Lecture 17

November 29, 2010

Today
1. Some logistical stuff
2. More Multilingualism

Final Review: Friday 12/3, 3-4, Fowler A103B (this room)

Final Exam: Wednesday, 12/8, 3-6 pm, Ackerman Ballroom

What will the final be like? Like the midterm, but longer (= more essays)
Review sheet up sometime between today and Wednesday

Multilingualism continued…
www.ethnologue.com

Total
Living
Percentage
Language
s
The Americas 1,013 15%
Africa 2,058 30%
Europe 230 3%
Asia 2,197 32%
The Pacific 1,311 19%

TOTAL 6,809
192-193 countries in UN

India 377 living languages

16 official – governmental

Multilingual nations arise through:

1. Migration – 170 Native American languages (at present) –nga =
locational suffix
2. Immigration – three-generation shift
1st generation – dominant bilinguals in home-country language
2nd generation – balanced bilinguals or passive bilinguals
3rd generation – English dominant (or monolingual), or semi-
speakers/rememberers
3. Colonization –English, Spanish, French, German, Dutch (Portuguese,
Russian)
4. Border drawing
Societal multilingualism
De jure or de facto language use in various functional domains

Functional domains
 Government
  Business
 Education (primary school, secondary school, university)
 Media – newspapers, radio, television
 Religion
 Workplace
 Entertainment
 Market or shopping
 Domestic context (family)
 Peer context (friends)

language as symbol and iconic

Joshua Fishman (1972) – Nationism vs. Nationalism

nationism: deals with the pragmatic problems of governance

nationalism: deals with questions of allegiance, patriotism, and
identification with the nation (symbolic)

What’s needed with a new official language

 translation and republication of all previous official documents
 all road signs, books, handbooks, rule books, manuals, etc. translated
to new language
 all educational materials translated into new language
 teachers trained in new language
 may require language engineering for new semantic domains
(registers/vocabulary used for government, science, education, etc.)

language engineering
the past, , borrowings from non-threat languages neologisms
Hawai’i
language revitalization

American vs. British English spelling – examples?

Color vs colour
Center vs centre
Revitalize vs revitalise

Noah Webster

oppositional identity

Media break: Daddy Yankee

Pay attention to code-switching, semiotic resources on and with the
body, practices – how are they signaling identity, affiliation, social
position, stance?
 Gender differences – presentations of masculinity and
femininity
 Associations with English-language American hip hop
(“gangsta”, chains, body movement, gesture, presence of
Snoop Dogg)
 Presentations of poverty, resistance, and potential violence

Spanish speakers – what are some features of Caribbean Spanish?