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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.