Chapter 5Language

Pretest

An Introduction to Human GeographyThe Cultural Landscape, 8e

James M. Rubenstein

Language

Where are English-language speakers distributed?

Language• Language is a system of communication

through speech, a collection of sounds that a group of people understands to have the same meaning.

• Literary tradition is a system of written communications.

• Official language is the one used by the government for laws, reports, and public objects, such as road signs, money and stamps

English Speaking Countries

Fig. 5-1: English is the official language in 42 countries, including some in which it is not the most widely spoken language. It is also used and understood in many others.

Origin, Diffusion, and Dialects of English

• Origin and diffusion of English–English colonies

•1607 Jamestown, Virginia•1620 Plymouth, Massachusetts•Became principal North American language

Anglo-Saxons

Norman Invasion1066 A.D.

Spoke French whichBecame official language

of England

Those with little education continued

to speak English

England loses control ofNormandy (1204 A.D.), English

becomes dominant again

Statute of Pleading in 1362Parliament continued w/ French until 1489

Invasions of England 5th–11th centuries

Fig. 5-2: The groups that brought what became English to England included Jutes, Angles, Saxons, and Vikings. The Normans later brought French vocabulary to English.

Origin, Diffusion, and Dialects of English

• Dialects of English– Dialect is a regional variation of language

distinguished by distinctive vocabulary, spelling, and pronunciation.

– Standard language- a dialect recognized as the most acceptable for government, business, education and mass communication i.e. BRP or British Received Pronunciation

Old and Middle English Dialects

Fig. 5-3: The main dialect regions of Old English before the Norman invasion persisted to some extent in the Middle English dialects through the 1400s.

Origin, Diffusion, and Dialects of English

– Dialects in the United States• Northern• Midlands• Southern

– The mobility of Americans has been a major reason for the relatively uniform language that exists throughout much of the West

Dialects in the Eastern U.S.

Fig. 5-4: Hans Kurath divided the eastern U.S. into three dialect regions, whose distribution is similar to that of house types (Fig. 4-9).

Demister Windscreen

Wing (side) mirror

Indicators

Full (high) beam

Bonnet (hood)

Glove box

Dipped (low beam)

Number (license) plate Side (parking) lights

Gear box

Racing tyre

Petrol (fuel)tank

Boot (trunk)

(defogger)

(turn signals)

(compartment)

(transmission)

(white wall)

(windshield)

Tax disk (registration tag)

Isogloss-boundary that separates region in which different language usages predominate

Language

Why is English related to other languages?

Language• Language family- a collection of languages

related through a common ancestor that existed long before recorded history.

• Language branch- a collection of languages related through a common ancestor that existed several thousand years ago.

• Language group- a collection of languages within a branch that share a common origin in the relatively recent past and display relatively few differences in grammar and vocabulary.

The Indo-European Language Family

• Branches of Indo-European– World’s most extensively spoken language family. – Nearly 3 billion speak an Indo-European language

as their first language

Germanic Branch

Indo-Iranian Branch

Romance Branch

Balto-Slavic Branch

Indo-EuropeanLanguage Family

Indo-European Language Family

Fig. 5-5: The main branches of the Indo-European language family include Germanic, Romance, Balto-Slavic, and Indo-Iranian.

Germanic Branch of Indo-European

Fig. 5-6: The Germanic branch today is divided into North and West Germanic groups. English is in the West Germanic group.

India’s Four Language Families

• Sino-Tibetan- in the northeast• Austro-Asiatic – central and eastern

highlands• Dravidian- in south• Indo-European – in north

South Asian Languages and Language Families

Fig. 5-7: Indo-European is the largest of four main language families in South Asia. The country of India has 18 official languages.