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French Language

Cécile Van den Avenne

in Postcolonial Realms of Memory: Sites and Symbols in Modern France

Two strong linguistic ideologies, which could at first seem to be irreconcilable, inform the French language as an ideological notion: French as a universal language, and French as the language of ... More

Two strong linguistic ideologies, which could at first seem to be irreconcilable, inform the French language as an ideological notion: French as a universal language, and French as the language of the nation. Late 19th-century linguistic policy reflects this paradoxical conception as the dissemination of the national language, the medium of the ‘mission civilisatrice’, became the object of political consensus, but locally French was scarcely taught, and its actual presence in the colonies was limited and not aimed at widespread political and cultural assimilation. The overseas exportation of the French language is a legacy of French colonial expansion, but that legacy is shared unequally. Often claimed by African writers as a war booty (‘butin de guerre’, Kateb Yacine), French has become a postcolonial issue and realm of memory.Less

Historical and Sociolinguistic Background

Wilson McLeod

in Gaelic in Scotland: Policies, Movements, Ideologies

This chapter gives a historical overview of Gaelic in Scotland, including an analysis of its spread to different parts of Scotland in the Middle Ages and the trajectory of demographic decline and ... More

This chapter gives a historical overview of Gaelic in Scotland, including an analysis of its spread to different parts of Scotland in the Middle Ages and the trajectory of demographic decline and language shift since the 18th century. Gaelic became the language of the first Scottish monarchy (the kingdom of Alba) and was widely spoken across Scotland, but then began to decline in the 12th century and became confined to the mountainous northwest of the country (the Highlands). The language became stigmatised as a language of barbarism and the Gaelic community was economically and socially marginalised. Traditional Gaelic society was shattered in the 18th century, with the repression following the Battle of Culloden (1746), followed by the Highland Clearances of the 19th century, which involved large-scale removal of population. Since the 18th century there has been steady language shift in the Highlands, now reaching the last Gaelic communities. The future of Gaelic as a community language has become very uncertain.Less

Policy, Ideology and Discourse

Wilson McLeod

in Gaelic in Scotland: Policies, Movements, Ideologies

This chapter addresses a number of overarching issues and themes that have affected the position of Gaelic throughout the modern period. It begins with a discussion of the aims and assumptions of ... More

This chapter addresses a number of overarching issues and themes that have affected the position of Gaelic throughout the modern period. It begins with a discussion of the aims and assumptions of state language policy in Scotland and the wider United Kingdom, and then outlines the principal stages in the development of Gaelic policy. It goes on to consider the relationship between Gaelic and national and group identities in Scotland, considering the varying ways in which it has been framed and interpreted as a national, regional or ethnic minority language. It considers competing ideological interpretations of the value of Gaelic; since the 18th century, Gaelic has been simultaneously valorised and denigrated. It addresses the role of the Scots language in Scotland, which has formed an important backdrop to Gaelic policy even if organising and provision for Scots has been limited. Finally, the chapter gives an overview of he characteristics of Gaelic organisations; generally they have been moderate rather than militant in approach, concerned about limited support in the Gaelic community and the potential for backlash from the Anglophone majority.Less

Uprooted Speakers’ Grassroots English: Metalinguistic Perspectives of Asylum Seekers in Germany

Axel Bohmann

in World Englishes at the Grassroots

This chapter discusses metalinguistic discourse produced by asylum seekers from English-speaking West Africa in Germany, with a focus on the role of English in participants’ communicative environment ... More

This chapter discusses metalinguistic discourse produced by asylum seekers from English-speaking West Africa in Germany, with a focus on the role of English in participants’ communicative environment and the values and affordances ascribed to different varieties of English. The chapter argues that, in this specific context, a) English loses much of its communicative range but retains important identity-related functions, and b) the values associated with different varieties of English reflect global relationships in the World system of Englishes. African varieties are linked to in-group functions and receive differential evaluation, with Nigerian English being constructed as more standard-distant than Ghanaian English, whereas the English of German interlocutors is associated with the prestige varieties American and British English. Particularly surprising is the frequent equation of Gambian English with Jamaican ways of speech, a pattern accounted for not in terms of linguistic similarity but of the global circulation of reggae and dancehall culture. The chapter thus contributes to the sociolinguistics of globalization and the study of language, mobility, and migration.Less

Some introductory thoughts

Robert McColl Millar

in Contact: The Interaction of Closely Related Linguistic Varieties and the History of English

This chapter introduces the reader to a number of concepts central to our understanding of linguistic contact. The problematic nature of some of these concepts in relation to near-relative contact – ... More

This chapter introduces the reader to a number of concepts central to our understanding of linguistic contact. The problematic nature of some of these concepts in relation to near-relative contact – contact between varieties which are at least borderline mutually intelligible – is flagged up as a central issue of the book.Less

New dialect formation and near-dialect contact

Robert McColl Millar

in Contact: The Interaction of Closely Related Linguistic Varieties and the History of English

Linguists have often wondered how ‘new’ varieties of a language come into being. This chapter provides a theoretical discussion of recent research on these developments, paying particular attention ... More

Linguists have often wondered how ‘new’ varieties of a language come into being. This chapter provides a theoretical discussion of recent research on these developments, paying particular attention to determinism, the founder principle and swamping. Varieties discussed include New Zealand, Newfoundland, Falkland Islands and Australian English, Glaswegian Scots and Scottish Standard English. The last is of particular interest, since it discusses contact producing a written variety. The concept of koineisation is introduced.Less

New dialect formation and time depth

Robert McColl Millar

in Contact: The Interaction of Closely Related Linguistic Varieties and the History of English

Linguists have generally studied new dialect formation in varieties with relatively little time depth. In this chapter greater depth is considered in relation to the development of the Scots dialects ... More

Linguists have generally studied new dialect formation in varieties with relatively little time depth. In this chapter greater depth is considered in relation to the development of the Scots dialects of Orkney and Shetland, Irish English and Ulster Scots. While lengthier periods of contact do make analysis of the original impact more difficult, it is shown that essentially the same processes have been at work in these contexts as was the case in more recent contacts. Given their contact with the native North Germanic variety of the Northern Isles, the Shetland and Orkney examples lead us into the themes of the next two chapters.Less

Linguistic contact and near-relative relationships

Robert McColl Millar

in Contact: The Interaction of Closely Related Linguistic Varieties and the History of English

In this chapter the reader is led further into the field of near-relative contact with greater time depth. Insights from the study of creole development are introduced, as is the concept of the ... More

In this chapter the reader is led further into the field of near-relative contact with greater time depth. Insights from the study of creole development are introduced, as is the concept of the creoloid. Greater depth is given to our understanding of koineisation. Varieties discussed include Bonin Islands and Pitcairn/Norfolk Island English, Fiji Hindi, Afrikaans and medieval Scandinavian (in relation to contact with Low German).Less

English in the ‘transition period’: the sources of contact-induced change

Robert McColl Millar

in Contact: The Interaction of Closely Related Linguistic Varieties and the History of English

Perhaps the central chapter of Contact, we focus here on the rapid and radical changes English passed through in relation to inflectional morphology (in particular but not exclusively in the noun ... More

Perhaps the central chapter of Contact, we focus here on the rapid and radical changes English passed through in relation to inflectional morphology (in particular but not exclusively in the noun phrase) in the later Old English and early Middle English periods. Comparison is made to other Germanic languages; the concept of drift is introduced. Theories for why these changes occurred and why the changes took place where, when and how they did are considered, with particular focus on earlier contact explanations. Recent proposals that bilingualism with Celtic languages was the primary impetus for the changes are critiqued. It is suggested that, while Celtic influence should not be dismissed, it is contact between Old English and Old Norse in the North of England which acted as catalyst. This contact is seen as a koine whose origin is markedly similar to that postulated for modern new dialects.Less

Conclusions

Robert McColl Millar

in Contact: The Interaction of Closely Related Linguistic Varieties and the History of English

This chapter argues that the distinction previously made by some scholars between the linguistic forces underlying new dialect creation and those underlying contact between closely related varieties ... More

This chapter argues that the distinction previously made by some scholars between the linguistic forces underlying new dialect creation and those underlying contact between closely related varieties often considered to be discrete is probably misinformed. The changes involved in the contacts fuelling differentiation are, if not the same, essentially of the same type. Koineisation lies as the heart of both.Less

The rehabilitation of code-switching

Joseph Gafaranga

in Bilingualism as Interactional Practices

Research in code-switching, undertaken against the backdrop of very negative attitudes towards the concurrent use of two or more languages within the same conversation, has traditionally been geared ... More

Research in code-switching, undertaken against the backdrop of very negative attitudes towards the concurrent use of two or more languages within the same conversation, has traditionally been geared towards rehabilitating this form of language use. From being seen as a random phenomenon reflecting the user’s lack of competence, code-switching is currently seen as sign of an advanced level of competence in the languages involved and as serving different interactional functions. This chapter discusses in some detail the research effort which has led to the rehabilitation of code-switching, with a special focus on studies conducted from a socio-functional perspective. Key paradigms in this perspective are covered, including Gumperz’ interactional sociolinguistics model, Myers-Scotton’s markedness (rational choice) model and Auer’s and Gafaranga’s conversation analytic model of code-switching. In turn, this overview of existing research serves as a context for the challenge the study of code-switching is face with, namely that of its continued relevance.Less

The apology: definitional issues

Michael Cunningham

in States of apology

The chapter examines how different disciplines have considered the apology, the relationship between the personal apology and the apology in politics and develops a typology of political apologies.

Mixed Arabic as a Subversive Literary Style

Teresa Pepe

in Blogging from Egypt: Digital Literature, 2005-2016

The chapter shows how bloggers mix of elements drawn from high and low varieties (Mixed Arabic) and foreign languages to develop new literary styles. It adopts Deleuze and Guattari’s theory of ‘minor ... More

The chapter shows how bloggers mix of elements drawn from high and low varieties (Mixed Arabic) and foreign languages to develop new literary styles. It adopts Deleuze and Guattari’s theory of ‘minor literature’ (1983) to illuminate the subversive nature of bloggers’ literary practices. The concept of ‘minority’ sheds light on the collective and political value of this literature, as it is produced by writers who publish their personal life-stories on the Internet to distance themselves from mainstream, state-owned media, to connect with each other and push the boundaries for freedom of expression. Besides, ‘minority’ allows to understand the use of mixed varieties of Arabic as a ‘deterritorialized language’, that is, a new, subversive literary style coined by a young generation of writers who feels alienated in respect to the national standardized written language. This chapter is based on the analysis of the six blogs chosen as case studies, but it includes examples drawn from the larger sample of blogs. It combines theories drawn from sociolinguistics and literary studies. Furthermore, it shows some examples of editorial choices made concerning this style when blogs are turned into books.Less