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
Language Families All of the languages within a language family are【1】and all of them have a similar history. Let’s take a br
Language Families All of the languages within a language family are【1】and all of them have a similar history. Let’s take a br
admin
2010-07-19
44
问题
Language Families
All of the languages within a language family are【1】and all of them have a similar history. Let’s take a brief look at some of the largest language families.
English has become a world language because of its establishment as a【2】outside England. The Indo European language family includes most of the languages that are spoken throughout Europe, languages such as English, French, and【3】. The Afro-Asiatic family includes most languages in the area of【4】, such as【5】. Bantu includes most of the languages spoken in【6】Africa. A fourth large group of languages is the Sino-Tibetan Family which includes all【7】of Chinese. Japanese is【8】to the Sino-Tibetan family. The Polynesian languages are【9】languages. They are spread by【10】.
【1】
Good morning everyone. Today I’m going to talk about some large language families. I’ll start my talk with two questions. Do you know how many languages are used throughout the world today? How many major language families are there? (pause and noise)
OK. There are more than 3000 languages 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 3000 languages that are used today, there are only about 20 to 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. As everybody knows, English has become a world language because of its establishment as a mother tongue outside England. It’s spoken by 320 million people. English is a member of the Indo European language family. This large language family 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. I’ll spell it, A-F-R-O, A-S-I-A-T-I-C. The Afro-Asiatic family includes most languages in the area of North Africa. Languages 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, B-A-N-T-U. Bantu includes most of the languages spoken in central and southern Africa. Languages such as Swahili, which has millions of speakers, and smaller languages, such as Zulu, which has close to a hundred thousand speakers, belong to the Bantu family. There are over 250 members of this family.
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 800 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. I’ll spell it, P-O-L-Y-N-E-S-I-A-N. 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 travellers from island to island, and then each group of islands developed its own individual language.
These five language groups, or language families, that 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
related
解析
转载请注明原文地址:https://kaotiyun.com/show/RMlO777K
0
专业英语八级
相关试题推荐
AccordingtoLandes,themainmasonthatsomecountriesaresopooristhat______.Landesbelievesthat______.
Peoplearemovingtocitiesindroves.In1950,two-thirdsoftheworld’spopulationlivedinthecountryside.NewYorkwasthen
Onecharacteristicoftherichclassesofadecliningsocietyistheirtendencyto______.WhichofthefollowingisNOTanele
Sub-SaharanAfricancountries______.Thepassagestatesthatteenagedbirthsare______.
PeoplelivingonpartsofthesouthcoastofEnglandfaceaseriousproblem.In1993,theownersofalargehotelandofseveral
Economicglobalizationobviouslyhasagreatdealtodowiththechangeofprolongedworkinghours.Ithasleveledtheplayingf
SincejoiningtheEuropeanEconomicCommunityin_____,BritainhasadoptedtheCommunitysystemofagriculturalsupport.
1 "Internationalcommunication"iscommunicationbetweenmembersofdifferentcultures.Thisdefinitionissimple.Butt
Ifpolicymakershopetomakefasterprogressinimprovingeconomicperformance,reducingpoverty,andslowing 【M1】______
Beforeconsideringthisquestionitisinterestingtoreviewbrieflytheevolutionofthemindas【M
随机试题
用头针治疗痴呆可选择哪些穴位
计划工作相对于其他管理职能而言处于首位。()
货币的职能有
青年女性患者,双眼球轻度突出,伴上睑退缩,巩膜暴露。超声波检查提示眼外肌肥大,无明显占位性病变。若病情进一步发展,双眼球高度突出,眼睑闭合不全,球结膜高度水肿伴复视。最可能的诊断是
最能够提高人群免疫力的措施是
患者男性,45岁,不慎高处坠落,伤及右腰肋处,感觉腰腹疼痛,急诊就医。体检:面色苍白,脉搏112次/分,血压82/50mmHg,右侧上腹部略隆起,有压痛,无反跳痛,轻度肌紧张。B超检查:右肾轮廓不清,右肾周中度积液。血常规示血红蛋白92g/L。尿常规示尿外
质量为m,长为l的等截面均质杆AB在图示位置,已知角速度和角加速度分别为ω、ε,其转向如图所示,则杆的动能T为()。
建设社会主义新农村的首要任务为()。
甲为国家工作人员,在经济往来中,违反国家规定,收受某公司的回扣4万元归个人所有,甲的行为构成()。
ForRichardLeakey,headoftheKenyaWildlifeService(KWS),conservationoftenseemstobeacontinuationofwarbyothermeans
最新回复
(
0
)