The anglicisation of Scottish writing, a development in which the features of the previously high-status Scots language variety became marginalised and proscribed in favour of prestige Standard ...English variants, is typically dated by scholars to the sixteenth through eighteenth century. The effect of anglicisation on upper- and middle-class Scottish authors’ written language has been attested in numerous studies; however, how the metalinguistic ideologies of the time affected the language of the Scottish lower classes has long remained underinvestigated. This study makes use of the recent publication of a corpus of lower-class Scottish writing from the nineteenth century – the Corpus of Scottish Pauper Petitions – to investigate the effect of prescriptivism on lower-class Scottish writing as documented in nineteenth-century pauper petitions. The materials are placed side-by-side with the writings of upper- and middle-class Scottish people during this period, taken from the Corpus of Modern Scottish Writing. This study, which investigates both overt and covert Scotticisms by drawing respectively on usage guides by contemporaneous prescriptivists and works by modern linguists, takes a ‘from below’ approach to Scotland’s linguistic history and represents a new step in our understanding of the development of historical Scottish writing.
This study reports on an analysis of user-generated comments in response to a newspaper article criticising an overwhelmingly Anglicised user interface in self-ordering kiosks in South Korea. A total ...of 1,206 comments were subjected to qualitative analysis to identify salient themes reflecting the public's attitudes towards the practice and desirable adjustments. The results showed polarised responses, with 'strongly nationalistic' language attitudes at one extreme and rather lenient, albeit not actively supportive, 'why not?' attitudes at the other, indicating tension between the ideologies underlying the accommodation or denial of the necessity of English. The coexistence of resistance to the practice (79.7%) and the heated pursuit of English on a national level defies the general scholarly observation that unfavourable views of a language obstruct its vitality in society. The public's attitude towards the phenomenon of excessive Anglicisation appears to be driven largely by the ideology of externalisation rather than the pervasive neoliberal necessitation authorising English as the lingua franca of the globalising world. Although the contingent nature of language attitudes is indicated, the overall findings suggest a transition in attitudes towards the use of English, from perceiving it as a status symbol to viewing it as an unedifying manifestation of linguistic dandyism.
Joseph Addison played a key role in Nicholas Phillipson's pioneering studies of eighteenth-century Scottish culture and philosophy. Post-Union Scots were in search of renewed civic purpose now ...political power had headed to Westminster. They found it in Addison's Spectator essays discussing virtuous living. This article pays homage to Phillipson's work by expanding the scope of the study of Addison's reception in eighteenth-century Scotland. A survey of the publishing history of Addison's works north of the border indicates additional roles for the English essayist in Scotland. Addison's political works, especially his tragedy Cato, were drawn on by pro-Unionists and anti-Jacobites. His religious writings were held in high regard, while both High Flying and Moderate churchmen imitated his style. Addison was important as important within Scottish aesthetics as he was within the Humean discourse of civic morality, though, as with Hume's and Smith's treatment of Addison, Scottish aestheticists quickly superseded Addison's discussion of the 'pleasures of the imagination'. There are, then, several additional 'Addisons' on top of those identified by Phillipson.
This article explores the anglicisation of the Scots language between the sixteenth and eighteenth centuries, focusing on the variation between the orthographic clusters and found in relative and ...interrogative clause markers. Using modern statistical techniques, we provide the most comprehensive empirical analysis of this variation so far in the Helsinki Corpus of Older Scots (Meurman-Solin 1995). By combining the techniques of Variability-Based Neighbour Clustering (Gries & Hilpert 2008, 2010, 2012) with mixed-effects logistic regression modelling (Baayen et al.2008), we uncover a different trajectory of change than that which has previously been reported for this feature (Meurman-Solin 1993, 1997). We argue that by using modern methods of data reduction and statistical modelling, we can present a picture of language change in Scots that is more fine-grained than previous studies which use only descriptive statistics.
Die gebruik van Afrikaans as onderrigtaal aan Suid-Afrikaanse universiteite is reeds vir 'n geruime tyd in die spervuur. Die verengelsing van hoër onderwys is egter 'n wêreldwye tendens wat verband ...hou met globalisme en die (her)internasionalisering van die universiteitswese. Die kern van hierdie studie bestaan uit 'n inhoudsontleding van response van Afrikaansspre-kende studente aan die Universiteit van Suid-Afrika op die vraag waarom hulle Engels as studietaal gekies het. Ten tyde van die ondersoek was 'n aantal modules by die Universiteit in Afrikaans beskikbaar. Dat talle Afrikaanssprekende studente Engels as onderrigtaal verkies, word dikwels as regverdiging gebruik vir die voorstel om Afrikaans as onderrigtaal af te skaf. Betreklik min navorsing oor die redes vir hierdie verskynsel is gedoen. Die feit dat handboeke oorwegend Engels is, was een van die belangrikste redes waarom Afrikaanssprekende studente in Engels studeer het. Voorts was daar onduidelikheid oor die opsie om in Afrikaans te studeer. Afgesien hiervan is 'n aantal wanopvattings oor die universaliteit van die Engelse taal en persepsies dat Afrikaanse vakterminologie lomp en/of onverstaanbaar is, waargeneem. Uiteindelik is dit die Afrikaanse taalgemeenskap se plig om jongmense daarvan te oortuig dat leer deur Afrikaans nie noodwendig 'n agterstand impliseer nie. Tersiêre onderrig in Afrikaans moet bevorder word deur handboeke in Afrikaans beskikbaar te stel en terminologie te standaardiseer. Studente wat verkies het om in Engels te studeer, was verder opvallend minder verbind tot nie net hul eie taal- en kultuurgroep nie, maar ook tot Suid-Afrika.
This article discusses a number of linguistic aspects of the internationalisation and anglicisation of higher education in Flanders. We aim to combine an overview of the applicable legal measures ...with the most detailed and complete information to date on the actual linguistic practices in universities and university colleges. To this end, we collected the most recent available data from a variety of official reports and databases on parameters including the number of English bachelor and master programmes currently on offer, the relative share of students involved in these international programmes, as well as the extent to which students and professors meet official language requirements. Next to these English-focused aspects, we also supply new figures on the required mother tongue proficiency to enrol in the regular Dutch-based curriculum (theory versus practice). The situation in the Dutch-speaking community of Belgium is then compared to that of the French-speaking Community, once again based on figures and data that were collated from a variety of official sources. All data indicate that the actual impact of anglicisation in Flemish universities and university colleges remains limited and unproblematic, compared to the situation in many other medium-sized language communities. The closing discussion advocates a language policy for higher education in Flanders that combines a strong focus on mother tongue proficiency with a solid training in English for academic purposes.
Naturally, a group’s urge to protect all aspects of its language against negative sociolinguistic influences is a task carried out with all dedication because a group’s language identifies them, ...tells their story and showcases their cultural heritage. Presently, Igbo toponyms are seriously threatened by anglicisation. The paper’s main objectives are to highlight the various forms of anglicisation observed in Igbo toponyms, their negative influences on the Igbo language, and how to overcome this negative sociolinguistic phenomenon. The paper adopts a qualitative analysis approach; and observes that Igbo toponyms are actually anglicised, following the trend left by the British by adding ‘r’, ‘h’, ‘aw’, etc., with negative effects such as wrong spelling and meanings of Igbo toponyms, loss of history and cultural heritage of the Igbo etc. If this negative sociolinguistic phenomenon is left unchecked, potential loss of some letters of the Igbo alphabet and the Igbo language endangerment, are imminent.
The story of Afrikaans – out of Europe and from Africa, Part 2 by WAM Carstens and RH Raidt As part of a two-volume publication, Die storie van Afrikaans – uit Europa en van Afrika (The story of ...Afrikaans – out of Europe and from Africa), this publication, together with its predecessor, probably represents the most comprehensive historiography of this language ever. It provides a plethora of information, as well as access to a wide variety of resources about Afrikaans. This article links on to Jac Conradie’s thorough review of Part 1 (chapters 1-11) in Litnet, and takes cognisance of a general review on the language political aspects of the publication as a whole by Joan Hambidge in Rapport, but concentrates on the content of Part 2 (chapters 12-24). The authors approach the publication under discussion from a number of different perspectives: (1) linguistic, with reference to the nature of language and the development of linguistics as a science, (2) geolinguistic, in providing an overview of the distribution of languages across the world, indicating where Afrikaans fits in, (3) historical-linguistic, in which the “stirps” of Afrikaans within the genealogical classification of languages are traced, and (4) socio-historical, in which history serves as a framework for an understanding of the way Afrikaans came into being as a language of/in this country. The point of departure is the premiss that a form of the Dutch dialect of South Holland was brought to the Cape in the 17th century and formed the basis of what eventually became Afrikaans. Within the theoretical framework of language change, a variety of theories are discussed, on the basis of empirical data.As tweede boekdeel van ʼn geskiedenis van Afrikaans verteenwoordig hierdie publikasie die Afrika-komponent van ʼn omvattende beskrywing, waarvan die Europese herkoms in die eerste deel gedek word. Met inagneming van die tydperk waarin die eerste bewoners van die subkontinent hier woonagtig was, word die tydlyn dan vanaf die middel van die 17de eeu getrek, toe ʼn Suid-Hollandse vorm van Nederlands as kerndialek aan die Kaap geënt is, en oor die volgende eeu en ʼn half blootgestel is aan, en beïnvloed is deur, sprekers van talle ander tale. Die taalkonflik wat ontstaan het vanaf die oorname van die Kaap deur die Britse Ryk, en ʼn taalgebaseerde nasionalisme tot gevolg gehad het, word aan die hand van sosiopolitieke gebeure beskryf. Hiervan was die tweede Anglo-Boereoorlog teen die eeuwending, wat saamval met ʼn skeiding en oorgang tussen twee taalbewegings, ook ʼn keerpunt. ʼn Stryd om erkenning, aanvanklik op die rug van Nederlands, het uiteindelik gelei tot die verampteliking en standaardisering van Afrikaans. Die wisselwerking tussen Afrikaans en die politiek word in hoofstuk 20 beskryf, wat die periode tussen 1948 en 1994 dek, ʼn tydperk wat gelei het tot polarisasie tussen sprekers van Afrikaans van verskillende kleure. In die beoordeling van die agteruitgang van Afrikaans as taal van hoër funksies in die post-1994-periode wys die outeurs op die kompleksiteit van feite en persepsies wat daarmee gepaard gegaan het, en hoe versoening tussen voorheen vervreemde Afrikaanstaliges tot stand gekom het (en kom). Ten slotte word ʼn Janusblik gewerp op sowel die verlede (waarin die rol van alle sprekers van Afrikaans in geskiedskrywing en aktuele gebeure erken word) as die toekoms, met inagneming van wat noodsaaklik is vir die sinvolle voortbestaan van die taal.
In the late nineteenth and early twentieth century, Jewish refugees arriving in Great Britain were exposed to an 'anglicisation' campaign designed to aid their integration into British society and ...their assimilation of British character traits and cultural values. Within this campaign, especially the element focusing on the children of the migrants, interest and participation in sport was consciously 'transferred' through the medium of youth and sporting organisations in order to help in their 'anglicisation'. This essaywill show how physical recreation was promoted by the English Jewish establishment and how participation in sport amongst young Jews grew.
This article discusses how the politics of South African identity-making continues to be spoiled by racialised and ethnicised identities cascading from colonialism and apartheid. These problematic ...identities continue to live on, raising sensitive issues of nativity versus settlerism as well as rights versus entitlement to resources. Identity issues cannot be understood without a clear historical analysis of politics of translating a geographical expression into a national identity that dates back to colonial encounters. The article unpacks complex nationalisms, namely Anglicisation, Afrikanerisation, and Africanisation, that operated as ID-ologies, i.e. identitarian quests for a shared identity, albeit mediated by notions of whiteness and blackness. These ID-ologies became sites of struggles mediated by vicissitudes of inclusions and exclusions. The question of who was the subject of liberation, who constitutes the 'authentic' subject of the nation, and who is entitled to resources such as land and mines remain contested. Whites use the constitution to claim rights and to maintain the status quo of privilege, whereas Africans try to mobilise notions of both rights and entitlements as part of the redress of past and present exclusions.
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