Jocelyne Rodriguez
Journal Entry 6
Reflect on how knowing a language's history can help you learn the language. To what family does your language belong? What sounds, words, or structures exemplify periods of contact with other cultures?
My language belongs to the Romance branch of the Indo-European family. Meaning my language has a very prominent Latin influence. Latin roots as well as Roman mythology and Catholic practices and beliefs have had a big influence in the development of Portuguese. Being familiar with Latin roots as well as Romance practices and expressions has helped me learn Portuguese as I have a rational background to help me make sense of words. For example, I knew months in Portuguese are based on names of Roman mythological gods and practices and so I can use my knowledge of Roman mythology as well as the Latin roots and suffixes to remember the names of months.
There are a number of sounds, words, and structures hat exemplify period of contact with other cultures that vary between Portuguese-Speaking countries. For example, in countries like Angola there is a great influence from African languages spoken in the country prior to the introduction of Portuguese. Meanwhile, these same African languages have also influenced other Portuguese-speaking countries through migration from Angola to countries like Portugal and Brazil during critical periods like the Angolan de-colonization and the Angolan civil war. This migration has spread cultural practices as well as new words and expressions normally associated with Angolan culture.
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