Notebook 5 - Languages

Australia vs. New Zealand on languages

Australia promotes English as a force for cultural unity, while New Zealand views linguistic diversity as important

“white australia” promoted English as the primarily language

Austronesian language family

6% of the world speaks a language from this familly

most speakers live in Indonesia - made up of several thousand islands so there are many distinct languages and dialects

706 to be exact

main language in Indonesia

javanese

Basque 

example of vigorous isolated language

kids learn it as their first language

basque is a remnant of languages that existed before the arrival of Indo-European languages 

it was isolated in the Pyrenees mountains - France and Spain 

causes of language distribution

stems from the past migrations of people

in Madasgacar, the native language is in the same language family as those in Indonesia and the Phillipines due to them coming over there thousands of years ago

celtic language groups

Goidelic and Brythonic

where are Brythonic languages 

wales, Cornwall, and the brittany peninsula (France)

welsh - Brythonic

remained the primary language in Wales until 19th century, when English overtook it due to English migrants

23% of the country speaks welsh

150,000 speakers live in england

welsh language society is trying to preserve the language, and it is now being taught in schools

Cornish - Brythonic 

spoken in Cornwall - southwestern england

last native speaker died in 1777

577 people speak the language fluently today

Breton - brythonic 

spoken in the Britanny peninsula of france

speakers have declined from 1 million in 1950 to 200,000 today (elderly people)

french govt. mandated french as the principal language, so many aren’t taught this language 

Irish - Goidelic

spoken by 94000 daily and 1.3 million occasionally - mostly spoken in remote areas of ireland

cultural pride has brought the language back - many street signs are now in irish and English and musicians have started recording in irish

scottish - Goidelic

59,000 or 1% of the population of Scotland speaks scottish

Robert burn’s poem auld Lang syne shows Scottish heritage

language family 

collection of languages related through a common ancestral language that existed before recorded history

language branch

exists within a family, collection of languages related through a common ancestral language that existed several thousand years ago

romance languages from vulgar latin

language groups

collection of languages within a branch that share a common origin in recent past and have similarities in grammar and vocabulary

china’s languages 

china is in the sinitic branch of sino-tibetan family

main language is mandarin 

chinese and social media

chinese would be useful for apps like Twitter where you can only type a certain amount, because each symbol in Chinese is a phrase in English, but due to their strict policies of no Twitter or no other social medias, it is unlikely that will happen

creolized language

combination of colonizers language with the language of the colonized

EX: french creole in haiti from french colonization

developing language 

spoken by people of all ages daily

while spoken system might be common, a written system might not be 

dialect

a regional variation of a language with distinct vocab, spelling, and pronunciation

subdialect

subdivision of dialect

usually for pronounication and vocab

helps describe the enviroment people live in

differences in American and british English 

isolation helped cause for a shift in vocab, spelling, and pronunciation 

vocab changes - American and British

new objects and stuff allowed for them to come up with different, unique names for stuff

(elevator vs. lift)(torch vs. flashlight)

American English took many words from native Americans (racoon, canoe)

spelling changes - American and British

noah Webster changed the spelling of many American words to help create a difference and national identity

EX: dropping the u honour →honor

swapping c for s

defence → defense

pronounication - American and British 

words are pronounced more clearly in the US

secretary vs. secret’ry

ebonics

forced migration of African slaves led to a dialect heavily influenced by this event

white people could not understand, and when African Americans starting moving to cities, whites would move away, thus preserving the dialect

double negatives are a big part (I ain’t going there no more)

African American Vernacular English

english on the internet

helped ensure english’s global dominance

½ of the internet content is English - English knowledge needed to engage with others online

English domains named like .com, .net, .edu

franglais, spanglias, denglish 

combination of English with other languages:

franglais - french and english

spanglias - spanish and english

denglish - German and English 

germanic invasion

3 tribes invaded English isles:

angles, jutes, Saxons

jutes → n denmark

angles →s denmark

Saxons → nw Germany

gave England its name and helped diffuse English

global importance of english

common language is essential for communications - English is that language

hebrew 

example of a language that was rarely used but came back from the dead - due to israel

man who added thousands of words to hebrew

eliezer ben-yehuda

how many languages today

7,102

how many languages spoken by atleast 10 million 

90 out of 7102

how many spoken by 1-10 million people

304 out of 7102

how many spoken by fewer than 1 million

6708 out of 7102

how many languages are institutional 

578 out of 7102

how many languages are developing  

1598 out of 7102

how many languages are vigorous  

2479 out of 7102

how many languages are in trouble  

1531 out of 7102

how many languages are dying  

916

indo-european

most used language family

indo-iranian, germanic, balto-slavic, romance

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armenian, Albanian, Greek, celtic

institutional language 

language used in education, work, mass media, and government 

isogloss

words used in dialects usually have boundaries - word-usage boundary

isolated language

unrelated to any other - not categorized in any language family

basque is an example of an isolated language

korean 

written system is Hankul

each letter represents a sound, like in western languages 

language family tree

tree illustrates language families, branches, groups, and individual languages

languages in canada

2 official languages: french and english

french speakers are most concentrated in Quebec

tensions have eased between the 2 in recent years

languages in India 

461 spoken languages 

hindi is the main language, along with English due to British colonizers 

in the indic group of the indo-iranian branch of the indo-european family  

largest language trees

indo-european and sino-tibetan are the largest

with 3rd and 4th both being in africa:

afro-asiatic

niger-congo

nilo-saharan

lingua franca

language used to communicate internationally

English is a common lingua franca

literary tradition 

part of an institutionalized language - a written system exists alongside the spoken system 

official language

designated institutional language used by the government for laws, reports, and public objects like road signs and money

official languages - Switzerland

has seen more success promoting coexistence among multiple languages compared to Belgium

recognizes 4 official languages - German, french, Italian, and Romansh

delegates power to the local level to help preserve this linguistic harmony

origin and diffusion of english 

when celts landed in British isles 2000 BC, they brought celtic languages with them.  tribes from mainland Europe invaded celts AD 450, driving them to northern and western parts of britiain

pidgin language

borrows words and grammar from a lingua franca, and combines them with elements of another language

it has no native speakers - spoken alongside ones native language

received pronunciation (RP)

standard language in england, used by elected officials, broadcasters, and actors

romance languages 

romance branch comes from Latin and stretches from Portugal along the Mediterranean sea to slovenia and a pocket in Romania and moldova

many dialects 

russian

east Slavic language

used to be a lingua franca during the Soviet era

langauges in south America

mostly Spanish, English, and portuguese due to colonization

quechan is the most used language family in the western hemisphere besides indo-european, and it is mostly concentrated in the Andes mountains of South America

most quechan speakers speak Spanish as a first language

sub-saharan African languages 

niger-congo is the main family - 95% of sub Saharans speak it 

yoruba, Igbo, and Swahili are 3 most common languages, with yoruba and igbo being found in nigeria

Swahili is the 1st or 2nd language spoken by 40 million people

Swahili is typically only used to communicate with outsiders - only the official language of Tanzania 

language families in SE Asia

austronesian:

6% of world speaks - mostly in Indonesia

706 islands in Indonesia - javanese is main language

astro-asiatic:

2% of world speaks - mostly in vietnam

Vietnamese has a roman alphabet due to Catholic missionaries in the 17th century

tai-kadai:

once a branch of sino-tibetan

mostly spoken in thailand

vulgar latin

most people in roman provinces learned it - used in daily conversation instead of strict dialect in official documents

romance languages evolved from it

Catalan-Valencian-Balear

different dialects of Spanish in spain

often considered one language by some or seperate languages by others

example of how a language with multiple dialects can cause a linguistic or political issue

colin Renfrew

anatloian hypothesis suggests indo-european languages evolved from modern day turkey (nomadic warrior or sedentary farmers theory)

most widely spoken language family in Europe

indo-european with 94% speaking a language from it

quentin Atkinson 

professor known for his research and theory of how all languages originated from africa 

Statute of Pleading of 1362 

english act of Parliament that required court proceedings to be conducted in the English language instead of Norman french due to most commoners not being able to understand french 

global importance of romance languages

due to their connection to the Roman empire, large amounts of speakers - over 1 billion, and spread through European colonization

nomadic warrior theory

first indo-european speakers were the kurgans of central Asia (Russia +Kazakhstan) among the first people to domesticate horses, and use chariots - leading to migration.  Kurgan traveled everywhere conquering much of Europe and south Asia between 3500 and 2500 BC

sedentary farmer theory

language roots of indo-european structures back before the kurgans, with first speakers living in eastern turkey circa 6700 BC

indo-european diffused into europe and south Asia with agricultural practices rather than military conquest

vigorous language

spoken daily by people of all ages, but has no literary tradition

pros and cons of English only

pros:

58 countries and 28 states have already made English an official language 

requiring English is a national symbol of unity

providing services to non-english speakers is expensive

cons:

law is not needed due to English already being the primary language 

government should not interfere with the people’s rights to what language they speak

advocating english-only attacks immigrants from non-english speaking countries