Peter Mackridge
- Published in print:
- 2009
- Published Online:
- May 2010
- ISBN:
- 9780199214426
- eISBN:
- 9780191706721
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199214426.003.0001
- Subject:
- Linguistics, Sociolinguistics / Anthropological Linguistics, Psycholinguistics / Neurolinguistics / Cognitive Linguistics
This chapter first lays out the aim and approach of the book. The aim is to analyse the Greek language question within the context of nation-building and identity formation. Drawing on a variety of ...
More
This chapter first lays out the aim and approach of the book. The aim is to analyse the Greek language question within the context of nation-building and identity formation. Drawing on a variety of sources (literary, historical, and combative) and with the help of linguistics, literary studies, and anthropology, the book presents a historical study of the Greek language controversy and identifies its historical, political, social, and linguistic causes and ramifications. Next, drawing especially on the work of Joshua Fishman, John Joseph, and Yasir Suleiman, the mutual influence of language, nationalism, and national identity is assessed. Then the relationship between language planning and political power is discussed. The chapter concludes with a brief survey of the concept of diglossia (including the genealogy of the term).Less
This chapter first lays out the aim and approach of the book. The aim is to analyse the Greek language question within the context of nation-building and identity formation. Drawing on a variety of sources (literary, historical, and combative) and with the help of linguistics, literary studies, and anthropology, the book presents a historical study of the Greek language controversy and identifies its historical, political, social, and linguistic causes and ramifications. Next, drawing especially on the work of Joshua Fishman, John Joseph, and Yasir Suleiman, the mutual influence of language, nationalism, and national identity is assessed. Then the relationship between language planning and political power is discussed. The chapter concludes with a brief survey of the concept of diglossia (including the genealogy of the term).
Peter Mackridge
- Published in print:
- 2009
- Published Online:
- May 2010
- ISBN:
- 9780199214426
- eISBN:
- 9780191706721
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199214426.001.0001
- Subject:
- Linguistics, Sociolinguistics / Anthropological Linguistics, Psycholinguistics / Neurolinguistics / Cognitive Linguistics
This book provides a history of the great language controversy that has occupied and impassioned Greeks — sometimes with fatal results — for over two hundred years. It begins in the late 18th century ...
More
This book provides a history of the great language controversy that has occupied and impassioned Greeks — sometimes with fatal results — for over two hundred years. It begins in the late 18th century when a group of Greek intellectuals sought to develop a new, Hellenic, national identity alongside the traditional identity supplied by Orthodox Christianity. The ensuing controversy focused on the language, fuelled by a desire to develop a form of Greek that expressed the Greeks' relationship to the ancients, and by the different groups'contrasting notions of what the national image so embodied should be. The purists wanted a written language close to the ancient. The vernacularists — later known as demoticists — sought to match written language to spoken, claiming the latter to be the product of the unbroken development of Greek since the time of Homer. The book explores the political, social, and linguistic causes and effects of the controversy in its many manifestations. Drawing on a wide range of evidence from literature, language, history, and anthropology, it traces its effects on spoken and written varieties of Greek and shows its impact on those in use today. The book describes the efforts of linguistic elites and the state to achieve language standardization and independence from languages such as Turkish, Albanian, Vlach, and Slavonic. The sense of national and linguistic identity that has been inculcated into generations of Greeks since the start of the War of Independence in 1821 has, in the last twenty-five years, received blows from which it may not recover. Immigration from Eastern Europe and elsewhere has introduced new populations whose religions, languages, and cultures are transforming Greece into a country quite different from what it has been and from what it once aspired to be.Less
This book provides a history of the great language controversy that has occupied and impassioned Greeks — sometimes with fatal results — for over two hundred years. It begins in the late 18th century when a group of Greek intellectuals sought to develop a new, Hellenic, national identity alongside the traditional identity supplied by Orthodox Christianity. The ensuing controversy focused on the language, fuelled by a desire to develop a form of Greek that expressed the Greeks' relationship to the ancients, and by the different groups'contrasting notions of what the national image so embodied should be. The purists wanted a written language close to the ancient. The vernacularists — later known as demoticists — sought to match written language to spoken, claiming the latter to be the product of the unbroken development of Greek since the time of Homer. The book explores the political, social, and linguistic causes and effects of the controversy in its many manifestations. Drawing on a wide range of evidence from literature, language, history, and anthropology, it traces its effects on spoken and written varieties of Greek and shows its impact on those in use today. The book describes the efforts of linguistic elites and the state to achieve language standardization and independence from languages such as Turkish, Albanian, Vlach, and Slavonic. The sense of national and linguistic identity that has been inculcated into generations of Greeks since the start of the War of Independence in 1821 has, in the last twenty-five years, received blows from which it may not recover. Immigration from Eastern Europe and elsewhere has introduced new populations whose religions, languages, and cultures are transforming Greece into a country quite different from what it has been and from what it once aspired to be.
Gennady Estraikh
- Published in print:
- 1999
- Published Online:
- October 2011
- ISBN:
- 9780198184799
- eISBN:
- 9780191674365
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780198184799.003.0001
- Subject:
- Literature, European Literature
Soviet Yiddish, especially various peculiarities of its lexicon, has attracted the attention of many scholars and writers. Books and periodicals published in the Soviet Union, coupled with immense ...
More
Soviet Yiddish, especially various peculiarities of its lexicon, has attracted the attention of many scholars and writers. Books and periodicals published in the Soviet Union, coupled with immense archival material, give a picture of this variety of modern Yiddish as well as of the theoretical and practical approaches of its architects. For all that, the history of Soviet Yiddish language planning and the features of Soviet Yiddish have not yet been comprehensively studied. This book analyses the major sociolinguistic and linguistic features of Yiddish Soviet-speak. As main constants which have determined the peculiarities of Soviet Yiddish, the following are considered: the changes in the social structure of Soviet Jewry and the associated acculturation and assimilation; the decline of Yiddish in contact situations with dominant languages — Russian, Ukrainian, and Belorussian; the impact of overall Soviet language-planning policy; and the Soviet Yiddish language planners' efforts as a by-product of government-sponsored activity among Yiddish-speakers.Less
Soviet Yiddish, especially various peculiarities of its lexicon, has attracted the attention of many scholars and writers. Books and periodicals published in the Soviet Union, coupled with immense archival material, give a picture of this variety of modern Yiddish as well as of the theoretical and practical approaches of its architects. For all that, the history of Soviet Yiddish language planning and the features of Soviet Yiddish have not yet been comprehensively studied. This book analyses the major sociolinguistic and linguistic features of Yiddish Soviet-speak. As main constants which have determined the peculiarities of Soviet Yiddish, the following are considered: the changes in the social structure of Soviet Jewry and the associated acculturation and assimilation; the decline of Yiddish in contact situations with dominant languages — Russian, Ukrainian, and Belorussian; the impact of overall Soviet language-planning policy; and the Soviet Yiddish language planners' efforts as a by-product of government-sponsored activity among Yiddish-speakers.
Peter Mackridge
- Published in print:
- 2009
- Published Online:
- May 2010
- ISBN:
- 9780199214426
- eISBN:
- 9780191706721
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199214426.003.0004
- Subject:
- Linguistics, Sociolinguistics / Anthropological Linguistics, Psycholinguistics / Neurolinguistics / Cognitive Linguistics
This chapter discusses the linguistic theory and practice of the chief proponent of language reform at the time, Adamantios Korais (1748-1833). The origins of Korais' linguistic theory are traced to ...
More
This chapter discusses the linguistic theory and practice of the chief proponent of language reform at the time, Adamantios Korais (1748-1833). The origins of Korais' linguistic theory are traced to the work of 18th-century theorists, particularly Condillac. His proposals for the reform of the Modern Greek language are analysed in terms of the following: his worship of ancient Greek perfection; his defence of Modern Greek against the aspersions cast on it by the archaists; and his ‘correction’ of Modern Greek according to the morphological rules of Ancient Greek. The chapter ends with an assessment of Korais' contribution to the language question and an account of the impact of Korais' ideas on later developments. The assessment is broadly negative, because Korais lent his enormous prestige to the already existing habit of mixing the modern language with grammatical features of the ancient, thereby encouraging later Greeks to use yet more ancient features in their writing.Less
This chapter discusses the linguistic theory and practice of the chief proponent of language reform at the time, Adamantios Korais (1748-1833). The origins of Korais' linguistic theory are traced to the work of 18th-century theorists, particularly Condillac. His proposals for the reform of the Modern Greek language are analysed in terms of the following: his worship of ancient Greek perfection; his defence of Modern Greek against the aspersions cast on it by the archaists; and his ‘correction’ of Modern Greek according to the morphological rules of Ancient Greek. The chapter ends with an assessment of Korais' contribution to the language question and an account of the impact of Korais' ideas on later developments. The assessment is broadly negative, because Korais lent his enormous prestige to the already existing habit of mixing the modern language with grammatical features of the ancient, thereby encouraging later Greeks to use yet more ancient features in their writing.
Peter Mackridge
- Published in print:
- 2009
- Published Online:
- May 2010
- ISBN:
- 9780199214426
- eISBN:
- 9780191706721
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199214426.003.0003
- Subject:
- Linguistics, Sociolinguistics / Anthropological Linguistics, Psycholinguistics / Neurolinguistics / Cognitive Linguistics
This chapter begins with a brief account of variation in language use in Greek in the late 18th century. Then the chief participants in the language controversy during this period are introduced, and ...
More
This chapter begins with a brief account of variation in language use in Greek in the late 18th century. Then the chief participants in the language controversy during this period are introduced, and their arguments concerning the language question are discussed. First, the archaists (those who argued that the ancient language was the only variety of Greek appropriate for writing on philosophy), beginning with Evgenios Voulgaris, who can be said to have initiated the language controversy in 1766 by attacking those who wrote on philosophy in ‘vulgar language’; then the compromisers such as Moisiodax, who argued for the use of a variety based on the spoken language, but with a large number of concessions made to Ancient Greek in both vocabulary and morphology; and lastly the vernacularists, who argued for the use of an uncompromising version of the spoken language for written purposes.Less
This chapter begins with a brief account of variation in language use in Greek in the late 18th century. Then the chief participants in the language controversy during this period are introduced, and their arguments concerning the language question are discussed. First, the archaists (those who argued that the ancient language was the only variety of Greek appropriate for writing on philosophy), beginning with Evgenios Voulgaris, who can be said to have initiated the language controversy in 1766 by attacking those who wrote on philosophy in ‘vulgar language’; then the compromisers such as Moisiodax, who argued for the use of a variety based on the spoken language, but with a large number of concessions made to Ancient Greek in both vocabulary and morphology; and lastly the vernacularists, who argued for the use of an uncompromising version of the spoken language for written purposes.
Gennady Estraikh
- Published in print:
- 1999
- Published Online:
- October 2011
- ISBN:
- 9780198184799
- eISBN:
- 9780191674365
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780198184799.003.0004
- Subject:
- Literature, European Literature
In the 1930s, conflicts between competing groups of Yiddish language planners intensified. Adherents of the further Russification of Yiddish (at the expense of Hebrew-Aramaic and German components) ...
More
In the 1930s, conflicts between competing groups of Yiddish language planners intensified. Adherents of the further Russification of Yiddish (at the expense of Hebrew-Aramaic and German components) crossed swords with the Kiev and Moscow cultivators of a ‘pure proletarian Yiddish’. The climactic event was the 1934 conference in Kiev which accepted basic principles of lexical innovation in Soviet literary Yiddish which, as a matter of ideology, rejected massive direct borrowings from Russian. Despite the ostensible rejection of Russification, the conference demonstrated that, in practice, nearly all lexical innovations, whether coined on the basis of Hebrew, German, or Slavonic elements, were loanwords or calques from Russian. Three years later, in 1937, various aspects of Soviet Yiddish language planning were once again discussed on the eve of a conference, scheduled to be convened in Birobidzhan. The conference never took place, due to the purges of 1937, when many Yiddish activists perished in the Gulag. This chapter discusses the Soviet Yiddish Empire of the early 1930s, the Odessa language, and similarities between Soviet Yiddish and Soviet German.Less
In the 1930s, conflicts between competing groups of Yiddish language planners intensified. Adherents of the further Russification of Yiddish (at the expense of Hebrew-Aramaic and German components) crossed swords with the Kiev and Moscow cultivators of a ‘pure proletarian Yiddish’. The climactic event was the 1934 conference in Kiev which accepted basic principles of lexical innovation in Soviet literary Yiddish which, as a matter of ideology, rejected massive direct borrowings from Russian. Despite the ostensible rejection of Russification, the conference demonstrated that, in practice, nearly all lexical innovations, whether coined on the basis of Hebrew, German, or Slavonic elements, were loanwords or calques from Russian. Three years later, in 1937, various aspects of Soviet Yiddish language planning were once again discussed on the eve of a conference, scheduled to be convened in Birobidzhan. The conference never took place, due to the purges of 1937, when many Yiddish activists perished in the Gulag. This chapter discusses the Soviet Yiddish Empire of the early 1930s, the Odessa language, and similarities between Soviet Yiddish and Soviet German.
Angela M. Y. Lin and Evelyn Y. F. Man
- Published in print:
- 2009
- Published Online:
- May 2013
- ISBN:
- 9789622099586
- eISBN:
- 9789888180233
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Hong Kong University Press
- DOI:
- 10.5790/hongkong/9789622099586.001.0001
- Subject:
- Education, Secondary Education
Questions regarding whether a first or a second/foreign language should be used as a medium of instruction (MOI) in schools, and if yes, for whom, and when, have been enthusiastically debated in ...
More
Questions regarding whether a first or a second/foreign language should be used as a medium of instruction (MOI) in schools, and if yes, for whom, and when, have been enthusiastically debated in recent years in Hong Kong and many Southeast Asian societies. The public debates, however, have largely not been able to benefit from the existing international body of research in bilingual education as well as the educational experiences of other countries. The reason is that such knowledge is often either couched in specialized, technical language or scattered over diverse journals and books, which are often off-putting to teachers, parents, school principals, policy makers and the general public. There is an urgent need to critically integrate and review the international research literature with a view to informing public debates and policy making regarding the medium of instruction in Hong Kong and other Southeast Asian contexts. This book aims at meeting this urgent need by discussing, in accessible language, research findings on key concepts of bilingual education, and recent developments of bilingual education policies in Hong Kong, Singapore and Malaysia. Teachers, students and researchers in the areas of bilingual education, language policy and planning (LPP), and studies of medium of instruction policy and practice both in Hong Kong and other Southeast Asian contexts will benefit from the book. Government officials and policy makers involved in language policy and planning, as well as school principals, parents and university administrators will also find this book especially useful in providing them with a research-based LPP framework for discussing and studying the pivotal issues in LPP in their respective contexts.Less
Questions regarding whether a first or a second/foreign language should be used as a medium of instruction (MOI) in schools, and if yes, for whom, and when, have been enthusiastically debated in recent years in Hong Kong and many Southeast Asian societies. The public debates, however, have largely not been able to benefit from the existing international body of research in bilingual education as well as the educational experiences of other countries. The reason is that such knowledge is often either couched in specialized, technical language or scattered over diverse journals and books, which are often off-putting to teachers, parents, school principals, policy makers and the general public. There is an urgent need to critically integrate and review the international research literature with a view to informing public debates and policy making regarding the medium of instruction in Hong Kong and other Southeast Asian contexts. This book aims at meeting this urgent need by discussing, in accessible language, research findings on key concepts of bilingual education, and recent developments of bilingual education policies in Hong Kong, Singapore and Malaysia. Teachers, students and researchers in the areas of bilingual education, language policy and planning (LPP), and studies of medium of instruction policy and practice both in Hong Kong and other Southeast Asian contexts will benefit from the book. Government officials and policy makers involved in language policy and planning, as well as school principals, parents and university administrators will also find this book especially useful in providing them with a research-based LPP framework for discussing and studying the pivotal issues in LPP in their respective contexts.
Gennady Estraikh
- Published in print:
- 1999
- Published Online:
- October 2011
- ISBN:
- 9780198184799
- eISBN:
- 9780191674365
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780198184799.001.0001
- Subject:
- Literature, European Literature
This book studies Yiddish in the former Soviet Union. A chronicle of orthographic and other reforms from the state of the language in pre-Revolutionary Russia, through active language-planning in the ...
More
This book studies Yiddish in the former Soviet Union. A chronicle of orthographic and other reforms from the state of the language in pre-Revolutionary Russia, through active language-planning in the 1920s and 1930s, repression, and subsequent developments up to the 1980s, is recreated from contemporary publications and archival materials. Later chapters draw on personal experience as a Yiddish writer and lexicographer in Moscow. At a time when the Bolshevik party's Jewish sections held an influential position, Yiddish attained a functional diversity without precedent in its history; but underlying contradictions between ideas expressed in the slogans ‘Proletarians of all countries, unite!’ and ‘The right of nations to self-determination’ led to extremes in language-planning. A golden mean was achieved after the 1934 Yiddish language conference in Kiev. Using contemporary literary works as a source of linguistic and sociolinguistic information, this book charts the development of the resultant variety of the language, ‘Soviet Yiddish’; the effects of severe repression in the late 1930s and 1940s; and the subsequent decline in usage. Comparisons are drawn between Soviet Yiddish language-planning and concurrent reforms in Russian, Ukrainian, Belorussian, and German; and the features and types of Soviet Yiddish word-formation are analysed, notably univerbation, or compressing a phrase into one word.Less
This book studies Yiddish in the former Soviet Union. A chronicle of orthographic and other reforms from the state of the language in pre-Revolutionary Russia, through active language-planning in the 1920s and 1930s, repression, and subsequent developments up to the 1980s, is recreated from contemporary publications and archival materials. Later chapters draw on personal experience as a Yiddish writer and lexicographer in Moscow. At a time when the Bolshevik party's Jewish sections held an influential position, Yiddish attained a functional diversity without precedent in its history; but underlying contradictions between ideas expressed in the slogans ‘Proletarians of all countries, unite!’ and ‘The right of nations to self-determination’ led to extremes in language-planning. A golden mean was achieved after the 1934 Yiddish language conference in Kiev. Using contemporary literary works as a source of linguistic and sociolinguistic information, this book charts the development of the resultant variety of the language, ‘Soviet Yiddish’; the effects of severe repression in the late 1930s and 1940s; and the subsequent decline in usage. Comparisons are drawn between Soviet Yiddish language-planning and concurrent reforms in Russian, Ukrainian, Belorussian, and German; and the features and types of Soviet Yiddish word-formation are analysed, notably univerbation, or compressing a phrase into one word.
Gennady Estraikh
- Published in print:
- 1999
- Published Online:
- October 2011
- ISBN:
- 9780198184799
- eISBN:
- 9780191674365
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780198184799.003.0003
- Subject:
- Literature, European Literature
In the 1920s, Yiddish gained in the Soviet Union a functional diversity of usage which has no precedents in the history of the language. Correspondingly, the vocabulary of Yiddish was modernized to ...
More
In the 1920s, Yiddish gained in the Soviet Union a functional diversity of usage which has no precedents in the history of the language. Correspondingly, the vocabulary of Yiddish was modernized to enable new political, scientific, legal, and other terminologies to be used in a consistent way. Discrepancies between the Bolshevik slogans ‘Proletarians of all countries, unite!’ and ‘The right of nations to self-determination’ led to two extremes in language planning. The most radical part of Soviet Yiddish bureaucrats and literati demanded ‘internationalization’ (or, in fact, Russification) of the literary language, while their opponents advocated a ‘national’, or more conservative and puristic, model of Soviet Yiddish construction. This chapter shows that the Ukrainian and Belorussian languages had a minimal direct influence on Soviet literary Yiddish. It examines the consequences of acculturation on Yiddish language retention, focusing on the language-related statistics concerning the Ukrainian Jews. Yiddish proletarian literature as a sociolinguistic source is also discussed, along with Ukrainianisms and Belorussianisms as well as Lejzer Vilenkin's two case studies on the lexical peculiarities of the Yiddish urban vernacular.Less
In the 1920s, Yiddish gained in the Soviet Union a functional diversity of usage which has no precedents in the history of the language. Correspondingly, the vocabulary of Yiddish was modernized to enable new political, scientific, legal, and other terminologies to be used in a consistent way. Discrepancies between the Bolshevik slogans ‘Proletarians of all countries, unite!’ and ‘The right of nations to self-determination’ led to two extremes in language planning. The most radical part of Soviet Yiddish bureaucrats and literati demanded ‘internationalization’ (or, in fact, Russification) of the literary language, while their opponents advocated a ‘national’, or more conservative and puristic, model of Soviet Yiddish construction. This chapter shows that the Ukrainian and Belorussian languages had a minimal direct influence on Soviet literary Yiddish. It examines the consequences of acculturation on Yiddish language retention, focusing on the language-related statistics concerning the Ukrainian Jews. Yiddish proletarian literature as a sociolinguistic source is also discussed, along with Ukrainianisms and Belorussianisms as well as Lejzer Vilenkin's two case studies on the lexical peculiarities of the Yiddish urban vernacular.
Ernst Jahr
- Published in print:
- 2014
- Published Online:
- January 2015
- ISBN:
- 9780748637829
- eISBN:
- 9781474400855
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Edinburgh University Press
- DOI:
- 10.3366/edinburgh/9780748637829.001.0001
- Subject:
- Linguistics, Sociolinguistics / Anthropological Linguistics
This book conveys insights into the social and political motivations and driving forces behind Norwegian language planning. Norwegian language development from 1814 has, since Einar Haugen’s book ...
More
This book conveys insights into the social and political motivations and driving forces behind Norwegian language planning. Norwegian language development from 1814 has, since Einar Haugen’s book Language conflict and language planning: the case of modern Norwegian (1966), been one of the most celebrated examples of language planning in the world. This book not only tells the rest of the story till 2014, but also introduces a new analysis of the Norwegian development altogether, drawing heavily on the development and results of sociolinguistic and language contact research. The year 2014 marks the 200th anniversary of the birth of the Norwegian nation following centuries of Danish rule. This book thus gives an account of that entire 200-year period, and analyses how Norwegians defined, fought over and developed their own independent Scandinavian language (with two written standard varieties, Bokmål and Nynorsk), differentiating it from Danish and Swedish, through language planning. Nearly two centuries of Norwegian language planning and conflict have encompassed an extraordinary and politically motivated sociolinguistic experiment (1938) which led to decades of intense linguistic struggle and which has had no parallel anywhere in the world. It contributes to language planning theory as well as to the rapidly emerging field of historical sociolinguistics.Less
This book conveys insights into the social and political motivations and driving forces behind Norwegian language planning. Norwegian language development from 1814 has, since Einar Haugen’s book Language conflict and language planning: the case of modern Norwegian (1966), been one of the most celebrated examples of language planning in the world. This book not only tells the rest of the story till 2014, but also introduces a new analysis of the Norwegian development altogether, drawing heavily on the development and results of sociolinguistic and language contact research. The year 2014 marks the 200th anniversary of the birth of the Norwegian nation following centuries of Danish rule. This book thus gives an account of that entire 200-year period, and analyses how Norwegians defined, fought over and developed their own independent Scandinavian language (with two written standard varieties, Bokmål and Nynorsk), differentiating it from Danish and Swedish, through language planning. Nearly two centuries of Norwegian language planning and conflict have encompassed an extraordinary and politically motivated sociolinguistic experiment (1938) which led to decades of intense linguistic struggle and which has had no parallel anywhere in the world. It contributes to language planning theory as well as to the rapidly emerging field of historical sociolinguistics.
Rachel Leow
- Published in print:
- 2016
- Published Online:
- May 2016
- ISBN:
- 9780719096525
- eISBN:
- 9781526104335
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Manchester University Press
- DOI:
- 10.7228/manchester/9780719096525.003.0011
- Subject:
- History, Imperialism and Colonialism
This essay argues that an examination of the cultural effects of decolonisation can yield a clearer appreciation of the combined role of both coloniser and colonised in the making of the postcolonial ...
More
This essay argues that an examination of the cultural effects of decolonisation can yield a clearer appreciation of the combined role of both coloniser and colonised in the making of the postcolonial order. Taking an approach informed by Michel Foucault, Jean-François Bayart and Romain Bertrand, it shows that the ethnic tensions which erupted over questions of national language planning, multilingualism, and culture in postcolonial Malaya, and persist through to the present, cannot be explained away as a simple “colonial legacy” inflicted by British divide-and-rule policies. They must also be recognised as the result of a particular hegemonic configuration, produced and maintained through the agency of postcolonial subjects themselves.Less
This essay argues that an examination of the cultural effects of decolonisation can yield a clearer appreciation of the combined role of both coloniser and colonised in the making of the postcolonial order. Taking an approach informed by Michel Foucault, Jean-François Bayart and Romain Bertrand, it shows that the ethnic tensions which erupted over questions of national language planning, multilingualism, and culture in postcolonial Malaya, and persist through to the present, cannot be explained away as a simple “colonial legacy” inflicted by British divide-and-rule policies. They must also be recognised as the result of a particular hegemonic configuration, produced and maintained through the agency of postcolonial subjects themselves.
Yan Marquis and Julia Sallabank
- Published in print:
- 2014
- Published Online:
- May 2015
- ISBN:
- 9780197265765
- eISBN:
- 9780191771958
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- British Academy
- DOI:
- 10.5871/bacad/9780197265765.003.0008
- Subject:
- Linguistics, Language Families
This chapter examines language ideologies in a small community (Guernsey, Channel Islands) which reflect wider issues concerning the aims and effectiveness of language-related activities. Ideologies ...
More
This chapter examines language ideologies in a small community (Guernsey, Channel Islands) which reflect wider issues concerning the aims and effectiveness of language-related activities. Ideologies are largely unstated yet they profoundly influence language planning and policy at both personal and public levels. Although there has been a shift over the last 30 or so years towards broadly positive overt attitudes in favour of maintenance of Guernsey’s indigenous language, it seems that ingrained covert negative attitudes linger in some sections of the community. From these observations the authors identify two main divergent trends in beliefs and ideologies concerning who has authority to speak on behalf of ‘the community’, and to make decisions regarding the future of an endangered language. The authors relate their observations to the concept of prior ideological clarification, and compare rhetoric on language maintenance and revitalization with actions and outcomes.Less
This chapter examines language ideologies in a small community (Guernsey, Channel Islands) which reflect wider issues concerning the aims and effectiveness of language-related activities. Ideologies are largely unstated yet they profoundly influence language planning and policy at both personal and public levels. Although there has been a shift over the last 30 or so years towards broadly positive overt attitudes in favour of maintenance of Guernsey’s indigenous language, it seems that ingrained covert negative attitudes linger in some sections of the community. From these observations the authors identify two main divergent trends in beliefs and ideologies concerning who has authority to speak on behalf of ‘the community’, and to make decisions regarding the future of an endangered language. The authors relate their observations to the concept of prior ideological clarification, and compare rhetoric on language maintenance and revitalization with actions and outcomes.
Gennady Estraikh
- Published in print:
- 1999
- Published Online:
- October 2011
- ISBN:
- 9780198184799
- eISBN:
- 9780191674365
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780198184799.003.0008
- Subject:
- Literature, European Literature
The zeal displayed by Soviet Jewish authorities and those involved in language planning to combine the development of Yiddish culture with the objectives of Soviet totalitarian ideology, led, in the ...
More
The zeal displayed by Soviet Jewish authorities and those involved in language planning to combine the development of Yiddish culture with the objectives of Soviet totalitarian ideology, led, in the 1920s and 1930s, to an ambivalent result. On the one hand, the Bolshevik revolution paved the way for an unprecedented flowering of Yiddish printing, schooling, and creative activity. On the other hand, ideologization and insipidity, which infested all forms of work among Soviet Jews, repelled and eventually reduced the clientele of Yiddish culture. It was Russian that became the principal force bearing on the restructuring of the Yiddish vocabulary and its morpho-syntactic and semantic make-up. Under the influence of Russian, Soviet Yiddish adopted a number of peculiar word-formation models. The experience of the Soviet Yiddish spelling reforms demonstrates a particular fragility of such world-wide dispersed languages as Yiddish. All in all, the general decline of Soviet Yiddish during the post-war period was characterized by the further Russification of the spoken language.Less
The zeal displayed by Soviet Jewish authorities and those involved in language planning to combine the development of Yiddish culture with the objectives of Soviet totalitarian ideology, led, in the 1920s and 1930s, to an ambivalent result. On the one hand, the Bolshevik revolution paved the way for an unprecedented flowering of Yiddish printing, schooling, and creative activity. On the other hand, ideologization and insipidity, which infested all forms of work among Soviet Jews, repelled and eventually reduced the clientele of Yiddish culture. It was Russian that became the principal force bearing on the restructuring of the Yiddish vocabulary and its morpho-syntactic and semantic make-up. Under the influence of Russian, Soviet Yiddish adopted a number of peculiar word-formation models. The experience of the Soviet Yiddish spelling reforms demonstrates a particular fragility of such world-wide dispersed languages as Yiddish. All in all, the general decline of Soviet Yiddish during the post-war period was characterized by the further Russification of the spoken language.
Christopher Stroud and Lionel Wee
- Published in print:
- 2010
- Published Online:
- September 2011
- ISBN:
- 9789888028436
- eISBN:
- 9789882206939
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Hong Kong University Press
- DOI:
- 10.5790/hongkong/9789888028436.003.0008
- Subject:
- Linguistics, Sociolinguistics / Anthropological Linguistics
This chapter examines language planning and policy in Singaporean late modernity. It discusses Singaporean language policy's attempts to manage the tension between modernity and tradition and argues ...
More
This chapter examines language planning and policy in Singaporean late modernity. It discusses Singaporean language policy's attempts to manage the tension between modernity and tradition and argues that a sociolinguistic ordering around notions of ethnicity and nation does not fit easily with the multilingual dynamics of late modern societies. It contends that Singapore's language policy needs to appreciate that patterns of multilingualism are increasingly constructed around the dynamics of language choice and change in terms of a logic of lifestyle consumption.Less
This chapter examines language planning and policy in Singaporean late modernity. It discusses Singaporean language policy's attempts to manage the tension between modernity and tradition and argues that a sociolinguistic ordering around notions of ethnicity and nation does not fit easily with the multilingual dynamics of late modern societies. It contends that Singapore's language policy needs to appreciate that patterns of multilingualism are increasingly constructed around the dynamics of language choice and change in terms of a logic of lifestyle consumption.
Ernst Håkon Jahr
- Published in print:
- 2014
- Published Online:
- January 2015
- ISBN:
- 9780748637829
- eISBN:
- 9781474400855
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Edinburgh University Press
- DOI:
- 10.3366/edinburgh/9780748637829.003.0001
- Subject:
- Linguistics, Sociolinguistics / Anthropological Linguistics
The first chapter forms the introduction to the book. Modern Norway stands out linguistically as unique in the European context. First, it has for more than a century maintained two written standards ...
More
The first chapter forms the introduction to the book. Modern Norway stands out linguistically as unique in the European context. First, it has for more than a century maintained two written standards of the same language; and, second, popular dialects have been and are in use everywhere in society, even in Parliament and among Government members. This book gives an explanation for how such a situation could emerge and develop. It invites the reader to reflect on the limits of language planning and especially the sociolinguistic and sociopolitical boundaries within which language planning can operate and be successful. The chapter gives a short survey of Norway’s history, land and people, and a presentation of Haugen’s 1966 model of language planning. Three periods of Norwegian language planning are identified: 1814-1917 (the nationalist period), 1917-66 (the sociopolitical period), and 1966-2002 (the transition period from a single standard strategy (1814-1966) to a two-standard strategy (from 2002)).Less
The first chapter forms the introduction to the book. Modern Norway stands out linguistically as unique in the European context. First, it has for more than a century maintained two written standards of the same language; and, second, popular dialects have been and are in use everywhere in society, even in Parliament and among Government members. This book gives an explanation for how such a situation could emerge and develop. It invites the reader to reflect on the limits of language planning and especially the sociolinguistic and sociopolitical boundaries within which language planning can operate and be successful. The chapter gives a short survey of Norway’s history, land and people, and a presentation of Haugen’s 1966 model of language planning. Three periods of Norwegian language planning are identified: 1814-1917 (the nationalist period), 1917-66 (the sociopolitical period), and 1966-2002 (the transition period from a single standard strategy (1814-1966) to a two-standard strategy (from 2002)).
Richard J. Watts
- Published in print:
- 2011
- Published Online:
- May 2011
- ISBN:
- 9780195327601
- eISBN:
- 9780199893539
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195327601.003.0011
- Subject:
- Linguistics, Sociolinguistics / Anthropological Linguistics
Over the last few years, the discursive construction of another myth, the myth of global English, has emerged involving the commodification of English. In recent years “global English” has emerged as ...
More
Over the last few years, the discursive construction of another myth, the myth of global English, has emerged involving the commodification of English. In recent years “global English” has emerged as a major area of sociolinguistic research. Some deconstruction of the myths created in this work has already been carried out, but no one has yet adequately tackled an analysis of the ideologies that lie behind expressions such as “English as the world language”, “English as the global language”. The example of English in Switzerland is used to argue against uncritically introducing English into national school systems at the expense of other languages. The chapter shows how dangerous it is not to take such discursive moves seriously and to counteract them with empirical work. Language planners need to be clear about what they mean when they talk about “a global language” and about how that message may be misconstrued by political bodies.Less
Over the last few years, the discursive construction of another myth, the myth of global English, has emerged involving the commodification of English. In recent years “global English” has emerged as a major area of sociolinguistic research. Some deconstruction of the myths created in this work has already been carried out, but no one has yet adequately tackled an analysis of the ideologies that lie behind expressions such as “English as the world language”, “English as the global language”. The example of English in Switzerland is used to argue against uncritically introducing English into national school systems at the expense of other languages. The chapter shows how dangerous it is not to take such discursive moves seriously and to counteract them with empirical work. Language planners need to be clear about what they mean when they talk about “a global language” and about how that message may be misconstrued by political bodies.
Angel M. Y. Lin and Evelyn Y. F. Man
- Published in print:
- 2009
- Published Online:
- May 2013
- ISBN:
- 9789622099586
- eISBN:
- 9789888180233
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Hong Kong University Press
- DOI:
- 10.5790/hongkong/9789622099586.003.0007
- Subject:
- Education, Secondary Education
In this chapter, a brief review of the approaches to LPP is provided. Then a new LPP framework which is specifically useful for understanding bilingual education in Southeast Asian contexts is ...
More
In this chapter, a brief review of the approaches to LPP is provided. Then a new LPP framework which is specifically useful for understanding bilingual education in Southeast Asian contexts is proposed. The cases of Hong Kong, Singapore and Malaysia are discussed in light of this framework, and innovative approaches to bilingual education are discussed with a view to exploring possible fruitful directions for tackling LPP difficulties and dilemmas experienced in these societies.Less
In this chapter, a brief review of the approaches to LPP is provided. Then a new LPP framework which is specifically useful for understanding bilingual education in Southeast Asian contexts is proposed. The cases of Hong Kong, Singapore and Malaysia are discussed in light of this framework, and innovative approaches to bilingual education are discussed with a view to exploring possible fruitful directions for tackling LPP difficulties and dilemmas experienced in these societies.
Ernst Håkon Jahr
- Published in print:
- 2014
- Published Online:
- January 2015
- ISBN:
- 9780748637829
- eISBN:
- 9781474400855
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Edinburgh University Press
- DOI:
- 10.3366/edinburgh/9780748637829.003.0009
- Subject:
- Linguistics, Sociolinguistics / Anthropological Linguistics
The final chapter sums up the book, with two major conclusions: 1. Far-reaching results of language planning are possible if the planning is consistant with the dominant contemporary ideology. This ...
More
The final chapter sums up the book, with two major conclusions: 1. Far-reaching results of language planning are possible if the planning is consistant with the dominant contemporary ideology. This happened during the nationalist period 1814-1917, which must be viewed as a successful period. 2. If language planning involves crossing important sociolinguistic boundaries, it will need extensive backing from a powerful political movement in order to succeed. From 1917 to 1966, during the sociopolitical period, language planning policy of this type was attempted, but did not succeed. The pan-Norwegian language planning policy was terminated 2002. This decision by Parliament ended the country’s attempt to develop a merged written standard, and thus accepted a permanent two-standard situation. As for the spoken language, wide-spread dialect use continues unabated to this day and is generally seen as normal linguistic behaviour. All this suggests that linguistically, Norway will continue as a special case into the forseeable future.Less
The final chapter sums up the book, with two major conclusions: 1. Far-reaching results of language planning are possible if the planning is consistant with the dominant contemporary ideology. This happened during the nationalist period 1814-1917, which must be viewed as a successful period. 2. If language planning involves crossing important sociolinguistic boundaries, it will need extensive backing from a powerful political movement in order to succeed. From 1917 to 1966, during the sociopolitical period, language planning policy of this type was attempted, but did not succeed. The pan-Norwegian language planning policy was terminated 2002. This decision by Parliament ended the country’s attempt to develop a merged written standard, and thus accepted a permanent two-standard situation. As for the spoken language, wide-spread dialect use continues unabated to this day and is generally seen as normal linguistic behaviour. All this suggests that linguistically, Norway will continue as a special case into the forseeable future.
Angel M. Y. Lin and Evelyn Y. F. Man
- Published in print:
- 2009
- Published Online:
- May 2013
- ISBN:
- 9789622099586
- eISBN:
- 9789888180233
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Hong Kong University Press
- DOI:
- 10.5790/hongkong/9789622099586.003.0001
- Subject:
- Education, Secondary Education
In this chapter, debates revolving around the global spread of English, linguistic imperialism, World Englishes and the theories of postcolonial performativity are introduced. Is English a cultural ...
More
In this chapter, debates revolving around the global spread of English, linguistic imperialism, World Englishes and the theories of postcolonial performativity are introduced. Is English a cultural imperialistic tool of the West, or is English being increasingly hybridized and used for their own daily purposes by many Southeast Asian people? How is language policy and planning (LPP) related to the creation of social and educational (in) equalities? The chapter discusses these issues and concludes with the proposal that Southeast Asian postcolonial societies need to develop their own LPP frameworks.Less
In this chapter, debates revolving around the global spread of English, linguistic imperialism, World Englishes and the theories of postcolonial performativity are introduced. Is English a cultural imperialistic tool of the West, or is English being increasingly hybridized and used for their own daily purposes by many Southeast Asian people? How is language policy and planning (LPP) related to the creation of social and educational (in) equalities? The chapter discusses these issues and concludes with the proposal that Southeast Asian postcolonial societies need to develop their own LPP frameworks.
Zachary McLeod Hutchins
- Published in print:
- 2014
- Published Online:
- June 2014
- ISBN:
- 9780199998142
- eISBN:
- 9780199382415
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199998142.003.0006
- Subject:
- Literature, American, 18th Century and Early American Literature
Because Francis Bacon and other Renaissance thinkers theorized that the encyclopedic knowledge and divinely denotative language of Adam were inseparably linked, the fifth chapter transitions from an ...
More
Because Francis Bacon and other Renaissance thinkers theorized that the encyclopedic knowledge and divinely denotative language of Adam were inseparably linked, the fifth chapter transitions from an interrogation of colonial hopes for edenic wisdom to an examination of language planning meant to remodel the English language after the lingua humana spoken by Adam and Eve in Eden. This transatlantic program of linguistic innovation inspired the singular Quaker grammar of thee and thou instituted by George Fox and employed by missionaries in New England as well as experiments in the Puritan plain style. The poetry of George Herbert—a translator of Bacon’s most influential treatise—was a model for and influence on the paradisiacal poetry produced by Edward Taylor and contributors to The Bay Psalm Book. John Eliot looked to Hebrew as a model for edenic speech, and Cotton Mather found the rhythms of paradise in John Milton’s blank verse.Less
Because Francis Bacon and other Renaissance thinkers theorized that the encyclopedic knowledge and divinely denotative language of Adam were inseparably linked, the fifth chapter transitions from an interrogation of colonial hopes for edenic wisdom to an examination of language planning meant to remodel the English language after the lingua humana spoken by Adam and Eve in Eden. This transatlantic program of linguistic innovation inspired the singular Quaker grammar of thee and thou instituted by George Fox and employed by missionaries in New England as well as experiments in the Puritan plain style. The poetry of George Herbert—a translator of Bacon’s most influential treatise—was a model for and influence on the paradisiacal poetry produced by Edward Taylor and contributors to The Bay Psalm Book. John Eliot looked to Hebrew as a model for edenic speech, and Cotton Mather found the rhythms of paradise in John Milton’s blank verse.
