Handbook of Language & Ethnic Identity, Ch 3

Linguistic and Ethnographic Fieldwork, by Nancy C. Dorian

The language & ethnicity link: ideal & actual

Every part of this picture can be wrong:

A certain people live in a certain place and speak a certain language. They have a unique name for themselves and their language. They like to teach outsiders about themselves.

Can you think of some examples where this picture has gone wrong?

Language & territory

• Most of the world’s languages are not confined to exclusive areas; in the world there are– About 200 countries– Over 5,000 languages

• The majority of languages are minority languages

• Many minorities are suspicious of outsiders

What researchers have found when they reached the field

• Garo in India – this was clear-cut for Robbins Burling in 1954 – the Garo were a majority in their area, and (nearly) all spoke the same language. “one-to-one connection between a people, a place, and a language”

What researchers have found when they reached the field

• Ugong in Thailand – clear identification is blurred, everyone wants to be Thai, people deny the identity and deny knowing the language

What researchers have found when they reached the field

• Cayuga in Oklahoma – They have been dislocated, even from their own history. They speak Cayugan, but call themselves Seneca

What researchers have found when they reached the field

• Elmolo in Kenya – They were fishermen, and retained Elmolo fishing terms, but switched over to speaking primarily Samburu, under the influence of a stronger ethnic group

How can we sum up what researchers have found?

• Sometimes people refuse to be identified with their group, insist that they belong to the majority group (Ugong)

• Sometimes people don’t even know themselves which language they are speaking (displaced Cayugans)

• Sometimes ethnic/linguistic identity is not clear (Emolo/Samburu)

Modern Conditions and Language & Ethnicity

• Transportation and communication technologies have reduced the number of people living in isolation, no matter how remote, and this rapidly erodes traditional language and culture, especially when younger (male) members travel for work

Modern Conditions and Language & Ethnicity, cont’d.

• Even when countries officially recognize multilingualism, the vast majority of languages are left unsupported and unrecognized

• Schools, gov’t, administration, business, etc. will be conducted in a majority language

• Most languages of the world today are in danger

Links to identity and culture

• 2 links between an ethnic group and its language:– An ethnic language is an identity marker, but

can be replaced by other markers (costume, cuisine, etc.)

– An ethnic language carries cultural content – a language is less replaceable in this role, cultural lore also connects the group to its history and its location and its spiritual traditions

Language encodes worldview

• Each language has unique structure, grammatical categories, lexical items, discourse-marking devices, etc. These are irreplaceable, part of the collective genius of the group. These can be lost, and translation can never capture it all…

Describe the fieldworker’s dilemma in a language-shift setting:

• Ethnic groups are often unaware of the dangers that their languages face

• Language may be expendable as a marker of identity, but it is extremely difficult to recover

• Should a fieldworker try to intervene and rescue an endangered language?

• Accdg to Dixon, by the time an ethnic group will ask for help in intervention, it is usually too late

Turning the tide – what are some examples of successes?

• Gaelic in Scotland – Gaelic was considered backward, and lost ground. Scottish local and national pride was aroused and now schools and tv programming are supported and children are learning Gaelic

Turning the tide – what are some examples of successes?

• Greenlandic in Greenland – Danish was politically dominant and people stopped teaching children Greenlandic. After home rule was achieved in 1979, Greenlandic became essential to ethnic identification

What role for the fieldworker?

• The best fieldworker is a member of the group, or at least a person committed to the local community. This person can produce:– A grammar, orthography, dictionary– Oral or written teaching texts– Indigenous-language archive– Legal consultation based on traditional lore

• But in most cases the groups lack the will to perpetuate language, and the best the fieldworker can do is to document it.

Native languages of California

• What model is used here?

• Native California Network helps native Americans to pool expertise in language intervention. They pair Masters with Apprentices for one-on-one intensive language learning.

Reclaiming a heritage by reclaiming a language

• Ayiwo of the Solomon Islands, Maori of New Zealand, Sami of Norway, and Basques of Spain are all engaged in creative language preservation, and this works best when embedded in a cultural preservation effort. Enables people to overcome histories of political, social, and economic suppression.

Quote for discussion:

• “Uniformation (when everyone speaks one language) is never an optimal human solution. It necessarily involves subjugation of the weak by the strong, of the few by the many: in short, the law of the jungle.” (Fishman 1991: 31).