Nation Flashcards
Nation
A large aggregate of communities and individuals united by factors e.g. common descent, language; to form a distinct people
Nation-state
An independent political state formed from a people who share national identity (culturally, historically, ethically) e.g. Catalonia
National language
A linguistic variety chosen by the nation that represents and expresses a national identity
Polity
An organised society e.g. the state
Weinstein 1980
‘Language planning is a government, authorised, long term […] effort to alter a language’s function
Abstand languages 1950’s
Term coined by Kloss
‘Language by distance’ but not geographical distance e.g. Welsh -> sounds different to the national language of English in the United Kingdom
Clearly differentiated language, not a dialect.
Can be measured by mutual intelligibility -> cooperators having a conversation and then mesauring if they understand each other when using different varieties of the language
Does not tend to have a standard form, often the case with minority languages in larger states, whether minority language is only used in private. The ability of code switching
Ausbau languages 1950’s
Term by Kloss
‘Language by elaboration’ (or development)
Considered dialects of standardised language
Suitable for all domains and aspects of life e.g. non fictional texts.
“Contested languages” as it is a matter of opinion
To develop into a standard variety the analysation of humour, Folklore, lyrics and narrative pros, also use of non-fiction, and variety could then be developed for use in technical, scientific or government domains.
A dialect that is developed could be excepted as mutually intelligible with other standard varieties -dialect continuum: spread of language varieties spoken across geographical areas that only differ slightly
De-facto national languages
These languages appear over time and argued to be the people’s language as they choose
Case study: Tanzania
Bloomaert 1990s
Holmes 1994 textbook
Later half of the 1900s
Dilemma in choosing one official National language over hundreds of indigenous languages each associated with a particular tribe.
It also became an official language alongside English
Swahili was chosen as it was a lingua franca and it was the medium of primary education.
Swahili was excepted as it was not associated with any tribe this resulted in loyalty from the Tanzanian population, gave prestigious status to indigenous language
Swahili became the language of socialisation, development and modernisation as this was already the view for English in Tanzania
Case study: Norway
Haugen 1961
Holmes 1994 textbook
In the early 1800s, Norway became independent from Denmark.
Diagnostic situation in Norway Danish (H), Norwegian dialects (L). No standard Norwegian language.
Wanted to restore the Norwegian language after losing it during the union with Denmark
Decided on Nynorsk and Danish as the national languages which cause acceptance problems
Ethnolinguistic vitality - Giles et al. 1977
Demographic social and institutional strength of language and its speakers. The official status for languages, high vitality if the language is used and spoken widely.
Status: Economic, social, sociohistorical. Demography: Distribution: national territory. Numbers: birthrate, immigration, mixed marriages, immigration.
Institutional support: Formal: mass media, education, government, services. Informal: industry, religion, culture
Pluricentric language
More than one standard centre e.g. English
Case study: Quebec
Meyerhoff 2011 textbook
In Quebec, French and English are both the national language however French is the promoted language for all official and public discourse.
It has been attempted to make French the only official language in Quebec due to the but has caused problems with the anglophone popular society, arguing English was being treated unfairly
Numerous languages are spoken due to the more recent immigrants e.g. Spanish, Mandarin - these languages are accepted and retain a degree of vitality and you back.
‘First nations‘ include the language of the native North American peoples-protected language
Sachdev 1998
Found that in some ‘first nation‘ communities, the language had little vitality but communities found ways to promote its use and protect the language
Case study: South Africa
Meyerhoff 2011
Divide between the black and white peoples.
White peoples equated to a significantly less percentage of the population but held the control of the country.
Caused protests and killings - black students protested because the medium of education was taught in white Africans.
Resulted in equal rights and full suffrage for all ethnic groups in the 1990s
Tucker 2003
‘25% of the worlds approximate 200 countries acknowledge two or more official languages’
Case study: Greece
Meyerhoff 2011 textbook
Considers itself as monolingual and this is because of the historical reasons for single language in education and politics. There are diagnostic situations which involve varieties of Greek; Demotic (H), Katharevousa (L). Disagreements in which variety should be the national language
Killian 2009: Greece often comes in contact with other languages and many areas it was the dominant language even if the administration language varied
However an increasing number of children are learning one or more foreign languages -> Greeks are aware their language is not widely spoken they are obliged to learn foreign languages if they want to be competitive in a globalised world… suggesting that the younger population are positive of multilingualism, they understand that speaking more than one language could lead to a more practical and career related advantage
Fragoudaki 2001
Arrogance derived from Greece as they are culturally proud of their heritage which results in a nation-state consciousness
Case study: Catalan
Miller and Miller 1996
Some people see it as a dialect of Spanish, others do not
In the province of Catalonia, Catalan and Castilian coexist as official languages
Catalonian people view themselves for separate and different to Spain, but Spanish government view them as part of the nation.
They still use Spanish -> code switching
Use of Catalan has always varied in percentage use specifically under the Franco dictatorship, declining from 90% in 1939 to 60% in 1975
Catalan shares grammatical structures, vocabulary and some expressions of Spanish
Phonetic differences: e.g. it is suggested that Spanish is wholly phonetic whilst Catalan is not.
Final consonants often silent.
No/Z/ In Spanish but occurs
Official language
A linguistic variety that has been designated as the medium for all official, government business
