Language Study Guide

Language Study Guide Part 1: Questions:
After completing this study guide and saving it, copy and paste your answers to the Language Study Guide Quiz (only AFTER you have also completed Part 2!)

1. What is Geo-Linguistics? Geo-Linguistics is the study of how languages spread.
2. How did Jones and Grimm link many language branches to the theoretical (Proto) Indo-European Language family? Jones studied ancient Sanskrit of India and discovered links between Sanskrit, Latin and Greek by backwards reconstruction. Grimm looked for common consonants and sounds between other different languages also by backwards reconstruction, and with these two works of Jones and Grimm, it led to the theoretical (Proto) Indo-European Language family.
3. What are language divergence, convergence and replacement? Language divergence means that languages divert from a common root. Language convergence is when languages make contact with other languages and forms a new language. Language replacement is when a more powerful group comes into an area and forces the natives to convert to there language.
4. Why are there so many distinct languages in Africa? There are so many distinct languages in Africa because of more isolation. The more isolated you are, you are most likely to have your own language.
5. What happens the farther you get from the center of a language's cultural hearth? The farther you get from the center of a language’s cultural hearth, the more changes there are to the original language.
6. Where was Anatolia and what is the Anatolian Theory for Language diffusion. Anatolia is in modern day Turkey. The Anatolian Theory for Language diffusion states that from the Anatolian hearth the Anatolians moved east and west and they spread their language.
7. What is the Renfrew Hypothesis and how does it differ from the Anatolian or Kurgan theories? The Renfrew Hypothesis states that languages go back even further to the Fertile Crescent; whereas, the Anatolian theory says that languages came from the Anatolian hearth and the Kurgan theory says that languages came from the Kurgan hearth and diffused from there.
8. How might languages have diffused from Eurasia to North America? Languages might have diffused from Eurasia to North America through the Bering Land Bridge by walking from Siberia to Alaska then diffused through the rest of North America.
9. Is the Greenberg Hypothesis widely accepted? The Greenberg Hypothesis was not widely accepted because it was very controversial with no backward reconstruction.
10. Language Study Guide Part 2: Questions

List two key facts from each slide and post your answers to #2 on the Language Study Guide Quiz. (You can skip the introductory slide – YOU SHOULD HAVE 20 KEY FACTS IN TOTAL.)
1. The cultural composition in the United States has changed over time.
2. The largest minority in the United States is the Hispanic race, and the Hispanic race is on the rise with Spanish possibly becoming an “official” second language.
3. English has become the international communication standard.
4. Neocolonialism is when western European countries diffused into other countries and spread their culture as they dominated those countries economically.
5. Lingua Franca is language met by two other languages that combined to make one unifying common language.
6. The Esperanto experiment was an attempt to make one universal language so it can be used by everyone and it was meant to create a new language.
7. Pidgin language is a simple common language that merges a native language with a colonial language for simplicity amongst habitual activities.
8. A creole starts out as a pidgin then evolves into its own language due to separation of the mother land; Louisiana Creole is a mix of English and France.
9. Places that are culturally distinct or isolated are more common to be monolingual states.
10. Places that have many cultures are usually multilingual states.
11. Switzerland has four official languages which consist of French, German, Italian, and Romansh.
12. The Andean cultures have isolated places where because of isolation, it brings cultural distinctiveness.
13. Canada is multilingual; Quebec’s official language is French, but there are many English speakers there too.
14. Quebec almost seceded from Canada because of the language barriers, and because of that the government enacted and said that all signs in Quebec will be French.
15. Belgium has two regionalized official languages, in the north they would speak Flemish and in the south they would speak French.
16. Brussels is officially bilingual, but the majority of the inhabitants speak French.
17. Africa has many different languages because of isolation which gives cultural distinctiveness.
18. Nigeria’s official language is English, but they have 39 different languages spoken.
19. Official languages enhance internal communication and interaction.
20. The United States has no official language.