Lecture (5) National languages and language planning Paraguay - PowerPoint PPT Presentation

Lecture (5) National languages and language planning

 Paraguay provides a clear case of stable broad diglossia, with Spanish, the H language, used in formal contexts, for administration, a great deal of education and legal business, and Guaraní, the L language of solidarity, the language of love, humour and poetry.

 though Spanish and Guaraní both have official status, it is Guaraní which most people regard as their real national  language. Guaraní is felt to be the language which best expresses their distinctive culture and traditions.

 Many Paraguayans consider that Guaraní is an important symbol of Paraguayan identity.  People feel that you cannot be a true Paraguayan unless you can speak the language.  Some claim that there are things they can say in Guaraní which are more difficult to express in Spanish.

National and official languages  A national language is the language of a political, cultural and social unity. It is generally developed and used as a symbol of national unity. Its functions are to identify the nation and unite its people. (affective/ideological dimension)  An official language , by contrast, is simply a language which may be used for government business. Its function is primarily rather than symbolic. (referential/instrumental utilitarian dimension)  It is possible, of course, for one language to serve both functions.

National and official languages  In multilingual countries, the government often declares a particular language to be the national language for political reasons.  The declaration may be a step in the process of asserting the nationhood of a newly independent or established nation, for instance, as in the case of Swahili in Tanzania, Hebrew in Israel, Malay in Malaysia and Indonesian in Indonesia.

National and official languages  Where this national language cannot serve all the internal and external functions of government business, however, it has then been necessary to identify one or more official languages as well.  So French is an official language in many countries, such as the Ivory Coast and Chad, where France was previously a colonial power, and Arabic is an official language in Israel alongside Hebrew.

National and official languages  The identification of official languages may also be necessary when the choice of national language is problematic.  In multilingual India, for example, attempts to give Hindi sole status as the national language have not succeeded.  Fourteen regional Indian languages are recognised as official languages alongside English and Hindi for the country as a whole, and in addition different states each have their own official languages.

Official status and minority languages

Official status and minority languages  Maori was declared an official language of New Zealand in 1987. What that means, however, is far from clear.  Cynics have described it as merely a cosmetic procedure aimed at quietening the demands of Maori activists. But the declaration clearly gave the language a status it did not have previously, and acknowledges its symbolic importance to the country as a whole, as well as to the indigenous Maori people in particular.

Official status and minority languages  It could also be regarded as a positive statement of intent – a first step in a process which could encourage the use of Maori in an increasing number of official institutional domains such as the law courts, official government ceremonies and transactions, and in education.

Official status and minority languages  Many minorities would like to gain official status for their languages, but the costs in terms |of providing services and information in all official languages are considerable, and most governments count them carefully.

What price a national language?  In earlier centuries, the national language of a political entity often emerged naturally and relatively unselfconsciously over a period of time. English in England, French in France, Japanese in Japan, Spanish in Spain seem obvious examples.

What price a national language?  the number increased dramatically, especially in the nineteenth century as linguistic nationalism in Europe grew.

What price a national language?  the number has almost doubled again in the twentieth century with the emergence of colonised countries from colonial rule into independent nation-states.

What price a national language?  In the struggle to establish a distinct national identity, and to secure independence from colonial rule, the development of a national language has often played an important part.  The symbolic value of a national language as a unifying rallying point in the fight for independence was quickly appreciated in countries such as Tanzania, where more than 120 languages are spoken.

What price a national language?  Where there is a single dominant group, the issue of which language to choose as the official language to represent the nation generally doesn’t arise.  Somali is the first language of 90 per cent of the people of Somalia and the national official language of the country.  Danish is the national language of Denmark, and the first language of 98 per cent of the people.  Numerical dominance is not always what counts, however. Political power is the crucial factor.

What price a national language?  In multilingual countries, the significance of political power in the choice of national language is particularly clear (e.g. Philippines).  The choice of Tagalog reflected the political and economic of its power speakers who were concentrated in the area which included the capital, Manila.  Its relabelling as Filipino was an attempt to help it gain acceptance more widely, but resentment at the advantages it gives to a particular ethnic group is still keenly felt.

What price a national language?  In Indonesia, by contrast, the government did not select the language of the political and social elite, the Javanese, as the national language.  Instead, they developed and standardised a variety of Malay which was widely used in Indonesia as a trade language.

What price a national language?  Like India, some African countries have avoided selecting just one language as the national language, since the wrong choice could easily lead to riots and even war.  Tanzania, however, successfully adopted Swahili as its national language,

Planning for a national official language What is involved in developing a code or variety (whether dialect or language) so that is suitable for official use involves issues relating to the form of the variety, the functions it serves, and the attitudes that people hold towards it.

Planning for a national official language There are generally four interrelated steps: Selection : choosing the variety or code to be developed. 1. Codification : standardising its structural or linguistic features. This kind 2. of ‘linguistic processing’ is known as corpus planning. Elaboration : extending its functions for use in new domains. This 3. involves developing the necessary linguistic resources for handling new concepts and contexts. Securing its acceptance (implementation) : The status of the new variety is 4. important, and so people’s attitudes to the variety being developed must be considered. Steps may be needed to enhance its prestige, for instance, and to encourage people to develop pride in the language, or loyalty towards it. This is known as status planning or prestige planning.

Planning for a national official language

Planning for a national official language CASE 1: Tanzania

Planning for a national official language CASE 1: Tanzania I. Selecting a code  The first President of Tanzania, Julius Nyerere, chose Swahili, a language of the Bantu language family, which was widely used throughout the country as a lingua franca in many contexts.

Planning for a national official language CASE 1: Tanzania II. Codifying and elaborating Swahili  Swahili was being used in primary education and for administration meant standardisation was essential.  Its codification involved developing a standard spelling system, describing the grammar of the variety selected as the new standard, and writing a dictionary to record its vocabulary.

Planning for a national official language CASE 1: Tanzania II. Codifying and elaborating Swahili  Following Tanzanian independence in 1961, Swahili was used in more and more contexts for education, administration, politics and law.  Its vocabulary was expanded to meet the demands of new contexts by borrowing freely from Arabic and English as appropriate.

Planning for a national official language

Planning for a national official language

Planning for a national official language CASE 1: Tanzania III. Attitudes to Swahili  People have often seen the success of Swahili as the national language in Tanzania as due to its ‘ neutral ’ status – it is not identified with a particular tribe. But its widespread acceptance was also due to the fact that Tanzanians developed a strong loyalty towards the language which united them in working towards uhuru (‘freedom’) .