BEGIN:VCALENDAR VERSION:2.0 PRODID:-//Talks.cam//talks.cam.ac.uk// X-WR-CALNAME:Talks.cam BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Revitalisation of Sardinian: corpus and status planning - Elena Pa la DTSTART:20091106T140000Z DTEND:20091106T153000Z UID:TALK20664@talks.cam.ac.uk CONTACT:Dr Laura Wright DESCRIPTION:My proposed research focuses on issues of codification and sta tus planning in Sardinian\, a widely recognised autonomous Romance languag e\, but whose official position within the Italian state is far from secur e. Sardinians are\, in fact\, the largest non-recognised linguistic minori ty in Italy.\n\nIn particular\, since the 1970’s\, status planning (to a chieve equal status or co-officiality between Sardinian and Italian) has b een\, for the most part\, encompassed in the more general demand for a gre ater administrative autonomy (Sardinia is already listed as one of the ‘ special status’ regions in the Italian Consitution). Corpus planning\, o n the other hand\, is perhaps more problematic\, in that attempts to devel op a single ‘standard’ or a unified orthography invariably clash with the highly fragmented character of Sardinian. (see\, for instance\, Blasco Ferrer 1986). In fact\, besides the two biggest dialectal koinés (Logudo rese in the north and Campidanese in the south)\, there exist other variet ies like Sassarese and Gallurese\, and their associated sub-dialects. Need less to say\, this linguistic fragmentation is reflected in speakers’ at titudes: Sardinians generally identify with their own local variety. \n\nI n other contexts of dialectal fragmentation\, such as Irish or Breton\, th e development of a single official standard through an attempted dialectal synthesis has often led to a certain alienation\, on the part of the spea kers\, from the new\, artificially reconstructed language. Such a scenario \, therefore\, poses significant problems for revitalisation efforts\, whe re issues of (perceived) authenticity proved crucial. On the other hand\, adopting a single\, prestige variety as the basis for the standard is not guaranteed with much success either\, with speakers of other varieties fee ling excluded and marginalised. \n\nThe aim of my thesis is to examine whe ther an alternative approach to language planning could be usefully exploi ted in Sardinia\, by considering the possible applications of the Corsican ‘polynomic’ model to the Sardinian context. Although Corsica and Sard inia are closely related in linguistic\, socio-cultural and geographical t erms\, it is noteworthy that while language planning has reached a quite a dvanced stage in Corsica (see Blackwood 2008)\, many lament that still muc h remains to be done in Sardinia (see\, for instance\, Rindler Schjerve 19 93). The polynomic model presupposes a more dynamic and flexible concept o f language\, valuing diversity rather than seeking to level it: all variet ies are regarded as equally ‘valid’ and equally capable of constitutin g a ‘norm’\, although it is precisely the excessively normative charac ter of a unified standard which is being rejected. When dealing with minor ity and obsolescent languages\, prescriptive attitudes are often ineffecti ve and reminiscent of the imposition of the ‘alien’\, dominant languag e (see\, for instance\, the debate on mandatory bilingualism in Corsica in Jaffe 2001). The polynomic approach\, however\, develops all the variants which are found in the larger regional repertoire. The model thus offers the possibility of a standardised form which is comprehensible to the enti re speech community and which\, by its very nature\, may help counteract ‘fanatical’ purist attitudes which reject purportedly hybrid\, contact -generated forms\, such as neologisms.\n\nAn important part of my research will entail investigating whether the Corsican model might also be useful with respect to introducing Sardinian in schools\, both as a subject in i tself or as medium of education. After testing (via questionnaires and sur veys)the population’s attitudes towards the possibility of Sardinian bei ng codified and taught in schools\, I plan to compare Italian language pol icy to the French one (for example with reference to the Deixonne law on t he teaching of heritage languages)\, and situate it in the broader context of the European Charter for Regional and Minority Languages\, in order to outline a potential ‘action plan’ for the development of a ‘polynom ic’ standard of Sardinian and its gradual introduction in the educationa l system.\n\n\nBlackwood R. J. The state\, the Activists and the Islanders . Language Policy on Corsica. Dordrecht: Springer.\n\nBlasco Ferrer\, E. 1 986 Lingua Sarda Contemporanea. Grammatica del Logudorese e del Campidane se. Cagliari: Della Torre.\n\nBlasco Ferrer E.\, Contini M. 1988 ‘Sardis ch: interne Sprachgeschichte und Grammatik’ in Holtus\, Metzelin and Sch midt (eds.) Lexikon der Romanistischen Linguistik. Vol IV. pp. 836-853.\n\ nJaffe A. 2001 ‘Authority and authenticity: Corsican discourse on biling ual education’ in Heller M. and Martin-Jones M. Voices of Authority. Edu cation and Linguistic Difference. Westport\, Connecticut: Ablex Publishing . pp. 269-296.\n\nRindler Schjerve R. 1993 ‘Sardinian: Italian’ in Pos ner R.\, Green J. N. (eds.) Bilingualism and Linguistic Conflict in Romanc e. New York: Mouton de Gruyter.\n\nThiers G. 1993 ‘Language contact and Corsican polynomia’ in Posner&Green Bilingualism and Linguistic Contact in Romance.\n\n LOCATION:GR06\, English Faculty END:VEVENT END:VCALENDAR