Name: Ms. Western Key AP Human Geography Questions on Language Culture Unit- Language 18 PTS Language Ch. 5, beginning on page 134, Rubenstein, 10 th ed. 1. Look at the leaves of the language family tree on pages 154 155. List the five most widely spoken languages. a. Mandarin 845 million b. Hindi 356 million c. English 328 million d. Spanish 329 million e. Arabic 224 million 2. How has language been a unifying force in China? The relatively small number of languages in China compared to India, for example, is a source of national strength and unity. Unity is also fostered by a consistent written form for all Chinese languages. Although the words are pronounces differently in each language, they are written in the same way. 3. Definition of and example of Ideogram Ideograms represent ideas or concepts, not specific pronunciations. Example: Big- Heaven- above the biggest person. 4. How has the Afro-Asiatic language family s significance transcended its number of speakers? The significance has gone beyond the number of speakers because of its usage in prominent religious texts. 5. Where are Altaic languages spoken? What problems with links to language exist in this region? These languages were thought to have originated in the steppes bordering the Qilian Shan and Altai mountains between Tibet and China. Present distribution covers an 8000 kilometer stretch through China.
6. What factors contribute to the great number of languages spoken in Africa? This great number of languages results from at least 5,000 years of minimal interaction between among thousands of cultural groups inhabiting the African continent. Each group developed its own language, religion, and other cultural traditions in isolation from other groups. 7. What is unique about Swahili? It is the first language of only 800,000 people but it spoken by more than 30 million Africans. It serves as a strong lingua franca in East Africa. 8. Define and give THREE examples of minority languages. How do groups hold to these languages when all about them is globalizing? a. Irish Gaelic i. Republic of Ireland has it as one of two official languages b. Scottish Gaelic i. An extensive body of literature exists in Gaelic languages including Auld Lang Syne c. Brythonic (Welsh) i. In some isolated communities up to 2/3s of the population still speak Welsh d. Cornish i. Dolly Pentreath (last known native speaker) had the famous last words (translated) I will not speak English you ugly, black toad! e. Breton i. Isolated peninsula but because of its proximity to France it has more French words than the other Celtic languages. 9. What does the language of Madagascar lead us to believe about its people? The people of Madagascar speak Malagasy which belongs to the Austronesian family. This is unique because Madagascar is 3,000 km away from any other country speaking languages from the Austronesian family. The evidence suggests a historical migration caused Malagasy to be spoken in Madagascar. Historians believe that this migration was from Indonesia to Madagascar and took place about 2,000 years ago.
10. What lessons can be learned from the geography of Nigeria s languages? The lessons that can be learned from the geography of Nigeria s languages are that problems can arise when great cultural diversity (and with that, language diversity) exists within a relatively small region. Another lesson is that a lingua franca is sometimes necessary within the borders of a single country and that it does not only need to be applied with an international example. 11. What is an example of an extinct language that has been revived? An example of an extinct language that has been revived is Hebrew. Elizier Ben-Yahuda added a significant amount of vocabulary to the language that helped in restoring its place as a primary language spoken in everyday life. 12. What are TWO examples of European states that are considered Multilingual? Why are they considered under this distinction? A. Belgium- Language Magnifies Differences a. Northern Belgians i. Flemings who speak Flemish which is a dialect of Dutch b. Southern Belgians i. Walloons who speak French c. Problems i. The differences in language have only magnified differences in other cultural aspects and political and economic policies ii. Divided into two autonomous regions Wallonia and Flanders. iii. Signs for roadways and public transportation systems show stark differences if one is traveling from one region to another iv. Both regions are in pursuit of more power/ authority. B. Switzerland Peace and Harmony a. Languages spoken in Switzerland are German, French, Italian, and Romanish. b. Because of a decentralized governments groups are able to practice linguistic freedom and live in relative harmony.
13. An example of an isolated language in Europe? Why is its origin particularly significant? Basque is an example of an isolated language in Europe. Its origin is significant because it survived from a period of time before the arrival of Indo- European languages. Today it is still spoken by people in the Pyrenees Mountains in northern Spain and south-western France. The lack of expansion of the language and the fact that it cannot be directly linked to other languages within the Indo-European family reflects the isolation of their mountainous homeland. 14. Why is Icelandic particularly significant as a language? Icelandic is significant as a language because while it is related to the Germanic branch it has changed less than any of the other languages. Because of its geographic location, Iceland had very little interaction with people who spoke other languages. As such the vocabulary was not changed, new words were not added, spelling and structure remained consistent and the language remained relatively unchanged. 15. Page 162 - Where does the term lingua franca originate from? Give TWO examples of a Lingua Franca other than English. Lingua Franca derives from the Middle Ages. Arab traders use lingua franca to describe the language of the Franks which was what they called Europeans. This was the language they would use to facilitate trade. Lingua Francas today Swahili Hindi Indonesian Russian East Africa South Asia Southeast Asia Former Soviet Union 16. Page 162 Why does a Pidgin language have NO native speakers? A Pidgin Language is spoken in addition to one s own language. It is a lingua franca in simplified form. 17. Page 163 What TWO conclusions can be made from the global distribution of Internet usage?
A. The United States a head start on English-Internet dominance because of the United States playing such a large role in the creation of the Internet. B. Many large web servers still favor English as some still do not accept accent marks and characters unique to certain languages. C. Whereas English was the dominant language of the Internet at its inception, the gap is now closing as languages such as Chinese, Spanish and French are climbing in languages of online speakers. 18. Page: Give an example of how English has diffused into other languages such as Japanese and German (Denglish). a. German- Denglish- use of Happy Birthday! rather than Herzlichen Gluuuckwunsch zum Geburtstag! b. Spanish- Spanglish/ Cubonics in Miami a richer integration of English words into the Spanish language than a mere borrowing of English words c. France- Franglais words such as cowboy, t-shirt, hamburger, and jeans have been added to the vocabulary. Also, the French Academy has attempted to promote the usage of new French terms instead of adopted English terms. d. Japanese- beisbol Bonus Points (2) What were the first six official languages of the United Nations? At first it was five, but then Arabic was added making it six. 1. Arabic 2. French 3. Mandarin 4. Russian 5. Spanish 6. English