Language Classification

When I first enrolled in Linguistic Anthropology one of the topics I was most fascinated by was how languages are classified. I had never taken the time to consider how different forms of verbal communication have been narrowed down into specific categories used to for the academic study of language. There are more than six thousand languages spoken around the world, not counting the many dialects that steam from these recognized languages, with so many types of verbal communication these languages have been divided into specific categories (Adachi, Salzmann, & Stanlaw, 2015). These categories are broken down into specific language families; a language family is a group of languages that stem from the same historical language, such as Latin (Adachi, Salzmann, & Stanlaw, 2015). These language families are then broken down into more specific subdivisions, which are referred to as branches, these branches may also be broken down into smaller categories (Adachi, Salzmann, & Stanlaw, 2015). The breakdown of languages are usually done based on  the origin of the particular language and the rooted as seen with language family classifications; however, languages can also be broken down based on its written form and technical elements. This type of breakdown is less common and in some cases contradicts the classifications in the language families model (Adachi, Salzmann, & Stanlaw, 2015). I have taken French, Spanish, and Latin roots classes in the past and now that I have learned more about how these languages originated and are classified it makes sense that there are common similarities that carry through. The concept of language classification is one that I find perplexing and I hope to continue to learn more about the different language families.


Reference:


Salzmann, Z., Stanlaw, J., & Adachi, N. (2015). Language, Culture, and Society: An Introduction to Linguistic Anthropology. Boulder, CO: Westview Press.