Exploring contested authenticity among speakers of a contested language: the case of ‘Francoprovençal'

This paper explores the notion of speaker authenticity in the context of obsolescent ‘Francoprovençal’: a highly fragmented grouping of Romance varieties spoken in parts of France, Italy, and Switzerland by less than 1% of the total regional population. While Francoprovençal has long been losing ground to the dominant language(s) with which it is in contact, new speakers have begun to emerge within the context of revitalisation movements and activities geared more favourable language planning policies and increased literacy. The emergence of these new speakers has polarised native-speaker communities, and has blurred the lines associated with the traditional view of sociolinguistic authenticity. Through an analysis of qualitative data collected in 2012, this article argues in particular that it may not be sufficient to simply examine contested authenticities from a native–non-native perspective, but rather it is important to consider how new speakers might themselves form a complex spectrum of speaker types with new sets of tensions as has been argued elsewhere

Les langues amérindiennes: État des lieux

International audienceIl s’agit ici de faire un rapide état des lieux des langues dites « autochtones » des Amériques, de ces langues amérindiennes au cœur des préoccupations du renouveau indien dont parlent de nombreuses contributions de cette collection. Cet état des lieux sera présenté principalement en chiffres et en cartes, dans un double mouvement de vues d’ensemble de thématiques et de régions, et de mentions de cas particuliers illustratifs. Les principaux thèmes considérés seront ceux (1) de la très grande diversité des langues amérindiennes, (2) de l’alarmante accélération de la perte de ces langues à considérer dans un contexte de niveau de survie assez extraordinaire, vues les multiples instances de programmation de leur extinction par les pouvoirs coloniaux, (3) de l’état actuel des langues esquissé en chiffres, et (4) de l’implication de linguistes dans le mouvement de description-documentation-revitalisation de ces langues des dernières décennies, qui s’inscrit comme une des principales dynamiques du mouvement de renaissance amérindienne dont traitent un certain nombre de chapitres de cet ouvrage

Noun Classifiers in Jakaltek

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On the revitalization of a 'treasure language' : The Rama Language Project of Nicaragua

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Linguistic Fieldwork among Speakers of Endangered Languages

International audienceColette Grinevald was previously Colette Craig. The title of this chapter was suggested to me by Nancy Dorian whom I wish to thank here for her generous sharing of ideas and materials, and whose pioneering work in the field of endangered languages, including its issues of fieldwork, I wish to acknowledge here. I also want to thank Roberto Zavala for all the brainstorming time and effort he invested in the production of the original version of this chapter. While I think of myself simply as a spokesperson for the fieldworker colleagues from various continents with whom I know I share the concerns expressed here (in particular North American, Latin American, European, and Australian colleagues on career tracks parallel to mine over the last decades), I am also sure others could have been more eloquent and I will therefore take full responsibility for the likely awkwardness and roughness of my own statements

The Jakaltek Popti’ noun classifier system: Changes due to Spanish contact

International audienceAfter having resisted adaptation in the 70s, the Jakaltek Popti’ (of the Q’anjob’alan family) noun classifier system has recently undergone extensive restructuring. These changes are largely due to the need that was felt to classify nouns of Spanish origin for artifacts made of untraditional or new materials that have been incorporated into the language and culture. The absence of classifiers for these nouns meant an absence of anaphoric pronouns, in contrast to the obligatory article and pronominal forms organizing the vocabulary of the dominant colonial Spanish language through gender-marking. Discussions with the local branch of the Academy of Mayan Languages of Guatemala, the Jakaltek linguistic community, reveal their concern with revitalizing and standardizing the now clearly endangered Jakaltek Popti’

Language Endangerment in South America: A Programmatic Approach

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