an example of sound shift : latin for milk is lacte italian is latta spanish is leche
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An example of sound shift : Latin for milk is lacte Italian is latta Spanish is leche French is lait Another example of sound shift is: German vater Dutch vader English father Still another example is Latin for eight is octo Spanish is ocho French is huit. - PowerPoint PPT PresentationTRANSCRIPT
Languages of China• Chinese has the most speakers of any language.• It is one of the world’s oldest languages spoken by
the greatest contiguous population on Earth.• Southern China-the most variety and dialects-most
are mutually unintelligible.• Some scholars argue that for this reason-it is not one
language, but several.• Mandarin-the dominate language of the North
spoken by 700 million including Beijing.• Wu is next with 100 million speakers in Shanghai
area.• Yue-or Cantonese is spoken by 70 million in the SE.
Languages of China
Chinese Ideograms
Fig. 5-13: Chinese language ideograms mostly represent concepts rather than sounds. The two basic characters at the top can be built into more complex words.
Street scene in Hong Kong,Now known as XianggangSince 1997 take over byRed China.
Languages of India• India had 4 language
families with the largest being Indo-European and Dravidian.
• There are 15 major languages-all but 4 are Indo-European.
• Over 1,600 lesser languages.
• The largest Indo-European language is Hindi
• Largest Dravidian tongue is Telugu.
South Asian Languages & Language Families
Fig. 5-7: Indo-European is the largest of four main language families in South Asia. The country of India has 18 official languages.
Languages of Africa
• There are 1,000 spoken languages in Africa and many are unwritten.
• There are 4 major indigenous language families;
• Afro-Asiatic of N. Africa• Nilo-Saharan• Niger-Congo• Khosian• Largest ethnic groups are
associated with a language.
Languages of Subsaharan Africa
- extreme language diversity
- effects of colonialism
NigeriaMore than 400 different languages.
Language and Culture“No one was allowed to speak the language – the Dena’ina language. They [the American government] didn’t allow it in the schools, and a lot of the women had married non-native men, and the men said, ‘You’re American now so you can’t speak the language.’ So, we became invisible in the community. Invisible to each other. And, then, because we couldn’t speak the language – what happens when you can’t speak your own language is you have to think with someone else’s words, and that’s a dreadful kind of isolation [emphasis added].”
Clare Swan, elder, Kenaitze band, Dena’ina Indians
Language and
National Identity
Standard Language
a language that is published, widely distributed, and purposefully taught.
Government usually plays a big role in standardizing a language.
• Street scene in France-note the boulangerie, patisserie, lunch sign.
• The French government has fought very hard to prevent the infusion of English or other foreign words into the French language
Language Divisions in Belgium
Fig. 5-16: There has been much tension in Belgium between Flemings, who live in the north and speak Flemish, a Dutch dialect, and Walloons, who live in the south and speak French.
Belgium:
Flanders (Flemish language)
Wallonia (French language)