5.1 Flashcards
language family
a collection of languages related thru common ancestral language tht existed long b4 recorded history
language branch
collection of languages within a family related thru common ancestral language tht existed thousands of years ago
differences aren’t as extensive/old as between language families
archaeological evidence can confirm tht the branches derive from same family
language group
collection of languages within a branch tht share a common origin in relatively recent past and display many similarities in grammar and vocabulary
sino-tibetan
china + smaller countries in southeast asia
china = sinitic branch of family
austronesian
6% of world
mostly indonesia
lots of distinct languages and dialects
most used = javanese
austro-asiatic
2% of world
southeast asia
most spoken = vietnamese, alphabet devised 17th century by roman catholic missionaries
tai kadai
thailand + neighboring portions of china
similarities w/austronesian make scholars think ppl speaking these languages migrated from philippines
afro-asiatic
major language = arabic
also hebrew
altaic
thought to have originated in steppes bordering the qilian shan and altai mountains between tibet and china
now 8000km band of asia
most spoken = turkish
when soviet union governed most of altaic-speaking region of central asia, use of altaic languages were suppressed to create homogeneous national culture
uralic
estonia, finland, and hungary
traceable to proto-uralic 7000 yrs ago in ural mountains of russia, migrants carried to europe
niger-congo
95% of sub-saharan africa
major = swahili, used to communicate w/outsiders, developed thru interaction among african groups and arab traders
nilo-saharan
north-central africa
few speakers but divided into 6 branches
khoisan
clicking sounds
most important = hottentot
