Tepimans, Yumans, and Other Hohokam

1998 ◽  
Vol 63 (3) ◽  
pp. 375-396 ◽  
Author(s):  
David Leedom Shaul ◽  
Jane H. Hill
Keyword(s):  
Language Contact ◽  
Word Meaning ◽  
Late Prehistoric ◽  
Speech Community ◽  
Tohono O'odham ◽  
Time Period ◽  
Linguistic Evidence ◽  
First Millennium ◽  
Late Prehistoric Period ◽  
Akimel O'odham

The Proto-Tepiman speech community—that is, the community that spoke the language ancestral to all the contemporary Tepiman languages—can be located at the northern end of the present-day Tepiman range, perhaps as far north and west as the Gila-Colorado confluence, and probably within the Hohokam region, during the Hohokam time period in the first millennium A.D. Evidence for the northern location of Proto-Tepiman includes, first, attestation of language contact with Proto-River Yuman, including data from phonology, syntax, and lexicon. This evidence suggests that the Hohokam were a multi-ethnic community; we present evidence that by the fourteenth century this multi-ethnic system probably included speakers of Zuni. Second, the greatest internal diversity in Tepiman is among the northernmost varieties. Third, we can reconstruct a word meaning “saguaro cactus,” a plant not found south of Ciudad Obregón, Sonora, for Proto-Tepiman. While the linguistic evidence strongly suggests the involvement of the Proto-Tepiman speech community in the Hohokam system, the evidence provided by contemporary Upper Piman languages (Akimel O’odham [Pima] and Tohono O’odham [Papago]) neither confirms nor excludes the involvement of speakers of these languages in the core Hohokam complex in the late prehistoric period.

Language Contact in Unangam Tunuu (Aleut)

2020 ◽  
pp. 642-659
Author(s):  
Anna Berge
Keyword(s):  
Language Contact ◽  
Structural Changes ◽  
Language Shift ◽  
Late Prehistoric ◽  
Language Family ◽  
Early American ◽  
Late Prehistoric Period

Unangam Tunuu (Aleut) is a highly divergent member of the Eskimo-Aleut language family; it has also experienced substantial language contact during several distinct periods of its history, including the late prehistoric period (ca. 1000–1741 ce), the Russian period (1741–1867), and the American period (1867–present). This chapter discusses each period, and the very different linguistic effects of the different nature of the respective periods of language contact: prehistoric contact was extensive enough to result in deep structural changes; Russian and early American contact were primarily lexical and did not overwhelm the Aleut language; and the late American period is characterized by language shift. The chapter focuses especially on the speculative first period, as it is of critical important in the divergence of Aleut within its language family.

Multilingualism in eastern Indonesia: linguistic evidence of a shift from symmetric to asymmetric multilingualism

2021 ◽  
pp. 136700692110231
Author(s):  
Francesca Romana Moro
Keyword(s):  
Language Contact ◽  
Small Scale ◽  
Modelling Language ◽  
Apparent Paradox ◽  
Eastern Indonesia ◽  
Communicative Strategies ◽  
Linguistic Evidence ◽  
Research Questions ◽  
Bilingual Communities

Aims and Objectives/Purpose/Research Questions: The Alorese in eastern Indonesia are an Austronesian community who have inhabited two Papuan-speaking islands for approximately 600 years. Their language presents a paradox: contact with the neighbouring Papuan languages has led to both complexification and simplification. This article argues that these opposite outcomes of contact result from two distinct scenarios, and formulates a hypothesis about a shift in multilingual patterns in Alorese history. Design/Methodology/Approach: To formulate a hypothesis about the discontinuity of multilingual patterns, this article first sketches the past and present multilingual patterns of the Alorese by modelling language contact outcomes in terms of bilingual optimisation strategies. This is followed by a comparison of the two scenarios to pinpoint similarities and differences. Data and Analysis: Previous research shows that two types of contact phenomena are attested in Alorese: (a) complexification arising from grammatical borrowings from Papuan languages, and (b) morphological simplification. The first change is associated with prolonged child bilingualism and is the result of Papuan-oriented bilingual strategies, while the latter change is associated with adult second language (L2) learning and is the result of universal communicative strategies. Findings/Conclusions Complexification and simplification are the results of two different layers of contact. Alorese was first used in small-scale bilingual communities, with widespread symmetric multilingualism. Later, multilingualism became more asymmetric, and the language started to undergo a simplification process due to the considerable number of L2 speakers. Originality: This article is innovative in providing a clear case study showing discontinuity of multilingual patterns, supported by linguistic and non-linguistic evidence. Significance/Implications: This article provides a plausible explanation for the apparent paradox found in Alorese, by showing that different outcomes of contact in the same language are due to different patterns of acquisition and socialisation. This discontinuity should be taken into account by models of language contact.

scholarly journals Redefining Forro as a marker of identity: Language contact as a driving force for language maintenance among Santomeans in Portugal

Multilingua ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 0 (0) ◽  
Author(s):  
Marie-Eve Bouchard
Keyword(s):  
Language Contact ◽  
Language Maintenance ◽  
Attitudes And Beliefs ◽  
Speech Community ◽  
Group Code ◽  
Community Members ◽  
Sao Tome And Principe ◽  
Semistructured Interviews ◽  
Changing Attitudes

AbstractIn São Tomé and Príncipe, the language shift toward Portuguese is resulting in the endangerment of the native creoles of the island. These languages have been considered of low value in Santomean society since the mid-twentieth century. But when Santomeans are members of a diaspora, their perceptions of these languages, especially Forro, change in terms of value and identity-marking. It is possible to observe such changes among the Santomeans who learn Forro when they are abroad, who use it as an in-group code, and start to value it more. In this article, I address the role of language contact in the maintenance and expansion of Forro. I investigate the mechanisms of language maintenance by focusing on the shifts in community members’ attitudes and beliefs regarding their languages, as a result of contact. The changing attitudes and beliefs have led to a redefinition of the role of Forro in the speech community. This qualitative study is based on semistructured interviews conducted on São Tomé Island and in Portugal. Findings suggest that the change in value attributed to Forro by Santomeans as a result of contact contribute to the valorization of the language.

Representations of Music and Musicians in the Sanskrit Epics: The Rāmāyaṇa and the Mahābhārata

2020 ◽  
Vol 47 (2) ◽  
pp. 247-262
Author(s):  
Kaustubh Gaurh
Keyword(s):  
Social Factors ◽  
Musical Thought ◽  
Art Form ◽  
Time Period ◽  
Literary Sources ◽  
First Millennium ◽  
The Relationship

The aim of this study is to understand the ‘idea’ of music that existed in early India in the first millennium bce. Observing the historiographical trends that have emerged in the historical studies of music, it can be seen that there is scarcity of sources to study the kind of music that was practised in this time period. But the approach presented here deals with the traces of music in the literary sources (the Sanskrit epics: the Rāmāyaṇa and the Mahābhārata) which cover the representations of music and musicians. This would help us infer the nature of musical thought that evolved in early India. 1 The objective is to study the relationship between an art form and the society, by looking at ‘art in society’, not ‘society in art’ to see how music was conditioned by early Indian social factors. 2 After discussing the sources used for the study, a range of philosophical, material and societal aspects are addressed by looking at how the societies in early India engaged themselves with music.

Polysemy of Words Expressing Human Body Parts of The Four Limb Area in Thai Language in Vietnam

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Thanh Ha Thi Mai ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Human Body ◽  
Fairy Tales ◽  
Language Contact ◽  
Word Meaning ◽  
Field Research ◽  
Linguistic Anthropology ◽  
Body Parts ◽  
Thai Language ◽  
Unit Of Measurement ◽  
Semantic Transformation

The nomenclature and polysemiosis of body parts has constituted a central part of linguistics, and of Linguistic Anthropology. The ramifications of such work make inroads into our understandings of many fields, including language contact, semiotics, and so forth, This current paper identifies the structures and emerging denotations of expressions of human body parts (HBPs) in Thai language, and ways in which these dimensions reflect polysemy. The study thus applies the following methods: Field research methods of linguistics, description, comparison, and collation. As sources of data, this study surveys Thai rhymes, fairy tales, riddles and riddle songs, rhyming  stories, children’s songs and linguistic data of daily speeches in the  northwest of Vietnam. The paper uses theories on word meaning and the transformation of word meaning. To aid analysis, this paper applies methods of  analyzing meaning components so to construct significative meaning structures of words expressing HBPs in Thai language, thus identifying the semantemes chosen to be the basis for the transformation. In the polysemy of  words expressing HBPs of the four limbs, the polysemy of words expressing  the following parts were studied: khèn - tay, cánh tay (arm); mễ – tay, bàn  tay (hand); khà - đùi (thigh); tìn - chân, bàn chân (leg, foot). Directions of semantic transformation of words expressing HBPs in Thai language are as  diversified and as multi-leveled as Vietnamese. Furthermore, in Thai language, there occur differences in the four scopes of semantic transformation, as compared with Vietnamese, including “people’s characteristics,” “human activities,” “nomination of things with activities like HBPs’ activities,” and “unit of measurement.” This study contributes to Linguistic Anthropology by suggesting that the polysemy of words expressing HBPs of the four limb area in Thai language will outline a list of linguistic phenomena which serve as the basis to understand cultural and national features, in the light of perception and categorization of the reality of the Thai minority with reference to Vietnamese.

scholarly journals A Bridge to Portugal: Language and Identity in Bridgeport, CT

2020 ◽  
Vol 5 (2) ◽  
pp. 123-140
Author(s):  
Fabio Scetti
Keyword(s):  
Identity Construction ◽  
Language Contact ◽  
Language Use ◽  
Participant Observation ◽  
American English ◽  
Ethnographic Study ◽  
Language And Identity ◽  
Speech Community ◽  
Structured Interviews ◽  
The Status

Here I present the results of BridgePORT, an ethnographic study I carried out in 2018 within the Portuguese community of Bridgeport, CT (USA). I describe language use and representation among Portuguese speakers within the community, and I investigate the integration of these speakers into the dominant American English speech community. Through my fieldwork, I observe mixing practices in day-to-day interaction, while I also consider the evolution of the Portuguese language in light of language contact and speakers’ discourse as this relates to ideologies about the status of Portuguese within the community. My findings rely on questionnaires, participant observation of verbal interaction, and semi-structured interviews. My aim is to show how verbal practice shapes the process of identity construction and how ideas of linguistic “purity” mediate the maintenance of a link to Portugal and Portuguese identity.

scholarly journals Montenegrin-Albanian Linguistic Border: In Search of “Balanced Language Contact”

Slovene ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 7 (2) ◽  
pp. 258-302 ◽  
Author(s):  
Maria S. Morozova ◽  
Alexander Yu. Rusakov
Keyword(s):  
Language Contact ◽  
Detailed Examination ◽  
Speech Community ◽  
Community Members ◽  
The Past ◽  
External Relations ◽  
History Of ◽  
Contact Situation ◽  
Linguistic Behavior ◽  
The Village

The article aims to clarify the notion of “balanced language contact” and to model the situation of a language contact (in the present and the past) in one of the ethnically and linguistically mixed regions of the Montenegrin-Albanian linguistic border. The study focuses on the situation in the bilingual community of thevillageofVelja Gorana, located in the area of Mrkovići inSouthern Montenegro. The community of the village, as it seems at a first glance, provides a good example of a “balanced contact” situation. The language situation in Velja Gorana is described in the article as a set of micro-situations, or scenarios, developing on family and individual levels. Attention is paid not only to the communication in the family domain, but also to the external relations of the community members. Following on from this material, the authors attempt to develop a methodology for assessing the role of both languages in such communities in general, showing which factors influence individual linguistic behavior; how this behavior may change during an individual lifetime; how the different speakers’ strategies amalgamate in what can be considered as behavior of a multilingual speech community. Analyzing the information on the history of Velia Gorana, in particular, conducting a detailed examination of the origins, genealogies and marriage strategies of its families, allows the authors to reconstruct the mechanisms for the development of “linguistic exogamy” in the community of Velja Gorana and to make assumptions about the nature of the contact situation in this region in the past.

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