A marosvásárhelyi magyar-román viszony a toponímiai tájkép tükrében

n the past years, the relationship between Transylvanian Hungarians and Romanians has been stressed by symbolic conflicts that revolved around the Hungarians’ use of their minority language and symbols. These conflicts are more pronounced in ethnically mixed cities where Hungarians are still living in significant numbers. This paper analyses one such city, Târgu Mureş, from the perspective of critical toponymy. It studies how efficiently local Hungarian and Romanian symbols are inscribed onto the toponymic landscape, as well as what kind of nationalisms they suggest. Drawing on theoretical insights from nationalism studies and critical toponymic research, the study interprets empirical data based on the analysis of street names, educational institution names and the bilingualism of street name signs. On the one hand, the paper concludes that Romanian symbols are overrepresented in the toponymy. On the other hand, it suggests that local Romanian nationalism has a nationalising character whereas local Hungarian nationalism seems to be more local patriotic in nature.

Hand in Hand or Worlds Apart? An Overview of Translation and Education in the Upper Sorbian Context

The second smallest of the Slavic languages, Upper Sorbian (hornjoserbšćina) is a minority language spoken in Upper Lusatia, located in eastern Germany close to the Czech and Polish frontiers. Building on previous work, this literature-based preliminary study explores the intersection between the domains of translation and minority language education with regard to the Upper Sorbian language. Initially, a historical and contemporary overview of the relevant sociolinguistic environment is provided, which is followed by an examination of the links between translation and education in the Upper Sorbian secondary and tertiary education sectors, as well as in professional training for language professionals. In addition, particular attention is also paid to the role of Domowina Verlag, the Sorbian-language publishing house. Finally, relevant information and new developments regarding the provision of translation and interpreting within the Upper Sorbian context are also presented, and the need for further empirical research is outlined.

Minority Languages as a Resource for Tourism Promotion on the Web: The Case of Some Minority Communities in Italy

Minority languages have been the subject of a rich literature in the field of the sociolinguistics of tourism and a number of works have underlined that they have been increasingly used in tourism promotion in the last few decades as they convey overtones evoking authenticity. Travel websites do not only provide a first glance at a destination for potential guests, but they are also part of the tourist experience because they introduce visitors to relevant contents related to specific places. In view of this, in websites of a destination where a minority language is spoken the use of the local variety could be particularly relevant in order to promote a specific place as offering an immersion into a unique cultural experience. The present article addresses the question how ten minority communities in Italy mobilize their local languages for self-representation purposes within their tourism websites.

Translanguaging space and translanguaging practices in multilingual Russian-speaking families

Translanguaging is seen both as a threat and as an opportunity for minority language development and transmission. While the theme of translanguaging has been explored especially in a context of migration, the novelty of this study lies in its investigation of the multiple contexts in which translanguaging is examined. In order to understand the nature of translanguaging, we adopt a novel interdisciplinary approach and view it in all its complexity, including liminal spaces of linguistic landscape. Family language policy affects the home linguistic environment. Our purpose is to investigate language choices by multilingual Russian-speakers in Cyprus, Sweden and Estonia, immigrant and minority settings, and try to understand how they are reflected in the multilingual interaction of the families. Using ethnographic participant observations and oral spontaneous multilingual production, our study attempts to describe how communication is managed through translanguaging practices among multilingual Russian-speaking families members in the cultural and linguistic environments of the three countries. By looking closely at the complexities of translanguaging space, it is our ambition to gain new insights about how it is organised and how translanguaging becomes a valuable linguistic resource in multilingual families. Our results indicate that translanguaging practices can be used in family conversational contexts and contribute to the creation of a rich and positive family repertoire. A new norm of Russian has been developed in all the three settings. A language shift can happen more quickly than expected, and, thus, it is important for parents to provide many opportunities for practising Russian as the L1.

Minority Language Learning and Use: Can Self-Determination Counter Social Determinism?

To what extent is minority language use in society imposed by social determinism, a force acting on individuals based on the language group's relative vitality in terms of demography, institutional support, and status? Can social determinism be countered by the force of self-determination sustained by group members’ personal autonomy, critical consciousness, and strong engaged integrated identity? These questions are addressed by testing a revised Self-determination and ethnolinguistic development (SED) model, using structural equation modeling. This model specifies how three categories of language socialization (enculturation, personal autonomization, critical consciousness-raising) mediate between objective ethnolinguistic vitality (EV) and four psycholinguistic constructs (engaged integrated identity, community engagement, linguistic competencies, subjective EV) in the prediction of minority language use. Results on a large sample of French Canadian students in different EV settings strongly support the SED model and show that social determinism can be at least moderately countered by psycholinguistic constructs that increase individual self-determination.