scholarly journals Lengua de los indios, lengua española:Religious Conversion and the Languages of New Spain, ca. 1520–1585

2016 ◽  
Vol 85 (4) ◽  
pp. 690-723
Author(s):  
Daniel I. Wasserman-Soler
Keyword(s):  
Sixteenth Century ◽  
Language Policy ◽  
Catholic Church ◽  
New Spain ◽  
Indigenous Languages ◽  
Spanish American ◽  
Language Policies ◽  
Colonial Era ◽  
Religious Landscape ◽  
Insight Into

This article examines the language policies of sixteenth-century Mexico, aiming more generally to illuminate efforts by Mexican bishops to foster conversions to Christianity. At various points throughout the colonial era, the Spanish Crown and the Catholic Church propagated the use of Castilian among Amerindians; leaders of these institutions, however, also encouraged priests to study indigenous languages. That Spanish authorities appear to have never settled on a firm language policy has puzzled modern scholars, who have viewed the Crown and its churchmen as vacillating between “pro-indigenous” and “pro-Castilian” sentiments. This article suggests, however, that Mexico's bishops intentionally extended simultaneous support to both indigenous languages and Castilian. Church and Crown officials tended to avoid firm ideological commitments to one language; instead they made practical decisions, concluding that different contexts called for distinct languages. An examination of the decisions made by leading churchmen offers insight into how they helped to create a Spanish-American religious landscape in which both indigenous and Spanish elements co-existed.

Language Policy Execution

2020 ◽  
pp. 579-614
Author(s):  
Paul Hendry Nkuna
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
Language Policy ◽  
South African ◽  
Indigenous Languages ◽  
Public Institution ◽  
Ministry Of Education ◽  
Language Policies ◽  
South African Universities ◽  
Official Languages ◽  
The Republic

South Africa is a multilingual country with 11 official languages. The Constitution of the Republic of South Africa, 1996, provides that every learner may use the official language of his or her choice in any public institution of the country. The Language Policy for Higher Education (Ministry of Education, 2002) requires all South African universities to develop and execute language policies. This chapter focuses on language policy execution by South African universities. The emphasis is on the execution of language policy in relation to the promotion and development of the nine official indigenous languages, namely isiNdebele, isiXhosa, isiZulu, Sepedi, Sesotho, Setswana, siSwati, Tshivenda and Xitsonga.

Empathy, Patients’ Needs, and Therapeutic Innovation in the Medical Literature of Early Viceregal Mexico

2020 ◽  
pp. 103-116
Author(s):  
Yarí Pérez Marín
Keyword(s):  
Sixteenth Century ◽  
New Spain ◽  
Medical Knowledge ◽  
The Body ◽  
Local Source ◽  
Colonial Mexico ◽  
Medical Texts ◽  
Colonial Era ◽  
Point Of Departure ◽  
Scientific Debates

Agustín Farfán’s Tractado breve de anothomia y chirvgia (1579) stands out as one of the most widely read medical texts of sixteenth-century colonial Mexico, printed more times than any other local source on health and the body during the period. Despite its popularity then, it has not received as much attention from scholars as projects by other medical authors of the colonial era who either wrote before Farfán did, or were better positioned in European circles, or whose work is seen as having tapped into cutting-edge scientific debates. This chapter proposes a new entry point into the Tractado, highlighting its singular connection with the readers of New Spain, and taking as a point of departure the revisions between the first and second editions: a series of context-driven changes that reveal shifting attitudes toward patients’ needs and indigenous medical knowledge.

Beyond Chinese Linguistic Imperialism: Multi-linguistic Policy

2015 ◽  
Author(s):  
Baogang He
Keyword(s):  
Multicultural Education ◽  
Language Policy ◽  
Language Teaching ◽  
Chinese Script ◽  
Language Policies ◽  
Linguistic Imperialism ◽  
Linguistic History ◽  
History Of ◽  
Future Direction ◽  
Insight Into

In discussing the erosion of Tibetan language teaching in Tibet, Chapter 9 explores China’s long history of ‘linguistic imperialism’ and asks how it is mediating, and perhaps even undermining, multicultural education in the PRC. It finds that China’s linguistic history has been one of linguistic imperialism in which China’s language policies have been shaped by the dominance of the Chinese script and by the state’s desire to create and maintain Great Unity. This chapter also offers insight into the probable future direction of linguistic trends of Tibetan language teaching, and suggests several ways in which China can go beyond linguistic imperialism in pursuing a plural and multi-linguistic language policy.

The Franciscans in Colonial Chile

1954 ◽  
Vol 10 (4) ◽  
pp. 471-480
Author(s):  
Howard F. Cline
Keyword(s):  
Sixteenth Century ◽  
New Spain ◽  
Colonial Era ◽  
Short Time ◽  
Comparable Period

The 400th anniversary of the entrance into Chile of the Order of Friars Minor, the Franciscans, is appropriately being commemorated by our presence here tonight. I am honored to have been asked to state briefly for you some of the highlights of their activities in that land during the colonial era.It is a relatively unpublicized story, but one worthy of retelling by those better equipped for the task than I am. Coming from the field of Mexican studies, where in a comparable period one finds rich and extensive resources portraying the important role played by the Franciscans in New Spain, I was immediately impressed on looking into the Chilean matter that there are relatively few materials readily available even to reconstruct the narrative of the Franciscans in Chile. To fill that gap would be a very worthy project. One conclusion which grew out of these brief researches is that the role which Franciscans played in colonial Chile, especially in the sixteenth century, was perhaps a major one, and should be more widely known. In the short time at my disposal here, I can but hint at the outlines, revealed in printed works locally accessible. I ask your indulgence for what undoubtedly may turn out on further investigation to be major omissions.

Language Policy Execution

2017 ◽  
pp. 220-255
Author(s):  
Paul Hendry Nkuna
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
Language Policy ◽  
South African ◽  
Indigenous Languages ◽  
Public Institution ◽  
Ministry Of Education ◽  
Language Policies ◽  
South African Universities ◽  
Official Languages ◽  
The Republic

South Africa is a multilingual country with 11 official languages. The Constitution of the Republic of South Africa, 1996, provides that every learner may use the official language of his or her choice in any public institution of the country. The Language Policy for Higher Education (Ministry of Education, 2002) requires all South African universities to develop and execute language policies. This chapter focuses on language policy execution by South African universities. The emphasis is on the execution of language policy in relation to the promotion and development of the nine official indigenous languages, namely isiNdebele, isiXhosa, isiZulu, Sepedi, Sesotho, Setswana, siSwati, Tshivenda and Xitsonga.

The Politics of Language Education in Africa

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Russell H. Kaschula ◽  
Michael M. Kretzer
Keyword(s):  
Language Policy ◽  
Language Attitudes ◽  
Language Education ◽  
Indigenous Languages ◽  
Educational Institutions ◽  
Language Policies ◽  
Learning And Teaching ◽  
Close Relationship ◽  
Micro Level ◽  
Sub Saharan

Language policies in sub-Saharan African nations emerge out of specific political, historical, socioeconomic, and linguistic conditions. Education plays a crucial role for all spheres of language policy. Policies either upgrade or downgrade indigenous languages through their application at various educational institutions. The most significant example is the selection of the language(s) used as languages of learning and teaching at higher-education institutions. The region’s colonial history also influences the language policies of the independent African states. Language policy in Senegal is an example of a francophone country focusing on a linguistic assimilation policy in which minor reforms in favor of indigenous languages have taken place. Rwanda’s language policy is unique as the former francophone nation now uses English as an exoglossic language in a type of hybrid language policy. Botswana is an example of an anglophone country that follows a language policy that is dominated by a very close connection to the notion of nation-building through its concentration on a single language, Setswana, alongside English. Tanzania is an anglophone African country whose policy focuses on Kiswahili, which is one of the very few indigenous and endoglossic languages. Kiswahili is broadly used in Tanzanian educational institutions until the tertiary level, but its use as medium of instruction focuses on the primary level. South Africa demonstrates the very close relationship between general political decisions and language policy and vice versa. Language policy decisions are never neutral and are influenced by the politics of a specific country. As a result, individual and societal language attitudes influence language policies. In addition to this, the overt and official language policy on a macro level may differ from the implementation of such policies on a micro level. At the micro level, practice can include covert language practices by various stakeholders.

Comparing the New World and the Old: Fray Juan Bautista and the Languages of the Spanish Monarchy

2021 ◽  
Vol 25 (3) ◽  
pp. 227-258
Author(s):  
Daniel I. Wasserman-Soler
Keyword(s):  
Native American ◽  
Sixteenth Century ◽  
New Spain ◽  
New World ◽  
Language Use ◽  
Religious Conversion ◽  
Colonial Period ◽  
Indigenous Languages ◽  
Religious Orders ◽  
Language Strategies

Abstract Born in New Spain, fray Juan Bautista Viseo (b. 1555) authored perhaps a dozen books in Nahuatl, Castilian, and Latin, making him one of the most prolific writers of the colonial period in Mexico. While many are lost, his available texts provide a valuable window into religious conversion efforts in the Spanish monarchy around 1600. This paper investigates his recommendations regarding how priests and members of religious orders ought to use indigenous languages. In the sixteenth-century Spanish territories, Church and Crown officials discussed language strategies on several fronts. This paper also compares Juan Bautista’s ideas about language use in Mexico to similar discussions elsewhere in the Spanish kingdoms. Existing scholarship has highlighted parallels in how the Spanish monarchy dealt with Native American and Islamic communities. However, an examination of Juan Bautista’s writing, together with that of contemporary churchmen, suggests fundamental differences in the ways that Spanish officials thought about and approached Amerindians and Moriscos.

scholarly journals Prospects and Problems of Language Policy

2020 ◽  
Vol 2 (1) ◽  
pp. 330-337
Author(s):  
Ahmed Sabi Kazeem ◽  
Muritala Imam Suleiman
Keyword(s):  
Language Policy ◽  
Growth And Development ◽  
National Policy ◽  
Indigenous Languages ◽  
Foreign Languages ◽  
Indigenous Language ◽  
Cultural Integration ◽  
Official Language ◽  
Language Policies ◽  
National Policy On Education

Indigenous languages in Nigeria have been relegated to the background at the expense of foreign languages. Official language policies have variously been enunciated in documents such as the National Policy on Education. Yet, there are problems facing indigenous language is Nigeria. This study examined prospects and problems of language policy to indigenous languages in Nigeria. Scholars and researchers were of the opinion that indigenous languages in Nigeria should incorporate socio-cultural activities. Problems facing the growth and development of indigenous languages were identified and prospects and possible solutions to the identified problems were proffered. It was therefore concluded that despite Nigeria is a multilingual society, there are few multilingual speakers of indigenous languages. It was however recommended that indigenous languages should be developed in order to enhance socio-cultural integration.

scholarly journals On the Pre-Columbian Origin of Proto-Omagua-Kokama

2014 ◽  
Vol 7 (2) ◽  
pp. 309-344 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lev Michael
Keyword(s):  
Language Policy ◽  
Language Contact ◽  
18Th Century ◽  
17Th Century ◽  
Indigenous Languages ◽  
Colonial Era ◽  
Brazilian Amazonia ◽  
Historical Materials ◽  
Contact Language ◽  
Jesuit Mission

Cabral (1995, 2007, 2011) and Cabral and Rodrigues (2003) established that Kokama and Omagua, closely-related indigenous languages spoken in Peruvian and Brazilian Amazonia, emerged as the result of intense language contact between speakers of a Tupí-Guaraní language and speakers of non-Tupí-Guaraní languages. Cabral (1995, 2007) further argued that the language contact which led to the development of Kokama and Omagua transpired in the late 17th and early 18th centuries, in the Jesuit mission settlements located in the provincia de Maynas (corresponding roughly to modern northern Peruvian Amazonia). In this paper I argue that Omagua and Kokama were not the product of colonial-era language contact, but were rather the outcome of language contact in the pre-Columbian period. I show that a close examination of 17th and 18th century missionary chronicles, Jesuit texts written in Omagua and Kokama, and modern data on these languages, make it clear that Omagua and Kokama already existed in a form similar to their modern forms by the time European missionaries arrived in Maynas in the 17th century. Moreover, I show that several key claims regarding ethnic mixing and Jesuit language policy that Cabral adduces in favor of a colonial-era origin for Kokama are not supported by the available historical materials. Ruling out a colonial-era origin for Omagua and Kokama, I conclude that Proto-Omagua-Kokama, the parent language from which Omagua and Kokama derive, was a pre-Columbian contact language.

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