m Reverted edits by 150.99.192.250 (talk) to last version by ZhangYongsheng
|
m Added short description #article-add-desc
Tags: Mobile edit Mobile app edit iOS app edit
|
||
(45 intermediate revisions by 28 users not shown) | |||
Line 1: | Line 1: | ||
{{Short description|Study of the geographic distribution of language(s)}} |
|||
⚫ |
[[Image:Linguistic Map of Justinian I's Empire c. 560.png|right|thumb|300px|A map of the language divisions within [[Justinian I]]'s [[Byzantine Empire]] |
||
⚫ | |||
'''Language geography''' is the branch of [[human geography]] that studies the geographic distribution of language(s) or its constituent elements. There are two principal fields of study within the geography of language: |
|||
⚫ | [[Image:Linguistic Map of Justinian I's Empire c. 560.png|right|thumb|300px|A map of the language divisions within [[Justinian I]]'s [[Byzantine Empire]] {{legend|#FFB4B4|Greek}}{{legend|#FFE5B4|Greek and native}}{{legend|#B4C0FF|Latin}}{{legend|#B4E9FF|Latin and native}}{{legend|#FFB4F9|Aramaic}}{{legend|#BBFFB4|Coptic}}{{legend|#EEFFB4|Caucasian and Armenian}}]] |
||
⚫ |
# |
||
⚫ | '''Language geography''' is the branch of [[human geography]] that studies the geographic distribution of language(s) or its constituent elements. '''Linguistic geography''' can also refer to studies of how people talk about the landscape. For example, [[toponymy]] is the study of place names.<ref name="Toponymy">{{cite book|title=Toponymy : the lore, laws, and language of geographical names|last1=Kadmon|first1=Naftali|date=2000|publisher=Vantage Press|isbn=0533135311|edition=1st|location=New York}}</ref> Landscape ethnoecology, also known as ethnophysiography, is the study of landscape ontologies and how they are expressed in language.<ref>{{cite book|title=Landscape Ethnoecology: Concepts of Biotic and Physical Space|date=2012|publisher=Berghahn Books|editor1-last=Johnson|editor1-first=Leslie Main|location=New York|editor2-last=Hunn|editor2-first=Eugene S.}}</ref> |
||
⚫ |
# '' |
||
⚫ |
|
||
⚫ |
|
||
⚫ |
|
||
⚫ |
Linguistic geography can also refer to studies of how people talk about the landscape. For example, toponymy is the study of place names.<ref name="Toponymy">{{cite book |
||
There are two principal fields of study within the geography of language: |
|||
⚫ |
Many studies have researched the effect of |
||
⚫ | #''geography of languages'', which deals with the distribution through history and space of languages,<ref>Delgado de Carvalho, C.M. (1962). ''The geography of languages''. In Wagner, P.L.; Mikesell, M.W. ''Readings in cultural geography.'' Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 75–93.</ref> and/or is concerned with 'the analysis of the distribution patterns and spatial structures of languages in contact'.<ref>Williams, C.H. (1980). "Language contact and language change in Wales, 1901–1971: a study in historical geolinguistics". ''[[Welsh History Review]]'' 10, 207–238.</ref> |
||
⚫ | |||
⚫ | # ''[[geolinguistics]]'' being, when used as a sub-discipline of geography, the study of the 'political, economic and cultural processes that affect the status and distribution of languages'.<ref name=":0">{{Cite journal|last=Gunnemark|first=Erik|author-link=Erik V. Gunnemark|year=1991|title=What is geolinguistics ?|journal=Geolinguistics, Journal of the American Society of Geolinguistics.|publisher=American Society of Geolinguistics|volume=17|page=12|issn=0190-4671}}</ref> When perceived as a sub-discipline of linguistics that incorporates contact linguistics, one definition appearing has been 'the study of languages and dialects in contact and in conflict with various societal, economic, ideological, political and other contemporary trends with regard to a particular geographic location and on a planetary scale'.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://politlinguist.ru/announcements/17.doc|title=International Conference on multilingual perspectives in geolinguistics, April 11, 2015}}</ref> |
||
⚫ |
Linguistic geography, as a field, is dominated by [[Linguistics|linguists]] rather than [[geographer]]s.<ref name=Trud3/> [[Charles W. J. Withers]] describes the difference as resulting from a focus on "elements of language, and only then with their geographical or social variation, as opposed to investigation of the processes making for change in the extent of language areas."<ref name=Dict/> [[Peter Trudgill]] says, "linguistic geography has been geographical only in the sense that it has been concerned with the spatial distribution of linguistic phenomena."<ref name=Trud2/> Greater emphasis has been laid upon explanation rather than mere description of the patterns of linguistic change.<ref name=Trud3/><ref name=Dict/> That move has paralleled similar concerns in [[geography]] and language studies.<ref>Withers, C.W.J. (1984). ''Gaelic in Scotland |
||
⚫ |
Some studies have paid attention to the social use of language and to variations in dialect within languages in regard to [[social class]] or occupation.<ref>Giglioli, P.P. (1972). ''Language and social context |
||
⚫ | Various other terms and subdisciplines have been suggested, but none gained much currency,<ref name="Dict">Withers, Charles W.J. [1981] (1993). Johnson, R.J. ''The Dictionary of Human Geography'', Gregory, Derek; Smith, David M., Second edition, Oxford: Blackwell, 252–3.</ref> including: |
||
⚫ | {{quote|"a nasty little orthodoxy among the educational and linguistic establishment. However badly you need standard English, you will have the merits of non-standard English waved at you. The more extravagantly your disadvantages will be lauded as 'entirely adequate for the needs of their speakers', to cite the author of ''Sociolinguistics''. It may sound like a radical cry to support pidgin, patois, or dialect, but translated into social terms, it looks more like a ploy to keep Them (whoever Them may be) out of the middle-class suburbs."|John Vincent|The Times<ref>''The Times, 23 February 1983, p. 12</ref>}} |
||
⚫ | * ''linguistic geography'',<ref>Dell'Aquila, V. (1997). ''[https://www.academia.edu/2013163/Mapping_the_languages_of_Europe Mapping the languages of Europe]'' in Herberts K., Laurén C., Laurén U, Strömann S. (Eds.): "Flerspråkighetens dimensioner. Individ, familj och samhälle", Vaasan Yliopiston Julkaisuja: Vaasa/Vasa, 103–131.</ref> which deals with regional linguistic variations within languages,<ref>Pei, M. (1966). ''Glossary of linguistic terminology''. New York: John Wiley.</ref><ref>Trudgill, P. (1974). ''Linguistic change and diffusion: description and explanation in sociolinguistic dialect geography.'' Language in Society 3:2, 215–46.</ref><ref name="Trud3">Trudgill, P. (1983). ''On dialect: social and geographical perspectives.'' Oxford: Basil Blackwell; New York: New York University Press.</ref><ref name="Trud2">Trudgill, P. (1975). ''Linguistic geography and geographical linguistics.'' Progress in Geography 7, 227–52</ref><ref name="Dict" /> also called '''dialect geography''', which some consider a subdivision of geolinguistics<ref name=":0" /> |
||
⚫ |
Burchfield concludes, "Resolution of such opposite views is not possible.... future of dialect studies and the study of class-marked distinctions are likely to be of considerable interest to everyone."<ref>Burchfield, Robert [1985] (2003). ''The English Language'', New York: Oxford University Press, |
||
⚫ | * a division within the examination of linguistic geography separating the studies of change over time and space;<ref>Iordan, I.; Orr, J. (1970). ''An introduction to romance linguistics.'' Oxford: Basil Blackwell; Berkeley: University of California Press.</ref> |
||
⚫ | Many studies in what is now called contact linguistics have researched the effect of [[language contact]],<ref>Weinrich, U. (1974). ''Languages in contact''. The Hague: Mouton.</ref> as the languages or dialects (varieties) of peoples have interacted.<ref name=Dict/> This territorial expansion of language groups has usually resulted in the overlaying of languages upon existing speech areas, rather than the replacement of one language by another. For example, after the [[Norman Conquest of England]], [[Old French]] became the language of the aristocracy but [[Middle English]] remained the language of a majority of the population.<ref>Burchfield, Robert [1985] (2003). ''The English Language'', New York: Oxford University Press, 14.</ref> |
||
⚫ |
In [[England]], linguistic geography has traditionally |
||
== |
== Linguistic geography == |
||
⚫ | Linguistic geography, as a field, is dominated by [[Linguistics|linguists]] rather than [[geographer]]s.<ref name=Trud3/> [[Charles W. J. Withers]] describes the difference as resulting from a focus on "elements of language, and only then with their geographical or social variation, as opposed to investigation of the processes making for change in the extent of language areas."<ref name=Dict/> [[Peter Trudgill]] says, "linguistic geography has been geographical only in the sense that it has been concerned with the spatial distribution of linguistic phenomena."<ref name=Trud2/> Greater emphasis has been laid upon explanation rather than mere description of the patterns of linguistic change.<ref name=Trud3/><ref name=Dict/> That move has paralleled similar concerns in [[geography]] and language studies.<ref>Withers, C.W.J. (1984). ''Gaelic in Scotland 1698–1981: the geographical history of a language.'' Edinburgh: John Donald; Atlantic Highlands, NJ: Humanities Press.</ref> |
||
The oldest and best known geolinguistic societies are "Amici Linguarum" (language friends) and the American Society of Geolinguistics. |
|||
⚫ | Some studies have paid attention to the social use<ref>Hult, F.M. (2009). Language ecology and linguistic landscape analysis. In E. Shohamy & D. Gorter (Eds.), ''Linguistic landscape: Expanding the scenery'' (pp. 88–104). London: Routledge.</ref> of language and to variations in dialect within languages in regard to [[social class]] or occupation.<ref>Giglioli, P.P. (1972). ''Language and social context''. Harmondsworth: Penguin.</ref> Regarding such variations, lexicographer [[Robert Burchfield]] notes that their nature "is a matter of perpetual discussion and disagreement" and notes that "most professional linguistic scholars regard it as axiomatic that all varieties of English have a sufficiently large vocabulary for the expression of all the distinctions that are important in the society using it." He contrasts this with the view of the historian [[John Vincent (historian)|John Vincent]], who regards such a view as |
||
⚫ | {{quote|"a nasty little orthodoxy among the educational and linguistic establishment. However badly you need standard English, you will have the merits of non-standard English waved at you. The more extravagantly your disadvantages will be lauded as 'entirely adequate for the needs of their speakers', to cite the author of ''Sociolinguistics''. It may sound like a radical cry to support pidgin, patois, or dialect, but translated into social terms, it looks more like a ploy to keep Them (whoever Them may be) out of the middle-class suburbs."|John Vincent|The Times<ref>''The Times, 23 February 1983, p. 12</ref>}} |
||
The "''Amici Linguarum''" was founded in Sweden in 1965 by a Swedish polyglot, [http://www.kebi.se/erikgunnemark/engindex.html Erik V. Gunnemark], with the aim to propagate interest in languages, linguistics, and traditional European culture<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.geolinguistics.org/geo35/GEO-35-Amici%20Linguarum.pdf|title=Amici Linguarum – Dead Association Alive Once More|last=Larsson|first=Magnus|date=|website=geolinguistics.org|publisher=|archive-url=|archive-date=|dead-url=|access-date=}}</ref> through a network of polyglots and people sharing deep interest in foreign languages. After E. Gunnemark's death in 2007, the Association fell apart, the activities of the revived Association (2010) extend to editing a journal (''Chasok/The Hour/La Horita/L'heure'') and organising linguistic meetings as well as free 'linguocultural' courses. |
|||
⚫ | Burchfield concludes, "Resolution of such opposite views is not possible.... future of dialect studies and the study of class-marked distinctions are likely to be of considerable interest to everyone."<ref>Burchfield, Robert [1985] (2003). ''The English Language'', New York: Oxford University Press, 128–130.</ref> |
||
The ''American Society of Geolinguistics (ASG)'' was founded in 1965 by Prof. Mario A. Pei of Columbia University. Its aims are, in the words of the late prof. Mario Pei "to gather and disseminate up-to-date knowledge concerning the world's present-day languages, their distribution and population use, their relative practical importance, usefulness and availability from the economic, political and cultural standpoints, their genetic, historical and geographical affiliations and relationships, their identification and use in spoken and written form". The Society is particularly interested in linguistic geography, languages in contact and conflict, language planning and policy, language education and the broader aspects of sociolinguistics <nowiki>''</nowiki>macro-sociolinguistics"<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.geolinguistics.org/mission.php|title=Aims and objectives of the American Society of Geolinguistics|last=|first=|date=|website=|publisher=|archive-url=|archive-date=|dead-url=|access-date=5th February 2017}}</ref> |
|||
⚫ | In [[England]], linguistic geography has traditionally focused upon rural English, rather than urban English.<ref>In 1985, one could still say, "We still know far more about the distribution of ''byre/shippon/mistall/cow-stable/cow-house/cow-shed/neat-house/beast-house'' for 'cow-shed' than we do about urban synonyms for pedestrian crossings, lollipop men, machines used to wash cars, forecourts of petrol stations, bollards, sleeping policemen, pay-out desks, supermarket trolleys, traffic wardens, telephone booths and hundreds of other items found in every city in the United Kingdom." Burchfield, Robert [1985] (2003). ''The English Language'', New York: Oxford University Press, 128.</ref> A common production of linguistic investigators of dialects is the shaded and dotted map showing to show where one linguistic feature ends and another begins or overlaps. Various compilations of these maps for England have been issued over the years, including Joseph Wright's ''English Dialect Dictionary'' (1896–1905), the ''[[Survey of English Dialects]]'' (1962–8), and ''The Linguistic Atlas of England'' (1978).<ref>Burchfield, Robert [1985] (2003). ''The English Language'', New York: Oxford University Press, 125.</ref> |
||
The ASG published in 1991 ''The Geolinguistic Handbook'' and also an annual journal ''Geolinguistics.'' The ASG also organised an annual international conference not only on language geography but all aspects of language in contact in the modern world with attention to language acquisition, language teaching, change and impact upon culture and commerce, economics, politics, social dynamics in general. ASG's international conference draws participants from the US, Europe, Asia, Australia, etc., and the keynote speakers have been among the leaders in the field of linguistics in connection with modern society. |
|||
== Geolinguistic organizations == |
|||
Geolinguistics is interdisciplinary and is linked to various linguistic branches as well as goes beyond linguistics to connect to sociology, anthropology, ethnology, history, demographyn political science, studies of cognition and communication, etc. |
|||
Most [[geolinguistic organizations]] identify themselves as associations of linguists rather than of geographers. This includes the two oldest which both date to 1965 with "Amici Linguarum" (language friends) being founded by [[Erik V. Gunnemark]] and The American Society of Geolinguistics by [[Mario A. Pei]]. The research in [[geolinguistics]] which these organizations and others, which are more geographically oriented, promote is often interdisciplinary, being at times simultaneously both linguistic and geographic, and also being at times linked to other sub-disciplines of linguistics as well as going beyond linguistics to connect to sociology, anthropology, ethnology, history, demographics, political science, studies of cognition and communication, etc. |
|||
==See also== |
==See also== |
||
⚫ | |||
⚫ | |||
* [[Dialect continuum]] |
* [[Dialect continuum]] |
||
⚫ | |||
* [[Linguistic ecology]] |
|||
* [[Language policy]] |
* [[Language policy]] |
||
⚫ | |||
⚫ | |||
⚫ | |||
* [[Linguistic rights]] |
* [[Linguistic rights]] |
||
⚫ | |||
== References == |
== References == |
||
{{Reflist |
{{Reflist}} |
||
==External links== |
==External links== |
||
*[http://www.geolectos.com/atlas.htm Linguistic atlas of the world] |
*[http://www.geolectos.com/atlas.htm Linguistic atlas of the world] |
||
*[ |
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20200803195616/https://geolinguistics.info/ American Society of Geolinguistics] |
||
{{Geographical distribution of languages}} |
|||
{{Human geography}} |
{{Human geography}} |
||
{{Authority control}} |
{{Authority control}} |
||
⚫ | |||
{{DEFAULTSORT:Language Geography}} |
{{DEFAULTSORT:Language Geography}} |
Language geography is the branch of human geography that studies the geographic distribution of language(s) or its constituent elements. Linguistic geography can also refer to studies of how people talk about the landscape. For example, toponymy is the study of place names.[1] Landscape ethnoecology, also known as ethnophysiography, is the study of landscape ontologies and how they are expressed in language.[2]
There are two principal fields of study within the geography of language:
Various other terms and subdisciplines have been suggested, but none gained much currency,[7] including:
Many studies in what is now called contact linguistics have researched the effect of language contact,[14] as the languages or dialects (varieties) of peoples have interacted.[7] This territorial expansion of language groups has usually resulted in the overlaying of languages upon existing speech areas, rather than the replacement of one language by another. For example, after the Norman Conquest of England, Old French became the language of the aristocracy but Middle English remained the language of a majority of the population.[15]
Linguistic geography, as a field, is dominated by linguists rather than geographers.[11] Charles W. J. Withers describes the difference as resulting from a focus on "elements of language, and only then with their geographical or social variation, as opposed to investigation of the processes making for change in the extent of language areas."[7] Peter Trudgill says, "linguistic geography has been geographical only in the sense that it has been concerned with the spatial distribution of linguistic phenomena."[12] Greater emphasis has been laid upon explanation rather than mere description of the patterns of linguistic change.[11][7] That move has paralleled similar concerns in geography and language studies.[16] Some studies have paid attention to the social use[17] of language and to variations in dialect within languages in regard to social class or occupation.[18] Regarding such variations, lexicographer Robert Burchfield notes that their nature "is a matter of perpetual discussion and disagreement" and notes that "most professional linguistic scholars regard it as axiomatic that all varieties of English have a sufficiently large vocabulary for the expression of all the distinctions that are important in the society using it." He contrasts this with the view of the historian John Vincent, who regards such a view as
"a nasty little orthodoxy among the educational and linguistic establishment. However badly you need standard English, you will have the merits of non-standard English waved at you. The more extravagantly your disadvantages will be lauded as 'entirely adequate for the needs of their speakers', to cite the author of Sociolinguistics. It may sound like a radical cry to support pidgin, patois, or dialect, but translated into social terms, it looks more like a ploy to keep Them (whoever Them may be) out of the middle-class suburbs."
— John Vincent, The Times[19]
Burchfield concludes, "Resolution of such opposite views is not possible.... future of dialect studies and the study of class-marked distinctions are likely to be of considerable interest to everyone."[20]
InEngland, linguistic geography has traditionally focused upon rural English, rather than urban English.[21] A common production of linguistic investigators of dialects is the shaded and dotted map showing to show where one linguistic feature ends and another begins or overlaps. Various compilations of these maps for England have been issued over the years, including Joseph Wright's English Dialect Dictionary (1896–1905), the Survey of English Dialects (1962–8), and The Linguistic Atlas of England (1978).[22]
Most geolinguistic organizations identify themselves as associations of linguists rather than of geographers. This includes the two oldest which both date to 1965 with "Amici Linguarum" (language friends) being founded by Erik V. Gunnemark and The American Society of Geolinguistics by Mario A. Pei. The research in geolinguistics which these organizations and others, which are more geographically oriented, promote is often interdisciplinary, being at times simultaneously both linguistic and geographic, and also being at times linked to other sub-disciplines of linguistics as well as going beyond linguistics to connect to sociology, anthropology, ethnology, history, demographics, political science, studies of cognition and communication, etc.
Geographical distribution of languages
| |||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|
| |||||
Romance-speaking world |
| ||||
Germanic-speaking world |
| ||||
Slavic-speaking world |
| ||||
Celtic-speaking world |
| ||||
Other languages |
| ||||
|
Sub-fields of and approaches to human geography
| ||
---|---|---|
Sub-fields |
| |
Approaches |
| |
|
Authority control databases: National ![]() |
|
---|