AP Human GeographyChapter 5- Language

Key Issue #4: Why do people preserve local languages?Multilingualism Case StudiesA. Nigeria - Unimaginable linguistic diversity – legacy of colonialism (some source suggest 500+ languages)- 4 major regional languages (Hausa, Igbo, Yoruba, and Fulani) - 12 major local languages spoken by 1 to 5 million people- Adopted English as its "official language”- Has precluded major cultural conflict based on language- Caused problems for children first entering school knowing only traditional languages- Only spoken by small, urban minority

B. Canada- Large French-speaking territory w/ even larger English-speaking area- French law and language sustained in Quebec- French language was protected in parliament and in the courts- Language divides the country

C. Belgium- Dutch-speaking region in the north & French-speaking region in the south- Brussels (capital) officially bilingual, French-speaking majority

- Language regions separate Romance and Germanic branches of Indo-European - Conflict has been largely nonviolent- Languages/ethnic issues dominate politics

E. Switzerland:- Decentralized government where local authorities hold most power, therefore they

peacefully co-exist with 4official languages

Language displays 2 competing geographic trends of globalization and local diversity

Preservation of LanguageExtinct language – no longer spoken or read in daily activities (ex : Gothic in E. and N Europe – switched to Latin languages after their conversion to Christianity)

German speaking (63.7%), French speaking (20.4%), Italian speaking (6.5%), Romansch (0.5%)

- Hundreds of languages will become extinct in the 21st century

Hebrew - extinct language that was revivedo At the time of Jesus, most in Israel spoke Aramaic, then Arabic.o Hebrew was used to unify the diverse population in the newly created Israel

1948o Led by Ben-Yehuda, new words were created and a dictionary made -

invention of 4000 new Hebrew wordsCeltic

o Two thousand years ago, it was spoken in Northern Italy, Germany, the British Isles

o Irish and Scottish Gaelic 7% in Ireland and 1% in Scotlando English imperialism discouraged the use of the Irish native tongueo Irish Gaelic & English - official languages of Republic of Ireland (350,000 Irish

speak it)o Scottish Gaelic - 1% of Scottish speak it

Brythonic (Britannic)- 1/6th of the people in Wales still use Welsh as their primary language, even though

almost all know Englis- In Brittany they speak Breton which is a Celtic Language infused with French words- Wales -conquered by England in 1283- 22% Wales speak Welsh- Cornish - extinct 1777 - last known speaker Dolly Pentreath died

EU (European Union)- Established European Bureau for Lesser Used Languages based in Dublin, Ireland- provides financial support for preservation of several dozen indigenous, regional,

and minority languages spoken by 46 million Europeans- Welsh people are now speaking more and more Welsh due to preservation

attempts (The BBC requires Welsh television)- Road signs in Western Ireland counties have to be in Gaelic- Welsh history and music added to curriculum- Irish language TV station began 1996- Irish singers reviving Gaelic- Cornish revived 1920s

Isolated LanguagesIsolated language – a language unrelated to any other and not belonging to a language family – arise through a lack of interaction

A. Pre-Indo-European Survivor: Basque –The best example of an isolated language in Europe.

- Basque is spoken by 600,000 people in the Pyrenees Mountains.

B. Icelandic- North Germanic Group that has not changed significantly due to isolation- Norwegian settlers conquered the area in A.D. 874 and had little contact with the Scandinavian countries that adapted

Toponyms- A toponym is a place name that people call into being and import a character to it- A name of a place can give us a quick glimpse into the history of a place- Shifts take place where the past is wiping out and call forth the new

Ex. Kenai peninsula in Alaska- Nanwalek in the early 1800’s- Russians took over and named it Alexandrof- Americans purchased and changed it to English Bay- Recently, the townspeople changed the name back to Nanwalek, where native

languages are being revived

Post-colonial Toponyms- Gold Coast – Ghana- Northern Rhodesia – Zambia- East Pakistan – Bangladesh- Leopoldville – Kinshasa – Capital of Congo- Congo even changed their name to Zaire after Mobutu , the dictator, changed the

name. It is now the D.R. of Congo after the 1997 overthrow

Memorial Toponyms- Voting to change the name of a school, a library, or a building- Civil rights movement in America left many lasting impressions of people and

events- The distribution of MLK streets are located in poorer areas of the South