Individual and Societal Bilingualism Individual Bilingualism Societal Bilingualism
Individual and Societal Bilingualism Individual Bilingualism Societal Bilingualism Yes No No Yes No 1/17
Language and National Boundaries National Minority Status in: Language German Hungary, Turkish Greek Swedish Denmark, Belgium, France, Italy, Slovenia, Serbia, Romania, Russia, Ukraine, Kazakhstan, Czechia, Poland Greece, Macedonia, Bulgaria, Romania, Moldova, Ukraine Italy, Macedonia, Albania, Bulgaria, Romania, Ukraine, Turkey Finland Trudgill, Peter. 2000. Sociolinguistics: An Introduction to Language and Society, 4 th edition. London: Penguin Books, p. 121. 2/17
Linguistic Minorities Language Countries Sami (Lapp) Frisian Basque Catalan Breton Sorbian Kashubian Welsh Gaelic Norway, Sweden, Finland, Russia Germany, Netherlands Spain, France Germany Poland UK UK Trudgill, Peter. 2000. Sociolinguistics: An Introduction to Language and Society, 4 th edition. London: Penguin Books, p. 122. 3/17
Problems for Linguistic Minorities Education Mother tongue could be 1. proscribed 2. tolerated 3. promoted Political Access May be unable to carry out transactions without interpreter or bilingual civil servants Voting Viewed with suspicion Economic Opportunities Jobs Trudgill, Peter. 2000. Sociolinguistics: An Introduction to Language and Society, 4/17 4 th edition. London: Penguin Books, p. 123 ff.
Languages and Nations UK Ireland Spain Malaysia Norway US Canada Singapore India 5/17
UK Minority Languages 1 Indigenous Languages Gaelic Speakers: 81, 000 (in 1931) 1918 allowed in schools 1958 more actively promoted English at secondary level Welsh Speakers: 656, 000 (in 1931 ? ) 1953 promote bilingual education in Wales Local autonomy to decide Trudgill, Peter. 2000. Sociolinguistics: An Introduction to Language and Society, 4 th edition. London: Penguin Books, pp. 124 -126. 6/17
UK Minority Languages 2 Non-Indigenous Languages Punjabi Bengali Other Trudgill, Peter. 2000. Sociolinguistics: An Introduction to Language and Society, 4 th edition. London: Penguin Books, pp. 124 -126. 7/17
Norwegian National Languages 1 Nynorsk ‘new Norwegian’ forerunner: Landsmål like western dialects some local press poetry, literature (rural) school: 20% children country name: Noreg Bokmål ‘book language’ forerunner: Riksmål (Dano-Norwegian) like eastern dialects national press, most books school: most children right-wing press: conservative forms left-wing press: radical forms country name: Norge Trudgill, Peter. 2000. Sociolinguistics: An Introduction to Language and Society, 4 th edition. London: Penguin Books, pp. 136 -137. 8/17
Norwegian National Languages 2 Nynorsk Bokmål Both all official documents children must learn both radio / TV use both extensively Trudgill, Peter. 2000. Sociolinguistics: An Introduction to Language and Society, 4 th edition. London: Penguin Books, pp. 136 -137. 9/17
India without English 1 Possible Effect of Eliminating English 1. Increased state, ethnic and linguistic loyalties leading to political fragmentation 2. Indian languages do not have scientific and technological tradition—vocabulary gap 3. Using Indian languages for technology, commerce, industry would require massive amounts of translation— no way to keep up 4. Only experts could do the translation and they should be doing the research instead T. K. Dutt (1967), cited in Wolfson (1989), pp. 282 -283 10/17
India without English 2 Effects of exclusive emphasis of regional language 1. Not enough teaching materials available in regional languages 2. Future jobs prospects fewer 3. Going abroad to study more difficult 4. Elite want to keep English to themselves T. K. Dutt (1967), cited in Wolfson (1989), pp. 282 -283 11/17
The Power of Language “Where language is a defining characteristic (see p. 44) of a minority ethnic group wanting independence, particularly where other (for example physical) characteristics are not significant (as in the case of Welsh), linguistic factors are likely to play an important role in any separatist movement they might undertake. ” Trudgill, Peter. 2000. Sociolinguistics: An Introduction to Language and Society, 4 th edition. London: Penguin Books, p. 127. 12/17
History of Standardized Chinese 1 官話頭 國語 普通話 Norman, Jerry. 1988. Chinese. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, pp. 133135. 13/17
History of Standardized Chinese 2 官話頭 (Guanhua) — not standardized — influenced by native dialects Government / Administrative language Norman, Jerry. 1988. Chinese. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, pp. 133135. 14/17
History of Standardized Chinese 3 國語 (term 1910) For administration and in schools NOT as a literary language (at first) (which was still the 文言文) Norman, Jerry. 1988. Chinese. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, pp. 133135. 15/17
History of Standardized Chinese 4 國語 (term 1910) Sources Spoken: 官話頭 (with standardized pronunciation: Beijing dialect) Written: 白話 classics Norman, Jerry. 1988. Chinese. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, pp. 133135. 16/17
History of Standardized Chinese 5 普通話 (Putonghua) 國語 with a new name Character simplification movement (and literacy promotion) Norman, Jerry. 1988. Chinese. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, pp. 133135. 16/17
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