APHuG Name:

Homework - Language Key Issue 1 Hour:

Chapter 5

1.  Read the introduction, starting on page 134. Why do you think Dutch students study more language than Americans?

2.  Read the case study at the top of p. 136. Why do the families that live in countries that speak a dominant language (like English in the case study) continue to teach their children both languages at home?

3.  What makes a language an “official language?” How could you tell that a nation has more than one official language if you were visiting?

4.  How did English become so widely diffused?

5.  What three European peoples (tribes) originally came together to form the English people and English language? (you can use the maps for 5 and 6 too)

6.  From where did these people come?

7.  What two subsequent invasions added additional words to the evolving English language?

8.  Dialects are defined as “regional variations of a language” and are distinguished by three things. List them.

a.

b.

c.

9.  What is an isoglass? Provide an example of an isoglass (it would be ideal if you can think of an example of your own).

10.  Define standard language.

11.  What is the standard form of English? From where did it come (three cities)? How was it diffused throughout Britain?

12.  In a single word, why is American English different from that spoken in England?

13.  In the table below, complete bullet charts of salient and interesting facts regarding each of the following differences between the British and American dialects of English.

Differences between British and American English – include examples
Vocabulary
Spelling
Pronunciation

14.  Three distinct dialect regions are identified in the Eastern U.S. What was the source region of settlers for each?

Region / Source of Settlers
Northern US
Midlands (Tidewater, Chesapeake Bay Area)
Southeastern coastal region

15.  Finish the following two sentences and fill in the blanks:

a.  In most instances, words which are different in various dialects are words which are related to …

b.  Language differences, as exhibited in dialects, tend to be greater in ______than

______because…

16.  People from all three eastern regions migrated into the Midwest, Great Plains, and the Western United States. Why, then, is there a relatively uniform form of English (dialect) spoken across this enormous area? (Hint: a single word will do).


APHuG Name:

Homework - Language Key Issue 2 Hour:

Pfeiffer

17.  What is a language branch? How is it different from a language family?

18.  Germanic branch: Complete this chart from the reading.

19.  Indo-Iranian branch: Make two bullet charts from the reading to identify the significant aspects.

Iranian Group (Western) / Indic Group (Eastern)

20.  Balto-Slavic branch: Answer the questions below.

·  How did Russian become the most important East Slavic language?

·  What is the most important West Slavic language?

·  Describe the controversy between Czech and Slovak languages under Czechoslovakia’s government. What happened?

·  Why are South Slavic languages, which were once very similar to each other, becoming increasingly different today?

4. Romance branch: Answer the questions

a.  From what language did all Romance languages descend?

b.  List the four most important Romance languages:

c.  What is the name for the spoken form of Latin (not the literary form)?

d.  Make a note about each of the following minor Romance languages:

·  Romanian

·  Romansch

·  Catalan

·  Sardinian

·  Ladino

e.  What is Francien?

f.  What are two important dialectical divisions of France today?

g.  What is Castilian?

h.  How many countries in Latin America have Spanish as their official language?

i.  How does Spain maintain control of Spanish?

j.  So when you take a foreign language in high school you are learning the ‘official’ version of the language. After reading all of this, what might be a problem with learning the ‘official’ language?

k.  Why is Portugal upset about the standardization of Portuguese?

l.  Distinguishing individual languages from dialects is difficult. Give some examples of dialects that are viewed as being different enough to merit consideration as separate languages.

m.  Define creolized language and give an example of one.

21.  If Germanic, Romance, Balto-Slavic, and Indo-Iranian languages are all part of the same Indo-European language

family, then they must have descended from a single, common ______language.

This theoretical ancestor can be called ______

6. Why is the existence of this ancestor difficult (impossible) to prove?

7. Contrast the two views of the origin of this language in the table below:

Kurgan Theory (also known as: / Renfrew Hypothesis (also known as:


APHuG Name:

Homework - Language Key Issue 4 Hour:

Pfeiffer

Answer the following questions as you read and take notes on Chapter 5, KI#4

8.  What is an extinct language (define it)?

  1. How does a language become extinct?
  1. What are at least 2 examples of extinct language?
  1. How many language are near extinction at this time? How many languages are “clearly safe” from extinct?

2.  What makes Hebrew very interesting to study today as a language?

3.  Why is it hard to revive extinct languages?

4.  In the section entitled “Celtic: Perserving Endangered Languages” the author discussing ways that Celtic was forced out of people, as well as how it has been promoted. Provide at least one example of each below.

  1. Demotion of Celtic language
  1. Promotion of Celtic language

5.  What is the difference between Flanders and Wallonia in Belgium?

6.  What helps the Swiss to better handle the cultural/language differences in their nation compared to the way those differences are handled in Belgium?

7.  Read the Global Forces, Local Impacts section titled “Language Policy in Australia and New Zealand.”

  1. How did Australia make sure that more Europeans, rather than Asians immigrated to their country?
  1. Describe the different language policies promoted in Australia and New Zealand (in regards to cultural diversity today.
  1. Which nation’s policy do you think is better? Explain.

8.  What is an isolated language?

9.  Why is Basque a unique European language? Where is it spoken now?

10.  How has the isolation of Iceland influenced the Icelandic language?

11.  What is a lingua franca? What is an example of a lingua franca?

12.  What is a pidgin language (be sure to your lingua franca in your definition)?

13.  Why does a pidgin language never have any native speakers?

14.  Besides English, name at least two other lingua franca languages. Be sure to name where they are prevalent too

15.  What is Ebonics? Why wouldn’t Ebonics be considered a pidgin language?

16.  Use Contemporary Geographic Tools “English on the Internet.”

  1. Which language is most used on the Internet?
  1. Why do other countries have to have a suffix like “fr” or “jp” after their websites, but the US does not need a “us” suffix?

17.  What is Franglais? Provide a couple (2+) examples of Franglais terms?

18.  What is Spanglish? Provide a couple (2+) examples of Spanglish terms?

19.  What is Denglish? Provide an example of a Denglish term?