History and Language

[Laura Major]

It can definitely be useful knowing a nation's history in order to better understand the language. Many languages are altered from invading countries that have changed the language. For example, Iran has has the Farsi script changed to Arabic letters from the Islamic Revolution. Also languages can come from past indigenous communities that used to live in the region before other countries took over and brought their own language but kept some of the indigenous roots. By knowing some of the history, one can learn why words are spoken the way they are or why some of the vocabulary can be different in different regions of the same country.