View
223
Download
0
Category
Tags:
Preview:
Citation preview
LANGUAGE LANGUAGE Language is not merely communication…but a symbolic form of communication
-- i.e.: chimpanzee grooming (social communication)
What is Language?What is Language?
language: an organized system of spoken words by which people communicate with mutual comprehension.
• ideas, attitudes, signs, sounds, or gestures• language is an open-system, not a closed-system • finite sounds exist with potential for infinite meaning• contains displacement
c ya r u? :) ginormous
Why is a “book” not a “gumrf”?
Anatomical Ability to SpeakAnatomical Ability to Speak1. The throat & the position of the pharynx
2. Cranial Capacity
3. Left hemisphere of human brain with language centers— Broca’s area & Wernicke’s area
CLASSIFICATIONS OF CLASSIFICATIONS OF LANGUAGELANGUAGE
-- More than half the world: speak just 8 tongues
isoglossisogloss: a geographic area where a language is spoken
5,000 years ago: 10,000-15,000 tonguesToday: about 4,000 remain
First Language:
1. Mandarin Chinese - 882 mill
2. Spanish - 325 mill3. English - 312-380 mill4. Arabic - 206-422 mill5. Hindi - 181 mill6. Portuguese - 178 mill7. Bengali - 173 mill8. Russian - 146 mill9. Japanese - 128 mill10. German - 96 mill
English: official language of 83 countries!
Most Widely Spoken Languages in Most Widely Spoken Languages in the World???the World???
Language
Approx. number
of speakers
1. Chinese (Mandarin)
1,075,000,000
2. English 514,000,000
3. Hindustani1
496,000,000
4. Spanish 425,000,000
5. Russian 275,000,000
6. Arabic 256,000,000
7. Bengali 215,000,000
8. Portuguese
194,000,000
9. Malay-Indonesian
176,000,000
10. French 129,000,000
English Speaking Countries
Percent of People 5 Years and Older Who Speak a Language other than English at Home
language familylanguage family: a group of languages descended from a single, earlier tongue (Indo-European most widely distributed)
Indo-European --- Latin --- Romance Languages (Italian, Spanish, Portuguese, French, & Romanian)
Afro-Asiatic --- Semitic--- Arabic (Moroccan, Palestinian, Egyptian, Iraqi, Tunisian, &
Arabian)
Chinese --- Mandarin, Cantonese, Jin, Wu, Xiang, Gan, Hakka,
(Minbei, Minnan, Yue, Hokkien, Teochew, Pinghua , Taiwanese)
Chinese IdeogramsChinese Ideograms
Language Families of the World
Languages with more than 100 million speakers are named
protolanguageprotolanguage: an earlier language that led to other tongues
Ex: panis pane pan pine lacte latta
leche lait
Indo-European Language Indo-European Language FamilyFamily
World language distribution reflects the dynamic pattern of:
human movements, settlements, & colonization
How do languages spread?
--relocation diffusion
--hierarchical diffusion (i.e.: English in India)
WORLD PATTERN OF WORLD PATTERN OF LANGUAGES:LANGUAGES:
Recommended