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Minority Languages in Wales and Carinthia

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Minority Languages in Wales and Carinthia Johannes Stopper Minority Languages in Wales and Carinthia: A Juxtaposition MASTER THESIS submitted in fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts Programme: Master's programme English and American Studies Alpen-Adria-Universität Klagenfurt Evaluator Univ.-Prof. Mag. Dr. Alexander Onysko Alpen-Adria-Universität Klagenfurt Institut für Anglistik und Amerikanistik Klagenfurt, January 2019 Table of Contents Affidavit ..................................................................................................................................................................3 Abstract ...................................................................................................................................................................4 Acknowledgements ................................................................................................................................................5 Introduction ............................................................................................................................................................6 1. Minority languages ...................................................................................................................................... 10 1.1. Examples for minority languages ...................................................................................................... 11 1.2. Additional examples and their respective situations ....................................................................... 14 2. Language situations ..................................................................................................................................... 17 2.1. Welsh in the UK .................................................................................................................................. 17 2.2. Slovenian in Carinthia ....................................................................................................................... 28 3. Repressive measures towards both languages ........................................................................................... 33 3.1. Carinthia ............................................................................................................................................. 33 3.2. Wales ................................................................................................................................................... 37 4. Bilingualism .................................................................................................................................................. 42 5. Loss of minority languages, language maintenance, and linguistic shifts ............................................... 48 6. Reversing Language Shift............................................................................................................................ 58 6.1. Failed and successful examples of RLS ............................................................................................ 67 6.2. Outlook on RLS .................................................................................................................................. 72 7. Empirical Research ...................................................................................................................................... 74 7.1. Methodological overview ................................................................................................................... 75 7.2. Questionnaire ...................................................................................................................................... 76 8. Results ........................................................................................................................................................... 77 8.1. Carinthia ............................................................................................................................................. 78 8.2. Wales ................................................................................................................................................... 84 9. Conclusion .................................................................................................................................................... 91 10. Used sources ............................................................................................................................................ 94 11. Appendix ................................................................................................................................................ 101 12.1. Overall Results ...................................................................................................................................... 101 12.1. Questionnaire A ..................................................................................................................................... 102 12.2. Questionnaire B ..................................................................................................................................... 105 Affidavit I hereby declare in lieu of an oath that - the submitted academic paper is entirely my own work and that no auxiliary materials have been used other than those indicated, - I have fully disclosed all assistance received from third parties during the process of writing the thesis, including any significant advice from supervisors, - any contents taken from the works of third parties or my own works that have been included either literally or in spirit have been appropriately marked and the respective source of the information has been clearly identified with precise bibliographical references (e.g. in footnotes), - to date, I have not submitted this paper to an examining authority either in Austria or abroad and that - when passing on copies of the academic thesis (e.g. in bound, printed or digital form), I will ensure that each copy is fully consistent with the submitted digital version. I understand that the digital version of the academic thesis submitted will be used for the purpose of conducting a plagiarism assessment. I am aware that a declaration contrary to the facts will have legal consequences. Johannes Stopper m.p. Klagenfurt, 18th January 2019 3 Abstract This thesis deals with the topic of minority languages and the comparison of two examples that qualify as such languages. It attempts to shed light onto the topic of threatened languages and their characteristics. The two example languages are Slovenian in Carinthia and Welsh in the UK. They are vital parts of their nation’s identities. However, it is uncertain if they can be compared to each other and if they actually can be characterised as minority and threatened languages. The thesis at hand answers these questions with the help of theoretical background information and empirical research in the geographical areas named above. The methods mentioned above include detailed information on the cultural and linguistic characteristics of both languages. Additionally, the empirical research was done with the help of questionnaires that have been answered by a number of participants for each language respectively. The answers given have been used to create graphs that show the opinions on each question. Results of the theoretical and empirical parts of this thesis show that both languages can be characterised as minority languages. They can even be seen as fitting examples of threatened languages. However, defining them as such was only possible with the help of a dense theoretical section. The results of the empirical research give the opinions on self-awareness of the participants in each language respectively. The answers given to each question have been juxtaposed in order to identify similarities as well as major differences. Slovenian in Carinthia and Welsh in the UK are outstanding examples for a historical development that has major influence on the current status of the languages. To recapitulate, their comparison gives detailed insight into culture as well as mentality, and their historical development serves as additional information for an improved understanding of the situation. 4 Acknowledgements I would like express my enormous gratitude to Univ.-Prof. Dr. Alexander Onysko for his perseverance in his role as my supervisor. Moreover, I would like to thank my family and friends for their support during the writing process of this thesis. 5 Introduction In my Master’s Thesis the main focus is on minority languages and their respective situations, which offer a great variety of research areas that include their history, relations to other languages, the overall topic of minority languages, and how such languages can be saved from extinction. Countless examples show how minority languages need protection in situations in which their existence is threatened by either an ongoing globalisation or measures that aim at their elimination. Issues like these demonstrate the value of both, for instance, the research and the questions asked in this field of study. Languages as a cultural virtue can be seen as one of the most important individualising factors of a group. Two better known examples for a situation in which a language group is threatened, can be found in the southern regions of Carinthia and in the western parts of the United Kingdom, namely Wales. This area of research, accompanied by the two example languages, will prove to be of great interest due to its connections to both linguistic as well
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