AP Human Studying

Language Families

This is the largest category in language classification. It is a group of languages that share a very old common origin that existed before recorded history. Families split into branches, then groups, then individual languages.

Language Family

Example: Indo-European → Germanic → West Germanic → English.

Indo-European Language Family

Is the most widely spoken language family on Earth. It dominates North America, South America, Europe, and parts of South Asia.
It is widespread because of European colonization, which carried these languages across the globe.

Romance Language Origin

Spanish, French, Italian, Portuguese, and Romanian—all developed from Latin, the language of the Roman Empire.
After Rome fell, the Latin spoken in each region evolved differently due to isolation, resulting in the separate Romance languages we have today.

Revived Languages

is one that almost went extinct but was intentionally brought back.
Hebrew is the best-known example: it became nearly unused but was revived as the national language of Israel in the 20th century

Isogloss

is a geographic boundary that separates where different words, pronunciations, or dialects are used.
For example, the line between where people say “pop” and “soda.”
Isoglosses show how languages and dialects vary by region.

Pidgin Languages

forms when people who do not share a common language need to communicate—usually for trade.
Features:

• simplified grammar

• limited vocabulary

• no native speakers
  Pidgins can later grow into creole languages if they become fully developed and acquire native speakers.

English Language Branch

English belongs to the Germanic branch of the Indo-European family.
More specifically:

• Family: Indo-European

• Branch: Germanic

• Group: West Germanic
  Knowing this helps you trace English’s linguistic relatives (German, Dutch, Swedish, etc.).

Why English Diffused Worldwide

English spread widely because of:

• British colonization

• U.S. cultural and economic influence

• Global trade

• Media (movies, internet, music)
  Not because of specific military conquests in the 1700s.

Lingua Franca

is a language used by speakers of different native languages so they can communicate for trade, business, and global interaction.
Examples: English globally, Swahili in East Africa, Arabic in North Africa.

Isolated Languages

has no known language relatives and survives because its speakers were geographically or socially isolated.
Basque (in the mountains of northern Spain/southern France) is the best example in Europe.

Reasons for Language extinction

Languages die when they are replaced by dominant global languages such as English, Spanish, or Mandarin.
Main causes:

• Globalization

• Government suppression

• Migration to cities

• Lack of use in media or education
  Without support, young people stop learning the language, and it eventually disappears.

Multilingual States

A multilingual country successfully operates with more than one major language.
Examples:

• Switzerland (German, French, Italian, Romansh)
  These countries need political strategies to prevent conflict between language groups.

Niger-Congo Family

is dominant in Sub-Saharan Africa.
It includes hundreds of languages such as Swahili, Yoruba, and Zulu.
These languages spread with historical migrations across the region.

Language Diversion

Languages change when groups that speak the same language become isolated from each another.
This cultural and spatial isolation causes pronunciation, spelling, vocabulary, and grammar to develop differently over time.
Given enough time, this creates new dialects, and eventually new languages.

How British & American English became Different

American and British English split after colonists relocated to North America.
Once separated, they developed new:

• pronunciations

• spellings

• vocabulary
  Isolation allowed regional differences to grow, creating the distinct varieties we have today.