Human geo unit 6 vocab

Mutual intelligibility

Ex: Spanish and Portuguese

is the ability of speakers of different but related languages to understand each other without prior study or exposure. This phenomenon occurs due to similar vocabulary, grammar, and pronunciation between the languages.

Dialect chains

Ex: West Roman continuum or Scandinavian continuum

are groups of dialects that are geographically close enough in proximity that speakers of one dialect can understand speakers of adjacent dialects

Dialect

Ex: “Howdy” or “y’all” (southern American accent)

Form of language spoken in a particular region by a particular group, with its own words, grammar, accents, syntax, vocabulary ,or pronunciation

Creole language

Ex: Sango & Kinubi, Africa

Stable fully developed language that evolves from a pidgin, often developed through interaction and exchange . ( becomes a native language)

Isogloss  

Ex: boundary line separating states or how in southern Pennsylvania ppl say “bucket” and in the north they say “ pail”

Geographic boundary line delimiting the area in which a given linguistic feature occurs 

Language

Ex: SIgns- like a “dead end” of “ beware if bears”

Set of sounds and symbols used for communication

Language divergence  

Ex: Roman languages ( Latin diverged into Spanish French and Italian)

Process where a language splits into 2 or more distinct dialects or language over time, (typically due to geographical/ social isolation)

Language families  

Ex: Indo- European, Niger-Congo, Sino-Tibetan, Afro Asiatic, Uralic, Austronesian 

Group of languages that share a common ancestor- much like a biological family tree

Backward reconstruction  

Ex: Tracing Latin to a modern Romance language 

Process of tracing sound changes n other linguistic shifts “ backwards” from a later language to an earlier ancestral one

Lingua Franca

Ex: mandarin, Swahili r used in India, china n many countries of sub Saharan Africa as lingua Franca’s

Common language that is used in commerce ( business, trade) in an area where other and different languages r spoken

Language convergence

Ex: In processes like colonization pidgin lang. can become a creole lang.

When 2 or more languages become more structurally similar over time due to prolonged contact

Pidgin language

Ex: Migerian pidgin— “ I wan chop” means I want to eat Or think ab the words — “ I can speak a bit of Spanish “

Simplified version of a language ( emerges when groups of no common language must communicate)

Standard language

Ex:English, French (consider prestigious and socially acceptable) —(also used in education n gov.)

Language widely accepted as the norm and used in formal context like education and government

Conquest theory    

Ex: “ right of conquest” —colonial expansion and European powers

Idea that a group settled and took control of a territory through military action and subjugation of it’s inhabitants 

Slavic languages  

Ex:Russian( east ),  polish ( west ), Serbian ( south)

group of Indo European languages spoken primarily in central land and Eastern Europe and are divided into 3 branches 

-east, west and south

Germanic languages  

Ex: English, German, Swedish, Dutch

Branch of Indo- European family that evolved from a common ancestor Proto Germanic 

Proto language

Original language

Romance languages

Ex: Italian, French, spanish

Family languages that are all descendants of vulgar Latin, the common language of the Roman empire

Multilingual states  

Ex: Canada- both English and French are considered official languages 

Country that has multiple official languages 

Toponym  

Ex: yellow river

Place name 

Language subfamilies

Ex: Germanic (a branch of the indo-European language family)

Divisions within a language family

Post colonial toponyms

Ex: Democratic Republic of Congo

Places that have had their names changed after country gained independence to reflect its new identity

Post Revolution toponyms

Ex: Saint Petersburg, becoming Leningrad after the Russian Revolution

(Place name that changed after Revolution) often to erase the influence of former regime or colonial power and assert a new national identity

Memorial toponyms  

Ex: (Abraham Lincoln inspired) Lincoln, Nebraska

Place names given to honor specific person event of historical significance

Agricultural theory

Spirit of agriculture, not conquest that diffuse language through Europe this is the spread of agriculture and language diffused peacefully through trade

Official language,

Ex: New Zealand’s official language is only spoken by 5% of the population

Language used by government when making laws reports public objects, money and stamps, it is considered the language of the government

Vernacular language

Ex: southern US use of “y’all”and Chicago calling soda “pop”

Every day, native language or dialect spoken by ordinary people in a particular region or community as opposed to a formal literary language, a.k.a. slang

Commodification toponyms

Ex: stadiums sold for sports like the Rogers Center in Toronto or the Etihad Stadium in Manchester

Process of turning a place names into marketable products through branding and marketing often by selling names to corporations

Linguistic fragmentation

Ex: Lebanon

Existence of multiple languages or dialects with the new Cinco area, which can create a communication barrier

Two theories of PIE language dispersal PIE: proto Indo European

1. The conquest theory

2. The spread of agriculture (agriculture theory)