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Language shift and language revival in Crimea

  • Paola Bocale EMAIL logo
Published/Copyright: November 12, 2019

Abstract

This article presents observations and findings from an ongoing research on language revival among Italian new speakers in Crimea. Victim of Stalin’s mass deportations of minorities in the 1940s, the community experienced severe physical, demographic, social and cultural dislocation that led inexorably to language shift towards Russian. Through the use of ethnographic research methods, including participant observations and in-depth, semi-structured interviews, the study explores the participants’ motivations, learning experiences and language use as they are involved in the project of reviving the Italian community.

Acknowledgements

I wish to express special gratitude to the members of the Kerch Italian community who agreed to participate in this research, in particular Giulia Giacchetti Boico, whose support throughout this project has been invaluable. My deepest thanks to the Editor and two anonymous reviewers for their constructive comments.

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Published Online: 2019-11-12
Published in Print: 2019-11-26

© 2019 Walter de Gruyter GmbH, Berlin/Boston

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