Language

Pulp Fiction

“You know what they call a…a…a quarter pounder with cheese in Paris? They call it a ‘royale’ with cheese.” “What do they call a Big Mac?” “Well, a Big Mac is a Big Mac, but they call it ‘Le Big Mac’”

•Shows the juxtaposition of 2 opposing forces in our globalized world: globalization of culture & preservation of local & national culture

•Can we have globalization of restaurants, food, music & culture while preserving local languages?

Language is…

a set of sounds & symbols used for communication

Language is also a fundamental element of local & national culture, & shapes our thoughts.

Language & Policies of Forced Assimilation• Assimilation: the

process through which people lose their originally differentiating traits, such as dress, speech particularities, or mannerisms, when they come into contact with another society or culture.

• Australia, Canada, U.S., Russia & New Zealand had policies of forced assimilation in the 20th century, not allowing indigenous peoples to speak their native languages

Benjamin Whorf’s Linguistic Relativity Hypothesis

• The idea that the structure of a language may influence the way individuals think. If a language has no word for a certain concept, then its speakers would not be able to understand this concept

• Whorf’s linguistic relativity hypothesis has been fairly discredited. – Do English speakers who have never heard the German word

Schadenfreude find it difficult to understand the concept of relishing someone else’s misfortune?

– • Has led us to reexamine our common language usage

– Chairman chairperson

Mental Floss Article

What words could we add to the English language? Read: “38 Wonderful Foreign Words We Could Use in

English”

Isogloss Map

boundary lines showing where certain languages or dialects are spoken

Isoglosses

Dialects Variants of a standard

language along regional or ethnic lines

Includes: Vocabulary Syntax (the way

words are put together to form phrases)

Pronunciation Cadence (the rhythm

of speech) Pace of speech

My Fair Lady

"Why Can't the English Learn to Speak?"

How do languages diffuse?

Expansion and Relocation Diffusion

The increased contact among people has led to:

•Formation of new languages to bridge linguistic gaps in trade and commerce

•Spurred language replacement

•Encouraged language extinction

Modern technology, however, has helped preserve & stabilize languages. It also supports institutions that teach languages.

Lingua Franca• A language used as a common means of

communication, especially in trade or business transactions, in an area where several languages are spoken.

• • Can be a single language or a mixture of 2 or more

• Lingua franca during the expansion of Islam? – Arabic

• Lingua franca during the colonial era? – English

• Lingua franca in East Africa? – Swahili

Discussion questionEnglish is diffusing rapidly as a global lingua franca. Identify and discuss as many reasons as possible for the current rate of diffusion of English as a global lingua franca. •Mass media•Business and banking •Internet •Globalization•Travel and tourism

Pidgin• Occurs when people speaking 2 or more languages combine

parts of the languages in a simplified structure & vocabulary.

• Used in a limited way & doesn’t include grammar

• Since they serve a simplistic purpose, they usually die out. If the pidgin is used long enough, it begins to evolve into a more rich language with a more complex structure & richer vocabulary.

Creole language • Over time a pidgin language

may gain native speakers, becoming the first language children learn in the home.

• Creole language is created when:• Children are exposed to a

pidgin language

• They then invent a grammar system with their peers for the pidgin language without an adult model.

What is that you’re looking atWhat is that you’re looking at

Relationship between Pidgin & Creole

Monolingualism & Multilingualism

• Monolingual state: country with only one language spoken

– Only a few monolingual states exist, though no country is truly monolingual. • Examples: Japan, Uruguay,

Venezuela, Iceland, Denmark, Portugal, Poland & Lesotho

• Multilingual state: country with greater than one language spoken

India’s states generally coincide with a major language family or language.

Belgium is a multilingual state. Based on its situation, what do you think are the 3 predominant languages spoken there?

Answer:

Remember that

“situation” is how a place is

relative to other

places.

Dutch, French, and German

Review Questions

Question 1 The most widespread language family on earth is the

a. Sino-Tibetan b. Romancec. Germanic d. Indo-Europeane. Mandarin Chinese

Question 2 People in London, Melbourne, Vancouver, and Mumbai all speak

a. A pidgin language b. Lingua francac. Different dialects d. Official languagese. Different creoles

Review Questions

Question 3 A simple trade language is called a

a. Lingua franca b. Pidgin c. Dialect d. Creole e. Syncretic

Question 4

A geographic boundary within which a particular linguistic feature occurs is called a(n) ____________________

Vocabulary Language Assimilation Whorf’s linguistic

relativity hypothesis Language family Dialect Isogloss Lingua franca Pidgin

Creole Monolingual state Multilingual state