Geography of Language

Question 1

enclaves

Answer 1

Linguistic islands

places with unrelated languages to those that surround them

Question 2

linguistic divergence

Answer 2

branching of languages separation of an ancestral population into two groups through migration and the cessation of interaction between the descendants of the two groups
Leads to dialects

Question 3

Language family

Answer 3

Most general grouping of languages

i.e. Indo-european

Question 4

Language group

Answer 4

A more specific category than language family

i.e. Germanic

Question 5

Language

Answer 5

A group of dialects that are mutually intelligible

Usually there is one dialect judged to be “standard” and other dialects are judged as “deviant” relative to that dialect

Question 6

Dialect

Answer 6

A regionally-specific way of speaking a language–includes characteristic vocabulary, grammar, and expressions

Question 7

cognates

Answer 7

words that mean similar or related things in different languages and also share common linguistic meaning

Question 8

Indo-European language family

Answer 8

Where English is derived from
a group of people who expanded through Europe starting around 2000 BC
over 50% of languages spoken today are from this family

Question 9

Saxons (language group)

Answer 9

From Indo-european family

Invaded the UK and brought germanic dialect

Question 10

vikings

Answer 10

from Norway
“Old Norse”
lower social status associated with their language

Question 11

Normans

Answer 11

Old French
Diffusion was hierarchical:
Dignity and royalty associated with

High ways of saying things are derived from a language spoken by conquerors and nobility

Question 12

Middle English

Answer 12

All of the ingredients in place by now, but it is still evolving
Layered- germanic and romance

Question 13

Germanic Languages

Answer 13

branched off indo-european family

where more everyday, ordinary, common words are derived from in english

Question 14

Geopolitics (languages)

Answer 14

helps define linguistic realties
separation- people emphasize linguistic difference to the point of treating different dialects of a single Scandinavian language as if they are separate languages
Togetherness- to assert unity (e.g. throughout the Arab world or China) people minimize linguistic differences

Question 15

Language Borrowing

Answer 15

Just because languages share words doesn’t mean they branched from same origin
• occurs in context of unequal power- weaker borrows more from the stronger

Question 16

Francization

Answer 16

growing political resistance by francophones

I.e. Quebec: Made French the official language in the workplace, schools, and government offices

Question 17

Language Politics

Answer 17

weaker groups tend to adopt more linguistic elements from strong groups than vice versa
efforts can be made to revive a language or dialect

Question 18

Altaic language family

Answer 18

language family of central eurasia

languages are spoken in a wide arc stretching from northeast Asia through Central Asia to Anatolia and eastern Europe

Question 19

Afro-asiatic language family

Answer 19

A large family of languages spoken in northern Africa and southwest Asia, comprising the Semitic, Chadic, Cushitic, Berber, Omotic, and ancient Egyptian language

Question 20

Austronesian language family

Answer 20

a language family widely dispersed throughout the islands of Southeast Asia, Madagascar and the Pacific,

Question 21

Niger-congo language family

Answer 21

one of the world’s major language families, and Africa’s largest in terms of geographical area,

Question 22

Sino-tibetan language family

Answer 22

language family predominant in east, south and southeast asia
second only to the Indo-European languages in terms of the number of native speakers.

Question 23

Slavic languages

Answer 23

group of indo-european language family

most of Eastern Europe, much of the Balkans, parts of Central Europe, and the northern part of Asia.

Question 24

Celtic language

Answer 24

of the indo-european language family
mostly spoken on the north-western edge of Europe, notably in Ireland, Scotland, Wales, Brittany, Cornwall, and the Isle of Man