Open Access Published by De Gruyter Open Access

Volume 3 Issue 1

January 2017

Issue of Open Linguistics

Contents
Journal Overview

Regular articles

Open Access March 1, 2017

A Systemic Functional Approach to the Passive Voice in English into Spanish Translation: Thematic Development in a Medical Research Article

Daniel Rodríguez-Vergara

Page range: 1-17

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Abstract

The purpose of this study was to explore, from the perspective of Systemic Functional Grammar, how passive clauses in a medical research article were translated into Spanish, specifically if they were kept in the passive voice, were changed into the active voice, or were turned into some other structure, and if voice change in the translated version affected the original thematic development. The medical paper chosen for this study was originally written in English and published in an Anglophone journal; it was then translated into Spanish and published in a Mexican journal. Both the original and the translated article were analyzed in terms of Theme and Rheme; all of the instances of passive and active voice were quantified and compared. The results show that in some cases the original thematic patterns were modified in the translation due to the use of the reflexive passive in Spanish, which results in the fronting of the verb in the sentences, thereby causing a change of Themes in the paragraphs with respect to the original structure. This study contributes to our understanding of the function of passive constructions in English and Spanish and its relationship with thematic progression.

Open Access March 30, 2017

Issues in Action Formation: Requests and the Problem with x

Barbara A. Fox, Trine Heinemann

Page range: 31-64

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Abstract

In previous interactional studies of formats for utterances doing requests, attention has been given to the initial verb (such as can/could or wonder) and possibly the subject (especially I vs you). The current study examines the main types of grammatical variation found in what we call the “x component,” that is the segment after the initial verb and subject. We examine two types of requests: those with can you x and those with wonder x, and we find that variations in the x component in these requests are associated with variations in the unfolding development of the request sequences. We thus suggest that the x component is crucial to the interactional work accomplished by the requesting utterance.

Open Access March 25, 2017

Constructed Action, the Clause and the Nature of Syntax in Finnish Sign Language

Tommi Jantunen

Page range: 65-85

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Abstract

This paper investigates the interplay of constructed action and the clause in Finnish Sign Language (FinSL). Constructed action is a form of gestural enactment in which the signers use their hands, face and other parts of the body to represent the actions, thoughts or feelings of someone they are referring to in the discourse. With the help of frequencies calculated from corpus data, this article shows firstly that when FinSL signers are narrating a story, there are differences in how they use constructed action. Then the paper argues that there are differences also in the prototypical structure, linkage type and non-manual activity of clauses, depending on the presence or non-presence of constructed action. Finally, taking the view that gesturality is an integral part of language, the paper discusses the nature of syntax in sign languages and proposes a conceptualization in which syntax is seen as a set of norms distributed on a continuum between a categorial-conventional end and a gradient-unconventional end.

Open Access May 27, 2017

Sociolinguistic Variation in the Nativisation of BSL Fingerspelling

Matt Brown, Kearsy Cormier

Page range: 115-144

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Abstract

British Sign Language (BSL) is a visual-gestural language distinct from spoken languages used in the United Kingdom but in contact with them. One product of this contact is the use of fingerspelling to represent English words via their orthography. Fingerspelled loans can become “nativised”, adapting manual production to conform more closely to the native lexicon’s inventory of phonemic constraints. Much of the previous literature on fingerspelling has focused on one-handed systems but, unlike the majority of sign languages, BSL uses a two-handed manual alphabet. What is the nature of nativisation in BSL, and does it exhibit sociolinguistic variation? We apply a cross-linguistic model of nativisation to BSL Corpus conversation and narrative data (http://bslcorpusproject.org) obtained from 150 signers in 6 UK regions. Mixed effects modelling is employed to determine the influence of social factors. Results show that the participants’ home region is the most significant factor, with London and Birmingham signers significantly favouring use of fully nativised fingerspelled forms. Non-nativised sequences are significantly favoured in signers of increasing age in Glasgow and Belfast. Gender and parental language background are not found to be significant factors in nativisation. The findings also suggest a form of reduction specific to London and Birmingham.

Open Access September 13, 2017

Multilinear Grammar: Ranks and Interpretations

Dafydd Gibbon, Sascha Griffiths

Page range: 265-307

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Abstract

Multilinear Grammar provides a framework for integrating the many different syntagmatic structures of language into a coherent semiotically based Rank Interpretation Architecture, with default linear grammars at each rank. The architecture defines a Sui Generis Condition on ranks, from discourse through utterance and phrasal structures to the word, with its sub-ranks of morphology and phonology. Each rank has unique structures and its own semantic-pragmatic and prosodic-phonetic interpretation models. Default computational models for each rank are proposed, based on a Procedural Plausibility Condition: incremental processing in linear time with finite working memory. We suggest that the Rank Interpretation Architecture and its multilinear properties provide systematic design features of human languages, contrasting with unordered lists of key properties or single structural properties at one rank, such as recursion, which have previously been been put forward as language design features. The framework provides a realistic background for the gradual development of complexity in the phylogeny and ontogeny of language, and clarifies a range of challenges for the evaluation of realistic linguistic theories and applications. The empirical objective of the paper is to demonstrate unique multilinear properties at each rank and thereby motivate the Multilinear Grammar and Rank Interpretation Architecture framework as a coherent approach to capturing the complexity of human languages in the simplest possible way.

Open Access October 31, 2017

A Description of Tucumán Spanish Intonation in Argentina

Virginia Terán, Marta Ortega-Llebaria

Page range: 456-490

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Abstract

This paper documents for the first time the intonation system of Tucumán Spanish, an understudied variety of Argentinian Spanish. Semi-spontaneous speech illustrating the intonation of main sentence types, i.e. broad focus statements, partial and absolute interrogatives, and imperatives and vocatives, was elicited from 31 native speakers of Tucumán Spanish via an adapted version of the Argentinian Intonation Survey (Prieto and Roseano, 2009-2013). The two authors listened to the recordings and transcribed them using the Tones and Break Indexes conventions (ToBI) (Beckman et al. 2002, Prieto and Roseano 2010, Hualde and Prieto 2015). Transcriptions of prenuclear and nuclear configurations together with their respective frequencies allowed both an appreciation of the most used configurations within each sentence type along with detailed variation at the phonetic level. For example, yes/no questions were consistently realized with a low nuclear pitch accent L* and an ascending boundary tone. However, there was variation in the height of the boundary tones yielding the frequent contour L* ¡H%, and the less frequent L* H%. Altogether, these detailed patterns document the systematic phonetic variation of the intonation system of TS and provide a basis for future research to determine the phonological status of this variation.

Open Access October 28, 2017

The Two Meanings of Sound Symbolism

Hilke Elsen

Page range: 491-499

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Abstract

This article deals with sound symbolism and the ways to interpret sound symbolic phenomena. Sound symbolism appears to be a universal phenomenon but linguists tend to neglect it or offer heterogeneous approaches and definitions. This paper is concerned with the role of motivation, as assumed in cases like cuckoo, and the question whether some sound symbolic effects might be the result of acquired statistical knowledge about the language system. The author argues that several aspects of sound symbolism such as natural/iconic or habitual relationships between sound and (facets of) referents interact but should be considered separately to gain a more realistic insight into the working of sound symbolism.

Open Access October 31, 2017

The Role of Semantics in Spanish Word Recognition: an Insight from Lexical Decision and Categorization Tasks

Cristina Izura, Natividad Hernández-Muñoz

Page range: 500-515

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Abstract

This study examines the factors affecting word recognition in a language with a consistent system to map letters into sounds; Spanish. The influence of semantics on the recognition of words in languages with inconsistent mappings, such as English, is well documented. Not much is known for other languages. A lexical decision task and two category verification tasks with varying levels of semantic complexity were used. In contrast to English, none of the semantic variables entered into the analyses had a significant impact on lexical decision latencies or errors. Imageability showed an influence on responses to both category verification tasks while the effect of connectivity was marginally significant in the category verification task with the greatest semantic complexity. Results indicate that word recognition decisions can be made without the involvement of central components of the semantic system. The role of semantics in word recognition in languages with consistent spelling systems will be discussed.

Open Access December 7, 2017

Requests for Help in a Multilingual Professional Environment Testimonies and Actantial Models

Eve Lejot

Page range: 516-539

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Abstract

Professional multilingual environments using English as a lingua franca are prone to imbalances in communication, linguistic insecurity and rising tension. Non-native English speakers develop avoidance strategies in order to lessen their apprehension. To overcome these imbalances, this research aims to understand the relationships formed around languages focusing on the dynamics of integration and the requests for help. Guided by the actantial models of Greimas (1966), this qualitative study employs semiolinguistics and discourse analysis, including 19 narrative interviews with employees of Airbus and UNESCO in Hamburg, Germany in 2013. This methodology draws on actors connected through relationships of power and/or collaboration. The actantial models applied seek linguistic input through designational paradigms, shifters and modal occurrences. The actantial models illustrate how a good language competence provides a better understanding of one’s direct as well as passive environment. The learning process is shown to be a conduit to integration. The actantial model and discourse analysis shed light on the complex situation of multilingual communication settings by highlighting the influence of individuals’ linguistic skills. As a matter of fact, depending on the role of each individual in a given situation, lending a helping hand sometimes equates to upsetting the balance.

Open Access December 7, 2017

Anglophonic Influence in the Use of Sound Symbolism in Italian Disney Comics: A Corpus-based Analysis

Pier Simone Pischedda

Page range: 591-612

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Abstract

This article will explore the linguistic implications of employing and creating sound symbolism (ideophones, onomatopoeia and interjections) in Italian Disney comics. It will endeavour to investigate the way sound symbolic forms in both imported Disney US comics and original Italian stories have profoundly influenced the development of Italian sound symbolism in the last century. The diachronic analysis is carried out thanks to the creation of a corpus of ideophones and interjections from 210 Disney stories published between 1932 and 2013. The corpus will allow the author to investigate how these forms have changed diachronically throughout the eighty years under investigation with the final aim of highlighting changes and patterns in both original and translated Italian stories. The unique status of ideophones, confirmed by language, sociological and neurological studies, has led to interesting experimentations but also to complicated dynamics. Certain linguistic settings seem to foster a better affinity towards the device- particularly if compared to Romance languages, such as Italian and Spanish, that often have to rely on Anglophone renditions. Anglicisation has indeed overshadowed previous original attempts. Nevertheless, recent creations, particularly from cartoonists, bear witness to a willingness to stretch language again in order to enhance language iconicity.

Open Access December 22, 2017

What Lies Underneath a Political Speech?: Critical Discourse Analysis of Thai PM’s Political Speeches Aired on the TV Programme Returning Happiness to the People

Jonathan Rante Carreon, Chavalin Svetanant

Page range: 638-655

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Abstract

The main goal of the study is to critically investigate the major elements of the political speeches of the Thai Prime Minister, Gen Prayuth Chan-ocha. Informed by van Dijk’s (1997) concept of Political Discourse Analysis, a corpus, composed of 10,672 word types and 325,398 word tokens, was examined for keywords related to the addressor, the addressee, and the political speech itself. The words with the highest relative frequencies were iteratively categorised into themes and a dialogic investigation was conducted on a portion of the original Thai version. The findings reveal that keywords relating to information conveyed by the addressor accounted for 62.86% (N=154) followed by keywords relating to functions of language at 22.04% (N=54). The high frequencies of these words shed light on the justification of the political, economic and social agenda, which were conveyed by the junta government using deontically modalised language. The quantitative and qualitative data analysis also indicate that the English and Thai speeches target different audiences. This discrepancy implicitly reflects an awkward situation where the military government attempts to present a good image to the international community while imposing actual military governance in the country.

Open Access December 29, 2017

Gender Agreement in Online Versus Classroom Students of First-Semester Spanish

Ana María Díaz Collazos, David Vásquez Hurtado

Page range: 656-672

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Abstract

The goal of this paper is to compare the learning outcomes of beginning online students (n=14) of Spanish with classroom students engaged in a hybrid or blended course (n=19). All students were native speakers of English. Some studies show that online students perform better than classroom students, while other studies show no significant differences. All previous studies use general measurements of proficiency or scoring instead of examining particular differences within specific linguistic elements. This paper focuses on gender agreement and gathers acquisitionist research on the matter to weight the factors that affect its learning in online and classroom students. We extracted 2777 tokens from writing tasks and performed multivariate analysis using Rbrul (Johnson) to test gender accuracy against delivery mode and linguistic factors such as animacy, morphological endings and gender assignment of the noun, as well as the grammatical category of the agreeing word. Results suggest that the delivery mode does not play a role in the overall performance of online versus classroom students. However, classroom students perform better with animate nouns, while online students do so in a non-significant manner. Physical presence of people may favor the learning of gender agreement with animate referents.

Open Access December 29, 2017

Theoretical Models and Specific Communication Situations in Projects

Kristina Pelikan, Thorsten Roelcke

Page range: 679-698

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Abstract

In recent years, numerous proposals have been made with the aim of establishing a systematic hierarchy of relationships for languages for special purposes (LSP), and different approaches have been classified in terms of vertical and horizontal models. Recently, however LSP research has moved more and more towards Applied Linguistics and a segregation has emerged between studies focusing on systematic topics and those based on concrete case studies. While studies in applied LSP research have increased, work on systematic approaches has been neglected. The present study follows a different approach, in that instead of segregating the analysis of concrete case studies from the work on systematic approaches, examples from case studies will be used for testing and revising systematic approaches. In this paper we shall first address the question based on these examples of which long established classifications need to be revised, and consider further whether revising and applying classifications is the way to go in LSP research or whether there is a need for a new typology. In the present paper we shall thus be building on and developing the work on structuring LSP in (Roelcke 2014) and on project-specific terminology (Pelikan & Roelcke 2015).

Topical Issue: Person and knowledge: from participant-role to epistemic marking

Open Access March 1, 2017

Person and Knowledge: Introduction

Henrik Bergqvist, Seppo Kittilä

Page range: 18-30

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Abstract

The relation between person and epistemicity has been a topic of investigation throughout the humanities, including linguistics, but has mostly been focused on how conceptualisations of these two notions overlap, or diverge. This paper reviews some of these conceptualisations, but also adds a finergrained picture of how they intersect in the world’s languages. Purported categories such as egophoric marking and lesser known expressions such as non-selected arguments (i.e. "ethical datives") are compared to evidentials and modals from a synchronic and diachronic perspective in order to explain how the roles of the speech-act participants as specific arguments relate to their respective function as epistemic authorities. The aim of the paper is to introduce separate contributions relating to such systems as they are found in various parts of the world.

Open Access October 20, 2017

Shared vs. Primary Epistemic Authority in Jaminjung/Ngaliwurru

Eva Schultze-Berndt

Page range: 178-218

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Abstract

This paper contributes to the typology of complex perspective markers by presenting an in-depth analysis of a system of epistemic authority marking which functionally overlaps with, but has no exact parallels in, similar systems attested cross-linguistically; it is also the first analysis of grammaticalised marking of epistemic authority in a language of Australia. Jaminjung/Ngaliwurru, a language of the Mirndi family, distinguishes between primary and shared epistemic authority by means of two non-obligatory clitics. By employing the first clitic, speakers claim privileged (asymmetrical) access to evidence informing their utterance; the holder of epistemic primacy shifts to addressees in questions. The second marker, which is transparently related to a 1 st +2 nd person minimal pronoun, indicates shared (symmetrical) epistemic access, but is further constrained in its distribution in that the evidence has to be accessible at the time of discourse and in that the encoded situation itself is not yet part of the common ground. In the light of the proposed analysis as well as cross-linguistic findings, it will be argued that epistemic authority markers more generally can be considered as part of a single functional domain with evidentials, and that this domain also includes egophoricity.

Open Access October 28, 2017

Complexity in Egophoric Marking: From Agents to Attitude Holders

Henrik Bergqvist, Dominique Knuchel

Page range: 359-377

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Abstract

The present paper considers attested variation found in egophoric marking systems in order to discuss the role of such variation for the defining features of egophoric marking viz. a speech-act participant's epistemic authority subject to his/her involvement in an event. Austin Hale's (1980) pioneering description of egophoric marking in Kathmandu Newar (called "conjunct/disjunct" by Hale) has largely shaped our conception of what such systems look like, but in recent years, research on comparable systems has revealed that egophoric marking systems vary with respect to every purportedly defining feature of such systems. The one remaining variable that appears constant is the epistemic authority of the speech-act participants. When attempting to analyze and compare egophoric marking, one should consider all relevant cross-linguistic variation in order to determine what features are defeasible, and which ones are not. In this paper we explore the range of participant-roles that can be associated with egophoric marking focusing on "secondary" egophoric markers that map onto undergoers, affected participants, and the attitudes of the speech-act participants. It will become clear that these less prototypical instances of egophoric marking bridge such systems to a seemingly unrelated grammatical constructions, known as "ethical datives".

Open Access October 28, 2017

Egophoricity, Involvement, and Semantic Roles in Tibeto-Burman Languages

Manuel Widmer, Fernando Zúñiga

Page range: 419-441

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Abstract

In this study, we explore typological aspects of egophoricity marking based on selected Tibeto- Burman languages. Conceptualizing egophoricity as an autonomous grammatical category that marks access to knowledge, we first discuss how egophoricity marking interacts with evidentiality in the Tibeto-Burman languages Shigatse Tibetan and Bunan. We then go on to explore the differences between the egophoricity systems of Shigatse Tibetan and Bunan, arguing that the variability of egophoricity within and across languages can be captured if we distinguish (i) constructions in which egophoricity markers express privileged access to knowledge due to actional involvement in the role of an event participant from (ii) constructions in which egophoricity markers express privileged access to knowledge due to epistemic involvement in the role of a “knower” whose precise relation to the event is not specified. We additionally introduce a set of five semantic roles to offer a more detailed description of the egophoricity systems of Shigatse Tibetan and Bunan (and also, albeit marginally, Kathmandu Newar and Galo). This study thus offers a new perspective on the variability of egophoricity systems in Tibeto-Burman and propagates an analytical approach that may also be helpful for analyzing egophoricity systems in other language families of the world.

Open Access December 22, 2017

The Origin and Evolution of the Opposition between Testimonial and Factual Evidentials in Purik and Other Varieties of Tibetan

Marius Zemp

Page range: 613-637

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Abstract

The main purpose of this paper is to elucidate a special type of egophoric markers found in Purik and other varieties of Tibetan. These factual evidential markers, deriving from the Written Tibetan existential copula yod, are regularly used in Purik to profile not only events in which the informant participates, but also events which the informant is in the position to describe as facts even if she does not directly participate in them. The factual function of yod is argued here to reflect the indicative function yod served when it was the only existential copula at a stage of the language in which no evidential functions had grammaticalized yet. A comparison of the evidential inventory of Purik with those of other well documented Tibetan varieties reveals that it was in resultative constructions that yod first became contrasted by ’dug *‘was there’, facilitating the reanalysis of two evidentially opposed existential copulas. Hence, the factual meaning of yod formed in contrast to testimonial ’dug. The evolution of the factual yod is traced from its first emergence up to its restriction to egophoric contexts in Central Tibetan, and compared with that of egophoric markers in West Himalayish Bunan.

Special issue on: A Multilingual Focus on Lexicography and Phraseograhy, Edited by Maria Isabel González-Rey

Open Access April 12, 2017

The New Etymological Dictionary of Hungarian Idioms and Proverbs

Vilmos Bárdosi

Page range: 86-99

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Abstract

After briefly surveying the research carried out in Hungary on the origin of sayings, proverbs and adages, this paper introduces and exemplifies the way the new Hungarian phraseological etymological dictionary has been compiled. It subsequently presents excerpts from the dictionary that will expound on the origin of 1800 set phrases and statistically analyses the linguistic, cultural-historical, historical, literary, ethnographic and intercultural background of the Hungarian set phrases included in the dictionary.

Open Access April 21, 2017

The Concept of Cultureme from a Lexicographical Point of View

Antonio Pamies

Page range: 100-114

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Abstract

Culturemes can be described as extra-linguistic cultural symbols, which behave like metaphorical models, motivating figurative expressions in language (lexical or phraseological). The development of this concept in theoretical research on polysemy and phraseology shows that it can be an effective tool for organizing the representation of semantic networks of figurative meanings, according to culture-based associations of ideas.

Special Issue: Perspectives On Language Sustainability: Discourses, Policies And Practices, Ed. By Lucija Šimičić, and Klara Bilić Meštrić

Open Access June 1, 2017

Language Orientations and the Sustainability of Arbanasi Language in Croatia – A Case of Linguistic Injustice

Klara Bilić Meštrić, Lucija Šimičić

Page range: 145-156

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Abstract

Despite numerous positive aspects of the global development of language-as-right orientation, we argue that its application is rooted in methodological nationalism, i.e. the idea of society being equal to a nationstate (Chernilo 2006), and the monoglot ideology based on the idea of one proper version of a historically and politically privileged dialect carrying the status of a language. This dominant preconception of social phenomena thus leaves many varieties in a legislative vacuum. As a consequence, language rights, often in the form of more or less mandatory legal instruments, concern only a (politically established) few. When this institutional inadequacy is paired with the existing orders of indexicality, then these varieties face marginalisation processes that render language use even more unsustainable. To address the issue of language sustainability, we analyse the language-as-right, language-as-resource and language-as-problem orientations in Croatia on the case of the Arbanasi, a community of descendants of Catholic albanophones who settled in the periphery of Zadar in the 18th century and whose group identity is marked by significant language loss. We analyse how speakers and community members themselves perceive marginalisation processes, especially concerning linguistic (in)justice that stems from the policies that hinder sustainability of Arbanasi language use in the long run.

Open Access September 2, 2017

From the Logic of Elimination to the Logic of the Gift: Towards a Decolonial Theory of Tlingit Language Revitalization

William A. Geiger

Page range: 219-235

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Abstract

In this article, Tlingit language revitalization is approached through theories of decolonization, critiques of colonialism, and philosophies of liberation. Instructional programs for the endangered Tlingit language are urgently necessary, but the residual structures of colonialism make the successful implementation and reception of such programs extremely difficult. Patrick Wolfe’s notion of the “logic of elimination” is used to demonstrate the persistent nature of colonialism in the Tlingit context. Through that lens, the dispossession of Tlingit territory, culture, and language by the settler-colonial system can be viewed as ongoing processes rather than concluded past events. Concrete examples are used to demonstrate the empirical effects of colonial elimination campaigns in the Tlingit context. The work of Nelson Maldonado-Torres is also enlisted, as he articulates a notion of decolonization predicated on “the logic of the gift.” I bring together these “logics” of (de) colonization to advance a speculative theory of revitalization as a movement from the logic of elimination to the logic of the gift. This has implications for language revitalization in general and Tlingit language revitalization in particular. I argue that revitalization must begin in an affirmation of the Tlingit language based on critical, militant, and loving acts of listening.

Open Access September 2, 2017

Perspectives on Language Sustainability in a Performance Era: Discourses, Policies, and Practices in a Digital and Social Media Campaign to Revitalise Irish

Helen Kelly-Holmes, David Atkinson

Page range: 236-250

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Abstract

The poststructuralist turn has been widely acknowledged in contemporary applied and sociolinguistics (Rampton 2006, Blommaert 2010). While for many this paradigmatic shift has been a welcome challenge to segregationalist approaches (Mühlhäusler 1996, Makoni and Pennycook 2007) and deficit discourses in relation to multilingualism (Jacquemet 2005, Jaffe 2007), it is not an unproblematic concept for minority language media and language sustainability. For those committed to activism and engagement with policy makers, the current paradigmatic shift, which has been described in terms of a performance era for minority language media (Pietikäinen and Kelly-Holmes 2011), presents particular challenges which have the potential to undermine gains made in previous eras in relation to media rights for minority language speakers. Using the example of a recent multi-media campaign to revitalise Irish, the Bród Club, this paper explores the opportunities and problems presented by the contemporary performance era for minority language media.

Open Access September 2, 2017

Theory and Praxis in Community Based Language Development: preliminary findings from applications of the Guide for Planning the Future of Our Language

David M. Eberhard

Page range: 251-264

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Abstract

This study will provide a critique of preliminary results obtained from the application of the ‘Guide for Planning the Future of Our Language’ (Hanawalt, Varenkamp, Lahn, & Eberhard 2015) in minority speech communities. This recent methodological tool was developed to enable and empower minoritized language groups to do their own language planning and to control their own language development. The tool is based on a theoretical approach to community based language development known as the ‘Sustainable Use Model’, or the SUM (Lewis & Simons 2016). The paper will begin with a brief introduction to the theoretical framework of the SUM. Next it will describe the basic structure of the ‘Guide for Planning the Future of Our Language’, and then ‘follow along’ as it is applied in various communities and workshops with mother tongue speakers. These applications were conducted by the author and others in 84 languages in Brazil, Colombia, Croatia, Indonesia, Malaysia, Myanmar, Nepal, Nigeria, Pakistan, Papua New Guinea, Peru, Philippines, Sao Tome e Principe, and Venezuela. This will be the first report of its kind on the broad applications of this rapidly growing methodology.

Open Access September 2, 2017

Language revitalization, modernity, and the Csángó mode of speaking

Csanád Bodó, Noémi Fazakas, János Imre Heltai

Page range: 327-341

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Abstract

This study points out that language revitalization is closely connected to the discourse of language endangerment that objectifies languages considering them countable, regarding them separable from both the speaker and their use while speaking. It argues that this “modernist” approach of language defines the nature and, implicitly, the results of language revitalization actions. Using the example of the Moldavian Csángó Hungarian Educational Programme in North-East Romania, the article shows that while this language teaching movement unfolded within the framework of modernity, it came into conflict with the local ideologies surrounding language and speaking. Although the latter were not created by the discourses of the nation state, they are not independent notions as late modern changes had a significant impact on them. The authors analyse language ideologies prior to modernity and the way they have changed as a result of more recent developments, particularly in the context of the standardization of the Moldavian Csángó mode of speaking.

Open Access November 16, 2017

Engaging with Linguistic Diversity in Global Cities: Arguing for ‘Language Hierarchy Free’ Policy and Practice in Education

Dina Mehmedbegovic

Page range: 540-553

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Abstract

Educators working in diverse contexts and looking to promote language learning, as well as maintaining home languages, often encounter resistance and negativity directed towards a wide range of languages resulting in language loss at the individual level and language death at a societal level. On the other hand, a small number of languages are regarded as high status languages, in demand to study and speak. This paper has two aims: firstly, to identify processes which result in different attitudes to languages, which will be termed: language hierarchies and, secondly, to suggest an innovative way of creating conditions for development of ‘hierarchy-free education policy and practice’. In order to exemplify these processes the author’s previous research conducted in London and Cardiff is used. Hierarchy-free policy and practice is promoted as a necessary condition for sustainability of endangered languages. The second part of this paper introduces the concept of: ‘Healthy Linguistic Diet’ (Mehmedbegović 2011) and makes a proposal based on this concept for a new, cognitive-based approach to policy and practice in education which would help eradicate language hierarchies. This section presents latest research evidence from cognitive neuroscience, which supports the argument that all stakeholders in education and wider society would benefit from a shift in attitudes and approach to bilingualism and learning other languages. The benefits at the individual and societal level are so significant that acting on this evidence is not only an educational, but also a health and moral imperative too. In the conclusion, I give recommendations in terms of how this new strategy could be developed and implemented.

Topical Issue on Historical Sociolinguistic Philology, ed. by Chiara Barbati and Christian Gastgeber

Open Access December 29, 2017

Historical Sociolinguistic Philology – a New Hybrid Discipline, its Interests, and its Scope

Barbara Soukup

Page range: 673-678

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Abstract

This contribution presents the basic rationale and principles of a new hybrid discipline of historical sociolinguistic philology, or the sociolinguistically informed study of ancient texts, as showcased in the current special issue. It is shown how an interactional model of communication validates and scaffolds the application of synchronic sociocultural linguistic theory and findings to the analysis of ancient texts in order to achieve a more fully contextualized account and interpretation of their meaning from a perspective contemporary to their origination. In fact, it is argued that any study of ancient texts should take the perspective of its producer(s) and addressee(s) into consideration, and that written language use cannot be satisfactorily accounted for without reference to the immediate, on-the-ground-level social context and situation within which it arose.

Open Access June 10, 2017

Tocharian and Historical Sociolinguistics: Evidence from a Fragmentary Corpus

Melanie Malzahn

Page range: 157-177

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Abstract

The two extinct languages Tocharian A and Tocharian B comprise a small text corpus that consists almost exclusively of fragments. Nevertheless, the corpus shows linguistic variation. This paper will argue that there are three reasons for genuine linguistic variation in the Tocharian corpus: diachronic variation, dialectal variation and sociolectal variation. Accordingly, it is not only possible to apply sociolinguistic methods to a fragmentary corpus, but it is even essential. Furthermore, the Tocharian material confirms patterns of sound change known from other sources and can therefore offer insights for the principles of language change.

Open Access September 2, 2017

Why Did the Buddhists Adopt Sanskrit?

Vincent Eltschinger

Page range: 308-326

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Abstract

Western scholarship has long wondered about the reasons that led the Buddhists, or, to be more precise, specific sectarian components of the Indian Buddhist communities (most conspicuously the [Mūla]sarvāstivādins), to abandon the Middle Indic vernaculars as their scriptural, scholarly and probably vehicular language, to turn to Sanskrit, the celebrated and elitist language of Brahmanical scriptures (first and foremost the Veda), ritual, and culture. The fact is all the more intriguing that insistent Buddhist traditions traced to the Buddha himself, apparently a champion of regional languages, a prohibition to use Sanskrit or, at least, to emulate Brahmanical linguistic behavior. The present paper presents a partly new hypothesis concerning one aspect of this important sociolinguistic phenomenon by looking into the legitimations provided by these Buddhists for studying (Sanskrit) grammar

Open Access October 28, 2017

Aspects of variations in Byzantine Greek Documents of the patriarchal chancellery of Constantinople (14^th c.)

Christian Gastgeber

Page range: 342-358

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Abstract

A unique collection of about 900 Greek documents, issued by the chancellery of the Patriarch of Constantinople in the 14 th c., provides insight into the linguistic level at one place in the capital of the Byzantine Empire. So far research focussed nearly exclusively on their historical or juristic interpretation, the big data for historical sociolinguistics - a general desideratum for Byzantine literature (Hinterberger 2015) - were not taken into account, only some text pragmatic aspects and the use of spoken Greek elements in letters sent abroad were addressed in studies and did unfortunately not entail further investigation. This article focusses on a sociolinguistic point of view and outlines two aspects of variations: a) in order to meet the addressee’s linguistic level and b) to “exclude” the addressee from the learned community (see also Hickey 2012). Three case studies exemplify the emphasis that is put on the intentional use of linguistic variations even in a chancellery with more or less rigid forms.

Open Access October 25, 2017

Some Remarks on Language Usage in Late Babylonian Letters

Martina Schmidl

Page range: 378-395

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Abstract

This paper deals with language usage in private and institutional letters from the Neo-Babylonian and Achaemenid periods. It analyses the usage of terms of address, greeting formulae and direct and indirect phrasing, drawing on notions of politeness developed by Brown and Levinson. Of particular interest are questions of usage within a temple hierarchy and its implications for professional relationships. For private letters, the case for the appellation of ‘lord’ for women as previously claimed by the author is further substantiated.

Open Access October 28, 2017

Dēnkard III Language Variation and the Defence of Socio-Religious Identity in the Context of Early-Islamic Iran

Gianfilippo Terribili

Page range: 396-418

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Abstract

The aim of the present paper is to illustrate as a case study, the linguistic and stylistic peculiarities characterizing the third book of the Dēnkard, one of the most authoritative texts in Zoroastrian Pahlavi literature (9th-10th CE). The analysis will consider these features as part of a coherent system, styled to serve the dialectic strategies pursued by the Zoroastrian high priests in response to the pressures their own community was facing in the early Islamic period. In order to provide a more comprehensive overview on DkIII language distinctiveness, the research will underline the outward/inward dynamics, addressing both the relation of this theological dialectic with the surrounding socio-cultural environment and the leadingrole claims of a group within a politically subordinated community

Open Access October 20, 2017

Medieval Textbooks as a Major Source for Historical Sociolinguistic Studies of (highregister) Medieval Greek

Andrea Massimo Cuomo

Page range: 442-455

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Abstract

This article proposes to consider medieval textbooks, designed for the study of Greek, as major sources for historical sociolinguistic analyses on texts written in (high-register) Medieval Greek. It additionally discusses some aspects of the definition of historical sociolinguistics as a discipline, and stresses the importance of recovering the speech community’s perspective on Medieval Greek.

Special issue on: Place reference in conversation, Edited by Lila San Roque and N.J. Enfield

Open Access December 14, 2017

Place reference in Kula conversation

Nicholas Williams

Page range: 554-581

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Abstract

Place reference is pervasive in talk-in-interaction but remains less well understood than reference to persons. This paper explores place reference in Kula, an endangered non-Austronesian language of the Timor-Alor-Pantar family in southeastern Indonesia. Using a Conversation Analytic approach, it provides a description of both verbal and nonverbal resources for achieving successful reference to place in Kula. The paper also contributes to the cross-linguistic study of reference in conversation. The organization of practices for place reference in interaction in Kula is suggested to conform to more generic organizational principles, e.g. preferences for minimization and recognition, and fitting the formulation to the task-at-hand, while also reflecting properties specific to Kula, e.g. the use of elevationals in formulations of place reference.

Open Access December 29, 2017

Place Reference In Interaction

N.J. Enfield, Lila San Roque

Page range: 582-590

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Abstract

The language of place and space has been intensively studied in relation to grammatical characteristics, cross-linguistic variation, and cognition, as well as with regard to further questions central to social anthropology, psychology, and more. With this special issue, we focus on the pragmatic functions of references to places, as observed in informal social interaction. When people make reference to places in casual, everyday conversation, how do they do it, in what situations, and to what ends? We offer the first collection of findings from research on place reference in spontaneous, multi-party speech, with studies based on conversations recorded in the diverse geographic and cultural environments of outback Australia, highland New Guinea, island Indonesia and rural Mexico. The authors explore, from a range of angles, how and why people talk about place, for example, in regard to the vocabulary and grammar that a language has available to categorise space, and how people choose from among referential options in situated conversation to achieve communicative, social, and practical goals.

About this journal

Open Linguistics is an academic peer-reviewed journal covering all areas of linguistics. The objective of this journal is to foster free exchange of ideas and provide an appropriate platform for presenting, discussing and disseminating new concepts, current trends, theoretical developments and research findings related to a broad spectrum of topics: descriptive linguistics, theoretical linguistics and applied linguistics from both diachronic and synchronic perspectives.

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Coordinating Editors: Titela VÎLCEANU, Antonia CRISTINOI BURSUC, Verónica PACHECO COSTA, Loredana PUNGÃ
manuscript submission deadline: 15 June 2023

Recently Published Special Issues

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Perspectives on multilingual speakers, A. Stêpkowska & J. Sypiañska (eds).
Weak cesuras: what fuzzy boundaries can accomplish in talk-in-interaction, Dagmar Barth Weingarten & Richard Ogden (eds).
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Volume 3 Issue 1

Issue of Open Linguistics

A Systemic Functional Approach to the Passive Voice in English into Spanish Translation: Thematic Development in a Medical Research Article

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Issues in Action Formation: Requests and the Problem with x

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Constructed Action, the Clause and the Nature of Syntax in Finnish Sign Language

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Sociolinguistic Variation in the Nativisation of BSL Fingerspelling

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Multilinear Grammar: Ranks and Interpretations

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A Description of Tucumán Spanish Intonation in Argentina

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The Two Meanings of Sound Symbolism

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The Role of Semantics in Spanish Word Recognition: an Insight from Lexical Decision and Categorization Tasks

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Requests for Help in a Multilingual Professional Environment Testimonies and Actantial Models

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Anglophonic Influence in the Use of Sound Symbolism in Italian Disney Comics: A Corpus-based Analysis

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What Lies Underneath a Political Speech?: Critical Discourse Analysis of Thai PM’s Political Speeches Aired on the TV Programme Returning Happiness to the People

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Gender Agreement in Online Versus Classroom Students of First-Semester Spanish

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Theoretical Models and Specific Communication Situations in Projects

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Person and Knowledge: Introduction

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Shared vs. Primary Epistemic Authority in Jaminjung/Ngaliwurru

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Complexity in Egophoric Marking: From Agents to Attitude Holders

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Egophoricity, Involvement, and Semantic Roles in Tibeto-Burman Languages

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The Origin and Evolution of the Opposition between Testimonial and Factual Evidentials in Purik and Other Varieties of Tibetan

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The New Etymological Dictionary of Hungarian Idioms and Proverbs

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The Concept of Cultureme from a Lexicographical Point of View

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Language Orientations and the Sustainability of Arbanasi Language in Croatia – A Case of Linguistic Injustice

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From the Logic of Elimination to the Logic of the Gift: Towards a Decolonial Theory of Tlingit Language Revitalization

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Perspectives on Language Sustainability in a Performance Era: Discourses, Policies, and Practices in a Digital and Social Media Campaign to Revitalise Irish

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Theory and Praxis in Community Based Language Development: preliminary findings from applications of the Guide for Planning the Future of Our Language

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Language revitalization, modernity, and the Csángó mode of speaking

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Engaging with Linguistic Diversity in Global Cities: Arguing for ‘Language Hierarchy Free’ Policy and Practice in Education

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Historical Sociolinguistic Philology – a New Hybrid Discipline, its Interests, and its Scope

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Tocharian and Historical Sociolinguistics: Evidence from a Fragmentary Corpus

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Why Did the Buddhists Adopt Sanskrit?

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Aspects of variations in Byzantine Greek Documents of the patriarchal chancellery of Constantinople (14th c.)

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Some Remarks on Language Usage in Late Babylonian Letters

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Dēnkard III Language Variation and the Defence of Socio-Religious Identity in the Context of Early-Islamic Iran

Abstract

Medieval Textbooks as a Major Source for Historical Sociolinguistic Studies of (highregister) Medieval Greek

Abstract

Place reference in Kula conversation

Abstract

Place Reference In Interaction

Abstract

Aspects of variations in Byzantine Greek Documents of the patriarchal chancellery of Constantinople (14^th c.)