A Wonderleaf question
Why are there different languages?
a real page from the book
There are different languages because people have lived in separate groups for a very long time, making and changing words with the people nearest them. When communities are apart, their speech changes in different ways until neighbors, cousins, or travelers may no longer understand one another.
Mountains, seas, migration, trade, and family identity all shape speech. A child’s joke, a grandparent’s old word, or a new food brought from another place can become part of how a whole community talks.
Wonder words
- language
- dialect
- migration
- identity
Try it out
At dinner, ask relatives or friends for three different ways they say hello, goodbye, or thank you.
Read the whole picture book
Watercolour scenes, straight answers, about three minutes cover to cover.
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