Chapter 5Chapter 5

Language and Religion:Mosaics of Culture

Language & Religion

• Mentifacts:– the central, enduring elements of a

culture expressing it’s values, & beliefs, including language, religion, folklore, artistic tradition

– components of the ideological subsystem of culture that help shape the belief system of a society and transmit to succeeding generations

– dynamic, in constant evolution

Language

• Is the means of transmission of culture and the medium through which its beliefs and standards are expressed

Language….

• the most important medium to transfer culture

» Can determine perceptions, attitudes, understanding, responses of a society

• an organized system of spoken words by which people communicate with each other with mutual comprehension

Language numbers

• Prehistoric times: 10,000 to 15,000 tongues

» Cultural divergence

• 7,000 or so remaining: 20 to 50%, no longer being learned/ dead

• 2100 A.D.: estimate is 600 approx. current languages in existence

• Today: greater than ½ world’s population speak only 8 languages

World distribution of living languages, 2004- of perhaps 6800 languages still spoken today

Asia: 33%Africa: 30%Pacific area: 19%Americas: 15%Europe: 3%

Estimated 1-2 languages losteach week

Language diversity

• Gradations between languages

• Chinese, Mandarin, Cantonese, Hakka, & others sound differently, but all use kanji characters

• European languages: Spanish, Italian, French, Romanian

• Arabic: a number of related but distinct tongues

• Sub-Saharan languages: 1500+ languages & language variants

Languages spoken

• Highest numbers in millions:• Mandarin (China): 1076• English: 551 • Hindi/Urdu (India, Pakistan): 498 • Spanish: 427 • Russian: 267• Bengali (Bangladesh, India): 215• Portuguese: 195• Malay-Indonesian: 176• Japanese:132• French: 131• German: 128

Language families

• A group of languages descended from a single, earlier tongue (classification by sounds)

• Estimated: 30 to 100 language families worldwide– Romance languages

• Latin in the Roman Empire, collapse = cultural divergence

• Emergence of several different, but related languages

• Protolanguage (ancestor)– For romance languages: Latin

Indo-European Family

• Largest family– Spoken by ½

world

• 8700-10,000 years old

• From Agri-Rev. & near the Caspian Sea

Genetic classification

• Classification of languages by origin & historical relationship

• Germanic languages: – English– German– Dutch– Scandinavian

Language distribution

• Can include a large area, yet only yield a small number of speakers– Example: Amerindian

language families• 3 families• Close relationship with

Asian languages• Corresponding with

waves of migration

World language families

Language spread

• Spatial diffusion process

• 1. Relocation of massive population (dispersion of speakers)

Bantu of Africa

Language spread

• 2. Adoption (acquisition of speakers) results from:– 1. Conquest– 2. Religious conversions– 3. Superiority of culture

• Adoption becomes a necessity:– Medium of commerce, law,

civilization, personal prestige

Spatial diffusion occurs:

• Relocation diffusion (transported by cultural dominance)

• The to expansion diffusion & acculturation

• Example: hierarchical diffusion– India – English prestigious– Africa – English use more impressive than

Swahili

• Barriers to diffusion:» Cultural – Greeks» Physical - mountains, Pyrenees &

Basque

Language change

• Separate language formation:– 1. Migration– 2. Segregation– 3. Isolation

Language change

• Change within a language:– 1. Syntax– 2. Borrowed– 3.

Discover/colonization/technology

Dominance of English

• Indo-European / offspring of proto-Germanic

• 5th – 6th centuries: – migration of Danish, North German Frisian,

Jutes, Angeles, and Saxons– many dialects, West Saxon dominated

(Standard Old English)

• 1066: Norman Conquest– in 11th century French dominated nobility

• 1204: tie with France severed– Middle English (French enriched)

• 15th – 16th centuries: Early Modern English

Worldwide diffusion

Since 1600s:7 million English speakers increased to 375 million

Today: 1.5 billion speakers375 native375 second language750 with reasonable ability

International English

Speech communities

• Standard language– Accepted community norms of:

• 1. Syntax• 2. Vocabulary• 3. Pronunciation

• Plus dialects & dialect of dominance

• Reflecting areal, social, professional differences

Dialects – speech variants

– 1. Vocabulary– 2. Pronunciation– 3. Rhythm – 4. Speed

• * Social dialects• Denote social class/education level• Usually follows standard language

• * Vernacular• Non-standard language• Dialect native to locale, or social group

Speech regions & dialect diffusion in the United States

Pidgin

• An amalgamation of languages• Pidgin is not a mother tongue of

any of its speakers• A creation of essentially a new

language• mixture of dominate languages• main languages broken down• “baby talk”

• Past 400 years = 100+ new languages

Creole

• Created when pidgin becomes the first language of speakers who lost native tongue

• Examples:• Swahili: Bantu dialects • Afrikaans: pidginized Dutch + African• Haitian Creole: pidginized French +

African

Lingua franca• Established language used

habitually for communication by people whose native tongues are mutually incomprehensible

• Examples:• Swahili• English• Hindi in India• Mandarin in China

Official language• A designated single language

for governments, school, universities, courts

• Nigeria: 350 different languages, English is official

Languages on the landscape

• Toponyms – place names• 1. Historical

– chester (Latin castra) = camp} Winchester

– ing, ham (Anglo Saxon) = family, people, hamlet} Birmingham

– burg (Latin for town)– Arabs: Cairo= victorious, Sudan =

land of blacks, Sahara = wasteland

Toponyms continued

• 2. Borrowed from:– Heroes: Columbus, Ohio, Lincoln, Ill– Previous locations: Moscow, Idaho,

Dublin, Calif– Distortions: Breukelyn = Brooklyn– Tribal names: maha = Omaha, kansa

= Kansas

• 3. Names consisting of 2 parts:– Generic – classifying– Specific – modifying or particular

» Twin Falls, Hudson River, Bunker Hill, Long Island

Religion - cultural rally point

• A personal or institutionalized system of worship and of faith in the sacred & divine

Impacts on culture

• Formalized views• Economic patterns • Political structures• Religious landscapes• Scared places of landscape

Religions – cultural innovations

• Can be unique to single cultural group

• Can be related to nearby or distant groups

How to classify

• Two distinctions– 1. Monotheism– 2. Polytheism

• Three categories:– 1. Universalizing– 2. Ethnic– 3. Tribal

Categories • Universalizing:

• Buddhism• Christian• Islam

• Ethnic:• Judaism• Hindu• Shinto

• Tribal:• Animism• Shamanism

World Patterns 1970 2002Christian 933 m 2.0 bIslam 503 m 1.3 bHindu 458 m 900 mBuddhism 180 m 360 mJudaism 14 m 14 m 14 mSecular 850 m

Measure of affiliationMore than ½ world population adheres to universalizing religions

Principal world religions

Innovation areas and diffusion routes of major world religions

Judaism - ethnic

• Monotheistic• Foundation to Christianity &

Islam• 3,000 – 4,000 years old, Near

East cultural hearth– Dispersion - immigration– Zionism - 1948

Variety

• Ashkenazim – (conservative liberal)– 80%, mixing of genders, dress, language

• Liberal – reformed• Ultra Orthodox (shepardic)

– Hebrew services, traditional dress, beards, hats, kosher food, no pork or shellfish, no mixing of genders at church

• Landscape: – Synagogue (group most important – 10

men), vineyards

Jewish dispersions, A.D. 70 - 1500

Christianity - universalizing

• Monotheistic • Parent religion: Judaism, Near

East• Rapid expansion throughout

Roman Empire – to underclasses• Accounts for nearly 1/3 world

population (Protestant & Catholic)

Expansion diffusion

• Hierarchical: – first military outposts, cities

• Contagious: – to surrounding populations

• Relocation: – faith to the New World & Asia

through the missionary system

Christianity split• Fall of the Roman Empire

• Catholic– Italy, Spain, Portugal, France, Poland, Ireland– Latin America, Philippines, Africa

• Protestant– West & northern Europe (The Netherlands,

England, Germany)– Anglo-America, Australia, New Zealand,

Oceania, South Africa

– Sub-Saharan Africa – both present + traditional

– Ethnic barriers: Japan, China India– Cultural hearth: not important today

Christian landscape – Untied States

• 20 denominations = 85% of population

• Catholic• Florida, New England, Southwest,

New Orleans

• Utah: Mormon• South: Baptist, the Bible Belt• Upper Midwest: Lutherans

Major religious regions of the United States

Religious groups

• Roman Catholic• Largest single church

• Protestant faiths• Larger proportion of population• Biggest groups: Baptists, Methodists

• Mormon• 2nd fastest growing church worldwide, 14 m• American developed religion• 80% of Utah’s population

• Jewish • 6 m, concentrations: NYC, Chicago, Miami

Religious landscapes• Parish church –

• formed center of small towns• village commons (the Puritans)

• Village church – • rural communities

• Central cathedrals – • in plaza, focus of religious / secular life

• Cemetery – beside church, or outskirts of town

Islam (Muslim) - universalizing

• Monotheistic • Parent religion: Judaism, Near

East, 622 A.D.• Contagious diffusion

• Arabia, Central Asia, No. India, North Africa

• Relocation diffusion• Indonesia, So.Africa, Western Hemisphere

• Cultural hearth – still important location today

Islamic regions

• Asia – largest absolute number • Africa – highest proportion, 42%• Indonesia – highest percentage of

any country

• Sub-groups:– Sunni: 80 to 85% of total– Shi’ites: Iran, Iraq, Bahrain, Yemen

Spread and extent of Islam

Islamic landscape

• Mosque – center of worship & community life– Community more important

than building

Hinduism - ethnic

• Polytheistic • World’s oldest religion

• perhaps 4,000 years old

• Web of religious, philosophical, social, economic, artistic elements

• 780 million in India, 80% of pop.• Indus River Valley

• spread by contagious diffusion• So.East Asia, Indonesia, Malaysia,

Cambodia, Thailand, Laos, Vietnam, Myanmar, Sri Lanka

Hindu landscape

• Temples / shrines• Holy men / sacred animals• Sacred locations

– Ganges River

Buddhism - universalizing

• Polytheistic• Out growth of Hinduism • Founded in India, 2,500 years ago• Spread by contagious diffusion

– India to China, then Japan, Southeast Asia

• Two schools of thought:– Theravada – old school– Mahayana – more progressive form

Buddhism diffusion• Contagious• North to China, then across

to Japan• South to Southeast Asia

Buddhist landscape

• Stupa – commemorative shrine

• Temple / pagoda – enshrining image or relic of Buddha

• Monastery• Bodhi tree