Language maintenance through corpus planning – the case of Kven

ABSTRACT

The Kven language that is spoken in northernmost Norway was officially recognized as a language in 2005. The history of the language community dates back to the sixteenth century according to tax books. There is still an ongoing discussion among certain language users, whether Kven is in fact a language or one of the Finnish dialects. The language planning of Kven has started in 2007 by determining the orthography and choosing principles for the standardization. This article discusses the history of the process that led to the recognition of Kven as a language and reviews the progress of the language standardization until the present. The principles of language planning are reviewed through document analysis – earlier literature, minutes or summaries and participant observation of the language board’s meetings, and expert interviews – and analysed according to Lars S. Vikør’s language planning model. Some of the preferred features seem to follow the language planning ideology of the Norwegian standards – Bokmål and Nynorsk – in terms of allowance of variation and parallel forms as well as dialectal diversity.     

Mapping languages from inside: Notes on perceptual dialectology

Language maps can represent many aspects of the linguistic situation in a certain territory. They usually draw particular views of the language setting as seen from outside, i.e. by linguists or scholars in general. However, maps can also be used to show the geographical distribution of the perception of language variation from the point of view of the speakers. The starting point for every kind of language map is the language border (and its definition): thus a perceptual language map needs a definition of border from the point of view of the speaker. To do that it is necessary to analyse 'perceptual data', that is to study the opinion the speaker has of the language diversities and compare the different kinds of perception. Points of interest can be, for example: the influence of the perceived ethnic diversity on the language variation—or vice versa, the fact that perceived ethnic borders do not match with perceived language borders; or moreover that perceived language borders do not necessarily match with the perceived comprehensibility of other language varieties (symbolic versus communicative function of language). Hence a possible linguistic borderline on perceptual language maps could be the limit among social language behaviours. From this point of view, sociolinguistic studies can be a good tool to draw perceptual language maps, since quantitative sociolinguistic researches provide the diatopic/diasthratic variation of the data, whilst qualitative research provides the perception of the variation. The paper discusses some field research case studies, coming from the Eastern and Western Alps in Italy, to better introduce this kind of perceptual geolinguistic explanation.     

Language,geography and identity: The case of the Welsh in London

This paper explores the role of language in the construction of Welsh identities in London. It begins by mapping out some key theoretical connections between language, geography and identity, and argues that a reading of diaspora theory might be helpful in conceptualizing Welsh identities in the British capital. In particular, diaspora theory stresses that identities are made up of multiple social axes that need to be seen relationally. Diasporic identities make connections with more than one place challenging the notion of culture and language as delimited by the boundaries of particular national spaces. For many Welsh people in London, language is an important part of their attempts to meet others who share a common identity. London-Welsh societies facilitate this need, defining language in different ways, and interweaving the linguistic with other social axes to form powerful senses of belonging. Whilst London is a key migration destination, it is also a space of Welsh identities that draw centrally upon language, but make different geographical connections with Wales. The paper concludes by arguing that a diasporic reading of such processes allows a wider and more progressive understanding of the Welsh language, and highlights the importance of geography in doing so.     

Italy: A new language for a new politics?

Abstract

The aim of this article is to analyze the language used by the major actors in contemporary Italian politics. After a brief introduction, which lists the general questions posed by such an analysis, we examine the language of the pre‐1992 regime, which has been rather too hastily condemned as obscure and solipsistic. We then pass to the self‐consciously simple language of Bossi, who constructs a discourse of protest, and of Berlusconi, who offers a discourse of government. These lead to the very different, albeit sometimes complementary, languages of Prodi and D'Alema, which go beyond populism and open new political perspectives. Through these and other examples we examine the role of political language in a changing Italy.     

Phaedrus’ Cicadas: Patrizi's Dialoghi and vernacular rhetoric

ABSTRACT

In his Dieci dialoghi della retorica (Venice, 1562), Francesco Patrizi analyses the nature of language and the historical developments of oratory, taking part in the debate on this art reinforced by the spread of the Aristotelian Rhetoric. This gave him the opportunity to consider the origins of human social life and explain the traditional rhetorical teaching in an anthropological perspective. He also argued against the civic use of oratory as presented in some contemporary treatises on it, written in the vernacular.     

Language Assimilation During the Modernisation Process: Experiences from Norway and North-West Russia

Abstract

The article gives an analysis of the demographic material for North Sámi in Norway during the last 150 years, and compares it to key tendencies in some of the Uralic languages of the Soviet Union. The present linguistic landscape can be predicted with great accuracy from Friis’ survey of 1860. At that time, bilingualism among the Norwegians was widespread in parishes with predominantly Sámi or Finnish (Kven) population. During the assimilation process, the preservation of Sámi was not due to the size of the Sámi population, but rather to its relative size. Today's Sámi communities are the ones with the least Norwegians one and a half centuries ago. A key factor in the language shift process has been mixed marriages. The Soviet data show a greater degree of language preservation, especially for the Nenets and Mari. The difference is partly a result of the Soviet language policy, but also to the degree of contact between the minority and majority populations.     

Embodiment,linguistics, space: American Sign Language meets geography

ABSTRACT

The relational turn in geography has led to an understanding of space and place as actively produced agents in people’s everyday lives. Geographers have also long recognized the importance of language in understanding the social and relational nature of space. The study of American Sign Language (ASL) presents a unique opportunity to examine how language use and language creation influence the production of linguistic space. For users of ASL, space is incredibly significant. Because of the visual and spatial nature of ASL, the space surrounding a signer’s body is important not only for the signer to communicate, but also for others involved in the conversation to participate. Environments created during conversations in ASL reflect the cultural and linguistic perception of the American Deaf community. By taking a critical perspective on the production of space, it will be shown that those who use ASL, through the medium of bodily performance, create linguistic, and communication spaces that are dynamic and visual. The embodied language of ASL and the Deaf community is a perspective geographers have yet to address.     

Habermas and Taylor on Religious Reasoning in a Liberal Democracy

Abstract

This article compares Habermas’s and Taylor’s approach to the role of religious language in a liberal democracy. It shows that the difference in their approach is not simply in their theories of religious language. The contrast lies deeper, in their incompatible moral theories: Habermas’s universal discourse ethics vs Taylor’s communitarian substantive ethics. I also explore William Rehg’s defence of discourse ethics by conceding that it is based on a metavalue of rational consensus. However, I argue that Habermas’s and Rehg’s discourse ethics and translation proviso are untenable. While Taylor rightly argues that there is no reason to exclude religious reason from the formal political sphere, his proposed fusion of horizons to generate a new hybrid framework is also problematic. I suggest that Taylor’s historical hermeneutics should be extended to include the narrative approach to ethical deliberation as conducive to mutual experiential understanding, and hence to achieving a fusion of horizons of the diverse worlds of citizens in a liberal democracy.     

Bilingualism and geographical knowledge: A case study of students at the University of Wales,Aberystwyth

This paper explores the role of languages in the constitution of geographical knowledge. We argue that the fact that people speak different languages is significant to the ways in which they engage with geography as a subject. We unpack some of the processes through which languages make a difference to geography through an empirical project based on students at the University of Wales, Aberystwyth, where geography is taught bilingually through Welsh and English. Student geography is a particularly interesting arena to further this theme, because of students' mediating role in translating professional geography into the popular sphere, which in the case of students at Aberystwyth is also a different linguistic sphere. Our empirical work suggests that the use of Welsh creates a particular linguistic culture of geography, because of the shared experience of specific practices and politics in bilingual education. This makes a difference to the kinds of geography consumed and produced by bilingual students. Through a discussion of the linguistic identity of Welsh geography, we address some of the implications and limitations of this social formation. We conclude by arguing that a focus on language has the potential to open up new ways of talking about geography.     

Parliamentary politics as an integration mechanism: The Slavic-speaking inhabitants of interwar (1922–1940) Western Greek Macedonia

ABSTRACT

This article is a case study on how Parliamentary politics could operate in favour of the integration of ethnic minorities into the nation-state. The incorporation of the largest part of the region of Macedonia into the Greek State after the Balkan Wars (1912–1913) led to radical changes in the lives of the Slavic-speaking villagers of Greece (‘Slavic-speakers’ is a term used in this paper so as to describe the inhabitants of Macedonia who had a Slavic language as their mother tongue. Often, in the Greek newspapers of the time the language was referred to as Macedonian or local Macedonian. It was similar to the Bulgarian language but could also be understood in Serbia). Up to 1936, local politicians’ approach of peaceful integration through prosperity and fair administration prevailed but in 1936, parliamentary democracy was abolished and ceased to function as a mechanism for integrating Slavic-speaking villagers into Greek society.     

Språkforsking og språkplanlegging i det samiske samfunnet

Sammendrag

Focusing on ?Linguistics and Language Planning in the Sami Community?, this paper gives an outline of the institutions involved in Sami language care, and inter alia poses the question of ?which institutions should be, and are capable of taking on the responsibility of the Sami Community, with regard to the supposed interaction between this community and Sami language care?? ‐ Sami language care is characterized as suffering from two main deficiencies: a) lack of resources, and b) lack of organisation.

Relating to the work and discussions of the ortographical reforms (Southern Sami 1976–78, Lule Sami, and Northern Sami 1983); the author enumerates various lines of reasoning, each emphazising various concerns and considerations, as: 1) Accuracy and system, 2) Tradition, 3) Due concern to own premises, 4) Due concern to different dialectical realisations, 5) The demand for ?naturalness? and ?simpleness?, 6) Pedagogical concerns, 7) Historical foundations and 8) Internationality and technical considerations. ‐ The author points out how these considerations are interconnected; partly contradicting each other and partly pointing in the same direction.

Finally the author emphazises the minority situation of the Sami language, and stresses the need for viewing language planning in light of its interconnections with the surrounding society.     

Urban regeneration in Poland’s non-core regions

ABSTRACT

After many years of efforts aimed at reaching a cohesive and inclusive socio-economic development, Poland keeps witnessing some significant disparities in the distribution of wealth. Moreover, these disparities intensified in the course of the post-socialist transition and they have not been diminished by the regional policy of the EU. In this light, urban regeneration appears as an important, emerging sphere of public intervention intended to support the less developed regions. The objective of this study is twofold: first, to characterize the place of urban regeneration in the Polish strategic planning system, and second, to carry out an in-depth analysis of planning strategies and practices of urban regeneration at the regional level and conclude with recommendations for planning. The latter is achieved by examining the Polish experience with urban regeneration practices in the 1999–2015 period using Wielkopolska region as a case study. In order to reach this objective: (a) all strategic documents related to urban regeneration have been collected and analysed, (b) a survey has been conducted in 100 cities and towns of the region and finally (c) 50 interviews have been carried out with various stakeholders involved in the urban regeneration process. The article concludes with recommendations for planning and further urban regeneration projects aiming to alleviate the development disparities between core and non-core regions.     

The Atlas of the Languages of Iran (ALI): A Research Overview

There have been a number of important efforts to map out the languages of Iran, but until now no language atlas, or even a comprehensive and detailed country-level language map, has been produced. One of the recent initiatives which aims to fill this gap is the online Atlas of the Languages of Iran (ALI) (http://iranatlas.net). This article delineates objectives of the ALI research programme, atlas architecture, research methodology, and preliminary results that have been generated. Specific topics of interest are the structure and content of the linguistic data questionnaire; the handling of contrasting perspectives about the status of “languages” and “dialects” through a flexible multi-dimensional classification web; and the role of ongoing comparisons between language distribution assessments and hard linguistic data.     

Strategic Participatory Planning in Archaeological Management in Greece: The Philippi Management Plan for Nomination to UNESCO’s World Heritage List

Abstract

This paper examines appropriate conditions for effective strategic participatory planning in archaeological heritage management. It is suggested that heritage literature often considers the tangible outcome of strategic participatory planning, the management plan, as an end of the planning process in itself. Drawing from experience in drafting a management plan for the archaeological site of Philippi in Greece, conventional archaeological management in the country is discussed followed by the identi?cation of constraints on and bene?ts from strategic participatory planning. This paper argues that more critical approaches to the actual planning process are necessary for strategic participatory planning to continuously improve as an approach in Greece and elsewhere.     

Planning and Culture Unfolded: The Cases of Flanders and the Netherlands

Abstract

Planning culture has been frequently invoked in recent years to explain the differences in spatial planning across different countries. In discussing planning culture, most contributions emphasize the characteristics and particularities of spatial planning practice in particular contexts. This paper discusses the roles of culture and institutions in relation to the distinct urbanization patterns that have emerged in Flanders and the Netherlands. It concludes that it is not the differences between planning cultures (interpreted as the culture of planners, their ideals and practices and the features of the planning system) that provide the major explanation for different urbanization processes. It is rather the fit between the planning culture and the broader societal culture that seems to be an important explanation for how spatial development is managed.     

“Words fail us”: Beckett,Leacock, and Johnson

ABSTRACT

This article will look at political treatments of language in Samuel Beckett’s early novel Watt and place the novel’s linguistic scepticism in conversation with three authors, the lexicographer Samuel Johnson, the language theorist Felix Mauthner, and the English-born, Canadian parodist Stephen Leacock. The paper will argue that Beckett, like Leacock, engages in Mauthnerian critiques of language, destabilising Johnsonian formulae for language standardisation. But while Leacock fails to develop the political implications of his critique of language, Beckett’s understanding of language standardisation is implicitly political, informed by Johnson’s conception of speech as the predicate of national identity, a standard for inclusion which Watt gleefully antagonises. Challenging nationalist calls for controls on language, Watt interrogates the ways that campaigns for linguistic unity will engender exclusionary attitudes towards the nonconforming and bar access to that speech and identity which falls outside of normative frameworks.     

Storytelling as Method in Spatial Planning

Abstract

Drawing on the case of the Wageningse Eng in the Netherlands, this paper considers the role of “storytelling” within spatial planning practices. It moves away, though, from seeing it as merely a model of spatial planning, where “storytelling” is sometimes used to justify planners' ideals for the landscape, or a model for spatial planning, which pushes for a normative use of “storytelling” as a means of encapsulating local knowledge and the views of those who live in, and use, the landscape. Rather, the paper engages “storytelling” as a method for revealing how formal planning practices may be destabilized by more vernacular narratives seeking to subvert dominant discourses and processes. In doing so, it seeks to not only show the contested nature of participatory planning within the Netherlands, but also the ways in which narratives—as revealed via such a method—construct specific positionalities with real implications for notions of inclusivity within planning practices.     

Planning Culture—A Concept to Explain the Evolution of Planning Policies and Processes in Europe?

Abstract

This article examines the complex relations between spatial planning and its cultural context (including the specific socio-economic patterns and related cultural norms, values, traditions and attitudes). To be able to analyze the extent to which spatial planning adapts to external pressures such as Europeanization, a “culturized planning model” with the three dimensions “planning artefacts”, “planning environment” and “societal environment” is used. It can be observed that the “harmonization” of spatial planning practices can result from external pressures such as EU regulations as well as (horizontal) collective learning processes. However, “harmonization” does not necessarily result in convergence. Adaptational pressures such as Europeanization often result in the customization of existing structures, frames and policies (“planning artefacts” and “planning environment”) but do not fundamentally change the underlying core cultural traits (“societal environment”). These cultural traits are quite resistant to change and help maintain a diversity of planning cultures and policies in Europe.     

Planning Cultures and Histories: Influences on the Evolution of Planning Systems and Spatial Development Patterns

Abstract

This special issue addresses the influences of planning cultures and histories on the evolution of planning systems and spatial development. As well as providing an international comparative perspective on these issues, the collection of articles also engages in a search for new conceptual frameworks and alternative points of view to better understand and explain these differences. The articles focus on three main aspects: the change in planning systems and its impact on spatial development patterns; the interrelationship between planning cultures and histories from a path-dependency perspective; and the variations in physical development patterns resulting from different planning cultures and histories. Papers from different parts of the European continent present evidence at different scales to illustrate these aspects. In all cases, the specific combinations of political, ideological, social, economic and technological factors are important in determining urban and regional planning trajectories as well as spatial development patterns.