Indo-European Language Family

• Prevalence: 1/2 of the world speaks a language from Indo-European Family (includes Romance, Germanic, Hindi/Urdu, and Slavic languages).

• Major Non-Indo-European Languages: Chinese, Arabic, Hebrew, Japanese, Korean, Malay, Tagalog, Turkish, Swahili, Vietnamese, Khmer, Burmese, Tamil.

Theories of Diffusion

• The Hearth: Originated in Pontic-Caspian Steppe.

• Kurgan Hypothesis: Two main diffusion theories:

  • Conquest Theory: Spread through conquest using horses and the wheel.

  • Agricultural/Anatolian Theory: Spread through agricultural prowess, leading to assimilation.

Waves of Expansion

• First Wave: Conquest and agriculture (Steppe Theory).

• Second Wave: Rise of major empires (Greeks, Romans, Persians).

• Third Wave: European exploration leading to imperialism.

• Fourth Wave: Post-war American influence culturally, politically, and economically.

Factors Influencing Language Dominance

• Empires: Expansion by empires like Han and Roman facilitated language spread. After Roman Empire's collapse, languages diverged into vernaculars (e.g., Romance languages).

• Technological Advances: Invention of the Gutenberg Printing Press allowed for printing in vernaculars, standardizing languages (e.g., Luther Bible, King James Bible).

• Creation of Nation States: Nationalism during the 18th/19th centuries promoted common languages.

• Colonialism and Globalization: Language spread through exploration and trade.

Language Endangerment

• Many local languages, especially those with fewer than 10,000 speakers, face extinction due to globalization.

• Approximately half of the 7,000 languages globally are endangered. There's a movement towards language revival as a response to cultural homogenization.