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: