scholarly journals Language Shift Revisited. Linguistic Repertoires of Jews in Low German-Speaking Germany in the Early 20th Century: Insights from the LCAAJ Archive

2018 ◽  
Vol 30 (2) ◽  
pp. 134-166
Author(s):  
Gertrud Reershemius
Keyword(s):  
20Th Century ◽  
First Language ◽  
Language Shift ◽  
Early 20Th Century ◽  
Northern Germany ◽  
Historical Sociolinguistics ◽  
Language And Culture ◽  
Low German ◽  
German Speaking

This paper analyzes the linguistic repertoires of Jews in the Low German-speaking areas in the first decades of the 20th century, as a contribution to historical sociolinguistics. Based on fieldwork questionnaires held in the archives of the Language and Culture Atlas of Ashkenazic Jewry (LCAAJ), it addresses the question of whether the Jewish minorities spoke a supralectal form of standard German or Koiné forms of dialects, relating this to issues of language shift from Western Yiddish. The study shows that many Jews living in northern Germany during the 1920s and 1930s still had access to a multilingual repertoire containing remnants of Western Yiddish; that a majority of the LCAAJ interviewees from this area emphasized their excellent command of standard German; and that their competence in Low German varied widely, from first language to no competence at all, depending on the region where they lived.*

"[...] über die outrirte, willkürliche Bezeichnung"

2021 ◽  
Vol 73 (1) ◽  
pp. 17-30
Author(s):  
Vasiliki Papadopoulou
Keyword(s):  
Nineteenth Century ◽  
20Th Century ◽  
Music Teachers ◽  
Early 20Th Century ◽  
Popular Medium ◽  
German Speaking ◽  
Joseph Joachim

Instructive editions from the late 19th and early 20th century include various annotations regarding musical and interpretative aspects, such as articulation, bowings, fingerings, dynamics, note values, or vibrato As a popular medium at the time, instructive editions were often in the centre of contemporary discussions and attracted the attention of musicians and music teachers, bequeathing us a wide corpus of valuable sources. Joseph Joachim was arguably the most prominent violinist and a sought-after pedagogue in the German-speaking world at the time. Hitherto unknown letters as well as revisited statements by Joachim lead to new insights regarding his attitude towards instructive editions: he viewed them - despite his (few) publications in this genre - very critically, as he was convinced that detailed instructions would limit the freedom of the performer. He instead preferred editions without annotations, but interpreted the music freely andd variably in what he considered the spirit of the composer. Joachim's attitude thus poses general questions as to the role and freedom of performance and interpretation in the second half of the nineteenth century.

scholarly journals “True Heirs to a Heroic Russian Past” or “Russians in Name Only”: Sitka Creoles as Seen by the Late Nineteenth Century Russian Orthodox Clergy

2020 ◽  
Vol 5 (4) ◽  
pp. 12-37
Author(s):  
Sergei Kan
Keyword(s):  
Nineteenth Century ◽  
20Th Century ◽  
Alaska Native ◽  
Late Nineteenth Century ◽  
Early 20Th Century ◽  
Russian Orthodox ◽  
Russian Culture ◽  
Language And Culture ◽  
Late Nineteenth

The paper examines the criticism levelled against the Creoles of Sitka (persons of Russian and Alaska Native descent) by the Russian Orthodox priests who came to minister among them in the late 19th-early 20th century. These clergymen accused their parishioners not only of immorality but also of not being truly Russian, as far as their language and culture were concerned. By focusing on this criticism, the paper explores the symbolic significance of Alaska’s Russian colonial and missionary history and its legacy in the conservative nationalist ideology of the Russian Orthodox clergy. Particular attention is paid to the causes to which this clergy attributed the decline of the Russian culture and devotion to Orthodoxy among the Creole population of this frontier American/Alaskan town.

Hausa

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Benedetta Rossi
Keyword(s):  
20Th Century ◽  
First Language ◽  
Early 20Th Century ◽  
Northern Nigeria ◽  
English Studies ◽  
Urban Centers ◽  
Early 21St Century ◽  
Farming Communities ◽  
Northern Cameroon ◽  
Regional Process

The term “Hausa” refers to a language spoken by over thirty million first-language speakers living mainly in the region now comprising northern Nigeria and southern Niger, with large Hausa-speaking enclaves in northern Cameroon, Ghana, Togo, and the Sudan. This term is also commonly used to refer to the society that speaks this language. However, historically Hausa society has been so internally diverse that it would be preferable to speak of “Hausa-speaking societies”: “It is almost impossible to say exactly what a Hausa is now, for he is admittedly a mixture of mixtures” (Tremearne 1911) Until the early-20th-century researchers of Hausaphone societies tended to distinguish between Muslim and “pagan” Hausa, with the latter comprising groups collectively labeled Maguzawa (northern Nigeria) and Azna, Arna, or Anna (southern Niger). Throughout the 20th century a regional process of Islamization resulted in the marginalization of non-Muslim and syncretic religious practices. Only a small minority of Hausa converted to Christianity. Political anthropologists distinguished between, on one hand, dynastic Hausa, politically centralized groups settled in the main Hausa cities, and on the other hand, lineage-based Hausa: farming communities living in the countryside. In the early 21st century these classifications are slowly becoming obsolete as all Hausa speakers are integrated in national political structures, and young people with rural origins gravitate toward large urban centers within and outside Africa in search of jobs and resources. While the literature on Hausa history, societies, and cultures in northern Nigeria is voluminous and primarily English, studies of Hausaphone southern Niger are fewer and mainly in French.

The Date of the Council of Serdica

2017 ◽  
Vol 1 (3) ◽  
pp. 282-310
Author(s):  
Mark DelCogliano
Keyword(s):  
20Th Century ◽  
Fourth Century ◽  
Early 20Th Century ◽  
German Speaking ◽  
English Speaking ◽  
Made In

The precise date of the Council of Serdica is so important because it is essential for establishing the chronology of numerous events in fourth-century Christianity, and thus for reconstructing its overall history and developments. Unfortunately, this date has been under debate for nearly two centuries. Traditionally, the council was dated to 347 C.E., but discoveries in the 18th and 19th centuries led scholars to favor first 344 and then 343. In the early 20th century, Eduard Schwartz inaugurated a new stage in the debate when he argued for 342. In his wake, most French, Italian, and English-speaking scholars argued for 343, whereas most German-speaking scholars followed Schwartz's authority and endorsed 342. In 1974, Marcel Richard advanced a novel argument in favor in 342 that appeared to cement this date for its advocates. Recently, however, 343 appears to be the preferred date even in German scholarship. After more than a century of debate, it seems, a consensus has been reached. This essay offers the most comprehensive reassessment of this debate to date to see if it really should be considered concluded. It re-examines all the evidence and all the arguments made in support of one date or another, in particular those of Schwartz and Richard, and argues that the case for the Council of Serdica's having been held in the autumn of 343 should be considered conclusive; thus, the lengthy debate can rightly be closed.

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