Chapter 8 | Spatial Patterns of Language and Religion

8.1 Patterns of Language

Language and Culture

• Language is integral for transmitting and preserving culture. Whether oral or written, language passes down values, beliefs, traditions, and norms.
• Language can identify and differentiate a culture; Unify the people who speak it and separate those who don’t.
• Language and culture both reflect and shape our ways of life. Subtle linguistic features can shape a person’s thinking and perception of the world around them.
• As the needs of a culture changes, so does it’s language.
  • Throughout history, people have created and borrowed words to describe new experiences made possible through migration, trade, and technological advancement.
• As people migrate, their native languages intermingle, and new languages evolve from those interactions.

Categorizing Languages

• While two languages can be distinctly different, speakers may be able to understand each other to a degree because the languages are related.
• From closest to the common language to farthest from the common language, the levels of organization are: families, branches, groups, and dialects.

Language Families

Language family: A group of languages that share a common ancestral language from a particular hearth, or region of origin

• The largest grouping of related languages, ones that share a common ancestor from a particular hearth.
  • Ancestral languages are no longer in use, and are not identifiable from written records because they did not have writing systems.
  • The existence of these languages are inferred based on similarities in grammar and root words in existing languages.
• The Indo-European language family was the first proposed, and it includes most of the languages of Europe and many of South and Southwest Asia.
  • Indo-European was described by a British scholar in the 1780s based on similarities he found between Greek, Latin, and Sanskrit, an ancient language of South Asia.
• Ethnologue-- an organization that catalogs languages-- has identifies 142 language families.
  • Six are major families, accounting for 63% of all living languages and 85% of the world’s population.
  • Indo-European is the largest language family in terms of number of speakers: 3.2 billion.
• Some languages do not have a family.

Isolate: A language that is unrelated to any other known language

• Isolated languages may occur because any related languages have gone extinct.

Language Branches

Language branch: A collection of languages within a language family that share a common origin and separated from other branches in the same family several thousand years ago

• Languages in the same branch may show some similarities, but are so distinct that speakers int he same branch cannot necessarily understand on another.
  • The Romance branch and the Germanic branch are both in the Indo-European family but branched off into very different languages.

Language Groups

• Language groups: Languages within a language branch that share a common ancestor in the relatively recent past and have vocabularies with a high degree of overlap
  • Speakers will recognize many words of other languages in their same group.

Dialects

• Language branches and groups are divided further into individual languages and dialects.
• A dialect is a variation of a language distinguished by pronunciation, rapidity of speech, word choice, and spelling.
• Similar variations in words and meanings exist in all countries and across all languages.
• English has numerous dialects, a result of many primarily English-speaking countries.
  • Both migration and isolation have played a role in diversifying English dialects.
• Migration of colonists from Europe to North America contributed to American English dialects.
  • The long, drawn-out vowels of the southern dialect reflects speech of southern England, the source of southern settlers.
  • African Americans developed their own dialect by mixing English and their native West African languages.
  • Other European groups who settled in certain areas contributed to the reginal dialects.
  • As people moved west, the dialects that had developed in the original colonies blended to create a less distinct western accent.
• The separation of English speakers by oceans works to preserve differences, but as communication technologies advance, that may decline.

8.2 The Diffusion of Language

Distribution of Languages

• The global distribution of languages has changed over time.
  • For instance, English was not spoken in North America until colonizers introduced it, and it is now the dominant language.
• Today, five languages (Arabic, English, Portuguese, Russian, and Spanish) show trans- or inter-continental distribution because of migration patterns.
• Conversely, Mandarin, Hindi, Bengali, Japanese, and Western Punjabi have grown primarily as a result of population growth.
  • East Asia and South Asia are two of the most densely populated regions in the world.
  • Mandarin has also grown because of an effort to expand Han Chinese control to more remote places like Tibet and Xinjiang.

How Languages and Language Families Spread and Change

• Changes in language offer clues about historical events such as migrations, trade, exploration, and imperialism and colonialism.

Indo-European Hearth and Diffusion

• Almost half of the world’s population speaks a language that’s part of the Indo-European family.
• It is speculated that there is a common ancestral language for the family, dubbed Proto-Indo-European.
  • This hypothesized language is theoretically the root of languages like Latin, Greek, and Sanskrit.
  • This is hard to confirm because this language has no written form, and was purely verbal.
• Cognate: Words found in different languages that have similar meaning and a shared descent from a common ancestor
  • Cognates can help find the origin of a language.
• Just because words sound similar doesn’t mean they are cognates, however.
  • The Romance languages share a cognate in their word for water: Acqua in Italian, apa˘ in Romanian, eau in French, agua in Spanish, and água in Portuguese; all coming from the Latin aqua.
  • As these examples show, cognates can be significantly different, making them hard to identify.
• Scholars argue about the origins of Indo-European, identifying two leading areas.
  • One idea, called the Kurgan hearth theory, places the origins on the steppes of modern Russia or Ukraine.
  • Another theory proposes the hearth is in Anatolia, the Asian section of Turkey.
• Cognates found in Indo-European languages point to the Kurgan hearth.
  • Words that describe climate and landscape like winter and snow apply to that region’s surroundings.
  • This suggests that the people of the region conquered surrounding lands and advanced to Europe and South Asia, thus diffusing the Proto-Indo-European.
• The Anatolian hearth theory proposes that the diffusion of Proto-Indo-European relates to agricultural practices.
  • The adoption of agriculture promoted population growth, causing migration from the hearth to new regions.

Diffusion of the English Language

• The English language formed as a mix of Celtic, Germanic, French, Latin, and various other borrowed influences.
• English originated on the island of Great Britain and has spread to become the dominant language in areas like Australia and North America.
• English is one of the most spoken languages in the world. It has become the dominant language of politics, business, finance, and technology in much of the world.
  • The spread of the English language exemplifies both main types of diffusion—relocation diffusion and expansion diffusion.
• Hierarchical diffusion, in particular, influenced the spread of English as kingdoms and leaders established English as their official language.
• Not much is known about the language of the first inhabitants of the British Isles, but people who spoke Celtic languages lived there for over 4,000 years.
• Germanic groups invaded from continental Europe in fifth century c.e., pushing Celtic-speaking people to more remote locations in Ireland, Scotland, and Wales.
  • As a result of this relocation diffusion, both the Celtic and Germanic languages have influenced the English language.
• In 1066, Normans from northern France invaded Great Britain, settling in many parts of the island.
  • They introduced a Romance-based vocabulary and pronunciation of words
  • French became the language of the British aristocracy for 300 years, and Latin contributed to English as the language of the church.
• After conflict with France, French fell out of favor. English, which most common people had continued to speak anyway, became the official language of the court and law.
  • Through hierarchical diffusion, this new form of English effectively became the official language.
  • In the 17th century, English spread by relocation diffusion to a continent with the establishment of colonies in North America.
  • It grew further in the 18th and 19th century, as the British expanded their empire to parts of Africa and Oceania.

Austronesian Language Family

• Relocation diffusion and expansion diffusion have both contributed to the distribution pattern of the Austronesian language family.
  • The people of Madagascar speak a language more similar to those of Indonesia than Africa.
  • This is hypothesized to be because Indonesian sailors crossed the Indian Ocean and colonized Madagascar in the first century c.e., as Africans didn’t sail to Madagascar until centuries later.

Impacts of Language Diffusion

• The spread of language impacts cultures in different ways.
  • Recall cultural convergence and divergence.
• This can occur with language as well, when languages blend or become isolated respectively.
• Sometimes, as a result of diffusion, cultures borrow from other languages.
• With modern connectivity and globalization, more linguistic and cultural convergence has taken place.
• Language divergence can be a result of the formation of barriers that separate people into groups.
  • Causes for these boundaries include topography and cultural distinctions.
• The people of some countries or cultures have assembles formal bodies and written decrees aimed at preserving their language.

The Influence of Power

• Power, whether economic, political, or military, impacts cultural change, as well as influences which languages become dominant and subordinate.
  • Dominant languages tend to be widely distributed and/or spoken by many people; Subordinate languages are in danger of disappearing.
• Linguists disagree over whether the subordinate or dominant group is the primary force behind creolization.
  • Some scholars believe population size and duration of interaction between the cultures influence how languages develop.
• Commerce, trade, and a need for diplomacy can all drive the development of a common language or lingua franca.
• A lingua franca can help governments and organizations build international relationships.
  • Today, English is the dominant language used in the fields of science, technology, and diplomacy.
  • The US’s global economy and commercial impact also establishes English as a lingua franca.
• Language also influences place names. As the powers over land change, leaders may change the same of cities or places under their control.
  • The Russian city of St. Petersburg was changed to Petrograd under early communist control, and later Leningrad after the death of Vladimir Lenin. The city has since returned to the name St. Petersburg after the fall of the Soviet Union.

Endangered Languages

• Language diffusion can result in endangered languages.
• Languages of small groups of people, often indigenous cultures, are the most in danger of disappearing due to declining populations.
  • According to UNESCO, about 230 languages became extinct from 1950 to 2010, and a language dies every two weeks.
• Social scientists, linguists, and native speakers are making efforts to preserve endangered languages.
  • In 1983, only about 50 children spoke Hawaiian. An effort to teach the language in the state’s schools has made it far more widespread.

8.3 Patterns of Religion

Religion and Culture

• Religions shape cultural beliefs and traditions, and show how people think around the world.
  • Being so integral, religion and political division and can impact the environment.
• Some Buddhist views state that humans have a responsibility to protect nature; Conversely, some Christians believe God gave humans ultimate authority over all creation.
  • This kind of divide in thinking can lead to conflict.
• Religions and their effects have played an important role throughout history, as they are so heavily tied to ethnicity and identity.
  • This has impacted how religions have spread and where certain religions are practiced today.

Patterns of Distribution

• Consider place of origin, extent and methods of diffusion, and contemporary cultural practices to understand the geographic distribution of religions.
  • Some religions are concentrated to a region, while others are dispersed with a presence on multiple continents.
• Practices and beliefs attract different people and impact a religion’s distribution.
  • Historically, many lower-caste Hindus converted to Islam due to it’s teachings of equality.
• Christianity is the dominant religion in most of Europe, the Americas, central and southern Africa, and Australia and New Zealand.
  • Christianity spread from Southwest Asia as a result of relocation diffusion (migration,) and expansion diffusion (conquest, missionary work.)
• Islam is the dominant religion in Central Asia, Indonesia, Southwest Asia, North Africa, and parts of southeastern Europe and India.
  • Spreading from Southwest Asia, Islam spread through Trade, conquest, missionaries, and leaders adopting Islam.
• Hinduism is distributed near its hearth in South Asia and hasn’t spread far from it.
• Buddhism’s hearth is India, but now is less popular in it’s own hearth than Hinduism. It has spread to other countries with popularity, however.
• Folk religions are strong in many areas of rural Africa, the interior Amazon Basin, and northern North America, where there are large indigenous populations.
  • Though they have large differences, these religions are sometimes grouped under ‘animism,’ denoting a belief that humans share the world with spirits.

Regional Patterns

• Patterns revealing greater religious differentiation are evident with different scale maps.
• Historical settlement patterns help explain present-day locations of religious groups.

8.4 Universalizing and Ethnic Religions

Universalizing Religions

• Universalizing religions: A religion that tries to appeal to all humans and is open to membership by everyone
  • Examples include Christianity, Islam, Buddhism, Sikhism, and Baha’i.
• By nature, universalizing religions are open to diffusion. Christianity and Islam are now the biggest world religions because of that.
• At different periods in history, different processes of diffusion have spread religions.
  • Often, more than one type of diffusion is shown as different forms of interaction occur.
• Universalizing religions have commonly spread through relocation and expansion.

Christianity

• Christianity started in what is now the West Bank and Israel
• Christianity: A universalizing religion based on the teachings of Jesus Christ that began in what is now the West Bank and Israel around the beginning of the common era and has spread to all continents
• Christianity has spread through relocation and expansion diffusion, as a small group called disciples originally carried the message through the Mediterranean region.
  • In the 300s, Christianity was declared the official religion of the Roman Empire, an example of hierarchical diffusion.
• For the next 1,000 years, Christian missionaries traveled to promote the religion in new regions.
• Church officials made their faith more welcoming by absorbing some of the beliefs and practices of local groups.
  • This is an example of acculturation.
• In the 11th century, differences over organization and doctrine led to a split in the church, forming Roman Catholicism and Eastern Orthodox tradition.
  • The Roman Catholic church later became corrupt, spurring a third branch: Protestantism.
• A recent estimate placed the total number of Christian denominations at more than 30,000.
• The next significant period for Christianity is the 15th century, where it spread through imperialism and colonialism.
  • Emigrants left Europe to settle in new colonies in the Americas, and later in Australia, New Zealand, and southern Africa.
• In addition to relocation, Christianity continued to spread through expansion diffusion.
  • Power dynamics and persuasion by missionaries led to the conversion of many Native Americans and enslaved Africans.
  • Missionaries also brought Christianity to Asia, and it took strong hold in the Philippines in the 16th century.
• Sometimes convergence came into play, as evident by the syncretic faiths that embody certain features of Christianity.
• Today, Christianity is the largest and most widespread religion in the world.

Islam

• Islam: A universalizing religion based on the teachings of Muhammad that originated in the hearth of Mecca on the Arabian Peninsula in the seventh century
• Islam originated in the cities of Mecca and Medina on the Arabian Peninsula in the 7th century.
• Muhammad is considered the last messenger of Allah and the one to introduce Islam to the Arab people.
  • Islam has deep ties to Judaism and Christianity.
• Islam is monotheistic, meaning it only has one God.
• Muslims, followers of Islam, believe that Muhammad is a direct descendant of Abraham, who is also the founder of Judaism.
• Islam emphasizes moral behavior based on, first, the text of the Quran, and secondly, on the traditions of Sunnah, the “well-trodden path.”
  • Sunnah is based on teachings of Muhammad and the writings of Muslim scholars.
• Muslims also believe that God is all-powerful and all-knowing and that the events in one’s life are predetermined by God.
• After the death of Muhammad, Muslims spread their religion through conquest, trade, and missionary work.
  • Arab armies took control of a vast region from the Indus River Valley across North Africa to the Iberian Peninsula.
  • As Arab soldiers settled in these areas and assumed control, Islam spread.
• Millions converted in a hierarchical pattern, from the most urban settlements to remote areas.
• Muslim traders also helped spread the faith into new areas, including sub-Saharan African kingdoms, Indonesia, Malaya, and the Philippines.
• Islam broke into two major branches in it’s early period: Shia and Sunni.
• Political fragmentation broke the Muslim empire into several states, but the Muslim world continued to expand.
• Trade, conquest, and appeal of the faith brought Islam deeper into South Asia, the eastern coast of Africa, and Indonesia.
  • Today, Indonesia has the largest number of Muslims in the world.

Buddhism

• The oldest universalizing religion
• Buddhism: The oldest universalizing religion, which arose from a hearth in northeastern India some time between the mid-sixth and mid-fourth centuries B.C.E. and is based on the teachings of Siddhartha Gautama, called the Buddha
• While Buddhism has fewer adherents than the other religions mentioned, it still has a large number of followers around the world.
  • The highest concentration of Buddhists live in Japan, China, Sri Lanka, and Korea.
• At first, Buddhism’s growth was by contagious diffusion, through the Buddha’s direct teaching.
  • After his death, these followers recorded his teachings and spread his views.
• By the first century of the common era, the religion was established in Central Asia and had reached China.
• Changes in the ruling families throughout Asia had a negative effect on Buddhism, as fewer people practiced the religion.
  • By the 12th century, Buddhism had become a minority religion in India.
• Buddhism gained attention in the Western world beginning in the 19th century and grew in popularity in the 20th.
  • Some Buddhist groups adapted their teachings to make them more appealing to westerners.
  • Most American Buddhists are converts, not born into the faith.

Sikhism

• The newest universalizing religion
• Sikhism: The newest universalizing religion; founded by Guru Nanak, who lived from 1469 to 1539, in the Punjab region of northwestern India
• Sikhs, followers of Sikhism, identify ten gurus who guided the community in its first century and a half.
• Most of the 25 million Sikhs today live in the Punjab region that borders Pakistan.
• Sikhs believe there is one God and that devotion to that God will bring liberation from the cycle of death and rebirth.
  • They believe that all humankind are one people and that men and women are equal.
• While gurus preached throughout India, most Sikhs remained in Punjab, which became the center of their culture and home to their most sacred site.
  • When the British took control of much of South Asia, many Sikhs served in the colonial army and were transferred to other British colonies.

Ethnic Religions

• Ethnic religions: A religion that is closely tied with a particular ethnic group living in a particular place
  • Examples include Hinduism, Judaism, Shinto, Confucianism, Taoism, and indigenous religions.
• The diffusion of these ethnic religions has been limited, but still notable, and is largely due to relocation diffusion.
  • Neither religion has actively sought to recruit new believers.

Hinduism

• Hinduism: An ethnic religion that arose a few thousand years ago in South Asia and is closely tied to India
• Most Hindus live in India and Nepal.
  • Hinduism is specifically tied to India and has left its mark on various natural and human features in the South Asia region.
• Hinduism is not a single set of beliefs, but in general, Hindus believe in one eternal spirit called Brahman.
  • Hindu deities, or gods and goddesses, are different expressions of Brahman.
  • Deities or spirits from outside Hinduism were sometimes incorporated into the Hindu faith, which facilitated diffusion.
  • Hindus also believe in reincarnation, or the idea that souls are constantly being reborn.
• Hinduism developed over centuries and grew out of the beliefs and practices of the Aryans.
• They developed a social hierarchy, known as the caste system, that was hereditary.
  • People could not change the social class they were born into.
  • For centuries, some cultural practices were shaped by caste, but today many are re-examining the interpretation of caste and it’s controversial effects.
• The spread of Hinduism has mostly remained limited to South Asia
  • Many Indians are regionally isolated and only experience the type of Hinduism practiced in their area, creating variations.
• Over time, travel carried Hinduism from South Asia to Southeast Asia through relocation and expansion diffusion.
• After the British began to assert power in India, Hinduism reached parts of the Americas through relocation diffusion.
  • More recently, many Hindus have migrated to the United Kingdom and the United States for economic opportunities.

Judaism

• Judaism: The world’s first monotheistic religion, which developed among the Hebrew people of Southwest Asia about 4,000 years ago
• While Judaism is currently much smaller than Christianity and Islam, it’s impact on the two are immeasurable.
  • Both Christianity and Islam have ties to Judaism.
• Jewish prophets are honored in either religion, and scriptures of Judaism are also in Christian texts.
• The city of Jerusalem is also home to important sacred sites for all three religions.
• Secular society has also been impacted by Judaism.
  • For example, Judaism introduced the idea of the seven-day week with one day of rest.
• The Jewish faith largely spread through relocation diffusion.
  • Conditions in Israel led many of the Jews there to disperse throughout the Roman Empire.
  • They settled across the Mediterranean and farther into Europe.
  • The expansion of Islam put many Jews under Muslim control, but the similarities in the religions allowed Jewish communities to flourish.
• The peaceful existence of Jews was breached in the beginning of the 11th century.
  • The Crusades put pressure on Jews who found themselves in lands under Christian control.
  • In Spain, Jews were forced to convert to Christianity, leave the kingdom, or be killed.
  • All over Europe, Jews were expelled or faced persecution.
• A general period of tolerance for the Jewish faith followed during the 18th century Enlightenment.
• Later, in the 1930s and 1940s, the Nazi regime in Germany conquered much of Europe and acted on ethnic hostility toward Jewish people.
  • Some 6 million Jews were killed during this period of extended genocide called the Holocaust.
• The tragedy of the Holocaust gave new motivation to the Zionist movement.
  • This movement was a reaction against anti-Semitism, and embodied a desire to return to the homeland.
  • This lead to the establishment of a Jewish state in Palestine, later becoming Israel.
• Over decades, Judaism divided into different branches.
  • Orthodox Jews adhere strictly to ancient laws and interpretations.
  • Reformed Jews are part of a newer branch that allows for more diversity.
• Many Jews are not religious, but identify as Jews through ethnicity and culture.
• Secularized: Focused on worldly rather than spiritual concerns

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