Doctoral Dissertation Research: Examining Language Transmission in an Endangered Language Speech Community

博士论文研究：检查濒危语言言语社区中的语言传播

• 批准号: 0719035
• 负责人: Gillian Sankoff
• 金额: --
• 依托单位: University of Pennsylvania
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Standard Grant
• 财政年份: 2007
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2007-08-15 至 2009-07-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=0719035&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: Doctoral; Dissertation; Research; Examining; Language

Language shift is the process by which a bilingual community gradually stops using one language in favor of the other. The favored language is almost without exception the language of the majority or dominant linguistic group; in most countries over the past century the favored language has been that of the current or former colonial power. When the community is home to the last speakers of the disfavored language, then the language faces endangerment and, eventually, death. The dire predictions about the large number of languages that will be lost by the end of this century have created a new sense of urgency which has accelerated both the study of language shift and efforts to reverse the process. There are very few examples where language maintenance or revitalization efforts have been completely successful. Once the process of language shift has started and language loss is imminent, there is little chance that the language will ever again be spoken as the first and primary language of the community. As part of the continuing work on the process of language shift, this project will examine language transmission from caregivers to children in a multilingual speech community where language shift to the dominant national language has not yet occurred. With National Science Foundation support, Ms. Maya Ravindranath will study the speech community in Hopkins, Belize, where speakers are bilingual in Garifuna and Belizean Creole (also known as Bileez Kriol). Although it is normally impossible to predict language shift before it happens, the community of Hopkins offers a very unique situation. Hopkins remains one of the few communities where children are still learning Garifuna, even though the language is moribund in most of the communities in Central America where it was once the primary language of communication. Hopkins, therefore, offers a potential opportunity to examine language shift from a much earlier point than has been possible before. Either language shift in Hopkins is delayed but imminent, following the trend of other Garifuna-speaking communities, or some set of sociocultural factors has ensured the success of continuing language transmission, unlike apparently similar communities that have ceased to transmit their historical ethnic language. The goal of this dissertation project is to explore the early indicators of language shift and the language attitudes of Hopkins speakers through interviews, observations, and recordings of caregivers and children's speech.

语言转换是双语社区逐渐停止使用一种语言而倾向于使用另一种语言的过程。受青睐的语言几乎无一例外地是多数或占主导地位的语言群体的语言；在过去的一个世纪里，在大多数国家，受青睐的语言一直是现任或前任殖民强国的语言。当社区是最后一批说这种不受欢迎语言的人的家园时，这种语言就会面临灭绝，并最终走向死亡。关于到本世纪末将有大量语言消失的可怕预测产生了一种新的紧迫感，这既加速了对语言转变的研究，也加快了扭转这一进程的努力。语言维护或振兴努力取得完全成功的例子寥寥无几。一旦语言转变的过程已经开始，语言损失迫在眉睫，这种语言就不太可能再作为社区的第一语言和主要语言使用。作为关于语言转变进程的持续工作的一部分，该项目将审查多语种语言社区中从照顾者向儿童的语言传播情况，在该社区中，语言尚未转变为主要的国家语言。在国家科学基金会的支持下，Maya Ravindranath女士将研究伯利兹霍普金斯的语言社区，那里的演讲者使用加里富纳和伯利兹克里奥尔语(也称为Bileez Kriol)。虽然通常不可能在语言转换发生之前预测它，但霍普金斯的社区提供了一个非常独特的情况。霍普金斯仍然是为数不多的几个仍在学习加里富纳语的社区之一，尽管在中美洲的大多数社区，这种语言已经濒临死亡，因为它曾经是主要的交流语言。因此，霍普金斯大学提供了一个潜在的机会，可以从一个比以前更早的角度来研究语言的变化。要么是霍普金斯的语言转移被推迟了，但迫在眉睫，跟随着其他加里富纳语社区的趋势，要么是一些社会文化因素确保了继续语言传播的成功，而不像表面上类似的社区已经停止传播他们的历史民族语言。本论文的目的是通过对看护人和儿童演讲的访谈、观察和录音，探索霍普金斯大学说话者语言迁移的早期指标和语言态度。