[D] Click for more information, 8 KB Wall Hanging of a Young Women, by Patricia M. Ningewance
Some language families are large and strong in terms of viability, others
small and vulnerable. The three largest families, which together represent
93% of persons with an Aboriginal mother tongue, are Algonquian (with
147 000 people whose mother tongue is Algonquian), Inuktitut (with 28
000) and Athapaskan (with 20 000). The other eight account for the remaining
7%. Tlingit, one of the smallest families, has a mere 145 people in Canada
whose mother tongue is that language. Similar variations apply to individual
languages - Cree, with a mother tongue population of 88 000, appears immense
when compared with Malecite at 660.
Influence of Geography on the Size and Diversity of Languages
[D] Click for more information, 22 KB Wall Hanging of an Incan Sunset, by Patricia M. Ningewance
Geography is an important contributor to the diversity, size and distribution
of Aboriginal languages across Canada's regions. Open plains and hilly
woodlands, for example, are ideal for accommodating large groups of people.
Because of the terrain, groups in these locations can travel and communicate
with each other relatively easily, and often tend to spread over larger
areas.
On the other hand, soaring mountains and deep gorges tend to restrict
settlements to small pockets of isolated groups. British Columbia's mountainous
landscape with its numerous physical barriers was likely an important
factor in the evolution of the province's many separate, now mostly small,
languages. Divided by terrain, languages such as Salish, Tsimshian, Wakashan,
Haida, Tlingit and Kutenai could not develop as large a population base
as the widely spread Algonquinian (particularly Cree and Ojibway) and
the Athapaskan languages, whose homes are the more open central plains
and eastern woodlands.
Geography can also influence the likelihood of a language's survival.
Groups located in relatively isolated regions, away from the dominant
culture, face fewer pressures to abandon their language. They tend to
use their own language in schooling, broadcasting and other communication
services and, as a result, are likely to stay more self-sufficient. Communities
living in Nunavut, Northwest Territories, the northern regions of Quebec
and Labrador - the Inuit, Attikamek and Montagnais-Naskapi - are examples
of such groups.
Because of their large, widely dispersed populations, the Algonquian
languages account for the highest share of Aboriginal languages in all
provinces except British Columbia and in the territories, ranging from
72% in Newfoundland to nearly 100% in the other Atlantic provinces. In
both British Columbia and the Yukon, the Athapascan languages make up
the largest share (26% and 80%, respectively), while Inuktitut is the
most prominent Aboriginal language in the Northwest Territories and practically
the only one in Nunavut. British Columbia, home to about half of all individual
Aboriginal languages, is the most diverse in Aboriginal language composition.
However, because of the small size of these language groups, the province
accounts for only 7% of people with an Aboriginal mother tongue.
To properly interpret this map, please consult the text Data
and Mapping Notes.
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