Chapter 5 Key Issues Flashcards
language
system of communication
centripetal
force unify people
centrifugal
force pushing people apart
why difficult to document # of lang.
hard counting lan. in asia & africa
institutional lan.
used in edu., work, mass media, govern.
developing lan.
daily use of people all ages
vigorous lan.
daily use of people all ages but lacks literary tradition
threatened lan.
face to face communication losing users
dying lan.
used by old and not transmitted to young
literary tradition
written and spoken
language family
collection of lan. related thru common lan. that existed before recorded history
language branch
lan. within family related thru common lan. from several thousand years (difference not as old as lan. fam.)
language group
collection of lan.within branch sharing common origin in recent past
have common grammar/vocab
% of people speaking one of seven language families
90%
origin/diffusion of romance language
diffuse by importance of city of Rome 200 years ago
common ancestry of indo-european lan.
proto-indo-european
nomadic warrior theory
first proto-indo-europeans were kurgan (spread thru expansion)
sedentary farmer theory
first proto-indo-european speakers were turkish (spread thru agriculture)
german invasion
brought English to British isles thru invasion
Norman invasion
nobles spoke French but citizens spoke english->
english>french
diffusion of english
people of England migrating/ establishing colonies
lingua franca
language of international comm. such as english
english on internet
50% internet content in english
chinese
next lingua franca
official language
used by govern. to enact legislation, publish doc, conduct public business
working language
designated by international organization as its primary means of comm.
informal language
new lan. being created thru mixing english with other lan.
franglais
french & english
spanglish
spanish & english
denglish
german & english
pidgin
no native speakers
mix of 2 lan. by learning each others vocab/grammar and mixing
dialects defined w/
vocab, spelling, pronounciation
subdialect
2 subdialects of same dialect share few difference
why English dialects differ
lack of spatial interaction
standard language
dialect that is well establish & widely used as suited for govern., business, edu., mass comm.
Received Pronounciation (RP)
dialect used by politicians, broadcasters, actors
south us dialects
half -> “ha-af”
mine -> “mi-yan
north us dialects
dropping the /r/ sound (heart -> “hot”)
appalachian us dialects
pronouncing “hollow” -> “holler”
double negatives “ain’t nothing”
African American English (AAVE)
african americans in racist areas preserve red their distinctive dialect
creolized languages
language resulting from mix of colonizer’s lan. w/ indigenous lan. of people being dominated
mutual intelligibility
ability of people speaking in 2 wats to readily understand each other without prior familiarity
language vary by gender
feminine/masculine grammar, men/women different word choice
2 causes of lan. dying
children are not learning, remaining speakers use it less
2 competing trends w/ language patterns
globalization, local diversity
isolated language
language unrelated to any other language
globalization leading to lan. loss
people choose pop. language > indigenous
why people interested in saving lan.
lan. offer insight into culture of places
