dialect
a regional variety of a language distinguished by vocabulary, spelling, and pronunciation -form of language spoken in a local area
extinct language
a language that was once used by people in daily activities but is no longer used
ideograms
the system of writing used in China and other East Asian countries in which each symbol represents an idea or a concept rather than a specific sound, as is the case with letters in English -what the Chinese language is written in
isogloss
a boundary that separates regions in which different language usages predominate
isolated language
a language that is unrelated to any other languages and therefore not attached to any language family
language branch
a collection of languages related through a common ancestor that existed several thousand years ago. Differences are not as extensive or as old as with language families, and archaeological evidence can confirm that the branches derived from the same family
language
a system of communication through the use of speech, a collection of sounds understood by a group of people to have the same meaning
language group
a collection of languages within a branch that share a common origin in the relatively recent past and display relatively few differences in grammar and vocabulary
language family
a collection of languages related to each other through a common ancestor long before recorded history
lingua franca
a language mutually understood and commonly used in trade by people who have different native languages
literary tradition
a language that is written as well as spoken
official language
the language adopted for use by the government for the conduct of business and publication of documents
pidgin language
a form of speech that adopts a simplified grammar and limited vocabulary of a lingua franca, used for communications among speakers of two different languages
standard language
the form of a language used for official government business, education, and mass communications
toponym
the name given to a portion of Earth's surface
language branch
a group of languages that share a common origin but have since evolved into individual languages
language family
a group of languages that share a common ancestor before recorded history
Sino-Tibetan
the second largest language family (Indo-European is the first largest)
when languages are shown as leaves on trees, the trunks represent
language families
Germanic invaders of England included the
Angles, Jutes, and Saxons -did not include the Normans
the first speakers of the language that evolved into English were tribes living in
Denmark
English is part of which language group?
West Germanic
English is part of which language branch?
Germanic
English is part of which language family?
Indo-European
Icelandic has changed less than any other Germanic language because
it was isolated
which is not a Romance language?
Bulgarian - all Romance languages descended from Latin - the four most important are: Spanish, Portuguese, French, Italian
Vulgar Latin
the language spoken by Roman soldiers stationed throughout Europe -aka common Latin
a creole language
is a mix of indigenous and colonial languages
Walloons and Flemings
live in Belgium -speak languages belonging to different branches
official languages in Switzerland include
German, French, Italian, Romansh -does not include Flemish
Urdu
most important language of Pakistan
Russia is part of which language branch?
Baltic-Slavic
recent evidence points to the first speakers of Indo-European language as being
ancient Kurgans
Basque is spoken primarily in
the Pyrenees Mountains (northern Spain, southwestern France)
Mandarin
is the language spoken by the greatest number of people in the world
Hebrew is an example of
a revived language
Uralic
the second most widely spoken language family in Europe
Niger-Congo
the most important language family in Sub-Saharan Africa
immigrants to which colonies had the most diverse backgrounds?
Mid-Atlantic colonies
Franglais
the use of English in the French language
the world's most important language branches:
Northwest - Germanic Southwest - Romance Eastern - Baltic-Slavic (??)
what is the official language in northern Belgium?
Flemish / Dutch
what is the official language in southern Belgium?
French
what is the most important language family in South America?
Ind-European
what is the most important language branch in South America?
Romance
what are the most important individual languages in South America?
Spanish and Portuguese
Celtic languages
family: Indo-European branch: Celtic two groups: Brittanic and Gaulish
languages in the Brittanic group
Welsh (Wales) Cornish (Cornwall - southwest England) Breton (Bretagne - northwest France)
languages in the Gaulish group
Scottish Gaelic (Scotland) Irish Gaelic (Ireland) Max (Isle of Man - between Scotland and Ireland)
historically, Celtic languages have been threatened by
invasions by the Romans, Vikings, Normans, Saxons, Jutes, and Angles who forced their own languages on those already there
today, Celtic languages are threatened by
English, which is the language of commerce -further from cities (on the edges of the countries) is most where Celtic languages are spoken
people are attempting to preserve Celtic languages through
isolation of the language (??)
people are attempting to promote Celtic languages by
teaching it in schools, using it on road signs, and broadcasting sports games in it