A Program for the Preservation and Revitalization of the Languages of Russia

This article presents the Program for the Preservation and Revitalization of the Languages of Russia proposed by the Institute of Linguistics, Russian Academy of Sciences (the Program). The Program is based on knowledge accumulated in linguistics in domains such as linguistic diversity, language endangerment, and language preservation methods. According to a recent assessment, there are 150 to 160 languages of Russia. This number of languages, even though quite high, is manageable for a national language preservation Program. Languages are rapidly becoming extinct worldwide, and Russia is no exception to this trend. The following terms are used to categorize languages according to risk of extinction: safe languages, endangered languages, severely endangered languages, and nearly extinct languages. There are several important humanitarian and scientific reasons for engaging in language preservation. The central idea of the Program is to boost intergenerational language transmission wherever feasible. Various approaches to different language situations are envisaged, including enlightenment campaigns, language nests, and language documentation. Three necessary conditions for language revitalization include engaging local activists, administrative and financial support, and the scientific validity of the methodology. The Programs 12-year roadmap is split into three stages. There are a number of favorable factors making the Program feasible, as well as a number of potential obstacles. We have a historic opportunity to preserve languages spoken in Russia, and this is an opportunity that must be used.

'FROG, WHERE ARE YOU?': A STUDY ON BAHASA INDONESIA INTERFERENCE IN JAVANESE CHILDREN’S SPEECH

The coexistence of Bahasa Indonesia and Javanese has become an issue in the Javanese language preservation. Such strong contact is finally resulting in bilingual individuals in which language interference often occur. In this study, however, is aiming at describing how and why Bahasa Indonesia is interfering Javanese in Javanese children speech. By using task-based approach by Grosjean, this study manipulated language production in Javanese children using wordless narrative book Frog, Where Are You? created by Mercer Mayer. The results show that Bahasa Indonesia is interfering Javanese in phonic, morphological, syntactic, lexical, and even semantic aspects. Nevertheless, lexical level interference is the most noticeable interference since both language share quite similar structure. It is believed that, in sociolinguistics perspective, Bahasa Indonesia has gradually shift Javanese gradually. It is also seen that Javanese children with strong exposure of Bahasa Indonesia are eventually perceive more Bahasa Indonesia structure than Javanese.

Between Loss and Salvage: Kabyles and Syrian Christians Negotiate Heritage, Linguistic Authenticity and Identity in Europe

This paper brings together two different communities, Kabyles (Amazighs) and Syrian Christians, who are nevertheless marked by some commonalities: a strong diasporic dispersal as a historical experience, political, cultural and linguistic marginalization in their countries of origin, the deep association of collective identity with an “endangered” heritage language, a lived experience of multilingualism, and a post-emigration struggle of language maintenance and transmission. The Kabyles have roots in northern Algeria, and associate their language, Kabyle, with a pre-Arabized history of northern Africa, with claims to cultural authenticity and indigeneity. This paper focuses on research conducted in the UK, a relatively new immigrant setting for this community. The Syrian Christians originate from Turkey and have dispersed across different European countries since the 1960s. They make strong identity claims to Aramaic, “the language of Jesus”, yet have also found its preservation and intergenerational transmission challenging. This paper focuses on research conducted in the German speaking context. Drawing on ethnographic research with these communities, we bring their post-migration language preservation activisms into a dialogue. This shows the enduring significance of the heritage language for social, cultural and historical identity, despite considerable language decline. It also demonstrates that the current survival of the “mother tongue” hinges on multilingual and multi-sited language activisms which bear the hallmarks of both new creativities and diminishing fluencies.

The Gorontalo Language in Professional Communication: its Maintenance and Native Speakers’ Attitudes

This study aims to describe the maintenance of the Gorontalo language in the workplace by Gorontalo speakers. To carry out qualitative research we collected data through interviews, observations and field records, and then analysed it employing Spradley’s model (used in ethnography). The research reveals that: (1) the Gorontalo language is used in the work interactions between all employees, or between employees and customers who are fluent in the Gorontalo language; customers will start conversations using the Gorontalo language if they have close relationships with their interlocutors; (2) the attitudes of the speakers who actively use the Gorontalo Language in the workplace towards the language under discussion can be positive and negative depending on the backgrounds of the speakers; (3) the factors that affect Gorontalo language preservation can be classified into two groups: factors from the outside of the community, including changes in the composition of multi-ethnic society and the exposure to global information, and factors from within the community, such as the lack of public awareness of the urgency to maintain the Gorontalo Language as the local pride.

Local Language Maintenance Based on the Story of the Mekongga People in Kolaka District Southeast Sulawesi Province

The socio-cultural condition of the Mekongga community in Kolaka Regency is known to have a lot of oral literature, one of which is folklore. The phenomenon of local language intimidation makes the Mekongga community in Kolaka Regency use the Mekongga folklore as the basis for maintaining their regional languages. Scientific studies on the phenomenon of folklore-based local language defense are still rarely carried out, especially the Mekongga folklore. Therefore, the purpose of this study is to analyze and describe the maintenance of regional language based on the Mekongga folklore in Kolaka Regency. This study uses a qualitative approach with informant determination techniques using purposive sampling technique. Methods of data collection in this study using the method of observation, interviews, and documentation. Meanwhile, the data collected was analyzed using a qualitative descriptive technique. The results of this study indicate that regional language maintenance based on the Mekongga folklore in Kolaka Regency is carried out in several aspects, namely: 1) Regional language preservation through the family environment by presenting the Mekongga folk tales as bedtime stories or telling them as spare time. 2) the preservation of regional languages through the association of children, namely folklore is used as an empty time filler when playing or used to tell each other when gathering before starting a game. 3) the preservation of regional languages through the educational environment, namely becoming a wealth of local wisdom as local content in schools. The publication of folklore in local content is intended to attract students' interest in learning local languages.

THE USE OF FIGURATIVE LANGUAGE AND THE STRUCTURAL STRATEGY IN TORAJAN ORAL LITERATURES: EFFORTS TO LOCAL LANGUAGE PRESERVATION

This study aimed to describe the use of figurative language and the structural strategies in Torajan oral literatures. The method used in this research was a qualitative research. This research was a literature research, thus it was done through reading-listening and noting. The research result showed that there were several figurative language in Torajan oral literatures, for instance, sarcasm structural strategy, the linking figurative of metonymy, and the comparison figurative of allegory in the story of Babuqsolong; the figurative of allegory, irony, and hyperbole in the story of Londorundum; and the figurative of personification and parallelism in the story of Bunga Alluq sola Dalitau. From the three, the story of Londorundum had the most used of figuratives language and structural strategies. The use of figurative language and structural strategies is one of the effort to the local languages preservation as well as supported the national cultural preservation as nation’s asset.

Mobilizing and Activating Haíɫzaqvḷa (Heiltsuk Language) and Culture Through a Community-University Partnership

The sharing of existing linguistic resources through online platforms has become an increasingly important aspect in revitalization projects for Indigenous languages. This contribution addresses the urgency of such work through the lens of a partnership in support of one language, Haíɫzaqvḷa (Heiltsuk), a critically endangered Wakashan language spoken in and around the traditional Heiltsuk territory of Bella Bella, British Columbia. Alongside immediate community needs for language preservation and reclamation—informed and guided by Heiltsuk values and goals—lie important ethical and practical questions about how best to activate historic recordings of Elders and knowledge holders who have now passed. Our partnership was explicitly structured around the objective of helping to mobilize the large body of existing languagedocumentation and revitalization materials created in and by the community to support broader community access through digital technologies. Working within the fast-changing digital environment requires agility in order to respond to time-sensitive goals and the strategic needs of the community. Ensuring that such work is grounded in respectful collaboration requires ongoing care, consultation and consideration. The digital landscape is still a new and exciting space, and the opportunities to use online tools and technologies in service of language revitalization are ever increasing. We believe that the strategies, approaches and modest successes of the Heiltsuk Language and Culture Mobilization Partnership may be informative for other community-based language reclamation projects. We hope that outlining ourexperiences and being transparent about the challenges such partnerships face may help others engaged in this urgent and timely work.

Religion and language preservation: the case of Sora

The article, based on field data collected by the authors, analyzes the modern sociolinguistic situation of the Sora language (South Munda languages, Odisha, India) in various religious communities. The religious communities such as Baptists, Catholics, Vishwa-Hindus, Animists, Mattar Banom and Alekh are analyzed. The data on the use of various languages in the religious practices of these communities is considered, accompanied by rich illustrative material. According to the findings of the authors, the preservation of Sora is most successful in the Baptist and Mattar Banom communities.

Language as a consolidating factor of ethnic identity of the russian germans

The article aims at identifying the attributes of ethnic identity and ethnic concepts of minority groups living in the territory of the Russian Federation, in particular, the Russian Germans living in the city of Glazov and the Vyatka-Kama region. The relevance of the study is determined by the need to understand and to study the shared characteristics of the ethnic identity of the German ethnic group: national self-awareness, preservation and revival of the ethnic culture and traditions, language preservation. The materials of the research are the tape recordings of unprepared German and Russian speech which were made during dialectological and ethnographic expeditions to Glazov. The speech of three informants is analyzed in the study. Nine main parameters of the ethnic identity are examined in relation to the Russian Germans of Glazov: common history, common territory, religion, living environment, family background, folklore, behavior standards, mentality of the ethnic group, and the common language. The language is described in more detail in the study. The results of the study suggest that the ethnic identity of the Russian Germans in question is a changing dynamic category. In our opinion, the language is the most important consolidating factor of the cultural integrity of an ethnic group, an instrument for sharing culturally important information and experience; so it is one of the core parameters of ethnic identity of the Russian Germans living in Glazov. This article will be of interest to researchers in the field of German dialectology and German speech islands.