Ch. 5: Language
Name: _____________________________________
Introduction & Case Study (p. 144-147)
1. Approximately how many languages are spoken in the world today? What 10 are spoken by 100
million people or more?
2. What is an official language? What might be a challenge for a country that has more than one official
language?
3. How has language typically diffused?
4. Why do people try to preserve local diversity of languages in the face of English globalization?
5. How do isolation and interaction play a role in language?
6. Case Study: Why do many French speakers in Canada and Spanish speakers in the U.S. see it important
to continue speaking their native language while also learning English?
Key Issue #1: Where Are English Language Speakers Distributed? (p. 147-153)
7. Describe the distribution of English worldwide.
8. Why has English diffused to North America, Ireland, Australia, New Zealand, and parts of Africa? Why
did English also diffuse to the Philippines?
9. What ethnic groups influenced the development of the English language in the British Isles?
10. What is a dialect? Which dialect is considered the standard language of English in Great Britain?
11. How do the dialects of English differ by region in England?
12. Why do British and American English differ in vocabulary? Give examples.
13. Why do British and American English differ in spelling? Give examples.
14. Why do British and American English differ in pronunciation? Give examples.
15. How do the dialects of American English differ on the East Coast by region? Why is this the case?
16. How do the dialects of American English differ across the entire U.S. by region? Why is this the case?
Key Issue #2: Why Is English Related to Other Languages? (p. 153-160)
17. To what language family does English belong? What are the 8 languages branches of this family?
18. Complete the chart by listing the languages of each group or subgroup:
West Germanic group
Germanic Branch
North Germanic group
High Germanic subgroup
Low Germanic subgroup
1.
1.
2.
1.
East Germanic group
(p. 168)
1.
2.
3.
3.
4.
4.
5.
5.
**This entire group is
now extinct**
19. What Indo-European branch has the most speakers? What 2 groups can it be divided into?
20. Where can the Indic group of the Indo-Iranian branch be found? Name the major language spoken in
each of these 3 countries.
21. How are Hindi and Urdu similar and different? Why is this the case?
22. What 4 language families are present in India? How many official languages does India recognize?
23. Complete the chart:
Language
Persian (Farsi)
Iranian (Western) Group of the Indo-Iranian Branch
Country or Countries
Afghanistan & part of Pakistan
Kurdish
Alphabet
24. Complete the chart:
East Slavic group
Balto-Slavic Branch
Baltic group
West Slavic group
1.
1. Latvian
1.
2.
2. Lithuanian
2.
3.
**All use the Cyrillic
alphabet**
3.
**All use the Roman
alphabet**
**All use the Roman
alphabet**
South Slavic group
Use the Roman alphabet:
1.
2.
Uses the Cyrillic alphabet:
3.
25. How did the fall of communism affect the former countries of Czechoslovakia and Yugoslavia?
26. How might the conflict and religious differences in Serbia, Bosnia, and Croatia affect the languages
spoken there?
27. What are the 5 most important Romance languages? From what language did they all evolve?
28. How did the Roman Empire encourage the use of Latin in its provinces? How did the fall of the Empire
contribute to the different languages that developed?
29. What is the dominant dialect of French? What is the dominant dialect of Spanish? Why did each of
these become dominant?
30. How did French, Spanish, and Portuguese diffuse throughout the world? Where are they now also
found?
31. What is a creolized language? Why and where have they developed?
32. What can be concluded from the fact that all Indo-European languages have similar words for “winter”
and “snow” but not for “ocean?”
33. Compare and contrast Marija Gimbutas’ Kurgan hypothesis with Colin Renfrow’s hypothesis of the first
Indo-European speakers.
Key Issue #3: Where Are Other Language Families Distributed? (p. 161-167)
34. Name the 8 largest language families in order, beginning with the largest.
35. Complete the chart:
Sinitic branch
Languages
Countries
Sino-Tibetan Family
Austro-Thai branch
Languages
Countries
Tibetan-Burman branch
Languages
Countries
36. How are the structure and writing of Chinese languages different than English?
37. What 3 other language families are found in East & Southeast Asia? In what countries are each found?
38. What languages are found in the Afro-Asiatic family? Why are these languages important?
39. List some important Altaic languages and the countries where they are found.
40. How did the USSR (Soviet Union) treat Altaic speakers? What problems still exist in Altaic-speaking
regions?
41. What are the 3 major Uralic languages and where are they found?
42. Complete chart:
Niger-Congo family
Languages Regions
Nilo-Saharan family
Languages Regions
Khoisan family
Languages Regions
43. Why is the study of languages in Africa a difficult task?
Austronesian family
Languages Regions
44. How did Swahili develop? Why is it one of the few African languages with a literary tradition?
45. How has language diversity in Nigeria led to conflict?
Key Issue #4: Why Do People Preserve Local Languages? (p. 167-177)
46. What has happened to many of the indigenous languages of Peru? Why might this be the case?
47. How does the European Union seek to preserve minority languages?
48. How and why was Hebrew revived from extinction?
49. What Celtic languages still survive in the British Isles?
50. How has Britain helped to revive Welsh and Cornish? How has Irish Gaelic expanded as a language in
recent years?
51. Describe the language distribution in Belgium. How has this led to conflict?
52. Describe the language distribution in Switzerland. How has Switzerland avoided conflict?
53. Describe the location of the isolated Basque language.
54. Why has Icelandic changed very little over time?
55. What is a lingua franca? How does English qualify as the dominant lingua franca in the world today?
56. How has modern English changed through ethnic dialects within the U.S.?
57. Why is the use of English and franglais controversial in France & Quebec?
58. Global Forces, Local Impacts: How have Australia and New Zealand differed in language policies toward
their indigenous peoples?
59. How have Spanglish and Denglish evolved?
60. Case Study Revisited: How has Quebec addressed its language debate? How has the U.S. addressed the
growing number of Spanish speakers?