scholarly journals Linguistic Landscapes in Multilingual Nepal: Urban Context

2019 ◽  
Vol 2 ◽  
pp. 12-28
Author(s):  
Basanta Kandel
Keyword(s):  
Language Contact ◽  
Linguistic Diversity ◽  
Public Spaces ◽  
Urban Spaces ◽  
Minority Languages ◽  
Linguistic Landscape ◽  
Urban Context ◽  
Language Groups ◽  
The Status ◽  
Symbolic Value

 Diversity in the linguistic landscape is a common phenomenon in multilingual country Nepal. We observe varied textual forms of language and signs in public spaces and spheres that surround us. Therefore, this study concerns to analyze the signs in linguistic landscapes in multilingual urban settings in Nepal. It reveals the status of different languages, deals with issues related to multilingualism, language policy, linguistic diversity, minority languages, hierarchies, and users. Besides, it observes intricacies of language contact and choice, power and status of language groups, and sociolinguistic situation. For this, observation and interpretative method of qualitative research were employed, 150 photographs were purposively snapped from five urban spaces in two month time. The signs were analyzed, compared and contrasted using a thematic approach with relevant theoretical backup. The finding revealed that the choice of language on signs bases on sign writer’s skill, presumed reader and symbolic value (Spolsky & Cooper, 1991). The study explored that the majority of urban linguistic landscapes are occupied by English signs, and English imperialism is a greater challenge for Nepali and vernacular languages. It is inferred that diversity in linguistic landscapes is the concrete manifestation of multilingual society where languages battle for their existence; therefore, the multilingual policy is the stipulation of the day.

Linguistic Landscapes in a Multilingual World

2013 ◽  
Vol 33 ◽  
pp. 190-212 ◽  
Author(s):  
Durk Gorter
Keyword(s):  
Linguistic Diversity ◽  
Empirical Studies ◽  
Rapid Expansion ◽  
Urban Spaces ◽  
Minority Languages ◽  
Linguistic Landscape ◽  
Landscape Studies ◽  
Theoretical Approaches ◽  
Wide Range ◽  
Key Issues

This article offers an overview of the main developments in the field of linguistic landscape studies. A large number of research projects and publications indicate an increasing interest in applied linguistics in the use of written texts in urban spaces, especially in bilingual and multilingual settings. The article looks into some of the pioneer studies that helped open up this line of research and summarizes some of the studies that created the springboard for its rapid expansion in recent years. The focus is on current research (from 2007 onward), including studies that illustrate main theoretical approaches and methodological development as key issues of the expanding field, in particular when applied in settings of societal multilingualism.Publications on the linguistic landscape cover a wide range of innovative theoretical and empirical studies that deal with issues related to multilingualism, literacy, multimodality, language policy, linguistic diversity, and minority languages, among others. The article shows some examples of the use of the linguistic landscape as a research tool and a data source to address a number of issues in multilingualism. The article also explores some possible future directions. Overall, the various emerging perspectives in linguistic landscape research can deepen our understanding of languages in urban spaces, language users, and societal multilingualism in general.

scholarly journals Are traditional minority languages a bench marking for the rights of migrant languages in the European Union?

2018 ◽  
Vol 30 (4) ◽  
pp. 40-60
Author(s):  
Christopher Houtkamp ◽  
László Marácz
Keyword(s):  
European Union ◽  
Linguistic Diversity ◽  
Comparative Approach ◽  
Minority Languages ◽  
Language Rights ◽  
The European Union ◽  
Member States ◽  
Linguistic Rights ◽  
The Status ◽  
The One

In this paper a normative position will be defended. We will argue that minimal territorial minority language rights formulated in terms of the personality principle referring to traditional minority languages granted in the framework of the European Union (EU) are a benchmark for non-territorial linguistic rights. Although territorial minority languages should be granted collective rights this is in large parts of Europe not the case. Especially in the Central and Eastern European Member States language rights granted to territorial languages are assigned on the basis of personal language rights. Our argumentation will be elaborated on the basis of a comparative approach discussing the status of a traditional territorial language in Romania, more in particular Hungarian spoken in the Szeklerland area with the one of migrant languages in the Netherlands, more in particular Turkish. In accordance with the language hierarchy implying that territorial languages have a higher status than non-territorial languages both in the EUs and Member States’ language regimes nonterritorial linguistic rights will be realized as personal rights in the first place. Hence, the use of non-territorial minority languages is conditioned much as the use of territorial minority languages in the national Member States. So, the best possible scenario for mobile minority languages is to be recognized as a personal right and receive full support from the states where they are spoken. It is true that learning the host language would make inclusion of migrant language speakers into the host society smoother and securing a better position on the labour market. This should however be done without striving for full assimilation of the speakers of migrant languages for this would violate the linguistic rights of migrants to speak and cultivate one’s own heritage language, violate the EUs linguistic diversity policy, and is against the advantages provided by linguistic capital in the sense of BOURDIEU (1991).

Introduction

2020 ◽  
pp. 1-6
Author(s):  
Sam Wolfe ◽  
Martin Maiden
Keyword(s):  
Language Contact ◽  
Minority Languages ◽  
Major Area ◽  
Area Of Interest ◽  
Linguistic Research ◽  
Variationist Sociolinguistics ◽  
The Status ◽  
Grammatical Change

The introduction to the volume lays out its conceptual, theoretical and empirical background. It highlights how grammatical change has been a major area of interest within French linguistics, but that standard French is too often the exclusive empirical focus, while insights from comparative Gallo-Romance data tend to be lacking. Sociolinguistic theory has traditionally formed a modest part of linguistic research on both historical and contemporary French, but the introduction highlights a renewed interest in variationist sociolinguistics, issues of language contact, and the status of minority languages with France. The introduction concludes with an overview of Smith’s contribution to linguistics and summaries of the chapters that together form the volume.

scholarly journals TATAR LANGUAGE:

2019 ◽  
Vol 8 (7) ◽  
Author(s):  
Dinara S. Sultan ◽  
Tatiana G. Bochina ◽  
Atirkul Ye. Agmanova ◽  
Yevgeniya A. Zhuravleva
Keyword(s):  
Ethnic Groups ◽  
Linguistic Diversity ◽  
Mutual Influence ◽  
The Other ◽  
Ethnic Identification ◽  
Minority Languages ◽  
Linguistic Landscape ◽  
Language And Culture ◽  
The One ◽  
Linguistic Aspect

Conservation and development of minority languages in countries unique in the ethno-linguistic aspect, such as Russia and Kazakhstan, are highly relevant. Wide linguistic diversity, on the one hand, and dominance of the official Russian in Russia and the official Kazakh and Russian languages in the socio-communicative system of society in Kazakhstan, on the other hand, determine the linguistic landscape and peculiarities of multilingualism in these states. Research interest in linguistic contacts of a modern multiethnic society has determined the choice of the processes of linguistic and ethnic identification, related issues of conservation and using the native language and culture by representatives of various ethnic groups living in Russia and Kazakhstan, as well as the specifics of their interaction and mutual influence under new geopolitical conditions as the object of the study

Giardini Govi is our spot! When parkour meets Genoa

Modern Italy ◽  
2015 ◽  
Vol 20 (3) ◽  
pp. 285-294
Author(s):  
Sebastiano Benasso
Keyword(s):  
Public Spaces ◽  
Point Of View ◽  
Urban Spaces ◽  
Urban Context ◽  
Specific Point ◽  
New Meanings ◽  
The Everyday ◽  
Public Area ◽  
Definition Of ◽  
The Town

This article focuses on the experience of a group of traceurs (people practising parkour) in the urban context of Genoa. It describes a public area of the town – the ‘spot' most frequently used for training – from the specific point of view of the traceurs. Genoa is made up of different and relatively autonomous public spaces with specific and cultural characters, but parkour originates from the attempt to disrupt and reconfigure the city's institutional framework. Genoese traceurs share some of their orientation with other parkour groups in Europe and North America: they are attempting to define new ways of moving and new meanings for urban spaces and to expand the standard definition of a citizen. However, in the urban environment of Genoa, traceurs have to face diverse forms of opposition to their attempts to define their own pathways through the everyday flow of people, and in the disciplinary gaze of other citizens.

scholarly journals The Linguistic Landscape of the Valencian Community: A Comparative Analysis of Bilingual and Multilingual Signs in Three Different Areas

Languages ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 4 (2) ◽  
pp. 38
Author(s):  
Lucía Bellés-Calvera
Keyword(s):  
Language Contact ◽  
Linguistic Diversity ◽  
Mother Tongue ◽  
Foreign Languages ◽  
Linguistic Landscape ◽  
Language Dominance ◽  
Contact Language ◽  
Private And Public ◽  
Official Languages ◽  
Urban Sites

During the last decades, the promotion of multilingualism has been key when designing linguistic policies in Europe. Previous research studies have focused on how languages are employed in fields such as education, media, and urban sites, among others. Bearing all this in mind, the aim of this paper is to analyse the linguistic landscapes of three municipalities located in a bilingual region in Spain, that of the Valencian Community. Thus, issues such as language contact, language dominance, and the languages used by a number of institutions on private and public signs were examined. As for the method, over 140 pictures of language signs were taken in order to examine language contact, language dominance, and the influence of official and foreign languages on private and public signs. The results suggest that the presence of languages may vary depending on the population living in these settings, the citizens’ mother tongue, and the policy regarding the minority language. The findings also indicate that the power of the two co-official languages is reinforced by public signs, whereas rich linguistic diversity is shown in private signs. All in all, it can be stated that the linguistic policy in the Valencian Community is not homogeneous throughout the region.

scholarly journals Visual multilingualism in the Arctic minority context of indigenous urban communities (Enontekiö, Dudinka and Khanty-Mansiysk)

2017 ◽  
Vol 2017 (96) ◽  
Author(s):  
Zsuzsa Duray ◽  
Csilla Horváth ◽  
Zsuzsa Várnai
Keyword(s):  
Cultural Identity ◽  
Urban Communities ◽  
Public Spaces ◽  
The Arctic ◽  
Minority Languages ◽  
Linguistic Landscape ◽  
Cultural Institutions ◽  
The Russian Federation ◽  
Visual Materials ◽  
The Given

The article summarizes some of the results of research on the current linguistic and cultural identity of the Sámi community in Enontekiö, Finland, of Nenets, Dolgan, Nganasan, Evenki and Enets communities in Dudinka, and of the Mansi community in Khanty-Mansiysk in the Russian Federation. The research focuses on analysing the linguistic landscapes of Enontekiö, Dudinka and Khanty-Mansiysk. The visual materials on linguistic landscape in general, and schoolscape in particular analysed in the paper were collected by the authors during their fieldworks: 2015 in Hetta, Enontekiö, 2008 and 2016 in Dudinka, and 2015 in Khanty-Mansiysk. We conclude that there is a direct correspondence between the representation of the minority languages in the broad linguistic landscape of the area and the official language policy of the state in question, the differences observed at the territories under investigation originate from the officiallanguage policy in the given state. The only domain of linguistic landscape in all the territories where the minority language is represented on its own or in combination with the majority language is that of educational and cultural institutions. The lack of monolingual minority signs in public spaces can also be the result of the fact that the use of the minority languages in writing is a recent development in all of these communities.

The linguistic landscape of multilingual picturebooks

2019 ◽  
Vol 5 (3) ◽  
pp. 281-301
Author(s):  
Nicola Daly
Keyword(s):  
Language Maintenance ◽  
Language Attitudes ◽  
Potential Effect ◽  
Minority Language ◽  
Minority Languages ◽  
Linguistic Landscape ◽  
Power Structures ◽  
Ethnolinguistic Vitality ◽  
Language Groups ◽  
The World

Abstract We often talk about ‘entering another world’ when we read a book. In this article it is argued that the way in which languages are presented in a picturebook can be seen as a linguistic landscape within the wider linguistic landscape of the world we are in. Previous studies of the linguistic landscape of bilingual picturebooks have shown that minority languages are afforded less space. In this article the linguistic landscape of 24 multilingual picturebooks from the Internationale Jugendbibliothek (Munich, Germany) are analysed. Findings show that languages given dominance in terms of order, size, and information mostly reflect the sociolinguistic setting in which these books are published, replicating power structures and potentially having negative implications for the ethnolinguistic vitality of minority language groups and their language maintenance or revitalisation. The potential effect on readers’ developing language attitudes is also explored.

Technological Application to Managing a Municipal Urban Garden

2022 ◽  
pp. 109-130
Author(s):  
Fernando Almeida ◽  
Nuno Miranda ◽  
Bruno Vieira
Keyword(s):  
Quality Of Life ◽  
Sustainable Agriculture ◽  
Production Process ◽  
Urban Agriculture ◽  
Consumer Goods ◽  
Urban Spaces ◽  
Urban Gardens ◽  
Urban Context ◽  
The Status

The implementation of urban gardens, which are increasingly appearing in cities, aims to respond actively to the growing demand for urban spaces for the installation of urban gardens, creating conditions for the practice of sustainable agriculture in an urban context. Through these initiatives, it is intended to ensure that the needs of the population are met and to maximize the benefits arising from the practice of urban agriculture, both for the environment and for people's quality of life. Technology is a facilitating element in the process of acquiring and maintaining these urban gardens. This chapter presents an app that can be used by farmers to manage the production of consumer goods in this space, providing information about the status of crops, products to be grown, and types of required maintenance. This app simplifies the production process and also increases the sustainability of agriculture activities considering the economic, social, and logistical dimensions.

scholarly journals Language Revitalization

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Aidan Pine ◽  
Mark Turin
Keyword(s):  
Linguistic Diversity ◽  
Political Identity ◽  
Language Revitalization ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Cultural Knowledge ◽  
Minority Languages ◽  
Language Loss ◽  
Linguistic Landscape ◽  
Geographical Regions ◽  
Wide Range

The world is home to an extraordinary level of linguistic diversity, with roughly 7,000 languages currently spoken and signed. Yet this diversity is highly unstable and is being rapidly eroded through a series of complex and interrelated processes that result in or lead to language loss. The combination of monolingualism and networks of global trade languages that are increasingly technologized have led to over half of the world’s population speaking one of only 13 languages. Such linguistic homogenization leaves in its wake a linguistic landscape that is increasingly endangered. A wide range of factors contribute to language loss and attrition. While some—such as natural disasters—are unique to particular language communities and specific geographical regions, many have similar origins and are common across endangered language communities around the globe. The harmful legacy of colonization and the enduring impact of disenfranchising policies relating to Indigenous and minority languages are at the heart of language attrition from New Zealand to Hawai’i, and from Canada to Nepal. Language loss does not occur in isolation, nor is it inevitable or in any way “natural.” The process also has wide-ranging social and economic repercussions for the language communities in question. Language is so heavily intertwined with cultural knowledge and political identity that speech forms often serve as meaningful indicators of a community’s vitality and social well-being. More than ever before, there are vigorous and collaborative efforts underway to reverse the trend of language loss and to reclaim and revitalize endangered languages. Such approaches vary significantly, from making use of digital technologies in order to engage individual and younger learners to community-oriented language nests and immersion programs. Drawing on diverse techniques and communities, the question of measuring the success of language revitalization programs has driven research forward in the areas of statistical assessments of linguistic diversity, endangerment, and vulnerability. Current efforts are re-evaluating the established triad of documentation-conservation-revitalization in favor of more unified, holistic, and community-led approaches.

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