Language families can be traced geographically.
The Indo-European Language Family
North
American Language Map
This map is clickable. Click on any of the colors to learn about the languages
in that area.
| Exercise |
| 1. What does it mean to say that certain languages are related?
2. How do historical linguists know that languages are related? 3. Furthermore, how do historical linguists know that one language is more closely related to another language than it is to a third language? 4. What does a relationship between two or more languages tell us about the respective histories of the people who speak them? |
The primary issue is why and how do languages change? In the next section,
we will explore some of the mechanisms that lead to change. First let's
look at small differences....
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