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Chapter 5. The cost of ignoring degrees of Abstand in defining a regional language

Evidence from South Tyrol
  • Mara Maya Victoria Leonardi and Marco Tamburelli
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Contested Languages
This chapter is in the book Contested Languages

Abstract

It is generally accepted that the concepts ‘language’ and ‘dialect’ are not entirely linguistic notions, but also involve social, cultural and political factors. Nonetheless, it is still nowadays difficult to agree upon a set of satisfying criteria by which ‘languages’ can be differentiated from ‘dialects’. In this chapter, we analyse the linguistic context present in South Tyrol in order to highlight the consequences of these unsatisfying definitions. Using the intelligibility criterion, we demonstrate that there is a certain degree of Abstand between Standard German and the Bavarian variety spoken in South Tyrol. We then show how this degree of Abstand affects the early stages of acquisition and the linguistic performance of South Tyrolean children.

Abstract

It is generally accepted that the concepts ‘language’ and ‘dialect’ are not entirely linguistic notions, but also involve social, cultural and political factors. Nonetheless, it is still nowadays difficult to agree upon a set of satisfying criteria by which ‘languages’ can be differentiated from ‘dialects’. In this chapter, we analyse the linguistic context present in South Tyrol in order to highlight the consequences of these unsatisfying definitions. Using the intelligibility criterion, we demonstrate that there is a certain degree of Abstand between Standard German and the Bavarian variety spoken in South Tyrol. We then show how this degree of Abstand affects the early stages of acquisition and the linguistic performance of South Tyrolean children.

Chapters in this book

  1. Prelim pages i
  2. Table of contents v
  3. Introduction
  4. Chapter 1. What are contested languages and why should linguists care? 3
  5. Section 1. The broader picture
  6. Chapter 2. Contested languages and the denial of linguistic rights in the 21st century 21
  7. Chapter 3. Democracy 41
  8. Section 2. Identifying and perceiving contested languages
  9. Chapter 4. Mixing methods in linguistic classification 59
  10. Chapter 5. The cost of ignoring degrees of Abstand in defining a regional language 87
  11. Chapter 6. Deconstructing the idea of language 105
  12. Chapter 7. Surveying the ethnolinguistic vitality of two contested languages 125
  13. Chapter 8. Contested orthographies 143
  14. Chapter 9. Revitalising contested languages 163
  15. Section 3. Working with contestedness
  16. Chapter 10. Community-based language planning 185
  17. Chapter 11. Teaching Piedmontese 199
  18. Chapter 12. Publishing a grammar and literature anthology of a contested language 209
  19. Chapter 13. Which Sardinian for education? 221
  20. Section 4. Beyond contested languages
  21. Chapter 14. Citizenship and nationality 237
  22. Chapter 15. The language ideology of Esperanto 247
  23. Index 269
https://doi.org/10.1075/wlp.8.05leo

Chapters in this book

  1. Prelim pages i
  2. Table of contents v
  3. Introduction
  4. Chapter 1. What are contested languages and why should linguists care? 3
  5. Section 1. The broader picture
  6. Chapter 2. Contested languages and the denial of linguistic rights in the 21st century 21
  7. Chapter 3. Democracy 41
  8. Section 2. Identifying and perceiving contested languages
  9. Chapter 4. Mixing methods in linguistic classification 59
  10. Chapter 5. The cost of ignoring degrees of Abstand in defining a regional language 87
  11. Chapter 6. Deconstructing the idea of language 105
  12. Chapter 7. Surveying the ethnolinguistic vitality of two contested languages 125
  13. Chapter 8. Contested orthographies 143
  14. Chapter 9. Revitalising contested languages 163
  15. Section 3. Working with contestedness
  16. Chapter 10. Community-based language planning 185
  17. Chapter 11. Teaching Piedmontese 199
  18. Chapter 12. Publishing a grammar and literature anthology of a contested language 209
  19. Chapter 13. Which Sardinian for education? 221
  20. Section 4. Beyond contested languages
  21. Chapter 14. Citizenship and nationality 237
  22. Chapter 15. The language ideology of Esperanto 247
  23. Index 269
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