Why do geographers study language Provides the single most common variable by which cultural groups are identified Provides the main means by which learned customs and skills pass from one generation to the next ID: 330548
Download Presentation The PPT/PDF document "Language" is the property of its rightful owner. Permission is granted to download and print the materials on this web site for personal, non-commercial use only, and to display it on your personal computer provided you do not modify the materials and that you retain all copyright notices contained in the materials. By downloading content from our website, you accept the terms of this agreement.
Slide1
LanguageSlide2
Why do geographers study language? Provides the single most common variable by which cultural groups are identifiedProvides the
main means by which learned customs and skills pass from one generation to the nextSlide3
Facilitates cultural diffusion of innovationsBecause languages vary spatially, they reinforce the sense of region and placeStudy of language called linguistic geography and geolinguistics by geographers
Why do geographers study language? Slide4Slide5
Video Clips- Vibrant Languageshttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4oJ5cBYiGS8 F-Bomb dictionaryhttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oD1mZKqq9QE Words of 2012 (They are set to release 2014 early next week!) Slide6
Geographer’s Perspective on Language
Language is an essential element of
culture
Possibly
the most important medium by which culture is transmitted.Slide7
Languages even structure the perceptions of their speakers. (Deutscher, 2010) Attitudes, understandings, and responses are partly determined by the words available.Languages are a hallmark of cultural diversity with distinctive regional distributions. Slide8
Invasions of EnglandFigure 5-3Slide9
Invasions of EnglandFigure 5-3
The first speakers of the language that became known as English were tribes that lived in present day Germany and Denmark. They invaded England in the 5
th
Century.Slide10
Where Are English Language Speakers Distributed?Dialects of EnglishDialect = a regional variation of a languageIsogloss
= a word-usage boundaryStandard language
= a well-established
dialectSlide11
Dialects In EnglandDifferences between British and American EnglishWhere Are English Language Speakers Distributed?Slide12
Where Are English Language Speakers Distributed?Dialects of English
Dialects in the United StatesSettlement in the eastern United States
Current differences in the eastern United States
Pronunciation differencesSlide13
Why is English in the United States different from English in England?
Isolation
Immigration
Vocabulary
New Animal
New Inventions
SpellingSlide14
Language of Power Clipshttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EPGx1icFdLQ http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4kW3K3OclnEHow does dialect interact with power and privilege in the United States? Slide15
Soft Drink DifferencesFigure 5-8Reflects voting from Popvs.Soda.com, but it is updated. Does this reflect what you know to be true? Example of isogloss. Slide16
administration(Washington)caucus (John Adams)lengthy (John Adams) lengthily(Jefferson)
belittle
(Jefferson)
muckraker
(Theodore Roosevelt)
lunatic fringe
(Theodore Roosevelt)
bloviation
(Harding)
normalcy
(Harding)
misunderestimate
(G. W. Bush)
embetterment
(G. W. Bush)
Presidential Top TenSlide17
American Dialect Society
Decade
Google
2013
selfie
2012
#
hashtag
2011
occupy
2010
App
2009
Tweet
2008
Bailout
2007
Subprimed
2006
Plutoed
Slide18
English Speaking
CountriesSlide19
Language — tongues that cannot be mutually understoodTerms used in the study of language? Slide20
Dialects — variant forms of a language that have not lost mutual comprehensionA speaker of English can understand the various dialect of the languageA dialect is distinctive enough in vocabulary and pronunciation to label its speakerSome 6,000 languages and many more dialects are spoken today
Terms used in the study of language? Slide21
Pidgin language — results when different linguistic groups come into contactServes the purposes of commerceHas a small vocabulary derived from the various contact groupsSpeakers of different languages need to communicate but don't share a common language.Official language of Papua, New Guinea is a largely English-derived pidgin language, which includes Spanish, German, and Papuan words
Terms used in the study of language? Slide22
Lingua franca — a language that spreads over a wide area where it is not the mother tongueA language of communication and commerceSwahili language has this status in much of East AfricaEnglish is Lingua franca of international business world-wide
Terms used in the study of language? Slide23
KenyaKenya has two official languages: Swahili and English. These lingua franca facilitate communication among Bantu, Nilotic, and Cushitic language speakers.Slide24
KenyaEnglish became important during the British colonial period and is still associated with high status.This shopping center caters to
Maasai herders who speak a
Nilotic
language and Kikuyu farmers who speak a Bantu language.
Jambo
means “hello” in Swahili.Slide25
English-Speaking CountriesFigure 5-2
English is the
official language
in 57 countries. It is interesting to note that while English is predominantly spoken in the United States and Australia, it has
not been
declared the official language. Slide26
Why Is English Related to Other Languages?Indo-European branchesLanguage branch = collected of related languagesIndo-European = eight branchesFour branches have a large number of speakers:GermanicIndo-IranianBalto-SlavicRomanceSlide27
Branches of the Indo-European Family
Figure 5-9Slide28Slide29
Languages of the World Slide30Slide31
Proto-Indo-European Language Diffusion Sedentary Farmer Hypothesis Nomadic Warrior HypothesisSlide32
Anatolia (modern day Turkey) Renfrew’s Hypothesis sedentary farmerSlide33
Western arc of Fertile Crescent came the languages of North Africa and ArabiaSlide34
From the Fertile Crescent’s eastern arc ancient languages spread into present day Iran, Afghanistan, Pakistan and India.Later, they would be replaced by Indo-European languagesSlide35Slide36Slide37
6000+ Languages spoken today, not including dialects 1500+ Spoken in Sub-Saharan Africa alone 400+ in New Guinea alone
100+ in Europe
However, this diversity is diminishing:
2000+ Threatened or Endangered Languages
Slide38
IdeogramsIdeogram- represent ideas or concepts, not specific pronunciations.-Chinese; Japanese
- Sumerian and Egyptian have both ideographic and phonetic components
. Slide39
PhoneticMost languages, including Romance languages
Symbols (letters)
generally
represent
sounds
, not ideas.
A
phonetic
alphabet
is the key
innovation
.Slide40Slide41
Proto-Indo-European Language HearthStephen Oppenheimer argues that people came out of Central AfricaPeople traveled along the now-flooded coastlines of East Africa, the southern Arabian Peninsula, and into India about 80,000 years ago. Slide42
Oppenheimer’s research supports theories by some linguists indicating that the heart of the Proto-Indo-European language could lie in India.