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Sociolinguistic Documentation of Language Shift and Maintenance in Iyasa

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Sociolinguistic Documentation of Language Shift and Maintenance in Iyasa SOCIOLINGUISTIC DOCUMENTATION OF LANGUAGE SHIFT AND MAINTENANCE IN IYASA A dissertation submitted to the Graduate Division of the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY IN LINGUISTICS MAY 2020 by Anna K. Belew Dissertation committee: Lyle Campbell, co-chair Katie Drager, co-chair Andrea Berez-Kroeker G. Tucker Childs Vanessa Irvin Contents CONTENTS ............................................................................................................................................................. I ACKNOWLEDGMENTS .................................................................................................................................... III ABSTRACT .......................................................................................................................................................... IV CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION .......................................................................................................................... 1 1.1 Introduction ................................................................................................................................................... 1 1.2. Dissertation overview .................................................................................................................................... 1 1.3 Notes on navigating this dissertation .............................................................................................................. 5 1.3.1 List of transcription conventions ............................................................................................................. 6 CHAPTER 2: IYASA LANGUAGE SHIFT IN CONTEXT ................................................................................ 8 2.1. The study of language shift, endangerment, maintenance, and revitalization .................................................. 8 2.1.1. Terms used to discuss linguistic vitality ................................................................................................. 8 2.2. The Iyasa language: Overview .................................................................................................................... 13 2.3. Iyasa in historic context ............................................................................................................................... 14 2.4. Iyasa in geographic context ......................................................................................................................... 18 2.4.1. Iyasa villages ....................................................................................................................................... 20 2.4.2. Geographic mobility among Iyasa speakers ......................................................................................... 26 2.5. Languages of the Campo Sub-Division ....................................................................................................... 29 2.6. Context of this research: Documenting the documentation .......................................................................... 35 2.6.1. Background: Who conducted this research, when, how, and why? ....................................................... 36 2.6.2. Social identities of the researcher during research .............................................................................. 44 CHAPTER 3: SPEAKER PERSPECTIVES ON LANGUAGE SHIFT IN IYASA ......................................... 50 3.1. Why study speaker perceptions of language shift and maintenance? ............................................................ 50 3.1.1 Methodology and data collection .......................................................................................................... 53 3.2. Speaker perceptions of factors contributing to language shift ...................................................................... 55 3.2.1 Demographic factors in Iyasa language shift ........................................................................................ 55 3.2.2 Intergenerational transmission issues ................................................................................................... 69 3.2.3. Economic issues .................................................................................................................................. 75 3.2.4. The role of French in language shift .................................................................................................... 77 3.3. Speaker perceptions of factors supporting language maintenance ................................................................ 81 3.3.1. Ethnic identity ..................................................................................................................................... 81 3.3.2. Local (geographic) identity .................................................................................................................. 85 3.3.3. Secrecy and safety ............................................................................................................................... 88 3.4. Predicting Iyasa’s future: Speaker perceptions of Iyasa’s prospects for continued use ................................. 95 3.5. Comparing views of vitality: Iyasa within linguistic vitality frameworks ................................................... 102 3.5.1 The Expanded Graded Intergenerational Disruption Scale (EGIDS)................................................... 103 3.5.2. The UNESCO nine-factor scale ......................................................................................................... 105 3.5.3. The Language Endangerment Index (LEI) ......................................................................................... 112 3.5.4. Comparing insider and outsider perceptions of Iyasa’s vitality .......................................................... 114 CHAPTER 4: EXPERIMENTAL APPROACHES TO LANGUAGE SHIFT ............................................... 115 4.2. Methods .................................................................................................................................................... 117 4.2.1. Task design ........................................................................................................................................ 117 4.2.2. Procedure .......................................................................................................................................... 121 4.3 Results ....................................................................................................................................................... 125 4.4. Discussion and conclusions ....................................................................................................................... 128 CHAPTER 5: IYASA ÉBOÓ: TOWARDS A YOUTH-DRIVEN MODEL FOR LANGUAGE REVITALIZATION ........................................................................................................................................... 131 i 5.1. Language revitalization in Africa .............................................................................................................. 131 5.2. Issues in Iyasa language shift: what can we address through youth work? ................................................. 134 5.3. Designing Iyasa Éboó: Inspirations and history ......................................................................................... 138 5.3.1. Foxfire ............................................................................................................................................... 139 5.3.2. 826National ....................................................................................................................................... 141 5.3.3. The Language Documentation Training Center (LDTC) .................................................................... 142 5.4. Iyasa Éboó: Activities, challenges, and successes ...................................................................................... 143 5.4.1. Initial workshop ................................................................................................................................. 143 5.4.2. What did we succeed in addressing? What did we fail to address? ..................................................... 153 5.5. Lessons for other revitalization programs .................................................................................................. 157 CHAPTER 6: CONCLUSIONS ......................................................................................................................... 160 REFERENCES ................................................................................................................................................... 163 APPENDIX A: SEMI-STRUCTURED INTERVIEW TEMPLATE ............................................................... 175 APPENDIX B: COMMUNITY ARCHIVE FLYER ......................................................................................... 180 APPENDIX C: EXPERIMENTAL STIMULUS IMAGES AND ORDERS .................................................... 185 ii Acknowledgments First, I would like to thank my friends and colleagues in the Iyasa community, without whom this dissertation would never have been possible. Akéva bɔ́ lɔ to Sammy Mbipite Tchele for the linguistic insights, transcription, friendship, and endless dedication to his language and community; Adolphe Idjabe II for the stories, polymath conversations,
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