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AP Human Geography: Language Flashcards

Language

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9894848458AccentA distinctive mode of pronunciation of a language, especially one associated with a particular nation, locality, or social class.0
9894848459DialectA regional variation of a language distinguished by vocabulary, spelling, and pronunciation, particular to a specific region or social group.1
9894848460Extinct LanguageA language that no longer has any speakers, or that is no longer in current use.2
9894848461IdeogramA written character symbolizing the idea of a thing without indicating the sounds used to say it. Used in Mandarin (Chinese)3
9894848464Language BranchA Subsection of a Language Family. Differences are not as extensive or old as with language families. i.e The Romance "-------" of the Indo-European language family.4
9894848465LanguageThe method of human communication, either spoken or written, consisting of the use of words in a structured and conventional way.5
9894848466Language GroupA Collection of languages within a branch that share a common origin in the relatively recent past and display relatively few differences in grammar and vocabulary. An individual language, including all dialects (I.e. Italian, German, English)6
9894848467Language FamilyA collection of languages related to each other through a common ancestor long before recorded history. The trunk of the language tree, from which language branches come from.7
9894848468Indo European language familyLargest language family that includes English and most other languages in the Western Hemisphere. Also used in South and Southwest Asia. Includes the Germanic branch, Indo-Iranian branch, Balto-Slavic branch, and Romance branch.8
9894848469Sino-Tibetan Language Family2nd largest language family. Includes Madarin, Thai, Cantonese and Burmese9
9894848470Lingua FrancaA Language mutually understood and commonly used in trade by people who have different native languages (currently English worldwide).10
9894848471Literary TraditionA Language that is written as well as spoken.11
9894848473BilingualA person's ability to speak two languages.12
9894848472Monolingual StateA country in which only one language is spoken (i.e. Japan, Korea)13
9894848474Multilingual StateA country in which more than one language is in use (India, Nigeria, Belgium, Switzerland)14
9894848475Official LanguageThe language adopted for use by the government for the conduct of business and publication of documents, a language that is given special legal status.15
9894848477Pidgin LanguageA Form of speech that adopts a simplified grammar and limited vocabulary of a lingua franca, used for communications among speakers of two different languages.16
9894848478Standard LanguageThe specific form of a language used for official government business, education, and mass communications.17
9894848480VernacularUsing a language or dialect native to a region or country rather than a literary, cultured, or foreign language. It is usually the language of the common people.18
9894848481CreoleA language that results from the mixing of a colonizer's language with the indigenous language of the people being dominated. Developed out of an earlier pidgin stage.19
9894848483FranglaisA form of French using many words and idioms borrowed from English.20
9894848484EbonicsA dialect of English spoken by some African Americans.21
9894848485SpanglishA hybrid language combining words and idioms from both Spanish and English, especially Spanish speech that uses many English words and expressions.22
9894848486FrancophonePlaces and countries where French is spoken around the world. (Quebec in Canada, Vietnam, Haiti, Sub-Saharan Africa, Belgium, Switzerland, France).23
9894848488Romance BranchA language branch of the Indo-European Language Family. This branch includes languages that evolved from Latin (the language of the Romans). The 5 main languages include: Spanish, Portuguese, French, Italian, and Romanian.24
9894848489Germanic BranchA language branch of the Indo-European Language Family. This branch is divided into North and West Germanic. North Germanic includes Scandinavian languages (Swedish, Danish, Norwegian, Icelandic), which all came from Old Norse. West Germanic is further divided into High Germanic and Low Germanic subgroups. High German includes the standard German language. Low German includes English, Dutch, Flemish (Dialect of Dutch), Afrikaaans, and Frisian.25
9894848495Afro-Asiatic Language FamilyThis language family is found in northern Africa and southwestern Asia (Middle East), where Islam is the dominant religion. This family includes the languages of Arabic and Hebrew. Hebrew is spoken in Israel, a Jewish state, and Arabic is spoken throughout the region since it is the language of the Koran, the Islamic holy book.26
9894848496Niger-Congo Language FamilyMore than 95% of people in Sub-Saharan Africa speak languages from this family. This family includes Swahili, the lingua franca in Africa, used by many to communicate as a second language, due to so many different native languages.27
9894848501British Received Pronunciation (BRP)The dialect of English associated with upper class Britons living in the London area now considered the standard form of British speech.28
9894848502Language DivergenceWhen a lack of spatial interaction (isolation) among speakers of a language breaks the language into dialects and then new languages.29
9894848503Language ConvergenceWhen peoples with different languages have consistent spatial interaction and their languages collapse into one (i.e. pidgin and creole).30
9894848507HindiApproximately one-third of the people of India, mostly in the north, use this Indic language. This language can be spoken in many different ways, but there is only one official way to write the language. This language serves as the lingua franca in India and is used by the government, growing into a national language in the nineteenth century when the British encouraged its use in government. It is part of the Indo-Iranian branch.31
9894848508SwahiliThe lingua franca in Africa, used by many to communicate as a second language, due to so many different native languages. This language was developed between African and Arab traders and is one for the few African languages with extensive literature. It is part of the Niger-Congo language family.32
9894848511MandarinThis language is the most spoken language in the world. It is spoken by approximately three-fourths of the Chinese people, and is used by the Chinese government. There is no single Chinese language. Instead of letters, Chinese languages use ideograms (characters) that mostly represent concepts rather than sounds.33
9894848512ArabicThis language serves as a unifying force in the Middle East (Northern Africa and Southwest Asia), typically referred to as the Arab World. This language is the language of Islam (used in the Qur'an ), which is predominant throughout the region. This language belongs to the Afro-Asiatic language family and is the official language in two dozen countries of North Africa and southwestern Asia, from Morocco to the Arabian Peninsula.34
9894848513HebrewThis language was an extinct language that has been revived. It diminished in use in the fourth century B.C. and was thereafter retained only for Jewish religious services. When Israel was established in 1948, this language became one of the new country's two official languages, along with Arabic. This language was chosen to unify the Jews of Israel and give them a sense of nationalism, since Israel was created by Jewish refugees and migrants who spoke many different languages. Reviving this language required the creation of many new words for the modern world.35
9894848514Irish GaelicThis is one of the two official languages of Ireland, along with English. This language was forbidden under English rule. When Ireland got their independence form England in 1922, this language became an important part of their cultural identity and sense of nationalism and became a compulsory course in all public schools and required for public service jobs.36
9894848515BasqueAlso known as Euskera, this isolated language predates the Indo-European language and is not related to any other language family in Europe. Spoken in the Pyrenees Mountains (between Spain and France), the mountainous homeland created isolation, making the preservation of the language possible.37
9894848518GlobalizationThe process by which businesses or other organizations develop international influence and operate on an international scale. Currently, America dominates the world with multinational corporations and media, which has made English the world's current lingua franca (international language of business).38
9894848519QuebecThis province in Canada primarily speaks French, due to its history of colonization. As a result, Canada is officially bilingual, recognizing both English and French as official languages.39
9894848520Vulgar LatinThis language was spoken by the Roman army at the time of occupation and is the basis of the Romance languages, which evolved out of this language overtime due to isolation.40
9894848521Latin AmericaThis region of the Americas primarily speaks Romance Languages, which derived from Latin. Brazil speaks Portuguese, Haiti and French Guiana speak French, while the majority of the other countries speak Spanish, all due to the patterns of colonization.41
9894848522BelgiumThis multilingual state in Europe, which is part of the francophone world, has experienced tensions between its two language groups. The Flemings live in the north province Flanders and speak Flemish, a Dutch dialect. The Walloons live in the south province Wallonia and speak French. Brussels, the capital city if officially bilingual to create a since of unity in the country. Antagonism between the Flemings and Walloons is aggravated by economic and political differences. Historically, the Walloons dominated Belgium's economy and politics and French was the official state language.42
9894848523SwitzerlandThis multilingual state in Europe, which is part of the francophone world, remains peaceful with four official languages (German, French, Italian, and Romanish). This country has institutionalized cultural diversity by creating a form of government that places considerable power in local, small communities (Decenetralization).43

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