Language Quiz Flashcards
atkinsons theory
language came from Africa because it has the most phonemes in the language
Renfrew and Grey
language spread through farming(food increase –> population increase –> language increase) and contagious diffusion(also known as prosperity theory)
Gimbutas
conflict theory, language spread hierarchically through conquest(ex: english)
Language families(name the two)
Indo-European
Sino-Tibetan
How to language families change into language branches
distance, time, and isolation. In between the two are dialects.
Creole vs. Pidgn
A creole is a language of oppressor + oppressed
A Pidgn is a simplified combination of languages used to communicate in commerce
How do languages go extinct?
no one speaks them
Why do languages go extinct?
Languages go extinct because of government intervention, assimilation to a dominant culture, cultural genocide, ect.
why would you want to preserve a language
You would want to preserve a language because language contributes to culture which contributes to identity which means that language should be maintained as it is a central part of a people or person.
denglish
a combination of Deutsch(German) and English
developing language
a language spoken in daily use with a literary tradition that is not widely distributed
dialect
a regional variety of a language distinguished by vocabulary, spelling, and pronunciation
ebonics
a dialect spoken by African Americans
Extinct Language
A language that was once used by people in daily activities but is no longer used
Franglais
A combination of french and english
institutional language
a language used in education, work, mass media, and government
isogloss
a boundary that separates regions in which different language usages predominate
isolated language
a language that is unrelated to any other languages and therefore not attached to any other language family
language
a system of communication through the use of speech, a collection of sounds understood by a group of people to have the same meaning
language branch
a collection of languages related through a common ancestor that an be confirmed through archaeological evidence
language family
a collection of languages related to each other through a common ancestor long before recorded history
language group
a collection of languages within a branch that share a common origin in the relatively recent past and display relatively few differences in grammar and vocabulary
lingua franca
the most spoken second language,the language of diplomacy, the language of science( textbook definition: a language a language mutually understood and commonly used in trade by people who have different native languages)
literary tradition
a language that is written as well as spoken
logogram
a symbol that represents a words rather than a sound
official language
the language adopted for use by a government for the conduct of business and publication of documents
received pronunciation
the dialect of English associated with upper-class Britons living in London and now considered standard in the United Kingdom
Spanglish
A combination of spanish and english spoken by hispanic americans
standard language
the form of a language used for official government business, education, and mass communications
subdialect
a subdivision of a dialect
vigorous language
a language that s spoken in daily use but that lacks a literary tradition
vulgar latin
a form of latin used in daily conversation by ancient romans, as opposed to the standard dialect which was used for official documents
