On languages on islands

Acta linguistica Hafniensia, 2019

Islands as distinct research sites have been given little specific attention by linguists. The physical segregation, distinctness, and isolation of islands from continental environments may provide scholars of language with distinct and robust sets of singular and combined case studies for examining the role of islandness in any appreciation of language. Is there anything distinct about languages spoken on islands and island languages as compared to languages spoken on mainlands and continents? This position article is the result of a round table workshop where this question was discussed by the authors at Aarhus Institute of Advanced Studies, Aarhus University, Denmark on 30 April 2018. There is a great diversity of islands, locations, geographies, and linguistic mixing around the world. This variety was demonstrated and represented by the 11 presenters. There were three rounds of presentations aimed to answer the question: Is there anything special about the languages of islands? And if so, can we talk about such thing as an island language? This research is offered as an invitation to scholars working on languages spoken on islands and to stimulate research on linguistic aspects relevant to island studies to advance this thinking.

Islands as distinct research sites have been given little specific attention by linguists. The physical segregation, distinctness, and isolation of islands from continental environments may provide scholars of language with distinct and robust sets of singular and combined case studies for examining the role of islandness in any appreciation of language. Is there anything distinct about languages spoken on islands and island languages as compared to languages spoken on mainlands and continents? This position article is the result of a round table workshop where this question was discussed by the authors at Aarhus Institute of Advanced Studies, Aarhus University, Denmark on 30 April 2018. There is a great diversity of islands, locations, geographies, and linguistic mixing around the world. This variety was demonstrated and represented by the 11 presenters. There were three rounds of presentations aimed to answer the question: Is there anything special about the languages of islands? And if so, can we talk about such thing as an island language? This research is offered as an invitation to scholars working on languages spoken on islands and to stimulate research on linguistic aspects relevant to island studies to advance this thinking.

Shima , 2021

This critical report-cum-position statement summarises several workshops and conference panels recently held in three Nordic countries-Denmark, Iceland, and the Faroe Islands-based in developing the concept of island languages. It puts forward the epistemology and ontology of these sessions. The role these gatherings are playing in encouraging a more linguistically mandated direction within island studies and the study of island languages, especially in the Nordic countries and Europe, is summarised.

International Journal of Research, 2021

This critical report-cum-position statement summarises several workshops and conference panels recently held in three Nordic countries—Denmark, Iceland, and the Faroe Islands—based in developing the concept of island languages. It puts forward the epistemology and ontology of these sessions. The role these gatherings are playing in encouraging a more linguistically mandated direction within island studies and the study of island languages, especially in the Nordic countries and Europe, is summarised.

Journal of Germanic Linguistics, 2012

Although German-language islands, or Sprachinseln, have a long standing tradition of study, it is not until recent times (see, for example, Fuller 2006, Huffines 1994, Salmons 1994) that one sees language island studies step away from a mainly sociolinguistic focus and incorporate theoretical frameworks. The volume being reviewed here is a collection of sixteen articles grounded in generative and structural perspectives encompassing a variety of German-language islands in North and South America and Europe. The articles are arranged in six sections: Section 1 "Phonetics and phonology," section 2 "Morphology and lexical studies," section 3 "Syntax I-verb clusters," section 4 "Syntax II-the syntax of Cimbrian German," section 5 "Syntax III-the syntax of Pennsylvania

The Palgrave Handbook of Minority Languages and Communities, 2018

2020

Preface iii 1 Le terme accidentia chez les grammairiens romains Vladimir I. Mazhuga 3 2 From localism to neolocalism Jean-Michel Fortis 15 3 Spatialization of time as a scientification strategy: Beauzée, Guillaume and the conceptual school of cognitive linguistics Lin Chalozin-Dovrat 51 4 Grammar and graphical semiotics in early syntactic diagrams: Clark (1847) and Reed-Kellogg (1876) Nicolas Mazziotta 67 5 Aux origines de la notion de polysémie en français : la formation du concept Bruno Courbon 83 6 The unfixed status of fixed expressions: Past and present approaches to a pervasive linguistic feature T.

2020

Preface iii 1 Le terme accidentia chez les grammairiens romains Vladimir I. Mazhuga 3 2 From localism to neolocalism Jean-Michel Fortis 15 3 Spatialization of time as a scientification strategy: Beauzée, Guillaume and the conceptual school of cognitive linguistics Lin Chalozin-Dovrat 51 4 Grammar and graphical semiotics in early syntactic diagrams: Clark (1847) and Reed-Kellogg (1876) Nicolas Mazziotta 67 5 Aux origines de la notion de polysémie en français : la formation du concept Bruno Courbon 83 6 The unfixed status of fixed expressions: Past and present approaches to a pervasive linguistic feature T.

Journal of Multilingual and Multicultural Development, 2023

Labeling of a code as a language or dialect is a process that involves multiple stakeholders. Fundamentally, the notions of language and dialect are not linguistic but ideological constructs. Academic and political definitions often overlap, but can also potentially be at odds with each other. This paper attempts to explore this dilemma by looking at linguistic and ethnographic data from two Nicobari codes in Central Nicobar; namely Lurö and Sanenyö. These codes have been labeled as part of a dialect chain based on lexicographic data as well as computational phylogenetic analyses. However, the speakers claim that these codes are distinct languages and that Lurö is not understood or spoken by Sanenyö speakers. Adding to this, ethnographic observations made during in-situ fieldwork on Teressa Island where both codes are spoken, paints a different picture and complicates the matter. It would seem that language labels, ways of speaking and meta-linguistic commentary are creatively employed by the speakers in order to negotiate with ongoing transformations in the power hierarchies on the island. The paper will analyze language structure, linguistic practices and language ideologies to understand how linguistic differentiation is produced and the role it plays in the (re)creation of socio-political formulations.

… Journal of Research …, 2008

The transformation of many small islands from isolated, subsistence-based economies into well-known and desired tourist sites is often accompanied by significant language change and recession in ancestral island communities, a growing topic of concern in the field of sociolinguistics. This discussion considers language change and recession on the island of Ocracoke, a small barrier island located off the coast of North Carolina in the US. It demonstrates how language change is related to shifting social and economic factors and intra-and inter-community relationships on the island. In the process, it also challenges the accepted definition of language endangerment in mainstream linguistics and argues on theoretical, historical, and cultural grounds for the inclusion of minority dialects threatened by dominant, mainstream varieties of English in the endangerment canon.