Il Ligure, e le lingue minoritarie.

Da quando sono nato, non ho mai avuto molto contatto con lingue minoritarie e dialetti. I miei genitori parlavano strettamente Italiano. Sono nato a Roma come i miei genitori, anche loro cresciuti monolingue. A sentirli parlare si poteva tuttalpiù  notare un accento abbastanza romano, ma neanche così forte. E questa differenza l’ho potuta notare solamente quando all’età di 6 anni ci siamo trasferiti ad Imperia, una provincia del Ponente ligure. Alcuni dei miei amici trovavano divertente l’accento con cui pronunciavo alcune parole, ma avendo vissuto lì per oltre 15 anni il mio accento è diventato neutro. Tuttavia, non c’è solo l’accento che è tipico della liguria. Se ti inoltrerai lungo le calate delle vecchi moli, con le stradicciole e le vecchie case, potrai udire le persone (specie quelle anziane), parlare in un altra lingua.  La lingua a cui mi riferisco è il dialetto Ligure . Il quale è poco comprensibile se non lo conosci. Esistono molti dialetti in Italia che riesco a comprendere più facilmente. Ma se sento parlare il ligure stretto, Imperiaè probabile che non capisca più del 10-20 % di quel che viene detto.  Questa lingua, è a parer mio in pericolo. Pur avendo vissuto in Liguria per 15 anni, sono entrato in contatto con il Ligure poche volte. Il ligure non viene insegnato nelle scuole, non viene trasmesso regolarmente nelle televisioni, e la maggior parte dei miei amici anche originari del posto, non sa come esprimersi ligure, e capisce questa lingua quanto me. Per la verità, la maggior parte delle volte che ho potuto ascoltare il ligure, è grazie a delle canzoni.

 

Più nello specifico, mi riferisco alle canzoni di Fabrizio de Andrè, cantautore famoso in un tutta Italia, è il cantante simbolo e orgoglio di tutta la liguria. Nato e vissuto a Genova, si contraddistingue fra le altre cose, per cantare molte delle sue canzoni In Ligure, portando in qualche modo la lingua in contatto anche con il resto d’Italia.  Ovviamente la sua popolarità è ancora più forte in Liguria. Il cantautore ha contribuito forse più di tutti a far sì che la gente ascoltasse il Ligure, o cantasse in ligure. Io stesso sono in grado di ripetere a memoria molti dei versi delle sue canzoni, e capirne parzialmente il significato. Una delle sue canzoni più famose, rimane  “Crêuza de mä” cantata interamente in genovese, e che fa riferimenti alla vita nella “Genova vecchia”.

Anche se probabilmente il suo intento non era quello di salvaguardare il futuro della lingua ligure, si può ipotizzare che ha contribuito più lui in questa causa che “top bottom policies”. Questo dipende largamente dal difficile status del Ligure, che pur essendo una lingua a se stante, non è riconosciuta come “Lingua Minoritaria Europea”. Di conseguenza non ci sono efficaci policies di salvaguardia. Per altre lingue presenti sul territorio Italiano esistono misure si protezione più radicate, sebbene talvolta non perfette. Tuttavia, dove manca l’istruzione e la televisione, arrivano le canzoni. Le canzoni di Fabrizio de Andre continuano ad essere intramontabili sebbene sia deceduto nel 1999.  Inoltre, la sua popolarità ha anche ispirato altri gruppo a cantare in ligure. Il più famoso esempio moderno, sono i “Buio Pesto” i quali si esibiscono in vari generi musicali, ma cantano quasi esclusivamente in Ligure.  Anche il nome del gruppo rimanda al famoso condimento di origine ligure, per l’appunto, il pesto.

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Per finire, a parte il supporto e la vitalità che queste canzoni forniscono alla lingua ligure, internet offre oggi la possibilità di fare molto di più per chi volesse. Infatti come ho potuto leggere in alcuni articoli, l’esponenziale crescita dell’utilizzo di internet ha creato nuove possibilità per le lingue minoritarie di essere ascoltate e conosciute.  Oggigiorno esistono Wikipedia in moltissime lingue, Ligure compreso. Artisti possono esprimersi e cantare canzoni nei loro dialetti raggiungendo chiunque fosse interessato grazie a youtube, come accade per molti aspiranti cantautori napoletani. Tutto ciò permette di ascoltare canzoni in lingue e dialetti di tutta italia e del mondo, un esperienza non poco interessante!

European Language Policies- An adequate answer ?

The European Continent is characterized by a huge lingustic diversity, which cannot be found elsewhere. Unfortunately or fortunately, it is slightly declining as English is increasingly becoming Europe’s lingua franca due to globalization. Taking into account this fact it can be said that is from essential importance to recognize and protect this unique diversity. 

Todays blog entry is focusing on the European Union – especially on how the principle of multilingualism is applied in its different institutions. Furthermore, it examines how and if the European Union can escape the dilemma being caught between the principle of equality and practicality.

Multilingualism in EU institutions

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As all of you know, Multilingualism in the European Union is significant as a guarantee of legal certainty and as a democratic accountability tool. Even though, the original European Community and Euratom identified only Dutch, French, German and Italian as official languages, the languages used increased constantly by the join of other Member States. Nowadays, 24 official and working languages are recognized within the European Institutions. However, even though the EU enjoins that all of its official and working languages should be equal in rights and status, the reality within the EU is more complex when it comes to the application of the principle of multilingualism. According to de Swaan (2007), the EU is permanently caught between the principle of equality and the principle of practicality, whereby the later underlies an efficiency component by only using a limited amount on working languages to be efficient. Despite being caught in this dilemma, the European Union is facing several other challenges, such as the increasing emergence of English as a lingua franca.

In particular, the principle of equality could not be implemented in reality for all EU institutions, as it is in practice failing to be efficient, especially when it comes to decision-making on important policies in the European Union. Taking into account the factor of efficiency it can be recognized that the amount of multilingualism applied differs from institution to institution and also depends on their certain working levels. Multilingualism for instance outweighs in proceedings of the the European Parliament, whereas it is losing importance and is also underlying restrictions when it comes to lower working levels such as meetings of the European Commission, which occur to be mostly in English or French.

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Taking into account these facts I would definitely agree with Van Els, who is arguing that one single working language would have several positive effects by saying ““Doing justice to the multilingualism of the EU does not mean that one must do justice to all languages under all circumstances.” In my opinion this statement is true and as the European Union can be described as a system “sui genris”, therefore constantly under change- one single language working language would it make even more efficient. Moreover, I believe the fact of being English as the lingua franca within Europe is a process that will continue for many years, even if there are many critics that see English as a lingua franca as an evolving worst case scenario for the future. Furthermore, I think it is quite difficult to find an appropriate policy which is welcomed by everyone. Especially, in the European Union due to its linguistic diversity, the language situation is very complex and difficult to manage. Furthermore, the issue of language belongs to a field where it is inevitable that it comes to confrontation, as everyone wants to remain his or her language as most important. However, in my opinion and also referring back to Van Els, it is necessary for the European Union to have a common working language to also avoid misunderstandings which can arise due to translations from one language into the other. I think it is time to see English as a opportunity to work even closer in the future rather than as a problem which should be eliminated. Nevertheless, I also think that the European Union should recognize and protect its linguistic diversity, but this can also be done on national levels, where the different Member States could implement policies that protect the national language and regional minority languages.

Finally, I would argue that the current language policy of the European Union is not really an adequate answer, but maybe there won’t be an adequate answer in the future, as the rise of a lingua franca most of the times evolves in a slinking process. In my opinion it does not make sense to argue over a fact that will continue anyways. I as a European citizen will not feel deprived  if English becomes the official lingua franca, if it helps to make our whole system more transparent and efficient.What I think is also a doable proposal, is to set up a policy which is promoting the teaching of English in early stages of education to make it available from the beginning so that at least further generations have a basic understanding.

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best,

Pia

 

 

 

 

RECHTSTRAAT’S RESTAURANTS & LANGUAGES

Finally! After blood, sweat, tears and a few beers, we are proud to present you with our insight on Linguistic Landscape in Maastricht.

As you will see, we  decided to focus on restaurants and bars, much to our enjoyment! Our first day of filming, we  had a lovely pizza at the Ristorante Quattro Mori, followed by a refreshing Guinness in John Mullins. The second day, we enjoyed typical Thai Noodles in Tasty Thai!

We hope you enjoy this video, don’t hesitate to ask your questions in the comments!
Cheers,

Benjamin & Céline

 

 

 

Media Use to Preserve a Heritage: The Case of Transylvanian Saxon (Siebenbürger Sächsisch)

Emblem of the Transylvanian Saxons: Die sieben Türme stehen für die sieben Stühle Siebenbürgens (Broos, Mühlbach, Reußmarkt, Hermannstadt, Leschkirch, Großschenk, Schäßburg, Reps).

“Mundart sprechen heißt in der Sprache barfuß gehen.”

Quoted from an Transylvanian Saxon poem (see video clip below), this line well accounts for the intimacy and sensitivity involved with speaking regional or international minority languages. Transylvanian Saxon is an outlying dialect of Moselle-Franconian spoken by a German minority in Romania which, however, cannot be subsumed under “Standard German”. This German minority group has settled in Romania from the 12th century onwards, where the dialect was developed and maintained independently from other languages within the German minority community. The majority of Transylvanian Saxons now live in Germany. With less than 50.000 speakers in its country of origin, namely Romania, the language is classified as severely endangered by the UNESCO Atlas of the World’s Languages in Danger (www.unesco.org).

Continue reading Media Use to Preserve a Heritage: The Case of Transylvanian Saxon (Siebenbürger Sächsisch)

Breizh, ma bro, me ‘gar ma bro (Brittany, my country that I love)

Bretagne, or as the Breton call it, Breizh, is a truly beautiful and special place. It is where my father comes from, and where all of his ancestors come from as far as we can trace back. Almost every year since I was born I have gone back to this place that never stops to fascinate me. Bretagne (or Brittany in English) and the Breton, have a truly unique connection with the ocean, giving way to some of the most beautiful and wild coasts in the world, and a strong people, proud of their culture and their heritage.

Continue reading Breizh, ma bro, me ‘gar ma bro (Brittany, my country that I love)

Your language is on a feeding tube and a respirator. Is it time to pull the plug?

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The image above shows two families whom are native speakers of minority languages. One  of these languages is dying, the other continues to draw crowds annually at international conferences (spoilers it’s not the one pronounced Hizzle).

Continue reading Your language is on a feeding tube and a respirator. Is it time to pull the plug?

I n’a pu nouk qui djåse li wallon chal!

There's no one who speaks Walloon here!

For this post, I chose to write about Walloon, which has been part of my culture since I moved back to Belgium… although I don’t speak a word of it. Where I come from, in Liège, Walloon is always a bit present. My friends and I could, for instance, call a loud and obnoxious person on the street a ‘baraki’, or say ‘oufti, qué beau mec’, if we saw into a particularly charming  young man.

The video below depicts how “Liégeois” speak (somehow exaggerating and showing the worse things we say). Aside from the funny accent, the actors also use many Walloon words.

(If you’re too lazy to read the whole post, and want to jump straight to the fun, the last section of this blog gives a list of insults in Walloon!  )

 

Continue reading I n’a pu nouk qui djåse li wallon chal!

Notice Me Senpai

Language or Not

After many heated discussions if Limburgish is a language or not, I embarked on a heroic quest. And after what felt like ages (five minutes) I finally found the answer. Limburgish is a language and not a dialect. It was recognized as such in 1997 by the Dutch Government under European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. It is recognised as a regional language by The Hague and Wikipedia. Continue reading Notice Me Senpai

REVIVING AN EFFECTIVELY DEAD LANGUAGE

“If our language is extinct then what language are we writing in?”

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This question was asked by several children from Bunscoill Ghaelgagh, a primary school in St. John’s after the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization in 2009 declared the official language of the Isle of Man, Manx as officially extinct. UNESCO admitted that certain languages in their language atlas were rated as extinct but are now being actively revitalised and hence also the classification of Manx has since changed into ‘critically endangered’.

Continue reading REVIVING AN EFFECTIVELY DEAD LANGUAGE