Key Issue #3Key Issue #3Where are other language families Where are other language families

distributed?distributed?

The Language Tree

Language family

# of langs.

% of world speakers

# of speakers

Indo-European

430 45% 5.9 billion

Sino-Tibetn

399 22% 1.2 billion

Niger-Congo

1,495 6% 358 million

Afro-Asiatic

353 6% 339 million

Austronesian

1,246 5% 311 million

Dravidian 73 4% 221 million

Classification of Languages

Indo- European family

Spoken by 45% of the world

Includes English

Sino-Tibetan family

Spoken by 22% of the world

mainly China

Includes Mandarin

Afro-Asiatic family

Spoken by 6% of the world

Mainly Middle East

Includes Arabic

Austronesian family

Spoken by 5% of the world

Mostly Southeast Asia

Niger-Congo family

Spoken by 6% of the world

Mainly in Africa

Dravidian family

Spoken by 4% of the world

Mainly in India

Altaic family

Spoken by 2% of the world

Mainly in Asia

Austro-Asiatic family

Spoken by 2%

Mainly in Southeast Asia

Japanese

Separate language family, 2% of world

Classification of Languages

Remaining 5% of world’s people speak a language belonging to one of the 100 smaller families

Distribution of Language Families

Sino-Tibetan 2nd largest language family

Spoken by 1/5th the world

Family

Encompasses languages spoken in the People’s Republic of China

And some SE Asia nations

No single Chinese languages

Mandarin most widely spoken

3/4ths of Chinese people

One of the six languages of the United Nations

Chinese government imposing

Strength

Small # of languages a source of national strength and unity

Consistent written form for all languages

Structure Based on 420 one-syllable words

Each sound can mean more than one thing

Writing Collection of thousands of

characters

Most are ideograms

Represents ideas or concepts, not pronunciations

Larger number of characters

Difficult to learn

16% of Chinese population can’t read or write more than a few characters

Distribution of Language Families

East and Southeast Asian Language Families Physical reason for

independent development Clustered on islands or

peninsulas

Austronesian Spoken by 6% of the world

Mostly in Indonesia Thousands of islands = lots of

languages

722 actively used Most widely spoken=

Javanese

Spoken by 85 million people

Also spoken in Madagascar migration

Austro- Asiatic Spoken by 2% of the world

Based in Southeast Asia

Vietnamese most widely spoken Written in Roman alphabet

Devised in 7th century by Roman Catholic Missionaries

Tai Kadai Spoken in Thailand and parts

of China Might have migrated from

Philippines

Distribution of Language Families

Japanese Uses ideograms and two

systems of phonetic symbols

Based off Chinese language

Korean Not written with ideograms Written system called

hankul Each letter represents a

sound (like Western languages)

Over ½ of vocabulary from Chinese words

Distribution of Language Families

Languages of the Middle East and Central Asia

Major language families in the Middle East and Central Asia

Afro-Asiatic Arabic the major language

Official language in 2 dozen countries of the Middle East

200 million + native speakers

The Quran helped spread of language

Family includes Hebrew

Altaic Thought to have originated in

the steppes between Tibet and China Present distribution covers an

8,000 kilometer band of Asia

Turkish most spoken Once written in Arabic letters

1928 Turkish government ordered it written in Roman alphabet

Suppressed during Soviet Union era

Uralic Spoken in Estonia, Finland, and

Hungary

Traced back to common language 7,000 years ago in Ural Mts

Distribution of Language Families

African Language Families No one knows the precise $

of languages spoken in Africa

Over 1,000 languages documented Most do not have a written

tradition

Great # of languages results from at least 5,000 years of minimal interaction

Arabic most widely spoken in North Africa Sub-Saharan Africa is more

complex

Niger- Congo Spoken by 95% of Sub-

Saharan Africa Swahili

1st language for only 800,000

2nd language for 30 million

Developed from interaction among African groups and Arab traders

Nilo-Saharan Spoken in north-central Africa

Has six language branches

Khosian Distinct use of clicking sounds

Hottentot most important language