geography of language

1. GEOGRAPHY OF
LANGUAGE

2. Why do some regions have a greater diversity of languages
than others?
A process:
1. original human settlement of area brings original language or languages
2. subsequent isolation leads to increasing divergence through time
3. areas with greatest geographic isolation and most limited inter-group
contact from each other will see the greatest numbers of dialects and
then languages develop
4. new groups may come into region and dominate and replace local
languages, adding their languages to the diversity but possibly
eliminating some local languages
5. following #3, areas with little inter-group contact, tending to have stable
and abundant resources, and/or otherwise be separated by geographic
barriers, such as mountains, dense jungles, etc… such regions may have
high linguistic diversity
example: map of Africa - the dry Sahara with high human mobility and sparse
resources has low linguistic diversity, while the densely vegetated
equatorial areas (associated with less human mobility) have higher
linguistic diversity.

3. Language Classification
• language family: collection of individual languages related to each
other by virtue of having a common ancestor
• language branch: a group of closely related languages
• dialect: form of a language spoken in a local or regional area,
defined by vocabulary, cadence (rhythm), pronunciation,
grammar/syntax (how words make phrases), and pace. Note that
accent refers only to distinctive pronunciation.
family/branch/language/dialect
(Indo-European family/ Romance branch/ Spanish language/ Castilian)
Standard language: dialect used for mass communications and
education
Official language: language adopted for use by the government

4. Indo-European common words
• When we are aware that father corresponds to Dutch vader, Gothic
fadar, Old Norse fadir, German Vater, Greek pater, Sanskrit pitar-,
and Old Irish athir;
• or that English brother corresponds to Dutch broeder, German
Bruder, Greek phrater, Sanskrit bhratar-, Old Slavic bratu, Irish
Brathair;
• Together with many other such similarities and other evidence,we
are led to the hypothesis that the languages of a large part of
Europe, and even a part of Asia, were at one time from the same
origin.
• Source http://www.wordinfo.info/words/index/info/view_unit/4184/?letter=E&spage=4

5. Indo-European (con’t.)
• William Jones (1786) studied ancient religious texts of India (in
Sanskrit), noticed sim. grammar and vocab. with Latin and Greek
• “must have come from a common source”…Where?
• regions where words shared by modern Indo-European languages
would have a use:
– “fish” but not “ocean”
– had goats, cows, horses, but not grapes
– oak, beech, pine, birch, willow, bear, wolf suggest a cold,
forested environment
• People, language, culture spread as far as India and Great Britain

6. Language Change and Survival
divergence: differentiation over time and space. Isolated dialects may
become languages (eg. Latin to Spanish, French, Portuguese,
Romanian, Italian)
convergence: the contact of long isolated languages through
relocation diffusion.
replacement: when the language of a traditional people is replaced or
severely modified or simplified by a dominant invader
remnant languages: survivors of an invasion usually due to either
isolation caused by physical barriers or lack of conquest by invaders

7. Language Change and Survival (con’t.)
Once diffused into isolated areas, language change tends to be slower
than in less isolated areas
Pidgin: mother tongue simplified and modified by contact with other
languages. Typically consists of less than 500 words, and
developed by people who do not share a common language, but
need to talk to each other
Creole: when a pidgin language has become the mother tongue of a
community, usually after a few generations. “creolization”
involves expansion of vocabulary, grammar, and style
Lingua Franca: common language spoken by various groups who
need to communicate

8. Why do languages change through time?
• replacement
• natural drift in time
• borrowing
• relocation of speakers
• changes in environment

9. • Consonant softening
• The story of Indo European