Handbook of Language

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Handbook of Language Ethnic Identity, Ch 3

• Linguistic and Ethnographic Fieldwork, by Nancy
  C. Dorian

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The language ethnicity link ideal actual

• Every part of this picture can be wrong
• A certain people live in a certain place and
  speak a certain language. They have a unique name
  for themselves and their language. They like to
  teach outsiders about themselves.
• Can you think of some examples where this picture
  has gone wrong?

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Language territory

• Most of the worlds languages are not confined to
  exclusive areas in the world there are
• About 200 countries
• Over 5,000 languages
• The majority of languages are minority languages
• Many minorities are suspicious of outsiders

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What researchers have found when they reached the
field

• Garo in India this was clear-cut for Robbins
  Burling in 1954 the Garo were a majority in
  their area, and (nearly) all spoke the same
  language. one-to-one connection between a
  people, a place, and a language

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What researchers have found when they reached the
field

• Ugong in Thailand clear identification is
  blurred, everyone wants to be Thai, people deny
  the identity and deny knowing the language

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What researchers have found when they reached the
field

• Cayuga in Oklahoma They have been dislocated,
  even from their own history. They speak Cayugan,
  but call themselves Seneca

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What researchers have found when they reached the
field

• Elmolo in Kenya They were fishermen, and
  retained Elmolo fishing terms, but switched over
  to speaking primarily Samburu, under the
  influence of a stronger ethnic group

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How can we sum up what researchers have found?

• Sometimes people refuse to be identified with
  their group, insist that they belong to the
  majority group (Ugong)
• Sometimes people dont even know themselves which
  language they are speaking (displaced Cayugans)
• Sometimes ethnic/linguistic identity is not clear
  (Emolo/Samburu)

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Modern Conditions and Language Ethnicity

• Transportation and communication technologies
  have reduced the number of people living in
  isolation, no matter how remote, and this rapidly
  erodes traditional language and culture,
  especially when younger (male) members travel for
  work

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Modern Conditions and Language Ethnicity,
contd.

• Even when countries officially recognize
  multilingualism, the vast majority of languages
  are left unsupported and unrecognized
• Schools, govt, administration, business, etc.
  will be conducted in a majority language
• Most languages of the world today are in danger

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Links to identity and culture

• 2 links between an ethnic group and its language
• An ethnic language is an identity marker, but can
  be replaced by other markers (costume, cuisine,
  etc.)
• An ethnic language carries cultural content a
  language is less replaceable in this role,
  cultural lore also connects the group to its
  history and its location and its spiritual
  traditions

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Language encodes worldview

• Each language has unique structure, grammatical
  categories, lexical items, discourse-marking
  devices, etc. These are irreplaceable, part of
  the collective genius of the group. These can be
  lost, and translation can never capture it all

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Describe the fieldworkers dilemma in a
language-shift setting

• Ethnic groups are often unaware of the dangers
  that their languages face
• Language may be expendable as a marker of
  identity, but it is extremely difficult to
  recover
• Should a fieldworker try to intervene and rescue
  an endangered language?
• Accdg to Dixon, by the time an ethnic group will
  ask for help in intervention, it is usually too
  late

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Turning the tide what are some examples of
successes?

• Gaelic in Scotland Gaelic was considered
  backward, and lost ground. Scottish local and
  national pride was aroused and now schools and tv
  programming are supported and children are
  learning Gaelic

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Turning the tide what are some examples of
successes?

• Greenlandic in Greenland Danish was politically
  dominant and people stopped teaching children
  Greenlandic. After home rule was achieved in
  1979, Greenlandic became essential to ethnic
  identification

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What role for the fieldworker?

• The best fieldworker is a member of the group, or
  at least a person committed to the local
  community. This person can produce
• A grammar, orthography, dictionary
• Oral or written teaching texts
• Indigenous-language archive
• Legal consultation based on traditional lore
• But in most cases the groups lack the will to
  perpetuate language, and the best the fieldworker
  can do is to document it.

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Native languages of California

• What model is used here?
• Native California Network helps native Americans
  to pool expertise in language intervention. They
  pair Masters with Apprentices for one-on-one
  intensive language learning.

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Reclaiming a heritage by reclaiming a language

• Ayiwo of the Solomon Islands, Maori of New
  Zealand, Sami of Norway, and Basques of Spain are
  all engaged in creative language preservation,
  and this works best when embedded in a cultural
  preservation effort. Enables people to overcome
  histories of political, social, and economic
  suppression.

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Quote for discussion

• Uniformation (when everyone speaks one language)
  is never an optimal human solution. It
  necessarily involves subjugation of the weak by
  the strong, of the few by the many in short, the
  law of the jungle. (Fishman 1991 31).