- Celtic Studies, Welsh, Welsh linguistics, Hybridity, Irish Studies, Minority Studies, and 16 moreBreton linguistics, Sociolinguistics, Documentary Linguistics, Breton language, literature, and culture, Critical sociolinguistics, Celtic Languages, Celtic Linguistics, Minority Languages, Endangered Languages, Linguistic Anthropology, Language revitalization, Scottish Gaelic Studies, Language Planning and Policy, Language and Identity, Language Endangerment, and Linguistic ethnographyedit
- Minority language sociolinguist, interested in the revitalization and transformation of a number of critically endang... moreMinority language sociolinguist, interested in the revitalization and transformation of a number of critically endangered languages such as Breton, Yiddish and Lemko. I currently work in the Centre for Celtic Studies at the Faculty of English, Adam Mickiewicz University in Poznan. Previously affiliations include: University of Aberdeen (Scotland), University of Torun, Catholic University of Lublin, and Koszalin University of Technology (Poland). I am a MC member of ISCH COST Action IS1306: "New Speakers in a Multilingual Europe - Opportunities and Challenges" (http://www.nspk.org.uk/).edit
Le yiddish etait parle dans la Pologne d’avant-guerre par pres de 3 millions de locuteurs et, non contente d’etre la langue quotidienne vernaculaire de la majorite des juifs polonais, etait une langue florissante tant sur le plan... more
Le yiddish etait parle dans la Pologne d’avant-guerre par pres de 3 millions de locuteurs et, non contente d’etre la langue quotidienne vernaculaire de la majorite des juifs polonais, etait une langue florissante tant sur le plan litteraire et theâtral que dans le cinema et la politique. Aujourd’hui, quelques locuteurs natifs du dialecte polonais du yiddish subsistent en Pologne mais on les trouve plus surement dans les centres de la culture juive dans le monde tels que Londres ou New York. Le statut du yiddish en tant que langue menacee dans le monde est atteste et de minutieuses tentatives d’en etablir les caracteristiques preuves a l’appui ont deja ete entreprises (en particulier par Jacobs 2005). Cependant, la variete polonaise du yiddish, en depit de sa superiorite numerique d’avant-guerre, fait face a un danger encore accru par la tentative de revitalisation de cette langue qui s’appuie sur la notion de « standardisation linguistique ». Aussi illogique que cela puisse paraitre, c’est la forme nordique de cette langue (le yiddish lituanien et letton) qui a servi de base au yiddish standardise par l’Institut YIVO pour la recherche juive de New York (et ce, malgre un nombre inferieur de locuteurs) et qui est a present utilisee comme langue standard dans les manuels et les cours d’ete dans le monde. Il en resulte que les descendants des survivants de l’holocauste qui souhaitent rester exposes a leur patrimoine polonais par le biais du yiddish doivent le faire a travers des caracteristiques phonologiques et lexicales non polonaises, ce qui vient contrecarrer leurs tentatives de se rapprocher de cette langue.
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Breton (Brittany, France) and Lower Sorbian (Brandenburg, Germany) are two of the many endangered minority languages currently undergoing revitalization. In their cases, given that intergenerational transmission in a family setting has... more
Breton (Brittany, France) and Lower Sorbian (Brandenburg, Germany) are two of the many endangered minority languages currently undergoing revitalization. In their cases, given that intergenerational transmission in a family setting has mostly ceased, language revitalization takes the form of educational initiatives, such as the immersion program Diwan in Brittany and the bilingual program Witaj in Brandenburg. The article argues that the differences in language ideologies and attitudes of language revitalizers, which form the often unexpressed and unaddressed ideological foundations of these programs, have led to divergences in results of revitalization of Breton and Lower Sorbian. These divergences can have significant consequences for the new speakers of these languages produced through educational programs. Brittany's Diwan schools, which construes Breton as relevant to modern identities and capable of functioning outside the educational context, can be claimed to be producing new speakers in whose lives Breton will play a considerable role. By using foreign language teaching strategies and struggling to provide a vibrant life for Lower Sorbian after school, Witaj, in turn, does keep the minority language alive, but much more as a school subject than as a viable means of communication.
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This article analyzes the tensions and dynamics which exist between “new” speakers and other speakers, such as traditional or native speakers of minority languages (MLs), in an attempt to discover just how much of a barrier to... more
This article analyzes the tensions and dynamics which exist between “new” speakers and other speakers, such as traditional or native speakers of minority languages (MLs), in an attempt to discover just how much of a barrier to communication are the (perceived) differences which are purported to exist between them. The dynamics between “new” and native speakers seem to be complex and nuanced, and “(in)authenticity” can be indexed through accent, the lexicon and grammatical structures, both by local users and more widely by researchers and other interested third parties, reflecting a wide range of ideo-logical stances. Using a critical sociolinguistic framework, these differences are examined from the perspective of the power differentials among and between various ML speakers/users in two situations of language endangerment, Breton and Yiddish. The reproduction of “symbolic violence”, as described by Bourdieu (1991), which results from such differentials can hinder language revitaliz...
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For some years now, Welsh has been taught as a foreign language outside Wales, most especially in other Celtic countries, central Europe – and Poland. The first courses were established in the Catholic University of Lublin in the 1980s,... more
For some years now, Welsh has been taught as a foreign language outside Wales, most especially in other Celtic countries, central Europe – and Poland. The first courses were established in the Catholic University of Lublin in the 1980s, and this provision has expanded over the years to include a Celtic language specialisation within the Faculty of English at Adam Mickiewicz University in Poznań. Relying at first on teachers from Wales to provide instruction in Welsh, the Centre for Celtic Studies is increasingly producing new, competent speakers/users of Welsh among the Poles. An obvious question to be asked concerns motivational issues – why, on the eastern edges of the European Union, are there people willing to put the effort into learning a language from the far west of Europe, when they have, in some cases, little contact with regular users of Welsh? Through the use of focus group interviews, the present study attempts to discover what motivates Polish students to study Welsh i...
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Interest in the disappearance of languages has developed to a point where language death and obsolescence can be viewed as a field in its own right. Recent academic publications on language endangerment, that is, the process whereby... more
Interest in the disappearance of languages has developed to a point where language death and obsolescence can be viewed as a field in its own right. Recent academic publications on language endangerment, that is, the process whereby languages lose ground to other languages either because they are spoken by fewer and fewer speakers and/or because they are heavily influenced by one or more competing languages, include Crystal (2000), Dalby (2002), Harrison (2007), Maffi (2001), Nettle and Romaine (2000), Phillipson (2001) and Skutnabb-Kangas (2000). These authors basically share the same positions, though there are minor differences in the specific ways they state them. This interest is often accompanied by a ‘discourse of language endangerment’, which has been described by Dobrin et al. (2007: 59) as ‘an ideologically charged discursive space that is kept bustling by a number of overlapping constituencies’, such as linguists, minority activists, international groups, funding institutions, conservation groups and the media.
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One reason many minority language speakers struggle to remain users of their minority language is the lack of prestige it is often afforded. This can lead to situations where the public ‘performance’ of otherness, indexed through the use... more
One reason many minority language speakers struggle to remain users of their minority language is the lack of prestige it is often afforded. This can lead to situations where the public ‘performance’ of otherness, indexed through the use of a minority language in a public space, can be self-censored by minority language speakers in an attempt not to draw undue attention to themselves. But it is not just societal pressure from majority language monolingual speakers which can lead minority language speakers to feel inadequate or out of place. Sometimes the othering comes from within the minority language community of speakers itself. Not only do some minority language speakers feel a sense of awkwardness or inappropriateness by the public use of a non-majority language, they can sometimes feel their own level of competence in the minority language or indeed their very right to use it can be challenged by other minority language speakers. They experience, in this way, a sense of delegitimization, either in the way they speak the language, or more fundamentally, a sense of lacking sufficient ‘speakerhood’, as not counting as a legitimate minority language speaker or user, as exemplified in Section 1.2 with reference to Welsh. In this chapter, the idea of being a legitimate speaker of Breton is explored, with claims centred on legitimate language and legitimate speakerhood being the focus of the case study. Such claims are often contested, of course, and attempts which aim to render these claims as illegitimate are also explored. The case of Breton is particularly rich in such detail and the debate on such matters has a comparatively long and somewhat acrimonious history. Despite the specificity of the example of Breton, the situation in Brittany does allow direct and useful comparisons with other situations of language minoritization and can help us work closer to a typology of ‘new’ speakers of minority languages.
Lemko identity in Poland is contested in a number of contexts, including social, linguistic and political domains, among others. The members of this minority have to learn to negotiate multiple identities, not only from an in-group... more
Lemko identity in Poland is contested in a number of contexts, including social, linguistic and political domains, among others. The members of this minority have to learn to negotiate multiple identities, not only from an in-group perspective but also in interactions with the majority community in Poland. This paper examines how the Lemkos attempt to do this, with varying degrees of success, and the tensions which arise as a result. In particular, a Lemko identity is examined from the perspective of ideologies of language in order to draw out the major themes which are apparent in this re-emergent minority.
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Minority cultures and associated efforts to maintain and promote their linguistic varieties in situations of unbalanced multilingualism face many challenges. Pressure to adapt to modernity and globalization mean that cultural and... more
Minority cultures and associated efforts to maintain and promote their linguistic varieties in situations of unbalanced multilingualism face many challenges. Pressure to adapt to modernity and globalization mean that cultural and linguistic minorities are having to find new and creative ways to express their identities and collective sense of community. This article examines the situation of the Lemko language in Poland, estimated to be spoken by around 11,000 people (Przynaleznośc narodowo-etniczna ludności, GUS. 2011. Material na konferencje prasową w dniu 29. 01. 2013. p 3. Accessed on 6 Mar 2013). Educational programmes, such as the Russian-with-Lemko degree taught at the University of Cracow, or the teaching of Lemko in selected schools in the traditional Lemko areas, are complemented by events and festivals which might equip younger generations of speakers of the language with the cultural material they require in order to achieve ‘authentic speakerhood’. This concept will be ...
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That there is in the field of European languages no contact situation which cannot be described as a linguistic conflict at the same time‟ (Nelde 2007: 64) is particularly true for the French state and its approach to both regional... more
That there is in the field of European languages no contact situation which cannot be described as a linguistic conflict at the same time‟ (Nelde 2007: 64) is particularly true for the French state and its approach to both regional and non-European minority languages. In this essay, I ...
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The European Union is home to national, regional and minority languages, only some of which have some recognition and the support of state language policies. To demonstrate this we proceed in three steps. First, we demonstrate that the... more
The European Union is home to national, regional and minority languages, only some of which have some recognition and the support of state language policies. To demonstrate this we proceed in three steps. First, we demonstrate that the current approach of European institutions and nation-states, providing support for languages is at odds with the commitment for equality of citizens, i.e. language communities and their members on the entire territory of the Union. Second, we demonstrate that most European languages with a stringently defined homeland territory are likely to survive, while those with no support from territorially defined language policies struggle to compete for speakers with the majority/official state languages. Thirdly, we discuss regional efforts to increase the currency of what is frequently seen as regional variety of the state language Samogitian, Latgalian and Voru in three new EU member-states undergoing processes of nation-cum-institution building. Finally, we review minority language activism of languages, ‘officially distinct’ from the state language, Kashubian and Silesian, contending that activism of these communities reflects the stark centripetal logic in state language policies. The salience of non-standard idioms, as we conclude, reflects both the European emphasis on linguistic diversity and nation-state linguistic cohesion – both trends resulting in ‘language sectarianism.’
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Research Interests: Sociology and Linguistics
Research Interests: Sociology and Linguistics
In many situations of minority language education, the focus has been on gains in the absolute numbers of speakers, with the result that less attention has been paid to the processes and linguistic outcomes associated with students in... more
In many situations of minority language education, the focus has been on gains in the absolute numbers of speakers, with the result that less attention has been paid to the processes and linguistic outcomes associated with students in these educational programmes. In this article, we initiate a discussion on the revitalization situations in Brittany and Kashubia from a comparative perspective. In particular, we look at the different models of education in each of these regions and examine ethnographic data that highlight the attempts of students to attain legitimate ‘speakerhood’ of the minority languages in question. In particular, we take into the consideration the difficulties associated with these situations of attempted additive multilingualism when the general trend, among the majority populations, is toward standardized monolingualism. By way of a conclusion, we attempt to evaluate the different educational systems in both regions in terms of the production of future generati...
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Signage in minority languages is well established in many areas of Europe and is gradually being introduced in others. Such initiatives are based on discourses of human rights, equality and modernity and can be viewed as a reaction to the... more
Signage in minority languages is well established in many areas of Europe and is gradually being introduced in others. Such initiatives are based on discourses of human rights, equality and modernity and can be viewed as a reaction to the pervasiveness of ...
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Yiddish stands out as a severely endangered language which, apparently, refuses to die. This chapter will focus on new speakers of Yiddish, a non-territorial language which nonetheless has distinct cultural and ethnic associations. Data... more
Yiddish stands out as a severely endangered language which, apparently, refuses to die. This chapter will focus on new speakers of Yiddish, a non-territorial language which nonetheless has distinct cultural and ethnic associations. Data for this chapter have been collected over the course of the last few years with new Yiddish speakers in London, Brussels and Edinburgh. What is apparent are the distinct discourses of, and attitudes toward traditional and new speakers of Yiddish. When some commentators, such as Katz (2015) Beer (2009), Wex (2009) or Fishman (2001a) talk about the Yiddish of new (and here we can translate this as mostly ‘secular’) speakers, it is constructed as imperfect or faulty, being, as Fishman considers, ‘replete with Anglicisms and Germanisms’, since these speakers ‘curiously reject that which lives and is growing while they cleave to that which is admittedly wilting before their very eyes and is patently beyond their ability to revernacularize’ (Fishman 2001a: 89). As far as traditional (i.e. mainly religious) speakers are concerned however, similar features can be overlooked: ‘[i]n contrast to many other bi-and multilingual contexts, parents never corrected or complained about simultaneities in girls’ efforts to speak Yiddish’ (Fader 2009: 93). Yiddish is thus an example par excellence of a divided speech community, a term often used in minority language communities (see references to this in Chapter 2).
The case studies on Breton, Yiddish and Lemko have shown how three quite distinct groups of speakers/language users engage in discourses of legitimacy and authenticity in the face of language attrition in the wider community. The... more
The case studies on Breton, Yiddish and Lemko have shown how three quite distinct groups of speakers/language users engage in discourses of legitimacy and authenticity in the face of language attrition in the wider community. The reduction in the use of minority languages is something which is widely viewed as problematic and, as previously mentioned in Chapter 1, is often accompanied by ‘an ideologically charged discursive space’ with an over-arching ‘ideology of language endangerment’ (Dobrin, Austin and Nathan 2007: 59). In connection with this, M.C. Jones (1998a: 323) wonders if the appearance of non-traditional forms of minority languages is ‘the pre-terminal phase of some dying languages in particular socio-political contexts’; and for Makoni and Pennycook (2007: 26), changes, such as the appearance of new speakers, may indicate a ‘shift as a reflection of a creative adaptation to new contexts’. In this chapter, and with the above in mind, I examine the ways in which the issues of authenticity and legitimacy are being tackled by users of two other languages which have either been deemed extinct (and now revived) or ‘barely alive’ (Fishman 2001b: 227). The idea that problems over authenticity and legitimacy are possibly resolved with the disappearance of ‘native’ speakers is one that is occasionally voiced, as Pentecouteau found: While engaged in fieldwork, I have heard some activists who are very committed to the Breton movement say that they are waiting for the total disappearance of native Breton speakers so that they can work without this ‘burden’ … the behaviour of new speakers does little or nothing to validate an already existing knowledge of the language. (My translation) Lors de travaux d’observation, j’ai entendu des militants tres investis dans l’emsav dire attendre la disparition totale des bretonnants de naissance afin de pouvoir travailler sans ce « fardeau » … l’action des nouveaux locuteurs ne porte pas ou peu a valoriser une connaissance encore vivante. (Pentecouteau 2002: 175)
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The European Union is home to national, regional and minority languages, only some of which have some recognition and the support of state language policies. To demonstrate this we proceed in three steps. First, we demonstrate that the... more
The European Union is home to national, regional and minority languages, only some of which have some recognition and the support of state language policies. To demonstrate this we proceed in three steps. First, we demonstrate that the current approach of European institutions and nation-states, providing support for languages is at odds with the commitment for equality of citizens, i.e. language communities and their members on the entire territory of the Union. Second, we demonstrate that most European languages with a stringently defined homeland territory are likely to survive, while those with no support from territorially defined language policies struggle to compete for speakers with the majority/official state languages. Thirdly, we discuss regional efforts to increase the currency of what is frequently seen as regional variety of the state language Samogitian, Latgalian and Voru in three new EU member-states undergoing processes of nation-cum-institution building. Finally, we review minority language activism of languages, ‘officially distinct’ from the state language, Kashubian and Silesian, contending that activism of these communities reflects the stark centripetal logic in state language policies. The salience of non-standard idioms, as we conclude, reflects both the European emphasis on linguistic diversity and nation-state linguistic cohesion – both trends resulting in ‘language sectarianism.’
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Nous entendons explorer dans cet article les tensions qu’a suscite la mise en place de la Charte en Pologne. L’un des points de friction les plus manifestes concerne la singularisation du kachoube au detriment des autres langues moins... more
Nous entendons explorer dans cet article les tensions qu’a suscite la mise en place de la Charte en Pologne. L’un des points de friction les plus manifestes concerne la singularisation du kachoube au detriment des autres langues moins repandues. Ceci sera evoque a la lumiere de l’expertise d’un des deux auteurs qui fut etroitement associe a la mise en place de la Charte en Pologne. Ce debat a egalement, avec une moindre visibilite mais une egale importance, permis l’identification d’ideologies linguistiques contradictoires. Si toutes les langues minoritaires en Pologne (mis a part le kachoube) se situent aux confins d’une ideologie « langue-et-identite », des lors, la representation du kachoube dans le cadre d’une territorialite (ou ideologie « langue-et-territoire » [Myhill 1999]) est non seulement liee a l’imminence d’un conflit ideologiquement contre-productif, mais semble egalement anachronique a une epoque ou le kachoube n’est parle de maniere reguliere par plus de 50% de la population que dans trois districts de la region traditionnellement kachoubophone. Dans de telles conditions, nous serons amenes a nous interroger sur l’efficacite d’une telle planification linguistique pour le kachoube dans la derniere partie de notre article.
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... Blanchet, Philippe, and André Le Coq (2007). ... In Opportunities and Challenges of Bilingualism, Li Wei, Jean-Marc Dewaele, and Alex Housen (eds.), 89104. ... Simon, Crisstof (2003).'Le gallo, un patois ou une... more
... Blanchet, Philippe, and André Le Coq (2007). ... In Opportunities and Challenges of Bilingualism, Li Wei, Jean-Marc Dewaele, and Alex Housen (eds.), 89104. ... Simon, Crisstof (2003).'Le gallo, un patois ou une langue?'Paper presented at 130e Congrès: Histoire, arts et lettres ...
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Recent interest in the ‘disappearance’ of languages has been accompanied by increased revitalisation efforts in many minority language settings, often considered to be experiencing obsolescence due to pressures of globalisation and... more
Recent interest in the ‘disappearance’ of languages has been accompanied by increased revitalisation efforts in many minority language settings, often considered to be experiencing obsolescence due to pressures of globalisation and modernity. Many of these revival movements aim to ‘recreate’ an idealised (or ‘authentic’) form of the language in question, through reference to traditional or standardised language practices. Simultaneously, however, ‘unanticipated results of language management’ (Spolsky 2006: 87) have produced non?traditional and hybrid linguistic forms which are very often contested by the community in which the language revival is taking place. Taking Breton as a case study, this thesis examines the phenomenon of ‘new’ or ‘neo’ speakers in Brittany at the start of the twenty?first century and the implications their appearance has for the survival of the only Celtic language still extant in continental Europe. The tensions between traditional and neo?speakers are examined in the context of the theoretical framework of critical sociolinguistics (Heller 2002). Current language practices in Brittany are analysed through the anthropological linguistic concept of language ideology, which is used to explain and critique seemingly contradictory linguistic behaviour in this particular setting of linguistic minoritisation. Parallels are also drawn with neo?speakers of other minority languages, most particularly Scottish Gaelic. While both languages show increasing transformation and hybridisation due to the non?traditional nature of their methods of transmission, they are not, of course, alone in the changes they are experiencing; indeed, they can act as good indicators of what the future holds for many minority languages over the course of the twenty?first century.
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Signage in minority languages is well established in many areas of Europe and is gradually being introduced in others. Such initiatives are based on discourses of human rights, equality and modernity and can be viewed as a reaction to the... more
Signage in minority languages is well established in many areas of Europe and is gradually being introduced in others. Such initiatives are based on discourses of human rights, equality and modernity and can be viewed as a reaction to the pervasiveness of ...
Research Interests:
Research Interests:
Research Interests:
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That there is in the field of European languages no contact situation which cannot be described as a linguistic conflict at the same time‟ (Nelde 2007: 64) is particularly true for the French state and its approach to both regional... more
That there is in the field of European languages no contact situation which cannot be described as a linguistic conflict at the same time‟ (Nelde 2007: 64) is particularly true for the French state and its approach to both regional and non-European minority languages. In this essay, I ...
Research Interests:
In common with many regions of Europe, Catalonia and Provence are experiencing something of a renaissance of their autochthonous languages, in the setting of wider political regimes which can be seen, at best, as problematic in the case... more
In common with many regions of Europe, Catalonia and Provence are experiencing something of a renaissance of their autochthonous languages, in the setting of wider political regimes which can be seen, at best, as problematic in the case of Catalonia and, in contrast, as distinctly unsupportive in Provence. In recent decades, publications on the themes of language ‘death’, endangerment, revitalization and minority language managements have increased in such numbers to the point that awareness of minoritized language issues can be said to have entered the academic mainstream in fields such as sociolinguistics and linguistic anthropology. Among this number, Kathryn Woolard's Singular and Plural: Ideologies of Linguistic Authority in 21st Century Catalonia (2016) and James Costa's Revitalising language in Provence: A Critical Approach (2017) are recent additions which go beyond a merely descriptive approach of minority language issues and attempt to interrogate the nitty‐gritty of the motivations and aspirations behind language management and conflict in Catalonia and Provence in the twenty‐first century. The present article follows the language management approach espoused by Spolsky (2009), who focuses on the concept of domain and who considers the process as ‘the explicit and observable effort by someone or some group that has or claims authority over the participants in the domain to modify their practices or beliefs’ (2009: 4). The idea of language conflict, which both of these books would appear to represent, follows closely the idea put forward by Nelde (2007) that such conflict is often secondary, and therefore symptomatic, of wider social conflicts within a given context.
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Discourses which seek to position different speakers/users of Breton through the use of labels such as ‘traditional’, ‘new’, ‘learner’, ‘néo-bretonnant’, ‘brittophone’, etc. draw on persistent essentialist ideologies of language and... more
Discourses which seek to position different speakers/users of Breton through the use of labels such as ‘traditional’, ‘new’, ‘learner’, ‘néo-bretonnant’, ‘brittophone’, etc. draw on persistent essentialist ideologies of language and create, in the process, contested elites and counter-elites in Breton-speaking networks. These discourses can be counter-productive towards projects which aim at producing multilingual citizens in Brittany at the present time. This article examines how stances of different speakers towards other speakers of Breton can involve jostling for positions of power within the Breton-speaking community and how attempts at creating elites and counter-elites seem to be a defining feature of contemporary revitalisation efforts in Brittany. This characterisation may, however, miss a ‘third space’ which some social actors may seek to engage with. These discourses are examined in this article through a critical sociolinguistic exploration of how (elite) multilingualism is constructed, maintained and contested by different actors in the Breton language community.
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Research Interests:
This article examines some of the linguistic and ideological tensions resulting from language shift and subsequent revitalisation, using Breton as a case study. As a result of the opening up of ideological spaces in discourses on what it... more
This article examines some of the linguistic and ideological tensions
resulting from language shift and subsequent revitalisation, using
Breton as a case study. As a result of the opening up of
ideological spaces in discourses on what it means to be a Breton
speaker in the twenty-first century, the appearance of so-called
‘new’ speakers highlights a number of points of contestation.
Operating within contexts which are becoming increasingly
‘postvernacular’ [Shandler, J. (2004). Postvernacular Yiddish:
Language as a performance art. The Drama Review, 48(1), 19–43;
Shandler, J. (2006). Adventures in Yiddishland: Postvernacular
language and culture. Oakland: University of California Press] in
nature, the use of Breton by these speakers can be viewed as
more symbolic rather than communicative in many respects.
Postvernacular use exists on a continuum of linguistic practice
and vernacular use of Breton is still apparent, of course, and often
indexed as the only ‘authentic’ and legitimate use of Breton. This
article examines some alternative linguistic practices within the
Breton-speaking community and how ‘new’ speakers attempt to
find for themselves an ideological niche in this community.
See full paper at: http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/07908318.2016.1230622
resulting from language shift and subsequent revitalisation, using
Breton as a case study. As a result of the opening up of
ideological spaces in discourses on what it means to be a Breton
speaker in the twenty-first century, the appearance of so-called
‘new’ speakers highlights a number of points of contestation.
Operating within contexts which are becoming increasingly
‘postvernacular’ [Shandler, J. (2004). Postvernacular Yiddish:
Language as a performance art. The Drama Review, 48(1), 19–43;
Shandler, J. (2006). Adventures in Yiddishland: Postvernacular
language and culture. Oakland: University of California Press] in
nature, the use of Breton by these speakers can be viewed as
more symbolic rather than communicative in many respects.
Postvernacular use exists on a continuum of linguistic practice
and vernacular use of Breton is still apparent, of course, and often
indexed as the only ‘authentic’ and legitimate use of Breton. This
article examines some alternative linguistic practices within the
Breton-speaking community and how ‘new’ speakers attempt to
find for themselves an ideological niche in this community.
See full paper at: http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/07908318.2016.1230622
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'Une prononciation déficiente, francisée': The debate over an " authentic " accent in revitalized Breton
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This article examines the shifts and changes in the Welsh language which have taken place towards the second half of the twentieth century and the start of the twenty-first from a critical sociolinguistic perspective (Heller 2002), which... more
This article examines the shifts and changes in the Welsh language which have taken place towards the second half of the twentieth century and the start of the twenty-first from a critical sociolinguistic perspective (Heller 2002), which is a framework capable of taking into account power relations and stakes underlying language use, issues of collective and individual identity, and the link between representations and social behaviour. Critical sociolinguistics adds to traditional questions on language use: “Where? Why and how? Who stands to gain or lose?
What are the stakes?” and it is these that will be examined in a Welsh context here.
What are the stakes?” and it is these that will be examined in a Welsh context here.
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Of particular interest for scholars researching the situation of the Germanic variety known as Wilamowicean is Dorian’s work on sociolinguistic variation in the Gaelic of East Sutherland. Like Wilamowice, the villages studied by Dorian,... more
Of particular interest for scholars researching the situation of the Germanic variety known as Wilamowicean is Dorian’s work on sociolinguistic variation in the Gaelic of East Sutherland. Like Wilamowice, the villages studied by Dorian, namely Brora, Golspie and Embo, were inhabited in part by speakers of an endangered linguistic variety typologically different from the surrounding language(s), i.e. Celtic in contact with the Germanic varieties of Highland English and Scots. The two situations reveal further similarity in that both areas were relatively isolated until fairly recently, with limited interaction with
the surrounding population because of varying social barriers.
the surrounding population because of varying social barriers.
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For some years now, Welsh has been taught as a foreign language outside Wales, most especially in other Celtic countries, central Europe – and Poland. The first courses were established in the Catholic University of Lublin in the 1980s,... more
For some years now, Welsh has been taught as a foreign language outside Wales, most especially in other Celtic countries, central Europe – and Poland. The first courses were established in the Catholic University of Lublin in the 1980s, and this provision has expanded over the years to include a Celtic language specialisation within the Faculty of English at Adam Mickiewicz University in Poznań. Relying at first on teachers from Wales to provide instruction in Welsh, the Centre for Celtic Studies is increasingly producing new, competent speakers/users of Welsh among the Poles. An obvious question to be asked concerns motivational issues – why, on the eastern edges of the European Union, are there people willing to put the effort into learning a language from the far west of Europe, when they have, in some cases, little contact with regular users of Welsh? Through the use of focus group interviews, the present study attempts to discover what motivates Polish students to study Welsh in a context of limited direct contact with the speakers of the language and limited, indirect access to Welsh language and culture.
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In their efforts to organize as a recognized minority within the Polish state, the Lemkos have faced a number of obstacles, both internal and external to the community. This article explores three aspects of self-representation of the... more
In their efforts to organize as a recognized minority within the Polish state, the Lemkos have faced a number of obstacles, both internal and external to the community. This article explores three aspects of self-representation of the Lemko community - group membership, victimhood and “speakerhood” – and examines how these representations are contested on a number of levels.
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In recent decades the 'death' of minority languages has attracted the attention of journalists, scholars and the general public and now features in various discourses about the decline of ecological and cultural diversity due to... more
In recent decades the 'death' of minority languages has attracted the attention of journalists, scholars and the general public and now features in various discourses about the decline of ecological and cultural diversity due to globalization. Many minority languages are undergoing revitalization (mainly through educational initiatives) and, as a result, some of these languages can demonstrate a slowing down in the rate of decline in the number of speakers. This has led to the appearance, in many instances, of so-called 'new' speakers, that is, speakers who have acquired a minority language outside the traditional conduits of family and/or community. This book examines the background to this phenomenon and investigates the mechanisms and processes by which new speakers have appeared in Breton, Yiddish and Lemko linguistic settings, all of whom demonstrate similar struggles and successes in their attempts to use their adopted languages in a meaningful way.
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Lemko identity in Poland is contested in a number of contexts, including social, linguistic and political domains, among others. The members of this minority have to learn to negotiate multiple identities, not only from an in-group... more
Lemko identity in Poland is contested in a number of contexts, including social, linguistic and political domains, among others. The members of this minority have to learn to negotiate multiple identities, not only from an in-group perspective but also in interactions with the majority community in Poland. This paper examines how the Lemkos attempt to do this, with varying degrees of success, and the tensions which arise as a result. In particular, a Lemko identity is examined from the perspective of ideologies of language in order to draw out the major themes which are apparent in this re-emergent minority.
Keywords: Lemko; identity; ideology; stance; authenticity
Keywords: Lemko; identity; ideology; stance; authenticity
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This article analyzes the tensions and dynamics which exist between “new” speakers and other speakers, such as traditional or native speakers of minority languages (MLs), in an attempt to discover just how much of a barrier to... more
This article analyzes the tensions and dynamics which exist between “new” speakers and other speakers, such as traditional or native speakers of minority languages (MLs), in an attempt to discover just how much of a barrier to communication are the (perceived) differences which are purported to exist between them. The dynamics between “new” and native speakers seem to be complex and nuanced, and “(in)authenticity” can be indexed through accent, the lexicon and grammatical structures, both by local users and more widely by researchers and other interested third parties, reflecting a wide range of ideological stances. Using a critical sociolinguistic framework, these differences are examined from the perspective of the power differentials among and between various ML speakers/users in two situations of language endangerment, Breton and Yiddish. The reproduction of “symbolic violence”, as described by Bourdieu (1991), which results from such differentials can hinder language revitalization projects and can run counter to the interests of the language community in question. Both settings appear to share a commonality of experience that is wider than just the two language communities under scrutiny here and possible ways of reconciling such differences are examined toward the end of the article.
Keywords: Breton, Yiddish, minority, authenticity, speakerhood
Keywords: Breton, Yiddish, minority, authenticity, speakerhood
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Abstract: “Revitalized” or “neo” Breton as a contested variety exhibits a number of features of a language which has been revitalized from the “bottom-up”, including a lack of acceptance of certain neologisms, particularly those coined... more
Abstract: “Revitalized” or “neo” Breton as a contested variety exhibits a number of features of a language which has been revitalized from the “bottom-up”, including a lack of acceptance of certain neologisms, particularly those coined (it is claimed) from a “purist” or “nationalist” provenance. Here, we explore how these neologisms are contested through the prism of language ideology and how competing claims to Breton ‘authenticity’ are being played out in a variety of arenas, including internet fora.
Keywords: “Neo” Breton; neologisms; language authenticity; language planning; ideology.
Keywords: “Neo” Breton; neologisms; language authenticity; language planning; ideology.
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This is a sample of the book, also available at http://www.cambridgescholars.com/download/sample/64311
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1. Research objective/research hypothesis The UN has estimated that more than half of the languages spoken today will become extinct over the next hundred years 1 and many minority communities in Europe and beyond engage in language... more
1. Research objective/research hypothesis The UN has estimated that more than half of the languages spoken today will become extinct over the next hundred years 1 and many minority communities in Europe and beyond engage in language revitalization efforts in order to preserve their linguistic diversity and, more broadly, their unique cultures and identities, often perceived as "cultural treasures." 2 However, as Spolsky (2006: 87) 3 has pointed out, such efforts can lead to 'unanticipated results of language management' and tensions can arise within minority language groups over who is a legitimate member of the group in question, and how this membership is indexed through points of origin and also through the use of 'correct' or 'authentic' language. This study will focus on two minority groups-Breton speakers in Upper Brittany (France) and Sorbian speakers in Lower Lusatia (Germany). In both cases, neither area contains sizeable numbers of native or traditional speakers of Breton or Sorbian respectively, and yet young families are deciding to send their children to Breton immersion schools or to schools which teach Sorbian as a subject and, in some cases, to raise their children as minority language speakers, even though this is not the first language of the parents. In many ways, these communities are separated from other Breton-and Sorbian-speaking communities where there is a much stronger tradition of intergenerational transmission of the languages (even though this has been considerably weakened in the second half of the twentieth century). This project therefore aims to investigate how language revitalization works where the members of a particular community are non-native or 'new' speakers (O'Rourke, Pujolar & Ramallo 2015 4 ; Hornsby et al 2018 5). How, then, do families who send their children to immersion schools in Rennes or in Nantes view their own educational choices for their children, and for those parents who also speak Breton to their children at home, how do they make their transmission of the language work effectively? The main hypothesis which will be tested in this project is whether such revitalization efforts are renewing the language community or if they are in fact transforming it into a new type of post-modern community, where language plays a much more symbolic role than previously thought. 2. Research methodology The project will employ a variety of quantitative and qualitative sociolinguistic methods. The data to be gathered will include: (1) an accurate assessment of the number of new speaker parents in Upper Brittany and Lower Lusatia who are transmitting the language to their children; (2) semi-structured interviews with key actors in the communities (headteachers, language planners, leaders of culture associations); (3) focus groups in both locations with parents and children who are involved in minority language education / cultural activities. The data collection will be triangulated through the use of participant observation in a number of educational and recreational sites in both Brittany and Lusatia. 3. Expected scientific and societal impact of the project The overall aim will be the production of either an edited volume or special issue of a journal on this aspect of language revitalization. The contribution of new speakers to the revitalization of minority languages is an under-studied research area and therefore this publication will be a significant contribution to advancing our knowledge of the field. Furthermore, bilingual reports will be produced of the main findings of the research for distribution among the minority language communities.