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European Languages

Indo-European Language

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Q: What do you call a person who speaks multiple languages?

A: A polyglots

Q: What do you call a person who speaks two languages?

A: Bilingual

Q: What do you call a person who speaks only one language?

A: American

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  • Why do so few Americans know more than one language?

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Geography of Language

  • Language is the most important way culture is transmitted (passed along)
  • Language can shape the attitudes, understandings, and the responses of the society to which it belongs.
  • There are literally thousands of languages that are spoken throughout world
  • Language is a mark of cultural diversity and identity that helps distinguish social groups.

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Language Family

  • A language family is collection of languages related through a common ancestor long before recorded history
  • Indo-European is the worlds most extensively spoken language with 3 billion speaking an Indo-European language.

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Origin and Diffusion of Indo-European Languages

  • Origin of the Indo-European Language
    • It can not be proven that there was a single ancestor to the Indo-European language family but there is evidence that a Proto-Indo-European language did exist.
    • Evidence is found in similar words in different languages such as oak, bear, deer, and pheasant and other words that could have been a part of daily life.
    • Indo-European languages share similar words for winter and snow, but not for ocean. Linguists believe that the Proto-Indo-European language came from a cold climate that did not have contact with the ocean.

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Diffusion of the Indo-European language

  • There are two theories about the diffusion of the language.
  • First is called the Kurgan Theory (Nomadic Warrior Thesis)
    • Named after the Kurgan people who lived in 4300 B.C. they came from the steppes near the boarder of Russia and Kazakhstan.
    • They were nomads who domesticated the horse and cattle and moved west in search of grasslands.
    • They used the horse as a weapon to conquer Southwest Asia and the Balkan peninsula.

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Kurgan Theory of Indo-European Origin

Fig. 5-9: In the Kurgan theory, Proto-Indo-European diffused from the Kurgan hearth north of the Caspian Sea, beginning about 7,000 years ago.

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  • The second is called the Renfrew Theory (Sedentary Farmer Thesis) is that it diffused from Anatolia westward to Greece.
    • This idea believes the language spread by agricultural practices through Greece, Italy, and Turkey up into central and western Europe
  • We are not sure which is correct but both theories have valid points. One spread by military means, the other through contact of better agricultural practices.

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Anatolian Hearth Theory of Indo-European Origin

Fig. 5-10: In the Anatolian hearth theory, Indo-European originated in Turkey before the Kurgans and diffused through agricultural expansion.

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Why are there so many Languages in Europe?

  • Different languages are created by two main ways
    • Migration
    • Isolation

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Language Branch

  • A language branch is a group of languages within a family that have similar ancestors several thousand years ago.
  • Within the Indo-European languages there are 8 main branches

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Indo-European Languages in Europe

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Balto-Slavic Branch

  • East Slavic languages include Russian, Ukrainian and Belarusian.
  • Russian increased in importance with the rise of the Soviet Union.
  • West and South Slavic groups include Polish, Czech, and Slovak in the West, and Serbo-Croatian and Bulgarian in the South.

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Romance Branch

  • Evolved from the Latin language spoken by Romans 2,000 years ago.
  • Spanish, Portuguese, French, and Italian are the four main romance languages
  • Romanian is the 5th important romance language
  • Other Romance languages include Romansh of Switzerland, Catalan of Andorra, and Sardinian from the Island of Sardinia.

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Romance Branch of Indo-European

Fig. 5-8: The Romance branch includes three of the world’s 12 most widely spoken languages (Spanish, French, and Portuguese), as well as a number of smaller languages and dialects.

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Germanic Branch�

    • English is a Germanic language because of the Germanic tribes that invaded England 1500 years ago.
    • English and German are both part of the West Germanic group because they are structurally similar and have many words in common
    • German spoken today is High German because it comes from the southern German highlands.
    • English comes from Low German which was spoken in the northern parts of Germany. Dutch, Afrikaans, and Northern German dialects are Low German
    • Germanic also included the Scandinavian languages of Swedish, Danish, Norwegian and Icelandic, which all come from Old Norse.

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Germanic Branch of Indo-European

Fig. 5-6: The Germanic branch today is divided into North and West Germanic groups. English is in the West Germanic group.

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Origin of English

  • Celts inhabited British Isles until mainland tribes invaded.
  • German Invasion
    • Angles, Saxons, and Jutes (Germanic Tribes)
  • Norman Invasion
      • English is very different from German because of the Normans (French-speaking)
  • Simpler words are from Germanic roots
  • Fancy words are from French

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Invasions of England�5th–11th centuries

Fig. 5-2: The groups that brought what became English to England included Jutes, Angles, Saxons, and Vikings. The Normans later brought French vocabulary to English.

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Global Dominance of English

  • Lingua Franca: A language of international communication.
    • English
    • Swahili
    • Hindi
    • Indonesian
    • Russian
  • Pidgin language: Simplified form of a lingua franca It has no native speakers as is always a second language.

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Diffusion of English

  • English colonies
    • North America
    • Ireland
    • South Asia (India)
    • South Pacific
    • South Africa
    • Philippines (U.S. colony)
  • Initially spread through Colonization or Imerialism
  • Today it spreads through enlish dominance of media (e.g. entertainment, news, internet, social media)

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English Speaking Countries

Fig. 5-1: English is the official language in 42 countries, including some in which it is not the most widely spoken language. It is also used and understood in many others.

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More English

  • English is taught to 83 % of High school students in EU countries, and more than 90% in some.
  • 200 million speak English fluently as a second language and Millions more have a working knowledge of it.
  • Japan has even considered making it a second official language.

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Expansion Diffusion of English

  • English originally spread through migration and conquest… today it spreads through expansion diffusion
  • Franglais: combination of French and English languages
  • Spanglish: combination of Spanish and English languages
  • Denglish: combination of German and English languages
  • All mark the diffusion of English vocabulary into another language

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Preserving Language Diversity

  • Extinct languages were once used but are no longer in use.
  • Gothic was spoken in Northern and Eastern Europe in third century A.D. but it and it’s entire language group are gone.
  • Languages die through integration, when other stronger cultures take over through politics or cultural preference.
  • Battle between globalization and local diversity

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Multi Lingual States

  • Belgium is divided between the French speaking Walloons in the South and the Flemish (Dutch) in the north.
  • Historically the French speakers were wealthier and ran politics. From pressure from the Flemish they divide the country into two regions. Each ran independently.
  • Mayor of Voeren (Fouroms) caused prime minister to resign when he refused to speak Dutch in Flanders.
  • Today many amendments have been added to the constitution to give each region more autonomy (self rule)

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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.

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Switzerland

  • Switzerland peacefully exists with several languages including German, French, Italian, and Romansh

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Language Areas in Switzerland

Fig. 5-17: Switzerland remains peaceful with four official languages and a decentralized government structure.

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Preservation Cont…

  • Some Languages are being preserved. European Bureau of Lesser Used Languages try and preserve mainly languages of the Celtic branch of Indo-European languages
  • Linguists (people who study languages) predict that hundreds of languages will die in the 21st century.
  • There may only be 300 that are safe from extinction.

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Celtic: Preserving Endangered Languages

  • Celtic was the major language of the British Isles before Germanic invasions.
  • 2,000 years ago Celtic was spoken in Germany, France and northern Italy as well as the UK.
  • Today it only survives in Scotland, Wales, Ireland and Brittany France.

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Revival of Celtic Language

  • Welsh has made a comeback because of the efforts of the Welsh Language Society and Welsh being taught in schools
  • Irish Gaelic also has grown with the help of the younger Irish. It is also taught, and it is being used in pop culture more and more. Even an Irish Gaelic T.V. station started broadcasting in 1996
  • A couple hundred people have even revived Cornish (a Brythonic language) but they fight over how to spell things.