Language Death

Question 0

How many languages are there?

Answer 0

Between 3,000-10,000 - enormous variation

Question 1

How does Crystal define Language Death?

Answer 1

A Language is dead when…

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

Question 2

What are indicators of a language’s Situation?

Answer 2

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

Question 3

The 3 Levels of danger are…

Answer 3

1) safe
2) endangered
3) extinct

Question 4

Why is language so important?

Answer 4

• Basic of people’s Culture
• means of communication
• diversity

Question 5

Definition of “a language in danger”?

Answer 5

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

Question 6

What are possible causes for language endangerment?

Answer 6

a. External (leading to)
b. Internal causes

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

Question 7

What is “language replacement”?

Answer 7

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

Question 8

Which is the biggest language family?

Answer 8

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

Question 9

What are the main disadvantages of language loss?

Answer 9

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

Question 10

Who is needed to maintain a language?

Answer 10

Different groups of people:

• speakers
• linguistis
• language planners
• policy makers

Question 11

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

Answer 11

• sudden LD
• radical LD
• gradual LD
• bottom-to-top LD

Question 12

What is a sudden LD?

Answer 12

Abrupt disappearance because speakers die or are killed

Question 13

What is radical LD?

Answer 13

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

Question 14

What is gradual LD?

Answer 14

• Most common type

- gradual shift to the dominant language in a contact situation

Question 15

What is bottom-to-top LD?

Answer 15

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)

Question 16

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

Answer 16

• Language suicide

- Language murder

Question 17

What is Language suicide?

Answer 17

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

Question 18

What is Language murder?

Answer 18

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).

Question 19

What are the Factors influencing the obsolescence of Language?

Answer 19

• economic factors
• political factors
• ideological factors
• ecological factors
• cultural factors

Question 20

What are economic factors influencing obsolescence of languages?

Answer 20

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

Question 21

What are political factors influencing the obsolescence of languages?

Answer 21

Asymmetrical power relations between different ethnic and social groups.

Question 22

What are the ideological factors influencing obsolescence of languages?

Answer 22

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

Question 23

What are ecological factors influencing the obsolescence of languages?

Answer 23

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

Question 24

What are cultural factors influencing the obsolescence of languages?

Answer 24

- 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

Question 25

What is cultural assimilation?

Answer 25

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.

Question 26

What are the 3 Stages of culture assimilation?

Answer 26

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

Question 27

What are the 6 factors of Language revitalization?

Answer 27

Increase: - prestige - wealth - legitimate power - presence in education - writing system - use of electronic technology

Question 28

What is Language Planning?

Answer 28

1) Corpus Planning | 2) Status Planning

Question 29

What are the 3 orientations towards language policy?

Answer 29

Language as... 1) a problem 2) a right 3) a resource

Question 30

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

Answer 30

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

Question 31

What is an acrolect?

Answer 31

A superstrate language

Question 32

What is a basilect?

Answer 32

A creole language

Question 33

What is a mesolect?

Answer 33

The in-between (between acrolect and basilect) varieties

Question 34

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

Answer 34

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)

Question 35

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

Answer 35

CP - FP - NegP - TP - VP

Question 36

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

Answer 36

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

Question 37

What is "backward globalization" in farming?

Answer 37

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

Question 38

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

Answer 38

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

Question 39

Why is language death often caused in contact situations?

Answer 39

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

Question 40

What is diglossia?

Answer 40

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.

Question 41

What is a high variety?

Answer 41

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

Question 42

What is a low variety?

Answer 42

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

Question 43

What is an example for a diglossia situation?

Answer 43

Swiss German and the many dialects there are