Preserving Languages Beyond the Political Dimension: Some Proposals for a Dialect Planning

Abstract

Summary.In the last few years a growing attention on the preservation of languages has developed, thanks to initiatives of language planning, which imply inter alia the recognition of an idiom as a language at the political level. This view follows the dichotomy between those idioms that are official languages of institutions and those which h do not have such status, i.e. dialects. However, the difference between languages and dialects being socio-linguistic and not linguistic tout court, the efforts for preserving languages should not take the official status as a reference point. In addition, since it is very unlikely to give the same official status to a large number of languages, a different solution should be envisaged for non-official languages. Thus, they could be preserved through initiatives that can be named as dialect planning, the main purpose of which is not spreading a language in all domains but its preservation. Dialect planning is analysed in this study considering its five steps:(1) corpus planning that entails, first of all, language documentation; (2) status planning that implies some protections without entailing the recognition of the status of official language in the light of the linguistic rights; (3) prestige planning that counterbalances the 'weaker' status of dialects with respect to languages, by instilling in speakers the awareness that idioms are fundamental parts of cultures; (4) acquisition planning that identifies the strategies carried out for teaching a language; and (5) family language planning aimed at strengthening the family language transmission.Keywords: dialect planning, language planning, language policy, language rights, Intangible Cultural Heritage.Così ci parlano del gran danno che sia il i nostri figliuoli quasi bilingui, lasciando loro cioè il dialetto materno e costringendoli a studiare, al modo che si fa d'un idioma estraneo, la lingua che si dice nostra, con tanto spreco, aggiungono, delle loro intelligenze, e in tanto bisogno di far tesoro di ogni più piccol briciolo delle facoltà mentali della nazione; come se la scienza e l'esperienza non dimostrassero in cento maniere, che è anzi una condizione privilegiata, nell'ordine dell'intelligenza, questa dei figliuoli bilingui, […]

Symptoms of Diglossia Leakage in Multilingual Society in Pangandaran Regency Tourism Area

“…Based on the results of the study, 96 out of 100 respondents (41 civil servants and 55 non-civil servants) agreed with the statement that it is important for offsprings in a family to master the first language of both parents. It is a language preservation initiative by considering family language planning strategies to strengthen family language transmission (Bernini, 2014).…”

The Preservation of Hokkien

“…Language can be viewed as a verbal expression of culture to maintain and convey culture and cultural ties. Bernini believes that preserving a dialect means preserving not just a language, but also the culture based on that language that in turn can play an important role in the preservation of the language itself [8]. Romaine makes clear that the arguments in favor of doing something to reverse language death are about preserving cultures and habitats [9].…”

“…Bernini [23] in his article puts forward 5 steps of planning a dialect (in a top-to-bottom order): corpus planning (the documentation of a dialect), status planning (the judical safeguarding in the light of the language rights), prestige planning (the promotion of activities aimed at spreading the cultural importatnce), acquisition planning (the way to teach it), and family language planning (the transmission inside family). In China, the legal position of Mandarin keeps the possibilities of corpus planning for Hokkien at bay; the family language planning will not be an acceptable result for Hokkien communities.…”