Chapter 5, Key Issue #2
Why is English Related to Other Languages?
pp. 143-151
Name: ___________________________
___________________________________________________________________________
1. English is part of the __________________________ language family.
2. A language family is a collection of languages related through a common ancestral language…
____________________________________________________________________.
3. How is a language branch different from a language family? ( TWO answers)
4. The Indo –European language family is divided into _________ branches. List the FOUR brances
that are the most spoken AND where they are spoken:
5. What are the four less common Indo-European languages?
6. List the TWO traits of a language group:
7. Give TWO reasons why English and German are in the same language group:
8. Look at Figure 5-10.
The Germanic branch can be divided into North Germanic and West Germanic languages; list them:
NORTH GERMANIC
WEST GERMANIC:
9. The branch of the Indo-European language family with the most speakers is: INDO-IRANIAN
Indo Iranian is divided into two branches:
-
10. Languages in India belong to the ________________ group of the Indo-Iranian Branch.
How many languages are spoken in India?______________
11. What was the official language in India? ______________
12. In 1947, what became the second official language in India? ________________________
13. The only official way to write Hindi is______________________
14. Although Hindi is spoken in many different ways, there is only one way to write it. Why?
15. In the Iranian Brach of the Indo –Iranian group, list the THREE major languages and where they are
spoken:
All of these languages are written in _____________.
16. Another Indo-European language branch is the Balto- Slavic. At one time Slavic was a single
language—what caused it to split into four groups?
17.List the FOUR Balto- Slavic groups. Circle the one with the most speakers:
A.
B.
C.
D.
18.Russia is one of the six official languages of the :__________________________.
19. How did the USSR try to foster cultural unity?
20. Name the two other important EAST SLAVIC languages:_________________________________
21. WEST SLAVIC languages:
Which is the most spoken? ______________ ..followed by ___________________
22. ROMANCE BRANCH:
Evolved from :_______________________________________________________
Name the FOUR most widely spoken Romantic Languages. Circle the TWO that are official
languages of the UN.
A
B.
C.
D.
What is the fifth most important Romantic language and where is it spoken?
How many people speak Romansh? __________ Where is it spoken? ________________
What is the official language of Andorra? _________________ ( That one’s for Angelyn)
What is Ladino?_____________________
Who speaks Ladino and where do they live? ________________________________________
23. What is the origin of the Romance Languages? _____________________________
How was Latin diffused? ______________________________________
24. Vulgar Latin:
25. What affect did the fall of the Roman Empire have on Latin?
26. Why did the dialect Francien become the official standard form of French?
27. ____% of Spanish and Portuguese speakers do NOT live in Spain or Portugal. Explain.
28. ___________________ is spoken in Brazil. Explain why all the other South American nations speak
Spanish.
29. How is the Spanish language standardized?
30. Why are people in Portugal angry at the standardization of Portuguese?
31. True or False? It is easy to distinguish between a distinct language and what is a dialect._______
32. What is a CREOLE language?
33. What do scientists call the ancient language of Indo-European family branch?_________________
Why can’t this be proven?
34. All Indo-European languages have these words in common:
35. Because Indo European languages have common roots for winter and snow, but NOT for ocean,
what conclusion can be drawn?
36. Scientists argue over the origin and diffusion of the Proto-Indo-European language. Describe the
ORIGIN and the DIFFUSION of these two theses:
NOMADIC WARRIOR:
Theorist:
Origin:
Diffusion:
SEDENTARY FARMER:
Theorist:
Origin:
Diffusion: