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Ch. 5: LANGUAGE

Ch. 5: LANGUAGE. Objective: Explain the cultural importance of language. Defining Language. Pronunciation and combination of words used to communicate within a group of people Important cultural index Structures individual perception of world. World ’ s Major Languages.

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Ch. 5: LANGUAGE

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  1. Ch. 5: LANGUAGE Objective: Explain the cultural importance of language.

  2. Defining Language • Pronunciation and combination of words used to communicate within a group of people • Important cultural index • Structures individual perception of world

  3. World’s Major Languages • 3,000 distinct languages • 50% of world population speak one of 12 major languages • Mandarin Chinese is largest with 885 million • English is the primary language of 350 million and is the official language of about 50 countries

  4. The Geographer’s Perspective of Language • What is the distribution of world languages • density • concentration • Patterns • How is culture influenced or limited by this language distribution? • How does the language reflect the culture?

  5. Language Distribution Indicates • History and conquest • Isolation or integration of cultures • Migration of peoples • Economic Domination of certain cultures • Influence of wealth and technology • Political Divisions (country boundaries) • Physical geography barriers (mts., deserts)

  6. Cultural Values A Language May Indicate • class structure • gender differences in vocabulary • environmentally specific vocabulary • formal and informal relationships • technology of a culture

  7. Official Languages of Countries

  8. Language can be used as a political tool • Language often used as a cultural weapon (English vs. Spanish) • many states have adopted “Official English” policies as a result

  9. What Role does Language Play in Making Places?

  10. Place • Place – the uniqueness of a location, what people do in a location, what they create, how they impart a certain character, a certain imprint on the location by making it unique.

  11. Toponym • Toponym – a place name • A toponym: • Imparts a certain character on a place • Reflects the social processes in a place • Can give us a glimpse of the history of a place • Has its roots in migration

  12. 9 Categories of Toponyms

  13. Changing Toponyms • When people change the toponym of a place, they have the power to “wipe out the past and call forth the new.” - Yi-Fu Tuan, geographer

  14. Changing Toponyms • Major reasons people change toponyms: • After decolonization • After a political revolution • To memorialize people or events (Martin Luther King Jr. ) • To commodify or brand a place (amusement parks, stadiums) • Also changes the cultural landscape

  15. Martin Luther King, Jr. Streets Geographer Derek Alderman asks: * Where are MLK streets? * Why are they where they are? * What controversies surround memorializing MLK with a street name?

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