Language , Culture, and SocietyLanguage , Culture, and SocietyLinguistics 115Linguistics 115CSU FresnoCSU FresnoChandra Shekar. Ph. D.Chandra Shekar. Ph. D.

Language , Culture, and SocietyLanguage , Culture, and Society•Questions addressed in this course:

•What is the relation among major languages of the world, Culture and society in which these languages spoken,?

•Why languages that in their day seemed utterly irresistible in their dominance and prestige, spoken across large regions of the world for thousands of years, were eventually eclipsed?

Scope of this bookScope of this book• Avenues of research on the history of

Languages• Close study of a few current languages • Shallow study of many current languages• Study of languages through history

• Topic of the present study.• Study of languages through history

Empires of the Word: A Language History of the World

by Nicholas Ostler

Ways of recounting the history of the world.

Via rise and fall of civilizations The (mis)fortunes of nation states Socio-economic systems and patterns

(Capitalism, Socialism, Mixed-economic system, Communism, Princely states)

Development of Technology (advanced vs. primitive)

Chronology of war and military prowess (military might)

Cultural and linguistic dominance History of Languages

Empires of the WordEmpires of the WordStory of rise and fall of languages

◦Reasons for the rise and fall of languages.◦Resulting rise and fall of cultures and

civilizations.

History of Languages History of Languages Languages and their cultural

contributions studied in ‘Empires of the word’.◦Sumerian Akkadian◦Phoenician Egyptian◦Assyrian Persian◦ Arabic Hebrew◦Turkish Chinese◦Sanskrit Russian◦German French◦Greek English

History of LanguagesHistory of LanguagesThe book concentrates on those

languages that have been - in some form or another - globally influential: they include Sumerian, Akkadian, Egyptian, Chinese, Sanskrit, Greek, Latin, and the main European languages, not the least, English.

Languages of the WorldLanguages of the WorldAbout 16 language phyla, about 6000 languages spoken today

phylum group of related language families family group of related languageslanguage group of related dialectsdialect group of related idiolectsidiolect speech of an individual

Indo-European Mong-Mien Families / \ | |

English Spanish Hmong Languages| | | |

American Cuban Green Dialects| | | |

George Fidel Phong Idiolects

Historical PerspectiveHistorical Perspective

We’ll take a long, purely historical perspective this semester:

pre-history: before written recordsvaries geographically

history: after written records (6000 bce)varies geographically

We’ll be looking only at written languages

Major Historical LanguagesMajor Historical LanguagesEmpires of the Word covers the following and we’ll do so as well• Expansion by land

Sumerian (isolate)Akkadian, Arabic, Aramaic, Babylonian, Egyptian, Phoenician (all Semitic)Turkish (Finno-Ugric)Chinese (Sino-Tibetan)Greek, Hittite, Latin, Persian, Sanskrit (Indo-

European)

• Expansion by sea

French, Spanish, Portguese (Indo-European: Romance)

Russian (Indo-European: Slavic)Dutch, German, English (Indo-European:

Germanic)

Language Language Families Are Families Are Roughly Related Roughly Related to Genetic to Genetic PopulationsPopulations

Journey of MankindJourney of MankindType the following URL to view interac

tive power point presentation of the journey of Mankind.

www.bradshawfoundation.com/journey

www.bradshawfoundation.com/journey

Spread of Women Spread of Women (mtDNA)(mtDNA)

Mitochondrial DNA Mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA)(mtDNA)

Scientists have used mtDNA to trace the evolution and migration of human species.

Nuclear DNA vs mtDNA◦DNA within the cell nucleus (nuclear

DNA) that consists of an estimated 70,000 genes that we inherit from our parents.

◦mtDNA found in mitochondria that we find outside the nucleus, but within the cell structure.

Spread of mtDNASpread of mtDNAFertilization of sperm and egg will

have a mixture of parents DNA, and an exact copy of mother’s mtDNA. Father’s mtDNA is left out.

One can trace the foot prints of mtDNA in human population.

Mutations do occur, and through testing, one can trace the ancestry of any group of people and all the way back to the ‘mother of all mothers and fathers’.

Spread of Men (Y-Spread of Men (Y-Chromosome)Chromosome)

Language must have Language must have spread the same wayspread the same way

But the dates and maps have yet to bemade. This will probably be done in the

next 20 years.All languages, and the cultures and

civilizations associated with these languages, must have spread along the paths of human migration over millions of years.