3. WHY DO PEOPLE PRESERVE LOCAL
LANGUAGES?
Language displays the two competing geographic
trends of globalization and local diversity
Thousands of languages are extinct languages
Extinct language: a language that was once used
by people in daily activities but is no longer used
Example: Gothic spoken in Northern Europe,
extinct because the descendants converted to other
languages through integration
4. HEBREW: REVIVING EXTINCT
LANGUAGES
Hebrew is a rare example of a once extinct
language that has been revived
It was used to write the Old Testament of the Bible
After the fourth century B.C. it was only used for
Jewish religious services
It became one of Israel’s official languages in 1948
Because Israel was home to many refugees of
different countries who spoke many languages and
Hebrew was still used for Jewish prayers, no other
language could unify the country
5. CELTIC: PRESERVING ENDANGERED
LANGUAGES
Was spoken in Germany, France, Northern Italy,
and British Isles
Major language in the British Isles before the
Germanic Angles invaded
The Celtic Branch is divided into Gaelic and
Brythonic
Most Celtic languages declined whenever they lost
their territory to speakers of other languages
Irish Gaelic and Scottish Gaelic are still spoken
today
People are preserving the Celtic language through
bands and being offered as courses in school
6. CELTIC LANGUAGE ON ROAD SIGNS
See figure on page 173
Road signs written in both English and Gaelic
Demonstrates how it is still around/ part of daily life
7. MULTILINGUAL STATES
Multilingual: able to speak/ understand several
languages, expressed in many languages
Monolingual: able to speak/ understand one
language, expressed in only one language
Multilingual States can cause conflict, but not
always
Difficulties usually arise at the boundary of the two
languages
8. BELGIUM DIVIDED
See figure 5-16 on page 174
Belgium is divided into the Flemings in the North
that speak Flemish, and the Walloons in the South
that speak French
Belgium had difficulty making a precise boundary
between the two
A mayor of town in Flanders refused to speak
Flemish, which is required by national law
After refusing to be tested on Dutch, he was
removed from the office
9. PEACEFUL SWITZERLAND
See figure 5-17 on page 17
Switzerland peacefully exists with multiple
languages
Four official national languages, including German,
French, Italian, Romansh
The key is a very decentralized government, in
which local authorities hold most of the power
10. ISOLATED LANGUAGES
Isolated language: a language unrelated to any
other and therefore not attached to any language
family
Isolation usually results in the differentiation of
language into two
Similarities and differences between language are
a measure of the degree of interaction among
groups of people
Results in a lack of linguistic diversity
Linguistic diversity: consisting of many different
languages
11. BASQUE
The best example of an isolated language in
Europe is Basque
Basque is spoken by one million people in the
Pyrenees Mountains of northern Spain and
southwestern France
Their lack of connection to other language reflects
on how isolated the people are in their
mountainous region
12. ICELANDIC
Unlike Basque, Icelandic is related to other
languages in the Germanic branch
Icelandic has changed less than any other in the
Germanic branch due to its relative isolation from
other places
When people migrate, they take along their
language
The isolated people of Iceland had no interaction
with immigrants
They have less opportunity to learn new words and
had no reason to make changes to their language
13. GLOBAL DOMINANCE OF ENGLISH
English is an example of a lingua franca
Lingua franca: a language of international
communication such as English mutually understood
by people with different native languages
Trade language: to facilitate trade, speakers of two
different languages mix elements of languages to
form a common one
Pidgin language: a form of speech that adopts a
simplified grammar and limited vocab of a lingua
franca used for communications among speakers of
different languages
14. IMPORTANCE OF ENGLISH
The rapid growth in the importance of English is
reflected in how many students learn English as a
second language
70% of Europeans aged 18-24 speak English
Japan is considering adding English as an official
language
Students around the world want to learn in English
because they believe it to be the most effective way
to work in a global economy/ participate in a global
culture
15. EXPANSION DIFFUSION OF ENGLISH
Expansion diffusion has occurred in two ways with
English
#1: English is changing through diffusion of new
vocabulary, #2: English words are fusing into other
languages
Recent changes in English result from common
usage and ethnic dialects
In the twentieth century, many African Americans
migrated from the south to the north
They preserved their distinctive dialect, coined
Ebonics
Ebonics: a combination of ebony and phonics
16. DIFFUSION TO OTHER LANGUAGES
See Figure 5-18 on page 179
English words have become increasingly integrated
into other languages through elements of pop culture
Many French people are upset that English words
have diffused into French because it ruins the
language’s purity
Franglais: the use of English in the French language
English is diffusing into the Spanish language by 28
million Hispanics in the US
Spanglish: the use of English in the Spanish
language
17. REVIEW QUESTIONS
What is the difference between and extinct
language and an isolated language?
How has Hebrew been revived?
Why has Icelandic changed less than any other in
the Germanic branch?
Do multilingual states always cause conflict? Why/
why not?
Why do so many students in foreign countries want
to learn English?
How has English been diffused?
