Chapter 6: The Geography of Language
6.1 Introduction – The Creation of Meaning
Key Questions
In this chapter we define what languages are and examine the roles they play in cultures. We will look at the spatial distribution of the world’s languages and learn how they diffuse, change, rise to dominance, become endangered or extinct.
- What is the definition for language?
- How do languages convey cultural identity and expression?
- What is the relationship between languages?
- What factors contributed to the diffusion of languages across continents and oceans?
- How do toponyms have the potential to unite or divide?
- What role does language play in place-making (and thus identity-making)?
- Why and how do languages become endangered and extinct?
Language is central to daily human existence. It is the principal means by which we conduct our social lives at home, neighborhood, school, work place and recreation area. It is the tool we use to plan our lives, remember our past, and express our cultural identity. We create meaning when we talk on the cell phone, send a text or an e-mail message, read online or interpret a graph or chart. Many persons conduct their social lives using only one language.
Others, however, rely on two languages in order to participate effectively in their community, get a job, obtain a college degree and enjoy loving relationships. We live in a discourse world that not only incorporates ways of speaking, reading, writing, understanding signage and body language but also integrates ways of behaving, interacting, thinking and valuing. Language is embedded in cultural practices and, at the same time, symbolizes cultural reality itself.
Check out this Youtube in which Dr. Lera Boroditsky, a linguist and cognitive scientist and professor in the fields of language and cognition, discusses how language can shape our thinking.
