Geography Reference
In-Depth Information
the United States and most Americans speak it, but literally millions of people living in ethnic
neighborhoods, Indian reservations, and other enclaves across the land speak a different ver-
nacular language. Look again at Figure 13-5 and you may get the impression that everybody
in the United States, Australia, and New Zealand speaks English. Not so. People in parts of
each country speak a different vernacular language.
Many countries that are former colonies have adopted the language of the colonizer as their official
(or co-official) tongue even though, in many cases, only a minority of the populace speaks it.
Examples include English in Ghana and Kenya; French in Senegal and Madagascar; and Portuguese
in Angola and Mozambique. Typically, European languages are given official status in the former co-
lonial realm for two reasons:
The country contains numerous ethnic groups, some of which have a history of friction.
Elevating one local language to official status could lead to jealousy and unrest on the part
of other groups. Use of a European tongue favors no one and, in effect, puts everybody at an
equal disadvantage.
Use of a European tongue stands to promote international trade and commerce more than
would a local language, which may be spoken nowhere else on Earth.
Nevertheless, many (even most, in some cases) of the native peoples in these countries continue to
speak their own tongue as the vernacular language. In most cases, use of the official language(s) is
concentrated in the cities and larger towns, while the vernacular persists in the smaller towns, vil-
lages, and rural areas. To the extent that everyday use of the official language is gradually “trickling
down” from urban to rural areas, its spread exemplifies the process of hierarchical diffusion .
Figure 13-4: The
geography of
English is shown
by
the
dark
shade.
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