indo-european languages. language classification
TRANSCRIPT
Indo-European Languages
Language Classification
Languages are often related.
A mother language is spoken by groups of people who become separated by time and distance. Those groups then form new languages based on a common origin.
LANGUAGE FAMILY: a collection of languages related through a common ancestral language that existed before recorded history. (Indo-European is the world’s most extensive language family.)
LANGUAGE BRANCH: a collection of languages related through a common ancestral language that existed several thousand years ago. (A language family divides into a number of branches.)
LANGUAGE GROUP: a 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.
FAMILIES,BRANCHES
AND GROUPS
•Family
•Branch
•Group
•Language
West Germanic(group)
Germanic(branch)
Indo-European(family)
English(language)
Spanish
MÒoré
Mandarin
Korean
What’s A Linguist?
•A person who studies languages.
•Linguistics
Linguistic Studies
• Linguists are particularly concerned with tracing the paths of languages and locating their hearths.
• This is pretty easy to do with some languages!
• BUT… virtually impossible with others!
• Of course…. The further back in time you go, the harder it is to accurately trace language.
Linguistic StudiesLinguistic Studies
ENGLISH
Family
Plate
Bank
Problem
SPANISH
Familia
Plato
Banco
Problema
Indo-European
•ALLALL Indo-European languages share similar words!
• Beech, oak, bear, deer, pheasant, bee
• THEREFORE… Linguists believe the words must represent things experienced in ____________________of the original Indo-European speakers.
The Daily Life
Indo-European
• Their conclusion? The original Indo-European
speakers probably lived in a _______________
climate, or one that had a ________________
season, but did not come in contact with
_____________________.
Cold
Winter
The Ocean
Theory #1
• Nomadic Warrior Thesis- Kurgan Hearth Theory
• Hearth in modern Russia/Kazakhstan
• The Kurgans spread their language by conquering other peoples.
• Moved East to West
Theory #2
• Sedentary Farmer Thesis- Renfrew Hypothesis
• Hearth in modern Turkey
• Language spread along with agricultural innovations
• Moved North to Europe, East to Asia