AP Human Geography Unit 6 (Language) – Flashcards
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Language
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A set of sounds, combinations of sounds, and symbols that are used for communication. Language allows us to communicate, reason, and create culture.
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Top 10 languages in the world
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Chinese: 1213 million Spanish: 329 million English: 328 million Arabic: 222 million Hindi: 182 million Bengali: 181 million Portuguese: 178 million Russian: 144 million Japanese: 122 million German: 98.3 million
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The language tree
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19 language families. Each family has its own branches. Each branch has its own groups. Each group has its own language. Each language has its own dialects
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Language family
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A collection of individual languages with a common ancestor
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Language branch
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A group of languages that share a common origin but have evolved into different languages
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Language group
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Several languages within a language branch. Share a common origin in recent past. Few differences in grammar and vocabulary
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Dialect
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A regional variety of a language distinguished by pronunciation, spelling, and vocabulary
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Accent
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A distinctive mode of pronunciation of a language. Usually associated with a particular nation, locality, or social class. Refers only to the way words are pronounced
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Dialect
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Has its own grammar, vocabulary, syntax, and, expressions, as well as pronunciation rules that make it unique from other dialects of the same language
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Proto-Tongue
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Language developed nearly 2,500,000 years ago. All original speakers communicated in the proto-tongue or original language. As speakers defused through migration, language divergence occurred and new languages and dialects spawned from the proto-tongue
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Language divergence
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Occurs when speakers of the same language scatter and develop variations of that original language to meet their needs in new surroundings. As human groups came into contact with new concepts they created new words to describe them
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Language convergence
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When people with different languages have consistent spatial interaction and their languages collapse into one
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Language shift
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When speakers come into contact with other languages, a blending of the two languages can occur
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Language replacement
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Occurs when invaders replace the language of those places they conquer
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Reverse deconstruction
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Process to trace the path of a language's diffusion. Tracks sound shifts and the hardening of consonants backward to reveal an "original" language. Can deduce the vocabulary of an extinct vocabulary. Can re-create ancient languages (deep reconstruction)
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Sounds shifts
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Slight change in the word across languages over time. Used to find linkages among languages. Example: milk: lacte in Latin, latta in Italian, leche in Spanish, lait in French
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Nostratic language
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Believed to be the ancestral language of Proto-Indo-European as well as the Kartvelian, Uralic-Altaic, Afro-Asiatic, and Dravidian language families
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Mutual intelligibility
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Means two people can understand each other when speaking
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Standard language
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A language that is published, widely distributed, and purposefully taught. Government usually plays a big role in standardizing a language
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Top 10 languages spoken at home in the United States by non-English speakers
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(In percent of total US population) Spanish: 12.2% Chinese: .9% Tagalong: .5% French: .5% Vietnamese: .4% German: .4% Korean: .4% Russian: .3% Arabic: .3% Italian: .3%
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Indo-European language family
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430 languages in family. 44.78% of world's speakers. 5.9 billion speakers. OTHER INFO: The single largest language family. 150 languages, 3 billion speakers. Languages including: Hindi and Urdu (400 million), Bengali (200 million), Spanish (300 million), Portuguese (200 million), French (100 million), German (100 million), Russian (300 million), English (400 million in America and Europe)
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Sino-Tibetan language family
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399 languages in family. 22.28% of world speakers. 1.2 billion speakers OTHER INFO: Includes 259 languages. Mandarin Chinese alone is spoken by one billion people.
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Niger-Congo language family
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1495 languages in family. 6.26% of world speakers. 358 million speakers OTHER INFO: Largest sub-Saharan African family of languages. Includes some 1000 languages. Close to 200 million speakers. Includes: Mandinka, Swahili, Yoruba, Zulu
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Afro-Asiatic language family
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353 languages in family. 5.93% of world speakers. 339 million speakers OTHER INFO: 240 languages. 250 million speakers. Includes ancient Egyptian, Hebrew, Arabic, and Aramaic, as well as the great Nigerian language Hausa. The many dialects of Arabic alone are spoken by as many as 200 million people. Predominate in Northern Africa
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Austronesian language family
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1246 languages in family. 5.45% of the world's speakers. 311 million speakers. OTHER INFO: Includes 1000 different languages. Spoken by about 250 million speakers. Malay and Indonesian (essentially the same language) account for about 100 million. Other examples include: Madagascar in Africa, Tagalog in the Philippines, many languages of the Pacific islands from Hawaiian in the North Pacific to Maori in New Zealand
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Dravidian language family
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73 languages in family. 3.87% of world speakers. 221 million speakers OTHER INFO: Old languages of India. 150 million speakers. Seen in India, Pakistan, and Sri Lanka. Best known are Tamil and Telugu
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Conquest theory
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Early speakers of proto-Indo-European spread from east to west on horseback. Overpowered earlier inhabitants through warfare and technology. Sound shifts show long period of divergence moving slowly West. Her earth was Kurgan empire (modern day Ukraine)
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Agricultural theory
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Proto-Indo-European defused westward with the diffusion of agriculture and farming. Farming innovation spread -- replaced hunting and gathering. Farmers complete spread across Europe in about 1500 years. Some non-farmers hold out and their languages do not change - example Euskera in the Basque region of Spain. Agricultural theory is known as Renfrew hypothesis. Hearth was Anatolia region (modern-day Turkey)
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Romance Languages
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French, Spanish, Italian, Romanian, and Portuguese. Areas controlled by Roman Empire. Local languages mixed with Latin
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Slavic Languages
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Russian, Polish, Czech, Slovak, Ukranian, Slovenian, Serbo-Croatian, and Bulgarian. Developed as Slavic people migrated into present day Ukraine
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Germanic Languages
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English, German, Danish, Norwegian, and Swedish. Expansion of people out of Northern Europe. Particularly Germanic tribes moving into areas dominated by Rome.
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History of English
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•Rome leaves Britannica (present day Britain) •Anglos move in from Northern Germany (Angloland-England) bringing native languages to the island •Christian church established -- continues mixing of Latin and Anglo/English •Vikings invade -- mix some bike language in •Normans (French) invade -- French becomes language of power, English is language of the poor and powerless •100 year war -- French out -- English becomes the language of power •English Empire -- colonize and spread English around world -- mixing thousands of languages with English
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The Amerind Family (North America)
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Includes nearly 600 languages. 20 million speakers. Some of the best known are: Ojibwa, Dakota (or Sioux), Cherokee, Hopi, Nahuatl (or Aztec), and Mayan languages
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The Amerind Family (South America)
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Well known languages include: Quechua (Inca), Guarahi, and Carib. The Andean language sub-family (which includes Quechua) numbers nearly nine million speakers
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Language Extinction
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When a language is no longer used
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Deep reconstruction
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Technique using the vocabulary of an extinct language to re-create the language that preceded the extinct language
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Isogloss
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A geographic boundary within which a particular linguistic feature occurs
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Dialect chain
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A set of contiguous (Sharing a common border) dialects in which the dialects nearest each other at any place are most closely related
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Lingua Franca
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A common language used among speakers of different languages for the purposes of commerce and trade. English is considered the lingua franca of academics
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Pidgin
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When people who speak two or more languages are in contact and they combine parts of their language in a simplified structure and vocabulary. Is a second language for everyone who uses it. Often used in business or work supervision. Very simplified -- think 2 year old speech. Example: chinook jargon was once used by American Indians and European traders in the Pacific Northwest
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Creole
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Language that involves when a pidgin becomes the first language of a group of speakers. May lose their mother tongue from disuse. More complex grammatical structure and enhanced vocabulary. Think 4 to 5-year-old speech
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Toponym
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The name by which a geographical place is known
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Toponymy
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The place names of a region or, especially, the study of place names
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Postcolonial toponyms
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After colonies become independent countries, they often change place names (to reflect their independence)
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Post-revolution toponyms
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Place names changed after revolution
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Memorial toponyms
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Change in place name to memorialize an important person or event
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About toponyms:
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Naming things is one of the primary purposes of language. Study of toponyms can give you insight into immigration patterns, colonial influence, religion, language, and cultural diffusion.
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Monolingual state
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A country in which only one language is spoken. Examples: Japan, Iceland, Denmark, Poland, Lesotho
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Multilingual state
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A country in which more than one language is in use. examples: India, Peru, United States, Canada
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Official language
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Language adopted by the government. Usually selected by elite and becomes the language of courts and governments
