首页
外语
计算机
考研
公务员
职业资格
财经
工程
司法
医学
专升本
自考
实用职业技能
登录
外语
How many languages are used throughout the world today?
How many languages are used throughout the world today?
admin
2009-06-24
67
问题
How many languages are used throughout the world today?
There are over 3,000 languages that are used throughout the world today. Almost all of these languages belong to a much smaller number of language families. All of the languages within a language family are related and all of them have a similar history. Therefore, the grammar, vocabulary, and sounds of related languages are similar. In addition, the way of thinking and the style of talking among related languages is similar.
Even though there are over 3,000 languages that are used today, there are only 20 or 30 major language families.
Let’s take a brief look at some of the largest language families. Each of these large families includes many individual languages. The language that we are using now is English and English is, of course, a member of a large language family. English is a member of the Indo-European language family. The Indo-European language includes most of the languages that are spoken throughout Europe, languages such as English, French and Greek. Of course, nowadays, many Indo-European languages are spoken in other parts of the world. For instance, Spanish, which is an Indo-European language is spoken throughout South and Central America, but originally it was spoken only in Europe.
Another large language family is the Afro-Asiatic family. The Afro-Asiatic family includes most languages in the area of North Africa and the Middle East. Language such as Arabic, which is spoken throughout the Middle East, and many of the local languages of the Sahara Desert region such as Hausa are members of the same family. Another large family is Bantu. Bantu includes most of the languages spoken in central and southern Africa.
In the past few hundred years, there has been a great deal of change in Africa, and outside languages, such as French, are now spoken in some areas of central Africa and southern Africa. A fourth large group of languages is the Sino-Tibetan family. Sino-Tibetan includes all dialects of Chinese, which is perhaps the most widely used language in the world. There are nearly eight hundred million speakers of Chinese dialects. Sino-Tibetan also includes the languages of Southeast Asia, languages such as Vietnamese and Thai. Of course, not all the languages of East Asia belong to this family. Some languages such as Japanese seem to be completely unrelated to the Sino-Tibetan family.
Still another major language family is Polynesian. The Polynesian languages are island languages. They are spoken on the islands around Indonesia, and on the many islands eastward all the way to Hawaii, and on the islands west all the way to Madagascar, off the east coast of Africa. Hawaiian and Indonesian are examples of Polynesian languages. Apparently, these languages were spread by travelers from islands to islands, and then each group of islands developed its own individual language.
These five language groups, or language families, which we have mentioned here are only a few of the major language families from around the world. There are many more. You should also note that each major language family has several smaller families within it.
选项
答案
Completely unrelated.
解析
转载请注明原文地址:https://kaotiyun.com/show/QaTd777K
本试题收录于:
公共英语五级笔试题库公共英语(PETS)分类
0
公共英语五级笔试
公共英语(PETS)
相关试题推荐
A.EducationB.PeopleC.TransportD.DrinksE.FoodF.NightlifeA.fasterbutmoreexpensivethanbusesB.bothancientand
A.EducationB.PeopleC.TransportD.DrinksE.FoodF.Nightlife*
A.EducationB.PeopleC.TransportD.DrinksE.FoodF.Nightlife*
Thearticlesketchedthemajoreventsofthedecade.
Movingpicturespresentspectacularsceneslikebattles,processions,stormsorraces.
Thefatherwasunwillingtogivehissonthekeystohiscar.
TheRiverWensumflowsbyNorwich.Thefootballteamiscalled"TheCanaries"becauseofthecolourstheplayerswear.
NewFoodsandtheNewWorldInthelast500years,nothingaboutpeople—nottheirclothes,ideas,orlanguages—haschangeda
Theeternalmotionofthestarsfascinatedhim.
随机试题
男性。60岁。突发不能说话,右上、下肢无力,约20分钟恢复,反复发作,发作后检查。神经系统正常。首先要考虑的诊断是
患者男,66岁。车祸后T10完全性脊髓损伤,能部分排尿,测残余尿80~100ml。不完全性和完全性脊髓损伤的重要判定方式为
关于产褥感染的护理,下述正确的是()
下列会计法律法规中,属于会计电算化专门法规的是()。
库存现金盘点结束后,应当编制调整现金日记账余额的原始凭证。下列各项中,属于该原始凭证的是()。
企业要充分利用剩余的生产能力,获取增量利润,设法补上市场空隙,把自己定位成完整产品线的供应商,宜采取的产品线策略是()策略。
一般资料:求助者,男性,33岁,大学教师。案例介绍:求助者博士毕业后,留校任教,由于工作出色,29岁时就破格评为副教授。求助者一直全心追求事业,无暇顾及个人问题。直到一年前才经人介绍结识了现在的女友。随着了解的加深,求助者觉得女友各方面都很优秀,
阅读下面的材料,按要求作文。某天,一个爱尔兰的小女孩下了火车,她的手里提了一袋很重的行李。她是去某个城堡里当女仆的。城堡离车站约一英里,小女孩请车站搬行李的工人帮着把行李带到城堡里去,答应给他一先令。这是她口袋里仅有的钱。搬运工人带着不屑的眼光拒绝了。这
Somestudiesconfirmedthatthiskindofeyediseasewas______intropiccountries.
Ourape-menforefathershadnoobviousnaturalweaponsinthestruggleforsurvivalintheopen.Theyhadneitherthepowerfult
最新回复
(
0
)