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AP Human Geography Language Flashcards

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586500230Language and Example~A set of sounds and symbols that is used for communication. Examples: English, French, Spanish, Basque*, Swedish0
586500231What are two things languages do for different cultures?~Reflects where a culture has been, what a culture values, and even how people in a culture think, describe, and experience things. ~Helps bind a cultural identity.1
586500232Vocabulary~Words used to describe new experiences, ideas, and feelings.2
586500233Which governments had policies of forced assimilation in the twentieth century?~American ~Canadian ~Australian ~Russian ~New Zealand3
586500234Mutual Intelligibility and Example~Ability of two people to understand each other when speaking. Examples: Spanish and Portuguese, Czech and Slovakian, Spanish and Italian, Finnish and Swedish4
586500236How many languages are in India?~More than 600 languages.5
586500237How many languages are in Africa?~More than 1000 languages.6
586500238Standard Language and Example~A language that is published, widely distributed, and purposefully taught. Example: Quebec and French.7
586500239Dialects and Example~Regional characteristics of a language, most important aspect is vocabulary differences. Examples: American-English and British-English, American-English and Irish-English, American-English and Canadian-English.8
586500240Syntax~The manner in which words are arranged into sentences.9
586500241Cadence~The rhythm of speech.10
586500242Dialect Chains~A set of contiguous dialects in which the dialects nearest to each other at any place in the chain are most closely related.11
586500243What can reveal the source area of a dialect?~A single word or group of words can reveal the source area of the dialect.12
586500244Isogloss~A geographic boundary within which a particular linguistic feature occurs.13
586500245What do fuzzy isoglosses signify?~Fuzzy isoglosses can signify if a dialect has expanded or contracted.14
586500246Language Families and Example~A group of languages with a shared but fairly distant origin. Example: Indo-European15
586500247Sub-families~Divisions within a language family where the commonalties are more definite and the origin is more recent.16
586500248Sound Shift and Example~A slight change in a word across languages within a sub-family or through a language family. Examples: Milk-lacte, latta, leche, lait Eight-oto, otto, ocho17
586500251Proto-Indo-European~Hypothesis proposing the existence of an ancestral Indo-European language.18
586500252Backward Reconstruction and Example~The tracking of sound shifts and hardening of consonants "backward" toward the original language. Examples: "milk" in English, "melk" in Dutch, "milche" in German.19
586500253Extinct Language and Example~Language without any native speakers. Example: Apalachee20
586500254Dead Language~Language not used for normal, everyday use.21
586500255Nostratic Language and Example~The ancestor of Proto-Indo-European and many other language families. Examples: Kartvelian languages, Uralic-Altaic, Dravadian, Afro-Asiatic22
586500256Language Divergence and Example~When a language breaks down and eventually forms two different languages. Example: Spanish and Portuguese23
586500257Language Convergence and Example~The collapsing of two languages into one resulting from the consistent spatial interaction of people with different languages. Example: Maltese and English into Malta24
586500258Renfrew Hypothesis and Connection~Hypothesis developed by British scholar Colin Renfrew wherein he proposed that three areas in and near the first agricultural hearth, the Fertile Crescent, gave rise to three language families: Indo-European, North African and Arabian, and the present day languages in Iran, Afghanistan, Pakistan, and India. Connection: Agricultural Hearth25
586500259Conquest Theory~One major theory of how Proto-Indo European diffused into Europe which holds that the early speakers of Proto-Indo-European spread westward on horseback, overpowering earlier inhabitants and beginning the diffusion and differentiation of Indo-European tongues.26
586500260Dispersal Hypothesis~Hypothesis which holds that the Indo-European languages that arose from Proto-Indo-European were first carried eastward into Southwest Asia, next around the Caspian Sea, and then across the Russian-Ukrainian plains and onto the Balkans.27
586500261Romance Languages~Languages that lie in the areas that were once controlled by the Roman Empire but were not subsequently overwhelmed.28
586500262What are the Romance Languages?~French ~Spanish ~Italian ~Romanian ~Portuguese29
586500263Germanic Languages~Languages that reflect the expansion of peoples out of Northern Europe to the west and south.30
586500264What are the Germanic Languages?~English ~German ~Danish ~Norwegian ~Swedish31
586500265Slavic Language~Languages that developed as Slavic people migrated from a base in present-day Ukraine close to 2000 years ago.32
586500266What are the Slavic Languages?~Russian ~Polish ~Czech ~Slovak ~Ukrainian ~Slovenian ~Serbo-Croatian ~Bulgarian33
586500267Lingua Franca~A term referring to a "common language" used among speakers of different languages for the purposes of trade and commerce.34
586500268Pidgin Language~When parts of two or more languages are combined in a simplified structure and vocabulary.35
586500269Creole Language and Example~A language that began as a pidgin language but was later adopted as the mother tongue by a people. Example: Sango, Kinubi36
586500270Monolingual States and Example~Countries in which only one language is spoken. Example: Although there are no true monolingual states, if given this question, an example would be Japan or Iceland37
586500271Multilingual States and Example~Countries in which more than one language is spoken. Examples: Canada, Belgium, U.S, Peru38
586500272Official Language~In multilingual countries the language selected, often by the educated and politically powerful elite, to promote unity. ~Usually used in courts and government.39
586500273Global Language~The language used most commonly around the world. Example: English40
586500274Toponyms~Place name.41
592856718What are the Uralic Languages?~Finnish ~Hungarian ~Estonian.42
592920608What are the Altaic Languages?~Turkish43
595655100Memorial toponyms and Example~To remember somebody. Examples: FDR Drive, Washington Monument44
595655101Commodification of toponyms examplesExamples: Disneyland in Tokyo and Paris; FedEx Field; Coors Field; Times square45
595655102Post-revolution toponyms and Examples~After revolution or independence gain. Examples: Democratic republic of Congo. Leningrad to St. Petersburg46
595655103Post-colonial toponyms and Example~Change in power. Examples: Bombay to Mumbai Northern Rhodesia to Zambia Southern Rhodesia to Zimbabwe47

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