Ch. 5: LANGUAGE
Objective: Explain the
cultural importance of
language.
Defining Language
Pronunciation and combination of words used to communicate within a group of people
Important cultural index
Structures individual perception of world
World’s Major Languages
3,000 distinct languages50% of world population speak
one of 12 major languagesMandarin Chinese is largest with
885 millionEnglish is the primary language of
350 million and is the official language of about 50 countries
The Geographer’s Perspective of Language
What is the distribution of world languagesdensity concentrationPatterns
How is culture influenced or limited by this language distribution?
How does the language reflect the culture?
Language Distribution
Indicates
History and conquestIsolation or integration of culturesMigration of peoplesEconomic Domination of certain
culturesInfluence of wealth and
technology Political Divisions (country
boundaries)Physical geography barriers
(mts., deserts)
Cultural Values A Language May Indicate
class structuregender differences in
vocabularyenvironmentally specific
vocabularyformal and informal
relationships technology of a culture
Official Languages of Countries
Language can be used as a political tool
Language often used as a cultural weapon (English vs. Spanish)
many states have adopted “Official English” policies as a result
What Role does Language Play in Making Places?
PlacePlace – the uniqueness of a location, what people do in a location, what they create, how they impart a certain character, a certain imprint on the location by making it unique.
Toponym Toponym – a place name
A toponym: Imparts a certain character
on a placeReflects the social
processes in a placeCan give us a glimpse of the
history of a placeHas its roots in migration
9 Categories of ToponymsCategory Examples
Descriptive toponyms Rocky Mountains, Chicago (Stinking Onions in the language of the first inhabitants)
Associative Toponyms Mill River (a mill was on the river), Springfield
Incident Names Battle Creek, Bloody Ridge, Cut and Shoot
Possessive Names Castro Valley, Pittsburgh
Commemorative (commemorating someone well-known or in honor of a famous person)
St Louis, San Jacinto, Houston, Seattle (named after Chief Seattle), Austin, Pennsylvania (Penn's Woods), Illinois (after the Illini Indians)
Commendatory (praising) Pleasant Valley, Greenland
Manufactured (made up names)Tesnus (Sunset spelled backwards), Reklaw (Walker spelled backwards) Iraan (Ira and Ann name the town after each other)
Mistaken (historic errors in identification or translation)
West Indies (not west of the Indies and not the Indies)
Shift Names (relocated names or names from settler's homeland)
Athens (Greece and Texas), Palestine (Middle East and Texas), New Mexico (settlers from Mexico named their new home after their previous home), New England,
Changing Toponyms When people change the toponym of a place, they have
the power to “wipe out the past and call forth the new.” - Yi-Fu Tuan, geographer
Changing Toponyms
Major reasons people change toponyms: After decolonization After a political revolution To memorialize people or events
(Martin Luther King Jr. ) To commodify or brand a place
(amusement parks, stadiums) Also changes the cultural landscape
Martin Luther King, Jr. Streets
Geographer Derek Alderman asks:* Where are MLK streets?* Why are they where they are?* What controversies surround memorializing MLK with a street name?