Authenticities and lineages: revisiting concepts of continuity and change in language

Abstract

Working assumptions about what constitutes authenticity in language are crucially informed by prevailing notions of continuity and change. This preoccupation is central to questions of identity for language speakers. It is also central to the discipline of linguistics. Our experience of working alongside community members on language projects has raised our awareness of the degree of disjunction between ideas of authenticity commonly assumed within linguistics and the ideas we encounter within speech communities. In this article, we investigate types of continuity embraced by different stakeholders in language and language development. We trace the continuity narratives in two different language situations, identifying types of lineage, participant positions, and their relevance to notions of authenticity. We then examine the criteria for authenticity and lineage within linguistics, noting the disjunctions internal to the field, depending on the analyst's theoretical perspective, as well the disjunctions between lineages of authenticity as narrated within the discipline and those narrated in the wider community. Our aim is to develop a working model of language that recognizes and accommodates multiple narratives of authenticity, thereby better accommodating the full range of language and language research situations. This may in turn contribute to more productive collaborative relationships between communities and consultant linguists.