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Language

Language. Language and Culture. Language probably most important trait of a cultural group Communication Common expression of ideas, unique characteristics Provides identity and uniqueness. Language – A Definition.

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Language

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  1. Language

  2. Language and Culture • Language probably most important trait of a cultural group • Communication • Common expression of ideas, unique characteristics • Provides identity and uniqueness

  3. Language – A Definition A language is a system, used to communicate, comprised of a set of arbitrary symbols and a set of rules (or grammar) by which the manipulation of these symbols is governed. These symbols can be combined productively to convey new information, distinguishing languages from other forms of communication.

  4. What is Language • System for Communication • Components of Language • Sounds and words • Signs and gestures • Rules and syntax

  5. Terms • Dialects • Minor variations within a language • Pidgin • Creole • Standard language • Follows formal rules of diction and grammar • Official language • Language formally adopted by a given country • Lingua franca • Language for commercial and adminstrative purposes over a large area

  6. World’s Major Languages • 6,000 distinct languages • 50% of world population speak one of 12 major languages listed • Mandarin Chinese is largest with 885 million • English is the primary language of 350 million and is the official language of about 50 countries

  7. http://www.ethnologue.com/country_index.asp

  8. Language Development • Protolanguage • Common ancestor to any group of today’s languages • Language family • Languages related by descent from a common protolanguage • Similarities in vocabulary and grammar

  9. Language Families • Indo-European • Sino-Tibetan • Hamito-Semitic • Malayo-Polynesian • East-Asian • Dravidian • Altaic-Urallic

  10. Linguistic Geography • The study of different dialects across space • Speech community • Group of people with common patterns of vocabulary, word arrangement and pronounciation • Isoglosses • the geographical boundary of a certain linguistic feature, (the pronunciation of a vowel, meaning of a word, or use of a syntactic feature) • Major dialects are typically demarcated by bundles of isoglosses, • Frequently parallel physical landscape features • Geographical dialect continuum • range of dialects spoken across a large geographical area

  11. Language Diffusion • Spatial Diffusion • Diffusion of speakers • Acquisition of speakers • Relocation Diffusion (via migration) • Expansion Diffusion (via contact and trade) • Hierarchical Diffusion (movement through hierarchy) • Barriers/Impediments to Language Diffusion

  12. Factors in Language Change & Evolution • Isolation • Migration • Borrowing • Colonization • Trade • Technology

  13. English • Indo-European Protolanguage • Proto-Germanic Roots • Conquest by Danish, Frisians, Jutes, Angels & Saxons • Celtic speakers retreated to Scotland & Wales • West Saxon dialect emerges in 9th & 10th centuries as Standard Old English (Beowulf) • French was language of nobility after Normal Conquest (1066)

  14. English (cont.) • English regains dominance after the loss of Normandy in 1204 • Middle English is enriched with French (Chaucer) • 15th & 16th Centuries – Early Modern English (English, as spoken in London) • Johnson’s dictionary (1755) established norms of proper forms of usage • Colonization spreads English around the world • In 400 years English went from the language of 7 million in Great Britain to about 400 million speakers worldwide

  15. Toponymy • The study of place names • Consists of: • Natural features • Origins/values of inhabitants • Belief structures, religions • Current or past heroes

  16. Linguistic Differentiation • National languages • Iceland and Japan • Language as a national force • Mother tongues • Philological nationalism • Postcolonial societies • Imposed official languages by colonial ruler • Not spoken by locals

  17. Multiple Language States • Polyglot states • Having multiple official languages • (India, Belgium, Canada) • United States • English always lingua franca • Three major dialects in 13 colonies • Non-English languages

  18. http://www.ethnologue.com/country_index.asp

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