germanic languages: • English • German • Dutch • Scandinavian

  12. Language distribution • Can include a large area, yet only yield a small number of speakers • Example: Amerindian language families • 3 families • Close relationship with Asian languages • Corresponding with waves of migration

  13. World language families

  14. Language spread • Spatial diffusion process • 1. Relocation of massive population (dispersion of speakers) Bantu of Africa

  15. Language spread • 2. Adoption (acquisition of speakers) results from: • 1. Conquest • 2. Religious conversions • 3. Superiority of culture • Adoption becomes a necessity: • Medium of commerce, law, civilization, personal prestige

  16. Spatial diffusion occurs: • Relocation diffusion (transported by cultural dominance) • The to expansion diffusion & acculturation • Example: hierarchical diffusion • India – English prestigious • Africa – English use more impressive than Swahili • Barriers to diffusion: • Cultural – Greeks • Physical - mountains, Pyrenees & Basque

  17. Language change • Separate language formation: • 1. Migration • 2. Segregation • 3. Isolation

  18. Language change • Change within a language: • 1. Syntax • 2. Borrowed • 3. Discover/colonization/technology

  19. Dominance of English • Indo-European / offspring of proto-Germanic • 5th – 6th centuries: • migration of Danish, North German Frisian, Jutes, Angeles, and Saxons • many dialects, West Saxon dominated (Standard Old English) • 1066: Norman Conquest • in 11th century French dominated nobility • 1204: tie with France severed • Middle English (French enriched) • 15th – 16th centuries: Early Modern English

  20. Worldwide diffusion Since 1600s: 7 million English speakers increased to 375 million Today: 1.5 billion speakers 375 native 375 second language 750 with reasonable ability

  21. International English

  22. Speech communities • Standard language • Accepted community norms of: • 1. Syntax • 2. Vocabulary • 3. Pronunciation • Plus dialects & dialect of dominance • Reflecting areal, social, professional differences

  23. Dialects – speech variants • 1. Vocabulary • 2. Pronunciation • 3. Rhythm • 4. Speed • * Social dialects • Denote social class/education level • Usually follows standard language • * Vernacular • Non-standard language • Dialect native to locale, or social group

  24. Speech regions & dialect diffusion in the United States

  25. Pidgin • An amalgamation of languages • Pidgin is not a mother tongue of any of its speakers • A creation of essentially a new language • mixture of dominate languages • main languages broken down • “baby talk” • Past 400 years = 100+ new languages

  26. Creole • Created when pidgin becomes the first language of speakers who lost native tongue • Examples: • Swahili: Bantu dialects • Afrikaans: pidginized Dutch + African • Haitian Creole: pidginized French + African

  27. Lingua franca • Established language used habitually for communication by people whose native tongues are mutually incomprehensible • Examples: • Swahili • English • Hindi in India • Mandarin in China

  28. Official language • A designated single language for governments, school, universities, courts • Nigeria: 350 different languages, English is official

  29. Languages on the landscape • Toponyms – place names • 1. Historical • chester (Latin castra) = camp} Winchester • ing, ham (Anglo Saxon) = family, people, hamlet} Birmingham • burg (Latin for town) • Arabs: Cairo= victorious, Sudan = land of blacks, Sahara = wasteland

  30. Toponyms continued • 2. Borrowed from: • Heroes: Columbus, Ohio, Lincoln, Ill • Previous locations: Moscow, Idaho, Dublin, Calif • Distortions: Breukelyn = Brooklyn • Tribal names: maha = Omaha, kansa = Kansas • 3. Names consisting of 2 parts: • Generic – classifying • Specific – modifying or particular • Twin Falls, Hudson River, Bunker Hill, Long Island

  31. Religion - cultural rally point • A personal or institutionalized system of worship and of faith in the sacred & divine

  32. Impacts on culture • Formalized views • Economic patterns • Political structures • Religious landscapes • Scared places of landscape

  33. Religions – cultural innovations • Can be unique to single cultural group • Can be related to nearby or distant groups

  34. How to classify • Two distinctions • 1. Monotheism • 2. Polytheism • Three categories: • 1. Universalizing • 2. Ethnic • 3. Tribal

  35. Categories • Universalizing: • Buddhism • Christian • Islam • Ethnic: • Judaism • Hindu • Shinto • Tribal: • Animism • Shamanism World Patterns 1970 2002 Christian 933 m 2.0 b Islam 503 m 1.3 b Hindu 458 m 900 m Buddhism 180 m 360 m Judaism 14 m 14 m 14 m Secular 850 m Measure of affiliation More than ½ world population adheres to universalizing religions

  36. Principal world religions

  37. Innovation areas and diffusion routes of major world religions

  38. Judaism - ethnic • Monotheistic • Foundation to Christianity & Islam • 3,000 – 4,000 years old, Near East cultural hearth • Dispersion - immigration • Zionism - 1948

  39. Variety • Ashkenazim – (conservative liberal) • 80%, mixing of genders, dress, language • Liberal – reformed • Ultra Orthodox (shepardic) • Hebrew services, traditional dress, beards, hats, kosher food, no pork or shellfish, no mixing of genders at church • Landscape: • Synagogue (group most important – 10 men), vineyards

  40. Jewish dispersions, A.D. 70 - 1500

  41. Christianity - universalizing • Monotheistic • Parent religion: Judaism, Near East • Rapid expansion throughout Roman Empire – to underclasses • Accounts for nearly 1/3 world population (Protestant & Catholic)

  42. Expansion diffusion • Hierarchical: • first military outposts, cities • Contagious: • to surrounding populations • Relocation: • faith to the New World & Asia through the missionary system

  43. Christianity split • Fall of the Roman Empire • Catholic • Italy, Spain, Portugal, France, Poland, Ireland • Latin America, Philippines, Africa • Protestant • West & northern Europe (The Netherlands, England, Germany) • Anglo-America, Australia, New Zealand, Oceania, South Africa • Sub-Saharan Africa • both present + traditional • Ethnic barriers: Japan, China India • Cultural hearth: not important today

  44. Christian landscape – Untied States • 20 denominations = 85% of population • Catholic • Florida, New England, Southwest, New Orleans • Utah: Mormon • South: Baptist, the Bible Belt • Upper Midwest: Lutherans

  45. Major religious regions of the United States

  46. Religious groups • Roman Catholic • Largest single church • Protestant faiths • Larger proportion of population • Biggest groups: Baptists, Methodists • Mormon • 2nd fastest growing church worldwide, 14 m • American developed religion • 80% of Utah’s population • Jewish • 6 m, concentrations: NYC, Chicago, Miami

  47. Religious landscapes • Parish church – • formed center of small towns • village commons (the Puritans) • Village church – • rural communities • Central cathedrals – • in plaza, focus of religious / secular life • Cemetery – beside church, or outskirts of town

  48. Islam (Muslim) - universalizing • Monotheistic • Parent religion: Judaism, Near East, 622 A.D. • Contagious diffusion • Arabia, Central Asia, No. India, North Africa • Relocation diffusion • Indonesia, So.Africa, Western Hemisphere • Cultural hearth – still important location today

  49. Islamic regions • Asia – largest absolute number • Africa – highest proportion, 42% • Indonesia – highest percentage of any country • Sub-groups: • Sunni: 80 to 85% of total • Shi’ites: Iran, Iraq, Bahrain, Yemen

  50. Spread and extent of Islam

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