1 an Introduction: Diglossia and Its Aftermath 2 Nation and Language 3
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Notes 1 An Introduction: Diglossia and its Aftermath 1. Shou-yi (1961) describes an ongoing process in the history of Chinese letters whereby the need for comprehensibility was always in conflict with the desire to mimic and match the language of the classics of Chinese governmental and social philosophy. At times, such as during the introduction of Buddhist ideas into the empire (1961: chapter 24), there was a vernacular impulse to speak ‘directly to the people’, analogous to undercurrents in Christian tradition; like Christianity, this impulse often foundered upon a desire to match the dignified register of their opponents. 2 Nation and Language 1. The present royal family are not terribly ancient; nor are many of the apparently ancient rituals associated with them. Appearance is all in these circumstances. 2. The following is based primarily on material from Barta et al. (1975). 3. This situation is rendered more complex by the fact that a development of Dutch – Afrikaans – has become the native language of many people in the ter- ritory, including many who do not have any Dutch ancestors. Afrikaans could be more readily compared to the creoles spoken widely in areas of former and continuing imperialism. 4. The following is based primarily on material in Davies (2001). 3 Language and Dialect 1. Many scholars would take issue with a blanket acceptance of Ferguson’s concep- tion of pidgin genesis. That does not in any way invalidate the categorization, however. 2. It can be assumed, although it is never explicitly stated, that there is a hierarchy of use, since he does not employ some symbols when others have been employed in his formulae. 3. Ferguson does not actually discuss the abbreviation i; from context, and from Stewart’s work, we can assume that it means ‘international’, however. 4. Discussion of the nature of language was at the heart of the life’s work of Kloss. Because he wrote mainly in German, this work is less well known in the English-speaking world than it should be. Because of the problem of com- prehension, most references in the following will be to his 1967 article. 5. There have been a number of attempts at providing versions of these originally German terms in a range of other languages (most notably those of Muljaeic 1981, 1986, 1989; Goebl 1989). There is a considerable amount to be said for retain- ing the original German usages, however, as long as they are understood as metaphors for an underlying concept. Further developments of considerable merit from some of Kloss’ ideas are to be found in Haarmann 1986 and Trudgill 2002. 206 Notes 207 6. Naturally, recent developments have made the last example particularly problematical. A better example of this phenomenon might be sought in the relationship between the two standard forms of modern Armenian current in the Soviet era. One form of Armenian was preferred in the émigré communities which came about as a result of the ‘ethnic cleansing’ of Anatolia in the early years of the twentieth century in particular; there is some evidence that its western features may have suited these communities better. The other variety of Armenian was prevalent in the Armenian Soviet Socialist Republic, and may have represented the eastern dialects of the language spoken there rather better (Cowe 1992). Given the lack of communication between the commu- nities, the divergences between them were solidified quickly. 7. Kloss and Haarmann also suggest (1984: 21) the term How come? languages (German Wieso-sprachen) for this phenomenon. 8. ‘… zwar weniger ausgebaut ist als eine Ausbausprache, aber mehr als ein Normaldialekt’ (my translation). 9. ‘Ein Normaldialekt ist in Deutschland im wesentlichen beschränkt im schriftlichen Gebrauch auf Belletristik und im Rundfunk auf Unterhaltung (Humor und leichtere Bellelettristik); er ist mehr oder weniger ausgeschlossen von (z.B.) Presse, Schule, Kirche, Film, politischen Körperschaften mit Ausnahmen allenfalls der Kommunalparlamente’ (my translation). 10. Anwendung eines Fast nur Anwendung Ausbaudialekts einer Ausbausprache Anwendungsbereich (‘Halbsprache’) möglich (Vollsprache) denkbar 1. Kirche Predigten, zumal Abendpre- Sonntagmorgenpredigt; digten, und Kasualien Liturgie 2. Parlament Diskussionen, zumal in vorbereite Ansprachen; Ausschlüssen und in Berichte von Kommunalparlamenten Regierungsvertretern 3. Rundfunk (außer den gehobene Mda.-Dichtung wissenschaftliche auch den Normaldialekt einschl. Hörspielen; Belehrung offenstehenden einfacher Nachrichten- Unterhaltungssendungen) dienst; volkstümlich belehrende Vorträge, z.B für Bauern 4. Literatur (außerhalb Gehobene Belletristik (ein- der größere Teil der der auch dem schließlich Romanen und Belletristik; fast das Normaldialekt ernsthaften Schauspielen). ganze Sachschriftum zugänglichen Bereiche Vereinzelte volkstümliche von Humor und Lyrik) Sachprosa, z.B. Broschüren zur Heimatkunde oder Mundartliteratur 5. Presse vereinzelte Zeitschriften große Mehrheit der oder Zeitschriften-Rubriken Zeitschriften, alle nichthumoristischen, Zeitungen zumal literarischen, biographischen oder religiösen Inhalts 6. Schule Fibeln und andere Schul- das Gros der bücher für Schulanfänger SchulbuchLiteratur 7. Film leichte Unterhaltungsfilme, das Gros der zumal Lustspiele Produktion, zumal der anspruchsvollen Filme 208 Notes 6 Language Planning: Process 1. The second edition of the Oxford English Dictionary (Simpson and Weiner 1989: s.v. envision) provides some British background to envision, dating its first appearance to Lytton Strachey (an Englishman) in 1921. Its use in the rest of the twentieth century – at least according to this source – was patchy, but still international. It would be interesting to see material on this usage from the 1990s. 2. Similar comments might be made about the first Language Congress for Turkish, as described by Landau (1993). Ostensibly a rather dry academic con- gress on the history of the Turkish language, participants regularly stressed the non-Muslim and ancient nature of the language. No doubt these views were expressed to shore up the language reforms of the Kemalist regime by stressing continuity in the face of actual considerable (and radical) change. This topic will be discussed in greater detail in Chapter 7. 3. In America, as we will see, it was the opinion-forming nature of this new lower Middle Class elite which attempted to enforce linguistic norms. In England, given different constitutional and political conditions, the development, whilst analogous, was not quite the same. 4. A point also emphasized by Norway’s pre-War fascist movement, the Nasjonal Samling, where the uniformed wing of the party, which also served as the bodyguard of the fører, Quisling, were named the hird, the name given to the bodyguard of the ancient Norse kings (Dahl 1999). 7 Language Planning: Testing the Models 1. The following analysis derives material from Bach (1970) and Wells (1985). 2. This territory had the strange advantage from a purist point of view of coming to standard High German as a relative outsider, since so many of its inhabitants, from the highest nobility down, spoke Low German as their mother tongue, but had a peculiarly developed sense of the appropriateness of High German inculcated by the Church (Wells 1985: 310). 3. Perhaps inevitably, this party structure has also come into being with the descendant of Landsmaal, Nynorsk. There are Landsmaal ultras, who will not accept any changes to Aasen’s project. Often they refer to their ultra-nynorsk as Høgnorsk ‘high, elevated Norwegian’. They are extremely scathing towards other official varieties of Norwegian, which they often term unorsk, ‘unNorwegian’, or ikkje-norsk, ‘not Norwegian’; Bokmål and Riksmaal are often referred to not as dansk-norsk, ‘Dano-Norwegian’, a term which is now somewhat out of date, but is certainly neither insulting nor controversial, but rather as norsk-dansk, suggesting that these varieties are ‘mere’ Danish with a Norwegian patina. The Høgnorsk party is much outweighed by the moderates; like all extremists their minority status is probably taken as proof of their ‘correctness’ and ideological purity in relation to others, however. 4. As Mango (1999) points out, Mustafa Kemal himself could barely call himself Ottoman: his father was a very minor official; as both enemies and friends remarked, he was linguistically Turkish but may not have been an ethnic Turk. This was not uncommon, however. Many of the greatest Ottoman leaders, such as Muhammad Ali, the reformer of Egypt in the early nineteenth century, Notes 209 were ethnic Albanians (as were, it should be noted, a number of early Greek nationalists). An Albanian or Slav (perhaps even Greek) background cannot be ruled out for Kemal, particularly since his family background was in the then main city of Macedonia, Salonika (now the Greek city of Thessaloniki). What is important, however, is that he admired Anatolian peasant life and, in later life, when settled in Ankara (chosen as capital for strategic reasons, but doubt- less ideologically preferable to a believer in ‘pure Turkishness’ in favour of cosmopolitan Istanbul), became a keen farmer himself. Nevertheless, it would be profitable to compare him with the avid reformers and proselytizers of Afrikaans in late nineteenth-century South Africa discussed above, who were often French rather than Dutch in origin. Like them, Kemal did not have an emotional stake in the preservation of a High culture and language (Dutch or Ottoman). 5. The ‘sun-language theory’ (Günes-Dil Teorisi)