• HOW DID LANGUAGES EVOLVE?
• Languages evolve much as organisms do, with isolated
populations diverging in vocabulary, words changing to suit
different functions, and some languages ultimately going
extinct.
EVOLUTION • Of the nearly 7000 languages spoken on Earth today, 90 per
OF LANGUAGE cent are expected to be gone by the middle of this century.
• Sad, but that’s evolution for you.
https://www.sciencefocus.com/the-human-body/how-did-
languages-evolve/
WHY IS LANGUAGE IMPORTANT
• Language is a vital part of human connection. Although all species have their ways of
communicating, humans are the only ones that have mastered cognitive language
communication. Language allows us to share our ideas, thoughts, and feelings with
others. It has the power to build societies, but also tear them down
WHY IS LANGUAGE IMPORTANT
• Language Matters
• Language is what makes us human. It is how people communicate. By
learning a language, it means you have mastered a complex system of
words, structure, and grammar to effectively communicate with others.
• To most people, language comes naturally. We learn how to communicate
even before we can talk and as we grow older, we find ways to manipulate
language to truly convey what we want to say with words and complex
sentences. Of course, not all communication is through language,
but mastering a language certainly helps speed up the process. This is one
of the many reasons why language is important.
•
WHY IS LANGUAGE IMPORTANT
• Language Is Important To Business
• The importance of language in business is unmatched. Without
language here, we can’t share ideas and grow them into something
more. Whether this means learning a foreign language so you can
share ideas with people who come from a different country, or simply
learning how to use language to master an interview, demand
presence in a room, or network with others, language is vital.
WHY IS LANGUAGE IMPORTANT
• Language Is Important For Individuals And Development
• Humans all learn to talk at slightly different times, and observing
when a child starts to use language can be indicative of how well they
are developing. But this does not just apply to babies. It also applies
to young children learning a second language in school that’s different
than the language they speak at home, adults learning a second
language, or even those who may have lost language due to some
type of accident, and are working on regaining it.
•
WHY IS LANGUAGE IMPORTANT
• Language Is Important For Personal Communication
• Though much of human communication is non-verbal (we can
demonstrate our thoughts, feelings and ideas by our gestures,
expressions, tones, and emotions) language is important for personal
communication. Whether it’s being able to talk to your friends, your
partner, or your family, having a shared language is necessary for
these types of interactions.
THE NATURE OF LANGUAGE
The Basic Functions Of Language
• The main function of language is the usefulness of language. It gives us the ability to
communicate thoughts, ideas, and feelings with others as quickly as possible. But, within that,
we can understand language more by looking at its basic functions.
• 1. Informative Function
• The informative function of language is when we use language to communicate any information.
Essentially, its function is to inform others by being able to state facts clearly.
•
• 2. Expressive Function
• Another basic function of language is the expressive function. As it sounds, it is used to express
oneself by giving us ways to convey our feelings, emotions, and attitudes to another person (or
ourselves).
•
• 3. Directive Function
• The directive function of language is a basic function that helps us to direct or command. For
example, it gives us the ability to tell ourselves or someone else what to do in any given
situation.
Different
Types Of
• In addition to language functions, there are also different
Language types of language and ways to understand language
overall. Being able to differentiate these can help you
understand other reasons why language is so important.
• Oral Vs. Written Language
• In general, oral communication is spoken language meant
Different for conversing with others. Written language is about
expressing ideas through writing words down.
Types Of •
Language • Oral communication is usually more informal and faster,
while written language is more formal and slow.
•
• Denotative Meaning Vs. Connotative Meaning
•
• Words have a lot of meaning to them, and the meaning
depends on the context surrounding the word. This is why
there is denotative meaning and connotative meaning.
•
Different • Denotative meaning is the literal definition/intention of the
Types Of word, whereas connotative meaning is when words carry
positive or negative meanings/connotations. An example of
Language this could be “home” versus “house.” “House” is
denotative, being the literal term for this type of structure
where someone may live, whereas “home” is connotative
and represents a shelter, family, security, etc.
Understanding the difference can help you understand the
intention of language.
Clarity: Using language in a way that ensures the intended
audience fully understands your ideas; that your ideas are clear.
Six Elements Economy: Being ‘economic’ about how you speak by avoiding
Of Language any unnecessary language. This means using only the necessary
and appropriate words to express yourself while avoiding using
language your audience won’t understand. Essentially, this
means avoiding fluff or complicated vocabulary.
Obscenity: This refers to ‘indecent language’, including, but not
limited to, curse words and hateful remarks.
4. Obscure Language/Jargon: This is very specific language that your
audience will not understand because they are not familiar with
what you are talking about. This could be when your car mechanic
explains to you what’s wrong with your car, but you are not a car
mechanic, so you are unclear of what they’re talking about.
Six Elements 5.Power: This is when someone uses language to exert power over
someone to manipulate them, command them, or to get them to do
something they want. It could also be to demonstrate yourself as an
Of Language authority in the room.
6.Variety: This is a speaker’s ability to use a combination of all the
different types of language aforementioned to successfully and
creatively get ideas across.
HOW MANY
LANGUAGES ARE
THERE?
By Anna Klappenbach
https://blog.busuu.com/most-spoken-languages-in-the-world/
HOW MANY LANGUAGES ARE THERE?
• There are 196 countries, but how many languages are there in the world
today? According to Ethnologue, there are currently 7,117 languages
spoken around the world.
• Wondering how many languages there are in the world today as
we approach 2021? There are currently 7,117 known languages
spoken by people around the world, according to Ethnologue,
widely considered to be the most extensive catalogue of the
languages of the world. Sadly, this number declines every month.
Of these languages, 90% are spoken by less than 100,000 people.
• https://www.theintrepidguide.com/how-many-languages-are-there-in-the-
world/
12 MOST
SPOKEN
LANGUAGES
ENGLISH
• 1. English (1,132 million speakers)
• Language family: Germanic, a sub-family of Indo-European
• Related to: German, Dutch, Frisian
• Fun fact: The English word “goodbye” was originally a contraction of “God be
with ye”.
• With over 1,130 million native speakers, English is the most spoken language in
the world.
• It’s also the official language of the sky – all pilots have to speak and identify
themselves in English.
• Not only is Shakespeare widely considered as one of the greatest dramatists of all
time, but over his lifespan he added an incredible amount of about 1,700 words
to the English language by changing nouns into verbs, verbs into nouns,
connecting some words with each other and adding prefixes or suffixes to others.
MANDARIN
• 2. Mandarin Chinese (1,117 million speakers)
• Language family: Sino-Tibetan
• Related to: Cantonese, Tibetan, Burmese
• Fun fact: Research suggests that you’ll only need around 2,500 characters to be able to read
almost 98 percent of everyday written Chinese.
• In terms of native speakers alone, Mandarin Chinese is by far the second most spoken language in
the world.
• It’s an official language of mainland China, Taiwan and Singapore and one of the six official
languages of the United Nations. So it’s not surprising that there are approximately 1.09 million
native speakers worldwide.
• Mandarin is a tonal language, which means that the meaning of a word changes based on the way
we pronounce it.
• With a set of about 50,000 characters, it is probably one of the most complex languages to learn.
• But don’t worry: there are no verb conjugations, no tenses and no gender-specific nouns either.
• Quite motivating, isn’t it?
• Maybe that’s also why it’s one of the most popular languages to learn today…
HINDI
• 3. Hindi (615 million speakers)
• Language family: Indo-Ayran, a sub-family of Indo-European
• Related to: Bengali, Punjabi, Marathi, Kashmiri, Nepali
• Fun fact: If you’re an English speaker, you probably already know some
Hindi. Do words like ‘guru’, ‘jungle’, ‘karma’, ‘yoga’, ‘bungalow’, ‘cheetah’
and ‘avatar’ ring a bell? These words (and many more!) have been
borrowed from Hindi.
• There are about 615 million native Hindi speakers, which makes it the third
most spoken language in the world. It’s the official language of India, and is
also spoken in countries such as Nepal, Fiji, Mauritius and Guyana.
• Hindi is highly influenced by Sanskrit and named after the Persian
word hind, which means – quite literally – “Land of the Indus river”.
SPANISH
• 4. Spanish (534 million speakers)
• Language family: Romance, a sub-family of Indo-European
• Related to: French, Italian, Portuguese, Romanian
• Fun fact: The first modern novel and the second most translated book after the Bible was
written in Spanish. Which novel? It’s Don Quixote by Miguel de Cervantes, of course!
• Twenty-two countries over four continents have Spanish as the or one of the official
languages, and it’s already the second most studied language in the world.
• Can you believe that within three generations, 10 percent of the world’s population will
be able to communicate in Spanish?
• This is great news for native English speakers.
• For Spanish appears to be the easiest foreign language for English speakers to learn!
Experts say it takes only 22-24 weeks to reach what’s called general professional
proficiency in the language.
FRENCH
• 5. French (280 million speakers)
• Language family: Romance
• Related to: Spanish, Italian, Portuguese, Romanian
• Fun fact: About 45 per cent of modern English words are of French origin.
• In spite of what Hollywood movies might tell you, the language of love
doesn’t solely exist on moonlit walks in Paris.
• Spoken across different parts of the world – think everywhere from the rest
of France and parts of Canada to a handful of African countries, including
Senegal and Madagascar – the French language has spread its roots far and
wide.
ARABIC
• 6. Arabic (274 million speakers)
• Language family: Semitic, a sub-family of Afro-Asiatic
• Related to: Hebrew, Amharic, Aramaic
• Fun fact: Arabic has at least 11 words for love, each of them expressing a
different stage in the process of falling in love. Now isn’t that a reason to start
learning?
• With 295 million native speakers, Arabic is the sixth most spoken language in the
world, and the only one in our top twelve that is written from right to left.
• It has also heavily influenced European languages like Spanish and Portuguese:
some words sound exactly the same.
• It’s left its mark on the English language, too. The word coffee, for example,
comes from the Arabic word qahwa.
LANGUAGE FAMILIES
• Certain languages are related to each
other. Just as a person’s family consists
of people who share common ancestry,
related languages also come from
shared lineages. A language family is a
group of different languages that all
descend from a particular common
language. The one language that
generated those other languages in its
family is known as a protolanguage.
LANGUAGE FAMILIES
• languages, such as Spanish, Italian,
Romanian, Portuguese, and French, all
belong to the language family known as
“romance languages.” The romance
languages evolved from Latin, the
language used in ancient Rome. The Latin
word Romanicus, meaning “Roman,” was
later shortened to “Romance,” which is
where the language family name came
from. Latin itself, however, evolved from
the Indo-European language, an ancient
protolanguage, which is the origin of most
of the languages spoken in modern
Europe and parts of Asia.
LANGUAGE FAMILIES
• Other branches of the Indo-European language
family have evolved into completely different
groups. One example is the Germanic
languages. Linguists generally describe
Germanic languages in three groups: West
Germanic, North Germanic, and East
Germanic. The West Germanic group includes
German, English, and Dutch. North Germanic
includes Swedish, Danish, Norwegian,
Icelandic, and Faroese. East Germanic includes
Gothic and the languages once spoken by
members of peoples like the Vandals and the
Burgundians. While the languages in the West
Germanic and North Germanic groups are still
spoken, those of the East Germanic group are
now extinct.
LANGUAGE FAMILIES
• Another important language family is the Sino-Tibetan family. It is the
world’s second largest language family, with more than one billion
speakers of its hundreds of different languages. It includes both the
Sinetic languages (known as the Chinese dialects) and the Tibeto-
Burman languages (such as Tibetan and Burmese). Mandarin Chinese
is the most widely spoken language in this family. Like many Sino-
Tibetan languages, Mandarin Chinese is tonal. In tonal languages
(which also include Thai and Hmong), the vocal pitch the speaker uses
when saying a word helps determine its meaning.
LANGUAGE FAMILIES
• Although the Indo-European and Sino-
Tibetan language families two of the
largest in the world, linguists have
categorized more than one hundred
language families around the globe. As
linguists continue to study language and
its origins, our understanding of
language families will continue to evol
QUESTIONS
