Historic Development

of Languages
(The Monster)

By Alan D. DeSantis
Geographic Distribution of
Living Languages, 1996
Area of World # of Languages % of World
Languages

The Americas 1,000 15%

Africa 2,011 30%
Europe 225 3%
Asia 2,165 32%
The Pacific 1,302 19%
TOTAL 6,703
 The population figures in this table refer to
first language speakers in all countries
(* = U.N. Languages)
11 JAVANESE
*1 CHINESE, MANDARIN Indonesia, Java, Bali 75,500,800
China 885,000,000 12 KOREAN
Korea, S. 75,000,000
*2 SPANISH *13 FRENCH
Spain 332,000,000 France 72,000,000
*3 ENGLISH 14 VIETNAMESE
UK 322,000,000 Viet Nam 67,662,000
4 BENGALI 15 TELUGU
Bangladesh 189,000,000 India 66,350,000
16 CHINESE, YUE
5 HINDI China 66,000,000
India 182,000,000 17 MARATHI
6 PORTUGUESE India 64,783,000
Portugal 170,000,000 18 TAMIL
*7 RUSSIAN India 63,075,000
Russia 170,000,000 19 TURKISH
Turkey 59,000,000
8 JAPANESE
20 URDU
Japan 125,000,000 Pakistan 58,000,000
9 GERMAN, STANDARD *ARABIC’S Total
Germany 98,000,000 Middle East 150, 000,000
10 CHINESE, WU
China 77,175,000
 Introduction to World
Languages
• There are over 6,000 languages currently spoken
in the world
• English is the most spoken language
– Most use it as their second (2 Billion)
• Many are unstudied languages
– New Guinea has 3 million people and 900 languages,
many in remote communities
• Most of these emerged out of four common
parents!!
 The World’s 4 Major
Language Families

In d o - E u r o p e a n S in o -T ib e ta n A u s tr o n e s ia n A fr o a s ia tic

Aus-tro-ne-sian
Af-ro-as-i-at-ic
 Example of “Comparative
Reconstruction” in the
Romance Languages
French Italian Spanish Rumanian Portuguese Word

mere madre madre mama mae mother

pere padre padre tata pai father
oeil occhio ojo ochiu olho eye
pied piede pie picior pe foot
un uno uno un um one
trios tre tres trei tres three
mois mese mes luna mes month
 The Big Problem
• Language reconstruction is not an exact science
• “Truth” emerges by consensus
• Consensus is harder and harder to reach as we go back
further and further
– Many of these “families” are debated/contested
• It is argued that every 10,000 years, the continuous cycle
of change completes itself
– Nothing exists from the initial (first generation) language
 I. Indo-European Languages
• Proto Indo-European spoken 5,000 BC
• This is the group we are most influenced by
– English, French, Spanish, Italian, German
• Of the 12 languages with more than 100 million
speakers, 8 of them are I-E
– The widespread use of I-E languages is due to
colonization, imperialism, and missionaries
• But of the thousands of languages in the world, only
about 150 are I-E
 Major Indo-European
Language Family
(First and Second Generation)

more
P r o to -In d o -E u r o p e a n

P r o to -G e r m a n ic P r o to -Ita lic C o m m o n S la v o n ic O ld In d o -Ir a n ia n

 Minor Indo-European
Language Family
(First, Second, & Third Generations)

more

P r o to -In d o -E u r o p e a n

C e lt ic B a lt ic T o c h a r ia n , A n a t o lia n , H it t it e A r m e n ia n A n c ie n t G r e e k
( a ll e x t in c t ) A lb a n ia n

I r is h G a e lic , S c o t t is h G a e lic , L it h u a n ia n , L a t v ia n M odern G reek

B r e t o n , W e ls h
 Ia. Germanic Languages
(Second, Third, & Fourth Generations)

P ro to -G e rm a n ic

W e s t G e rm a n ic N o rth G e rm a n ic E a s t G e rm a n ic
(G o th ic )

E n g lis h , G e rm a n , Y id d is h , S w e d is h , D a n is h , N o rw e g ia n
F ris ia n , D u tc h , A frik a a n s F a r o e s e , Ic e l a n d i c

-Afrikaans is a derivative of Dutch

-Gothic, spoken in central Europe, disappeared in 8th century
 Ib. Italic Languages
(Second, Third, & Fourth Generations)
P r o t o - It a l i c

L a tin O s c o -U m b ria n

F r e n c h , It a l i a n , C a t a l e a n , S p a n i s h O s c a n , U m b ria n
P ro v e n c a l, P o ru g u e s e , R u m a n ia n

-Latin Derivatives are known as Romantic Languages

-Fathered by “vulgar Latin” (language of Roman Empire) not
“formal Latin.”
-Provencal is spoken in the South of France
-Catalan is spoken in northern Spain
-Rumanian is the most different
-Oscan and Umbrian were languages of southern Italy
 Ic. Slavonic Languages
(Second, Third, & Fourth Generations)

C o m m o n S la v o n ic

E a s t S la v o n ic S o u t h S la v o n ic W e s t S la v o n ic

R u s s ia n , B y e lo r u s s ia n , U k r a in ia n B u lg a r ia n , S e r b o - C r o a t P o lis h , C z e c h , S lo v a k

-All Slavonic languages are remarkably similar

-Russian is the most widely spoken
 Id. Indo-Iranian Languages
(Second, Third, & Fourth Generations)

O ld In d o - Ir a n ia n

S a n s k r it P r o t o - Ir a n ia n

H in d i- U r d u , B e n g a li, B ih a r i P e r s ia n , P a s h t o
P u n ja b i, M a r a t h i, G u ja r a t i

-Persian, also called Farsi, is spoken in Iran

-Pashto is spoken in Afghanistan and northern Pakistan
-All the other languages are spoken in different parts of India by
its 1 billion people
 II. Sino-Tibetan Family
• 300 East Asian Languages
– Many of which remain unexplored
• There are Two Major Divisions:
– 1) Sinitic/Chinese (1 Billion Speakers)
• 5 Major Dialects
– 2) Tibeto-Burman
• Many different languages, very few speakers
• Burmese (20 mill) and Tibetan (3 mill) are the only members
with more than million speakers
 II. Sino-Tibetan Family

S in o - T ib e t a n

S in it ic T ib e t o - B u r m a n
( C h in e s e )

T h e 5 D ia le c t s : B u r m e s e & T ib e t a n
M a n d a r in , Y u e , W u , M in , H a k k a
 III. Austronesian Family
• 1,000 Different Languages
• Two Major Sub-Divisions
• 1) Formosan
– 3 Ancient Languages
• Spoken only in the hills of Taiwan
• 2) Malayo-Polynesian
– West: Malayo Polynesian
• Indonesia, Malaysia, Madagascar, Philippines
• Recently Thai (40 mil) and Lao (10 mil) have been added
– East: Oceanic
• Papua New Guinea, Fijian, Islands of Pacific
 III. Austronesian Family
P r o t o - A u s t r o n e s ia n

F o rm o sa n P r o t o - M a la y o - P o ly n e s ia n

W e s te rn O c e a n ic
( A s ia n )

In d o n e s ia n - M a la y , J a v a n e s e , N e w G u in e a n , P a c if ic Is la n d s ,
M a la g s y F ijia n , S a m o a n

–Indonesian-Malay (150 mill) in Indonesian and Malaysia

–Javanese (60 mill) in Java and Indonesia
–Pilipino is the official language of Philippines
–Malagasy (9 mill) of Madagascar
–Most others have under 1 mill
 IV. Afroasiatic Family
• Comprises about 250 Languages
– Arabic being the biggie--150 Mill
• From northern Africa and the Middle East:
– Iran, Iraq, Chad, Israel, Jordan, Saudi Arabia, Lebanon,
Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia, Egypt, Ethiopia, Somalia,
Sudan,
• It is the language of Judaism, Christianity, and Islam
– Moses, Jesus, and Mohammed
 IV. Afroasiatic Family

A f r o a s ia t ic F a m ily

S e m it ic C u s h it ic B e rb e r C h a d ic A n c ie n t E g y p t io a n
( e x t in c t )

A m h a r ic ( E t h io p ia ) S o m a li K abyl H ausa
H e b r e w & A r ib ic ( p lu s 4 0 o t h e r s ) ( 1 0 m ill. a c o r s s N . A f r ic a ) ( p lu s 1 3 0 o t h e r s )
A r a m a ic ( P a le s t in ia n )

-Hausa is one of Africa’s major languages spoken in Chad &

Nigeria (20 mill)
-Akkadian was the first written language (Semitic)
-Jesus spoke Palestinian Aramaic
 V. Sub-Saharan Africa
• South of the Sahara Desert, there are three other
language families:
– 1) Niger-Congo Family
• Several hundred languages
• From Senegal to Kenya to South Africa
– 2) Nilo-Saharan Family
• 100 languages by 10 million people
– 3) Khoisan (Coisan) Family
• Southern Africa (uses click sounds)
• 50 languages spoken by fewer than 75,000
– *Remember, North Africa is Afroasiatic
 VI. Other Families of
Asia and Europe

• 1) Altaic Family (many speakers)

– 250 Mil Speakers Total
– Vast area from USSR to China
– Turkic, Mongolian, Manchu
– Recently, Japanese (150 mil) and Korean (50 mil)
have been added
• 2) Dravidian Family (many speakers)
– Southern India
 VI. Other Families of
Asia and Europe
• 3) Austro-Asiatic (many speakers)
– 100 Languages in Southeast Asia
– Found in Vietnam, Laos, Cambodia, Thailand
• 4) Caucasian Family
– Georgian is best known
– 30 Languages of Soviet Union, Turkey, and Iran
• 5) Uralic Family
– Finland, Hungary, Estonia
 VII. The Americas
• It was assumed that there were 300 Languages belonging to 50
families
• Greenburg has found that there are only 3
– Eskimo Aleut
• Upper and most of the Eastern regions of Canada
– Na-Dene
• Western and Central Canada (not touched by E A)
• Also, Navaho and Apache (Texas, OK)
– Amerind
• Everything Else from California to New York to Mexico to Brazil to Argentina
 VII. The Americas
• Each year more and more Native American
Languages are dying out with no speakers left:
Since 1965 . . .
– Tillamook, Wiyot, Algonquian, Huron, Chumash,
Salinan, Chinook, Natchez, Tonkawa have died.
• Languages with fewer than 50 speakers:
– Abnaki-Penobscot, varieties of Apache, Coeur
d’Alene, Squamish, Cupeno, Miwok, Yokuts, Pmo,
Shasta, Tuscarora
 VIII. Pidgin and Creole
• Pidgin
– Members of the subordinate (colonized) area create a simplified variety of
the dominant language
– Used in very limited situations (work, business)
• Bamboo, China Coast, Cameroon
– Many based on English and French
• Creole
– Today, most pidgins give way to Creole
– Used in many contexts
– More complex and developed over generations
• Louisiana, Jamaican, Caribbean
 And the totals are . . .

• 1. Indo-European--2 Bill (Europe)

• 2. Sino Tibetan--1,040 Bill (Asia)
• 3. Niger-Congo--260 Mill (Africa)
• 4. Altaic--250 Mill (Asia)
• 5. Austonesian--250 Mill (Asian Pacific)
• 6. Afroasiatic--230 Mill (N. Af & M. East)
• 7. Dravidian--140 Mill (Asia)
• 8. Austro-Asiatic--60 Mill (Asia)
 Nostratoc Super Family
• Researchers from Russia and US have found a Super
Family of 10,000 BC
• It gave birth to the Indo-European, Afroasiatic, Uralic,
Altaic, Dravidian, and Eskimos Aleut families
• This being the case, English, Hebrew, Arabic, Finnish,
Korean, Turkish, and Eskimo would all be cousins
• But this is still highly contested