Historic Development of Languages

(The Monster)

By Alan D. DeSantis

Geographic Distribution of Living Languages, 1996Area of World # of Languages % of World

Languages

The Americas 1,000 15%Africa 2,011 30%Europe 225 3%Asia 2,165 32%The Pacific 1,302 19%

TOTAL 6,703

The population figures in this table refer to first language speakers in all countries

(* = U.N. Languages)

*1 CHINESE, MANDARINChina 885,000,000

*2 SPANISH Spain 332,000,000

*3 ENGLISHUK 322,000,000

4 BENGALIBangladesh 189,000,000

5 HINDI India 182,000,000

6 PORTUGUESEPortugal 170,000,000

*7 RUSSIANRussia 170,000,000 8 JAPANESEJapan 125,000,000

9 GERMAN, STANDARDGermany 98,000,000

10 CHINESE, WUChina 77,175,000

11 JAVANESEIndonesia, Java, Bali 75,500,800

12 KOREANKorea, S. 75,000,000

*13 FRENCHFrance 72,000,000

14 VIETNAMESEViet Nam 67,662,000

15 TELUGUIndia 66,350,000

16 CHINESE, YUE China 66,000,000

17 MARATHIIndia 64,783,000

18 TAMILIndia 63,075,000

19 TURKISHTurkey 59,000,000

20 URDUPakistan 58,000,000

*ARABIC’S TotalMiddle East 150, 000,000

Introduction to World Languages

• There are over 6,000 languages currently spoken in the world

• English is the most spoken language– Most use it as their second (2 Billion)

• Many are unstudied languages– New Guinea has 3 million people and 900

languages, many in remote communities

• Most of these emerged out of four common parents!!

The World’s 4 Major Language Families

Indo-European Sino-Tibetan Austronesian Afroasiatic

Aus-tro-ne-sianAf-ro-as-i-at-ic

Example of “Comparative Reconstruction” in the

Romance Languages

French Italian Spanish Rumanian Portuguese Word

mere madre madre mama mae motherpere padre padre tata pai fatheroeil occhio ojo ochiu olho eyepied piede pie picior pe footun uno uno un um onetrios tre tres trei tres threemois mese mes luna mes month

The Big Problem

• Language reconstruction is not an exact science

• “Truth” emerges by consensus

• Consensus is harder and harder to reach as we go back further and further– Many of these “families” are debated/contested

• It is argued that every 10,000 years, the continuous cycle of change completes itself– Nothing exists from the initial (first generation) language

I. Indo-European Languages

• Proto Indo-European spoken 5,000 BC

• This is the group we are most influenced by– English, French, Spanish, Italian, German

• Of the 12 languages with more than 100 million speakers, 8 of them are I-E– The widespread use of I-E languages is due to

colonization, imperialism, and missionaries

• But of the thousands of languages in the world, only about 150 are I-E

Major Indo-European Language Family

(First and Second Generation)

Proto-G erm anic Proto-Ita lic Com m on Slavonic Old Indo-Iranian

Proto-Indo-European

more

Minor Indo-European Language Family

(First, Second, & Third Generations)

Ir ish G a e lic , S c o ttish G a e lic ,B r e to n , W e lsh

C e ltic

L ithua n ia n , L a tvia n

B a ltic T o c ha r ia n , A na to lia n , H ittite(a ll e x tinc t)

A r m e nia nA lb a n ia n

M o d e r n G r e e k

A nc ie nt G r e e k

P r o to -Ind o -E ur o p e a n

more

Ia. Germanic Languages(Second, Third, & Fourth Generations)

E nglish, G erm an, Yiddish,F r is ian, D utch, A fr ikaans

W est G erm anic

S w edish, D anish, Norw egianF aroese , Ice landic

North G erm anic E as t G erm anic(G othic )

Proto-G erm anic

-Afrikaans is a derivative of Dutch-Gothic, spoken in central Europe, disappeared in 8th century

Ib. Italic Languages(Second, Third, & Fourth Generations)

F rench, Ita l ian , C a ta lean, S panishProvenca l , Poruguese , Rum anian

L a tin

O scan, Um brian

O sco-Um brian

Proto-Ita l ic

-Latin Derivatives are known as Romantic Languages-Fathered by “vulgar Latin” (language of Roman Empire) not “formal Latin.”

-Provencal is spoken in the South of France-Catalan is spoken in northern Spain-Rumanian is the most different

-Oscan and Umbrian were languages of southern Italy

Ic. Slavonic Languages(Second, Third, & Fourth Generations)

R ussia n, B yelorussia n, U kra inia n

Ea st S la vonic

B ulga ria n, Serbo-C roa t

South S la vonic

Polish, C zech, S lova k

W est S la vonic

C om m on S la vonic

-All Slavonic languages are remarkably similar-Russian is the most widely spoken

Id. Indo-Iranian Languages(Second, Third, & Fourth Generations)

H indi-U rdu, B enga li, B iha riPunja bi, Ma ra thi, G uja ra ti

Sa nskrit

Persia n, Pa shto

Proto-Ira nia n

O ld Indo-Ira nia n

-Persian, also called Farsi, is spoken in Iran-Pashto is spoken in Afghanistan and northern Pakistan-All the other languages are spoken in different parts of India by its 1 billion people

II. Sino-Tibetan Family

• 300 East Asian Languages– Many of which remain unexplored

• There are Two Major Divisions:– 1) Sinitic/Chinese (1 Billion Speakers)

• 5 Major Dialects

– 2) Tibeto-Burman• Many different languages, very few speakers• Burmese (20 mill) and Tibetan (3 mill) are the only members

with more than million speakers

II. Sino-Tibetan Family

Th e 5 D ia lec ts :M an d arin , Y u e , W u , M in , H akka

S in it ic(C h in ese)

B u rm ese & Tib e tan

Tib e to -B u rm an

S in o-T ib e tan

III. Austronesian Family• 1,000 Different Languages

• Two Major Sub-Divisions• 1) Formosan

– 3 Ancient Languages• Spoken only in the hills of Taiwan

• 2) Malayo-Polynesian– West: Malayo Polynesian

• Indonesia, Malaysia, Madagascar, Philippines• Recently Thai (40 mil) and Lao (10 mil) have been added

– East: Oceanic• Papua New Guinea, Fijian, Islands of Pacific

III. Austronesian Family

Form osa n

Indonesia n-Ma la y, Ja va nese,Ma la gsy

W estern(Asian)

N ew G uinea n, Pa cific Isla nds,F ijia n, Sa m oa n

O cea nic

Proto-Ma la yo-Polynesia n

Proto-Austronesia n

–Indonesian-Malay (150 mill) in Indonesian and Malaysia

–Javanese (60 mill) in Java and Indonesia

–Pilipino is the official language of Philippines

–Malagasy (9 mill) of Madagascar

–Most others have under 1 mill

IV. Afroasiatic Family

• Comprises about 250 Languages– Arabic being the biggie--150 Mill

• From northern Africa and the Middle East:– Iran, Iraq, Chad, Israel, Jordan, Saudi Arabia, Lebanon,

Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia, Egypt, Ethiopia, Somalia, Sudan,

• It is the language of Judaism, Christianity, and Islam– Moses, Jesus, and Mohammed

IV. Afroasiatic Family

Am ha ric (E thiopia )H ebrew & Arib ic

Ara m a ic (Pa lestinia n)

Sem itic

Som a li(p lus 40 others)

C ushitic

K a byl(10 m ill. a corss N . Africa )

B erber

H a usa(plus 130 others)

C ha dic Ancient Egyptioa n(extinct)

Afroa sia tic Fa m ily

-Hausa is one of Africa’s major languages spoken in Chad & Nigeria (20 mill)-Akkadian was the first written language (Semitic)-Jesus spoke Palestinian Aramaic

V. Sub-Saharan Africa• South of the Sahara Desert, there are three other

language families:

– 1) Niger-Congo Family• Several hundred languages• From Senegal to Kenya to South Africa

– 2) Nilo-Saharan Family• 100 languages by 10 million people

– 3) Khoisan (Coisan) Family • Southern Africa (uses click sounds)• 50 languages spoken by fewer than 75,000

– *Remember, North Africa is Afroasiatic

VI. Other Families of Asia and Europe

• 1) Altaic Family (many speakers) – 250 Mil Speakers Total– Vast area from USSR to China – Turkic, Mongolian, Manchu– Recently, Japanese (150 mil) and Korean (50 mil)

have been added

• 2) Dravidian Family (many speakers)– Southern India

VI. Other Families of Asia and Europe

• 3) Austro-Asiatic (many speakers)

– 100 Languages in Southeast Asia

– Found in Vietnam, Laos, Cambodia, Thailand

• 4) Caucasian Family – Georgian is best known

– 30 Languages of Soviet Union, Turkey, and Iran

• 5) Uralic Family – Finland, Hungary, Estonia

VII. The Americas• It was assumed that there were 300 Languages belonging to 50

families

• Greenburg has found that there are only 3

– Eskimo Aleut• Upper and most of the Eastern regions of Canada

– Na-Dene• Western and Central Canada (not touched by E A)• Also, Navaho and Apache (Texas, OK)

– Amerind• Everything Else from California to New York to Mexico to Brazil to Argentina

VII. The Americas

• Each year more and more Native American Languages are dying out with no speakers left: Since 1965 . . .– Tillamook, Wiyot, Algonquian, Huron, Chumash,

Salinan, Chinook, Natchez, Tonkawa have died.

• Languages with fewer than 50 speakers:– Abnaki-Penobscot, varieties of Apache, Coeur

d’Alene, Squamish, Cupeno, Miwok, Yokuts, Pmo, Shasta, Tuscarora

VIII. Pidgin and Creole• Pidgin

– Members of the subordinate (colonized) area create a simplified variety of the dominant language

– Used in very limited situations (work, business)• Bamboo, China Coast, Cameroon

– Many based on English and French

• Creole– Today, most pidgins give way to Creole

– Used in many contexts

– More complex and developed over generations• Louisiana, Jamaican, Caribbean

And the totals are . . .

• 1. Indo-European--2 Bill (Europe)

• 2. Sino Tibetan--1,040 Bill (Asia)

• 3. Niger-Congo--260 Mill (Africa)

• 4. Altaic--250 Mill (Asia)

• 5. Austonesian--250 Mill (Asian Pacific)

• 6. Afroasiatic--230 Mill (N. Af & M. East)

• 7. Dravidian--140 Mill (Asia)

• 8. Austro-Asiatic--60 Mill (Asia)

Nostratoc Super Family• Researchers from Russia and US have found a Super

Family of 10,000 BC

• It gave birth to the Indo-European, Afroasiatic, Uralic, Altaic, Dravidian, and Eskimos Aleut families

• This being the case, English, Hebrew, Arabic, Finnish, Korean, Turkish, and Eskimo would all be cousins

• But this is still highly contested