Language is, simply put, the bedrock of culture. It is the means by which people communicate their culture from generation to generation as well as to others. You cannot truly understand another culture until you understand its language. Within a language lies not only the culture's method of communication, but also its method of thought. When you speak another language, you must rearrange your thought process to do it right. If any of you were fortunate to be brought up in a multi-lingual family, this change in thought process might be second nature. But it has been painfully clear to me as I have struggled to become fluent in Spanish over the last 15 years.

In this part of the culture unit, we will look at languages, their origins and their diffusion over the Earth.

The total number of languages in the world is estimated to be around 6000. Mexico has 52. The old USSR had 100. Nigeria has over 400. The island of Papua New Guinea has over 700, virtually a different one in each valley. India has over 800 languages in several families (Indo-European, Dravidian, Sino-Tibetan, Austro-Asiatic). (Krysstal) However, most people of the world speak one of Twenty different languages. (Be sure to look at this Chart of the **20 Most Spoken Languages** and this **map of the world's Languages**.)

This week we study where all the world's languages came from and how they developed and diffused over the Earth. To do this, we will rely on two excellent resources. We will begin with the Krysstal web site's excellent discussion of **Languages and Linguistics** which will provide us with the background information we need.

Languages are divided into related families (read the essays on **Language Families**). The family to which English belongs is the Indo-European Family. (Read these essays on the **Indo-European Language Family**and the **English Language**.)

Languages also tell us a great deal about our history and the landscape. See this essay on **Word and Name Origin** and pay particular attention to the sections on people and place names.

Now it's time for the geographic perspective. Unfortunately, with the onset of mass communications (rapid flights, radio, television, telephone, the internet), many smaller languages are in danger of extinction. With their passing, a unique cultural way of looking at the world disappears with them.