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Linguistics > Language Death > Flashcards

Language Death Flashcards

0
Q

How many languages are there?

A

Between 3,000-10,000 - enormous variation

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1
Q

How does Crystal define Language Death?

A

A Language is dead when…

- only 1 speaker left and no learners in the younger generation

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2
Q

What are indicators of a language’s Situation?

A

Population size (not always), place, attitude of community towards their culture+language, economic situation (not always), existing Language domains, material for education, governmental status

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3
Q

The 3 Levels of danger are…

A

1) safe
2) endangered
3) extinct

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4
Q

Why is language so important?

A
  • Basic of people’s Culture
  • means of communication
  • diversity
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5
Q

Definition of “a language in danger”?

A

A situation in which the speakers no longer pass their Language onto the next geberation.

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6
Q

What are possible causes for language endangerment?

A

a. External (leading to)
b. Internal causes

Devaluation, discrimination, no social mobility, attitude of speakers towards their language, dominant languages (English as langua francae?)

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7
Q

What is “language replacement”?

A

An entire speech community shifts to another (either minority or official/trade) language.

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8
Q

Which is the biggest language family?

A

The Indo-European family is the largest group of languages (with about 2 billion speakers)

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9
Q

What are the main disadvantages of language loss?

A

Decline of linguistic diversity, loss of human and cultural diversity+identity

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10
Q

Who is needed to maintain a language?

A

Different groups of people:

  • speakers
  • linguistis
  • language planners
  • policy makers
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11
Q

What are the 4 types of LD involving the actual loss of a language?

A
  • sudden LD
  • radical LD
  • gradual LD
  • bottom-to-top LD
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12
Q

What is a sudden LD?

A

Abrupt disappearance because speakers die or are killed

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13
Q

What is radical LD?

A

Abrupt LD but speakers shift to another language, possibly due to political repression and genocide

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14
Q

What is gradual LD?

A
  • Most common type

- gradual shift to the dominant language in a contact situation

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15
Q

What is bottom-to-top LD?

A

2 possible ways:

  • Language is retained formal domains, but disappears from informal contexts
  • Language is retained in informal, more casual contexts, but disappears from formal domain (more common)
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16
Q

What are the types of LD involving the gradual change of language?

A
  • Language suicide

- Language murder

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17
Q

What is Language suicide?

A

The conscious decision to stop using the own language in order to borrow words and constructions from the closely related, more prestigious one.
– superstrate languages (decreolization)
– strong social motivation
Example: Tok Pisin in Papua New Guinea

Loss of a dialect in favor of a standard

18
Q

What is Language murder?

A

The deliberate attempt to let a language die in order to use a newer, more prestigious one (reluctance of use of traditional language, although they would be capable of using it).

19
Q

What are the Factors influencing the obsolescence of Language?

A
  • economic factors
  • political factors
  • ideological factors
  • ecological factors
  • cultural factors
20
Q

What are economic factors influencing obsolescence of languages?

A

Another language is thought to be needed for economic survival and advantage.

21
Q

What are political factors influencing the obsolescence of languages?

A

Asymmetrical power relations between different ethnic and social groups.

22
Q

What are the ideological factors influencing obsolescence of languages?

A

Assumed belief systems and underlying values about language use and diversity.

23
Q

What are ecological factors influencing the obsolescence of languages?

A

Catastrophic natural causes, geographical Location, physical environment, population demographics, Numbers and concentration of speakers, proximity to other groups

24
Q

What are cultural factors influencing the obsolescence of languages?

A
  • Open vs. Closed (Levels of contact to Outside World)
  • endocentric vs. exocentric (degree to which the Community is focused on internal norms, or more outwardly focus)
  • multidimensional set of Social conditions
25
Q

What is cultural assimilation?

A

One Culture is influenced by a more dominant culture, and begins to lose its character as a result of its members adopting new behavior and mores.

26
Q

What are the 3 Stages of culture assimilation?

A

1) pressure on People to speak the dominant language (top-down or Button-up)
2) Period of emerging bilingualism (dominant vs. dominated language)
3) younger generation becomes increasingly proficient in the dominant language

27
Q

What are the 6 factors of Language revitalization?

A

Increase:

  • prestige
  • wealth
  • legitimate power
  • presence in education
  • writing system
  • use of electronic technology
28
Q

What is Language Planning?

A

1) Corpus Planning

2) Status Planning

29
Q

What are the 3 orientations towards language policy?

A

Language as…

1) a problem
2) a right
3) a resource

30
Q

Why can language suicide be Seen as a Synonym for decreolization?

A

Because less prestigious language borrows and absorbs from the socially superior neighbour language, so that the two become indistinguishable.

31
Q

What is an acrolect?

A

A superstrate language

32
Q

What is a basilect?

A

A creole language

33
Q

What is a mesolect?

A

The in-between (between acrolect and basilect) varieties

34
Q

How is double negation performed in an OE and PdE sentence?

A

OE: With weakening no to ne procliticized to the finite verb (or aux) and a second negator na in the SpecNegP, where it has a fixed spot.

PdE: I don’t need no satisfaction (in AAVE), or I don’t need anything (non-assertive forms)

35
Q

What is the common theory of projections in OE double (sentential) negation?

A

CP - FP - NegP - TP - VP

36
Q

Why does OE negation (in principle and parameters framework of UG) serve as a word order diagnostic?

A

Because na has a fixed position in SpecNegP and ne appears mostly cliticized to the finite verb.

37
Q

What is “backward globalization” in farming?

A

Giving local people control over their lands because it would result in a powerful and sustainable economic and cultural increase and diversity if they would contribute to the economic market with their knowledge.
- doing it “their way” bc they might produce the same on a longer period of time

38
Q

Why is it critical to lock minorities up in order to maintain their language and culture?

A

Because they might feel imprisoned and want to adapt to the dominant society to form part of the state’s identity.

39
Q

Why is language death often caused in contact situations?

A

Because often a dominant culture and a inferior culture develop and except for all the speakers’ death, they have to communicate with the medium of language, so they shift or are forced to switch languages

40
Q

What is diglossia?

A

A situation in which two dialects or languages are used by a single language community with the definition a of low and a high variety.

41
Q

What is a high variety?

A

The high variety is a language or dialect spoken in formal domains and education.

42
Q

What is a low variety?

A

A low variety is a language or dialect spoken in informal domains, an example is vernacular

43
Q

What is an example for a diglossia situation?

A

Swiss German and the many dialects there are

Linguistics (2 decks)

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