Origin and Diffusion - Chapter 5.4
By Max DeVos
Summary of Language DIffusion
Imagine a game of telephone, where you tell one person something, and they tell the next, and they tell the next, and by the time it gets back to you, the message is entirely different. This is how new languages are created. However, these are organized into families, branches, and dialects.
Languages Diffuse From Their Place Of Origin Through Migration
As time passes, and people move from place to place as technology grows stronger and more prevalent, languages tend to move with their native speakers. For example, if a large number of Syrian refugees came to the United States, we would have an influx of Arabic speakers, but at the same time, those refugees, if they planned to stay, would most likely learn English in order to be able to adequately communicate with locals.
The Origin and Diffusion of the English Language
Many various groups of people have migrated to England since it's creation, and over time a singular language was created. The English language is a mixture of many languages, including Celtic, Latin, Norwegian, and Norse. The English Language is a Germanic language, because it was the easiest to smatter together from all the other languages.
Below: Map of Invasions of England, which led to the creation of English
How New Languages are Created
As stated earlier, the new creation of languages is similar to a game of telephone, where the original message is manipulated into something entirely different.
There are over 6000 languages in the world
Across the Earth, there are estimated to be over 6000 live languages that are spoken by at least one person.
Primary Languages of the World
This map portrays the major languages that are spoken throughout the world. This does an excellent job of portraying the language barrier in a visual manner.
What's The Most Common Language In The World?
What Is The Future Of Language?