Language Family Flashcards
number of Language Family
147
Number of known living language
7,105
Number of deaf sign Language
137
Some languages belong together because they derive from a single ancestor language—called???
Protolanguage
Two languages grew out of single language
Sisters
Languages with common ancestry are
grouped together in__________
Families
To identify related languages, what method of analysis do linguist use?
Comparative analysis
concerned with the reconstruction of an earlier
language or earlier state of a language based on a
comparison of related words and expressions in
different languages or dialects derived from it.
Comparative Analysis
a word that is related in origin to
another word.
cognate
Number of Language Family
147
Number of language in Niger- Congo
1551
Number of Language in Austronesian
1257
Number of Language in Trans-New Guinea
481
Number of Language in Sino-Tibetan
457
Number of Language in Indo-European
446
Number of Language in Afro-Asiatic.
382
Number of Major Language Family
6
What are the largest language families?
Niger-Congo
Austronesian
Trans-New Guinea
Sino-Tibetan
Indo-European
Afro-Asiatic.
refers to languages that have no
demonstrable living ancestors, so their history and
origins remain a mystery. Examples of this include
the Korean and Japanese languages, along with 86
other languages.
Language Isolates
One of the most important factors that led to the
discovery of the Indo-European language family (language of ancient
India.)
Sanskrit
the older form of the language is gone, but it still
lives on through its descendants
pseudo Extinction
The language is being passed on from parents to
children naturally, and it looks like this will
continue indefinitely.
Safe
Some kids are learning the language as their
mother tongue but likely won’t teach it to their
children. In Indonesia, some languages have tens
of thousands of speakers but are endangered by the
spread of other, more dominant languages.
Endangered
Some people, mainly older generations, still speak
the language, but no kids are learning it. The
language will be lost forever when the current
adults and elders are gone. Anambe, spoken in
Brazil, lists just seven speakers.
Moribund
No one speaks the language anymore as a mother
tongue. Scholars and adults may learn bits of it, but
it’s not learned as anyone’s native language.
Extinct
