European Languages
Indo-European Language
Q: What do you call a person who speaks multiple languages?
A: A polyglots
Q: What do you call a person who speaks two languages?
A: Bilingual
Q: What do you call a person who speaks only one language?
A: American
Why do so few Americans know more than one language?
Geography of Language
Language is the most important way culture is transmitted
Language can shape the attitudes,
understandings, and the responses of the society to which it belongs.
There are literally thousands of languages that are spoken throughout world
Language is a mark of cultural diversity and identity that helps distinguish social groups.
Language Family
A language family is collection of languages related through a common ancestor long before recorded history
Indo-European is the worlds most extensively spoken language with 3 billion speaking an Indo- European language.
Origin and Diffusion of Indo-European
Languages
Origin of the Indo-European Language
It can not be proven that there was a single ancestor to the Indo-European language family but there is evidence that a Proto-Indo-European language did exist.
Evidence is found in similar words in different languages such as oak, bear, deer, and pheasant and other words that could have been a part of daily life.
Indo-European languages share similar words for winter and snow, but not for ocean. Linguists believe that the Proto-Indo-European language came from a cold climate that did not have contact with the ocean.
Diffusion of the Indo- European language
There are two theories about the diffusion of the language.
First is called the Kurgan Theory (Nomadic Warrior Thesis)
Named after the Kurgan people who lived in 4300 B.C. they came from the steppes near the boarder of Russia and Kazakhstan.
They were nomads who domesticated the horse and cattle and moved west in search of grasslands.
They used the horse as a weapon to conquer Southwest Asia and the Balkan peninsula.
Kurgan Theory of
Indo-European Origin
Fig. 5-9: In the Kurgan theory, Proto-Indo-European diffused from the Kurgan hearth north of the Caspian Sea, beginning about 7,000 years ago.
The second is called the Renfrew Theory (Sedentary Farmer Thesis) is that it diffused from Anatolia westward to Greece.
This idea believes the language spread by
agricultural practices through Greece, Italy, and Turkey up into central and western Europe
We are not sure which is correct but both theories have valid points. One spread by military means, the other through contact of better agricultural practices.
Anatolian Hearth Theory of Indo-
European Origin
Fig. 5-10: In the Anatolian hearth theory, Indo-European originated in Turkey before the Kurgans and diffused through agricultural expansion.
Why are there so
many Languages in Europe
Different languages are created by two main ways
Migration
Isolation
Language Branch
A language branch is a group of languages within a family that have similar ancestors several
thousand years ago.
Within the Indo-European languages there are 8 main branches
Indo-Iranian Branch
This is the largest Indo-European branch
This is divided up into two groups, Indic and Iranian
Mainly found in Southwest and Central Asia
Indo-European
Languages in Europe
Balto-Slavic Branch
East Slavic languages include Russian, Ukrainian and Belarusian.
Russian increased in importance with the rise of the Soviet Union.
West and South Slavic groups include Polish,
Czech, and Slovak in the West, and Serbo-Croatian and Bulgarian in the South.
Romance Branch
Evolved from the Latin language spoken by Romans 2,000 years ago.
Spanish, Portuguese, French, and Italian are the four main romance languages
Romanian is the 5th important romance language
Other Romance languages include Romansh of Switzerland, Catalan of Andorra, and Sardinian from the Island of Sardinia.
Romance Branch of Indo-European
Fig. 5-8: The Romance branch includes three of the world’s 12 most widely spoken languages (Spanish, French, and Portuguese), as well as a number of smaller languages and dialects.
Germanic Branch
English is a Germanic language because of the
Germanic tribes that invaded England 1500 years ago.
English and German are both part of the West
Germanic group because they are structurally similar and have many words in common
German spoken today is High German because it comes from the southern German highlands.
English comes from Low German which was spoken in the northern parts of Germany. Dutch, Afrikaans,
and Northern German dialects are Low German
Germanic also included the Scandinavian languages of Swedish, Danish, Norwegian and Icelandic, which all come from Old Norse.
Germanic Branch of Indo-European
Fig. 5-6: The Germanic branch today is divided into North and West Germanic groups. English is in the West Germanic group.
Origin of English
Celts inhabited British Isles until mainland tribes invaded.
German Invasion
Angles, Saxons, and Jutes (Germanic Tribes)
Norman Invasion
English is very different from German because of the Normans (French-speaking)
Simpler words are from Germanic roots
Fancy words are from French
Invasions of England 5th–11th centuries
Fig. 5-2: The groups that brought what became English to England included Jutes, Angles, Saxons, and Vikings. The Normans later brought French vocabulary to English.
Diffusion of English
English colonies
North America
Ireland
South Asia (India)
South Pacific
South Africa
Philippines (U.S. colony)
Global Dominance of English
Lingua Franca: A language of international communication.
English
Swahili
Hindi
Indonesian
Russian
Pidgin language: Simplified form of a lingua franca It has no native speakers as is always a second language.
English Speaking Countries
Fig. 5-1: English is the official language in 42 countries, including some in which it is not the most widely spoken language. It is also used and understood in many others.
More English
English is taught to 83 % of High school students in EU countries, and more than 90% in some.
200 million speak English fluently as a
second language and Millions more have a working knowledge of it.
Japan has even considered making it a
second official language.
Expansion Diffusion of English
English originally spread through migration and
conquest… today it spreads through expansion diffusion
Franglais: combination of French and English languages
Spanglish: combination of Spanish and English languages
Denglish: combination of German and English languages
All mark the diffusion of English vocabulary into another language
Preserving Language Diversity
Extinct languages were once used but are no longer in use.
Gothic was spoken in Northern and Eastern Europe in third century A.D. but it and it’s entire language group are gone.
Languages die through integration, when other stronger cultures take over through politics or cultural preference.
Battle between globalization and local diversity
Multi Lingual States
Belgium is divided between the French speaking
Walloons in the South and the Flemish (Dutch) in the north.
Historically the French speakers were wealthier and ran politics. From pressure from the Flemish they divide the country into two regions. Each ran
independently.
Mayor of Voeren (Fouroms) caused prime minister to resign when he refused to speak Dutch in Flanders.
Today many amendments have been added to the constitution to give each region more autonomy (self rule)
Language Divisions in Belgium
Fig. 5-16: There has been much tension in Belgium between Flemings, who live in the north and speak Flemish, a Dutch dialect, and Walloons, who live in the south and speak French.
Switzerland
Switzerland peacefully exists with
several languages including German,
French, Italian, and Romansh
Language Areas in Switzerland
Fig. 5-17: Switzerland remains peaceful with four official languages and a decentralized government structure.