scholarly journals “Caint na ndaoine”. The Irish Language as a Precedent for Standardisation

Adeptus ◽  
2016 ◽  
pp. 72-79
Author(s):  
Carlo James Waskowski Ritchie
Keyword(s):  
European Union ◽  
Native Speakers ◽  
The European Union ◽  
Northern Germany ◽  
Language Community ◽  
Irish Language ◽  
Low German ◽  
Regional Language

“Caint na ndaoine”. The Irish Language as a Precedent for StandardisationCritics of the standardisation of the Irish language argue that the “modernisation” of the Irish orthography has been detrimental to the preservation of the various dialects that form native spoken Irish. The effects of standardisation on Irish consequently form an important precedent for language standardisation. The potential alienation of a language’s native speakers is an outcome of standardisation that is obviously destructive for a language community that exists in a minority. The issues that surround the movement for a standardised Plattdeutsch are similar to those faced in the standardisation of Modern Irish. Since the recognition by the European Union of Low German (Plattdeutsch) as a regional language in 1998, there has been newfound momentum in the movement for its reestablishment as a unified language of Northern Germany. One of the great difficulties of this movement however is the lack of any universal orthography due to the separate nature of the language’s dialects. Given the sociolinguistic similarities of these two (albeit unrelated languages), a study of the effects of the standardisation of Irish is useful for an assessment of the possibility of a standardised Plattdeutsch. “Caint na ndaoine”. Język irlandzki jako precedens standaryzacjiKrytycy procesu standaryzacji języka irlandzkiego uważają, że „modernizacja” irlandzkiej ortografii zaszkodziła ochronie wielu dialektów składających się na oralny język natywnych Irlandczyków. Skutki standaryzacji irlandzkiego stanowią więc ważny precedens standaryzacji języków. Możliwe wyobcowanie natywnych użytkowników języka jest w oczywisty sposób destrukcyjnym dla trwania wspólnoty mniejszościowej rezultatem procesu standaryzacji. Zagadnienia towarzyszące ruchowi na rzecz standaryzacji języka dolnoniemieckiego są podobne do problemów standaryzacji, wobec których stanął współczesny irlandzki. Uznanie przez Unię Europejską dolnoniemieckiego (Plattdeutsch) jako języka regionalnego w 1998 dało nową siłę ruchowi na rzecz ustanowienia go ujednoliconym językiem północnych Niemiec. Jedną z wielkich trudności tego procesu jest brak uniwersalnej ortografii, co wynika z różnorodności dialektów tego języka. Zważywszy na socjolingwistyczne podobieństwo tych dwóch (niespokrewnionych ze sobą) języków, studium efektów standaryzacji języka irlandzkiego jest użyteczne dla oceny możliwości standaryzacji dolnoniemieckiego.

Euro-English: A Swedish perspective

English Today ◽  
2003 ◽  
Vol 19 (2) ◽  
pp. 35-41 ◽  
Author(s):  
Marko Modiano
Keyword(s):  
European Union ◽  
Native Speakers ◽  
Native Speaker ◽  
The Other ◽  
The European Union ◽  
Lingua Franca ◽  
European Continent

This survey considers the emergence of English as a language shared across the European Union in particular and the European continent at large, and together with its distinctive ‘lingua franca’ dimension among the mainland European nations. It considers in particular the situation of ‘non-native speakers’ who regularly use the language as well as the concept of a ‘Euro-English’ in general and the Swedish, ‘Swenglish’ and English relationship on the other. It concludes by considering the liberation of non-native users from ‘the beginning of native-speaker norms’.

scholarly journals Language, or Dialect, That Is the Question. How Attitudes Affect Language Statistics Using the Example of Low German

Languages ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 6 (1) ◽  
pp. 40
Author(s):  
Astrid Adler
Keyword(s):  
Northern Germany ◽  
Low German ◽  
Regional Language ◽  
The Status ◽  
Language Statistics ◽  
Initial Focus

This paper explores how attitudes affect the seemingly objective process of counting speakers of varieties using the example of Low German, Germany’s sole regional language. The initial focus is on the basic taxonomy of classifying a variety as a language or a dialect. Three representative surveys then provide data for the analysis: the Germany Survey 2008, the Northern Germany Survey 2016, and the Germany Survey 2017. The results of these surveys indicate that there is no consensus concerning the evaluation of Low German’s status and that attitudes towards Low German are related to, for example, proficiency in the language. These attitudes are shown to matter when counting speakers of Low German and investigating the status it has been accorded.

scholarly journals A Long-Lasting CofP of New and Native Speakers—Practices, Identities of Belonging and Motives for Participation

Languages ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 6 (1) ◽  
pp. 30
Author(s):  
Birte Arendt
Keyword(s):  
Native Speakers ◽  
Language Attitudes ◽  
Low German ◽  
Regional Language ◽  
New Speakers ◽  
Identity Discourses ◽  
The Relationship

Within sociolinguistic research on small languages like Low German, differentiation into new and native speakers has become established. The relationship between the two different groups of speakers is sometimes conceptualized as an insurmountable “gap”. In addition to different acquisition paths and competencies, identity discourses of belonging, authority and authenticity, as well as typical practices, are all crucial elements of these differences. Despite these differences, the intergenerational language-centered analog community of practice (CofP) “Plattdüütschkring” consisting of approximately 10 new and native speakers of the regional language Low German has existed since 2005. This article is based on an explorative case-study analyzing the network “Plattdüütschkring” as an example of successful cooperation between new speakers and native speakers on the basis of typical attitudes and linguistic practices. In order to gain authentic, subjectively experienced insights into identities, normative conceptions and individual language experiences within and outside the network, meta-linguistic reflections of the members themselves were analyzed. These meta-linguistic reflections were collected through narrative interviews with the same and different members at the two survey dates 2010/11 and 2020. The findings show norms of monolingual language use, narrative identities of a normative hierarchy of acquisition scenarios and competences as aspects of belonging. Social and learning-oriented and thus multiple individually appropriate functions of the network can explain the motivation for long-term membership. These outcomes help to understand the role of language attitudes in CofP in the language development of small languages as well as abstract characteristics of successful language-centered networks.

The Politics of the European Union

2009 ◽  
Author(s):  
Herman Lelieveldt ◽  
Sebastiaan Princen
Keyword(s):  
European Union ◽  
The European Union

The Mental Health and Social Exclusion European Network

2000 ◽  
Vol 5 (3) ◽  
pp. 245-251 ◽  
Author(s):  
Luigi Leonori ◽  
Manuel Muñoz ◽  
Carmelo Vázquez ◽  
José J. Vázquez ◽  
Mary Fe Bravo ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Mental Health ◽  
European Union ◽  
Social Exclusion ◽  
Mentally Ill ◽  
Outcome Evaluation ◽  
World Federation ◽  
The European Union ◽  
Capital Cities ◽  
Homeless Mentally Ill ◽  
The Impact

This report concerns the activities developed by the Mental Health and Social Exclusion (MHSE) Network, an initiative supported by the Mental Health Europe (World Federation of Mental Health). We report some data from the preliminary survey done in five capital cities of the European Union (Madrid, Copenhagen, Brussels, Lisbon, and Rome). The main aim of this survey was to investigate, from a mostly qualitative point of view, the causal and supportive factors implicated in the situation of the homeless mentally ill in Europe. The results point out the familial and childhood roots of homelessness, the perceived causes of the situation, the relationships with the support services, and the expectations of future of the homeless mentally ill. The analysis of results has helped to identify the different variables implicated in the social rupture process that influences homelessness in major European cities. The results were used as the basis for the design of a more ambitious current research project about the impact of the medical and psychosocial interventions in the homeless. This project is being developed in 10 capital cities of the European Union with a focus on the program and outcome evaluation of the health and psychosocial services for the disadvantaged.

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