Vol 2, No 1 (2024)
Articles
Linguistic landscape study of commercial intra-city vehicle inscriptions in an African city
Abstract
Universally, an understanding of the Linguistic Landscape (LL) of a group of people is crucial to understanding their language behavioural traits. The study was purposed on exploring the LL of commercial intra-city vehicles in the Sekondi-Takoradi Metropolis of Ghana. This single case study with embedded units utilised the multi-stage sampling technique, and the sources of data were: 1) responses from in-depth interviews from some of the commercial intra-city vehicle drivers and 2) the respective inscriptions. An interview guide and an iPhone 12 mobile phone (for pictures) were used to elicit the data. The in-depth interview data were analysed using Creswell and Poth’s (2018) Analysis Spiral Plan, whereas the signages were analysed using content analysis. The findings projected a situation where no attention was paid to the indigenous Ahanta language but rather major preference given to the Mfantse and the English languages. Easy readability and comprehension of the messages were cited by the commercial intra-city vehicle drivers as their reasons for preferring the English language. The implication of the study is that the Ahanta language, the indigenous language in Sekondi- Takoradi is endangered. Resultantly, the authorities of the Sekondi-Takoradi Metropolitan Assembly should work closely with the Ministry of Local Government to heighten individuals’ use of the Ahanta language to save it from death. Also, this calls into sharp attention the need for stakeholders in other jurisdictions to work to improve the use of endangered languages to protect them from extinction.
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Concept FREEDOM/INDEPENDENCE in Oirat-Kalmyk language culture
Abstract
National consciousness is formed under the infl of certain social, historical, geographical conditions. Any national language focuses on some defi facts of reality that are important for the survival and prosperity of the linguistic society. Concepts as ”knowledge quanta“ are a concentrated expression of cultural and historical experience of a society or an individual. Nowadays, many researches have been published on the concepts of the Kalmyk language culture, such as: NOMAD, YOSTA ZALU (eng. REAL MAN), WOMAN, CLAN, etc. This article is the fi to study the concept of FREEDOM/INDEPENDENCE in the Oirat-Kalmyk language culture. The aim of the article is to reveal the ways of objectifiof the studied concept. In the course of the research, it was revealed that this concept is a construct rooted in the consciousness of the nomadic culture carriers, formed due to the specifi socio-economic relations. The analysis of the works of a number of historians and historical literature has shown that the concept was formed under particular historical and economic conditions. The semantic-conceptual analysis of the examples selected from lexicographic, folklore and literary sources has shown that the concept is represented by thought pictures, lexemes with antonymic seme. The concept acquires the direct nomination in the modern Kalmyk literature and it was revealed by the method of contextual, semantic and stylistic analysis. In accordance with the well-known theoretical position about the layered structure of the concept, several levels of the studied concept were identifi As a result, it was concluded that the concept of FREEDOM/INDEPENDENCE in the Oirat-Kalmyk language culture is indivisible. The value aspect of this concept is expressed in the fact that it is the key concept in the folk epic Dzhangar and is reflected in many proverbs and sayings. The lexeme ”suldhvr” as a representative of the concept appears in the modern Kalmyk literature. This lexeme actualises the concept of FREEDOM.
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Principles of international auxiliary languages creation on the base of essential and artificial languages
Abstract
This study examines the phenomenon of language creation which has been an object of linguistics, sociology and cultural studies. Constructed languages are studied in interlinguistics, where the problems of language synthesis or language creation are researched. According to the studies, modern constructed languages are based on naturally developed (essential) languages, which follow their own laws and do not need any correction. Unlike essential languages, artificial ones require a clearly designed system and language creation principles in order to survive and be used in communication. These principles, however, should not be based on mathematical logic but on the laws of essential living languages, correcting their faults. Scientific novelty of the research consists in the study of the language creation principles, proposed by a Swiss scientist Rene de Saussure. The principles of phonemic orthography, minimum vocabulary, international vocabulary, independent words, invariable simple and complex words and unambiguity are defined and characterized on the base of the French, German and Esperanto that has become a living contact language. The principles considered enable to conclude that the Latin alphabet, with some modification, should be taken as a basis of an international language’s writing system, and each sound (phoneme) should invariably be represented by its corresponding letter (grapheme). The number of simple words (roots or affixes) should be reduced by means of the flexible system of affixes that enables to produce necessary (complex) words to coney different meanings. Vocabulary of an international language should consist of international, easily recognized words. Simple words should be invariable elements and remain unchanged both from outside (plane of expression) and inside (plane of content). At the stage of creating and introducing of a constructed language synonyms and homonyms should be avoided. An international language should be based on essential languages, borrowing their advantages and excluding their disadvantages.
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Linguistic situation in the Arab world: interethnic communication in the Arabic language environment
Abstract
Interest in learning Arabic as a foreign language has increased significantly, which sets new challenges for researchers involved in the study of the Arabic language and problems of teaching Arabic. This study is devoted to the analysis of the linguistic situation in the Arab world, which is characterized by the phenomenon of diglossia, which causes certain difficulties not only for native speakers of Arabic in situations of interethnic communication, but also for students of Arabic as a foreign language. This study examines the phenomenon of diglossia, as well as its characteristics. In addition, the variants of the Arabic language that exist today in the Arab world are considered. The study also presents the results of research on the language of interethnic communication as well as discusses the prospects for applying the results in the field of teaching Arabic as a foreign language.
66-86
Gulf Pidgin Arabic as a communication tool of migrant workers in the ARAB countries of the Persian gulf
Abstract
As a result of the "oil boom" of the mid-20th century, significant flows of labor migrants from Africa, South and Southeast Asia headed to the Persian Gulf region. Not speaking Arabic, these migrant workers were forced to interact with the local Arab population, which led to the emergence of a contact language - Gulf Arabic pidgin. This study is relevant in view of the growing number of labor migrants in the region, as well as the widening social gap between the local Arabic-speaking population and pidgin-speaking labor migrants. The study analyzes the lexical material of Gulf Pidgin Arabic (GPA), as well as sociological surveys regarding the attitude towards GPA both from the indigenous Arab population and from pidgin speakers. During the work, the following conclusions were made. Firstly, GPA is characterized by noticeable variability in the lexical, phonetic and syntactic aspects of the language, which indicates the instability of this pidgin. Secondly, the native Arab population perceives GPA as a means of social distancing from unskilled migrants, while migrant workers themselves perceive pidgin positively, considering it a significant advantage for working in Arab countries. This work will contribute to further research on Arabic pidgins and will be useful to Arabists and specialists in the field of sociolinguistics.
87-101
Dynamics of language endangerment: a comparison of three northern tungusic lects spoken in the Russian Federation
Abstract
Most languages spoken by the so-called "small-numbered peoples of the North" are currently highly endangered or extinct (Janhunen, 2010, Bromham et al., 2022). Yet there are big individual differences in vitality between languages and even between dialects of individual languages. For instance, the Samoyedic language Tundra Nenets - even though "definitely an endangered language" - is still spoken by approximately 20,000 individuals, albeit with big differences in vitality between regional varieties (Nikolaeva, 2014: 5-6). In contrast, the Tungusic language Negidal is spoken by only a handful of elderly women, and it is only the Upper dialect of Negidal that is still spoken, while the last speakers of the Lower dialect passed away in 2010-2020 (Pakendorf, Aralova, 2018). Factors that have an impact on language vitality at a global level are the size of the speech community (number of L1 speakers), the extent of connectedness of the language community to other communities and urban centres, and the level of formal schooling, but regional specificities can have a significant impact on differences in vitality and endangerment (Bromham et al., 2022).Differences in language vitality are also observable in three Northern Tungusic lects that I have been studying since 2007: the Lamunkhin dialect of Even spoken in Central Yakutia, the Bystraja dialect of Even spoken in Central Kamchatka, and Negidal, spoken in the Lower Amur region of the Russian Far East (see Appendix 1). All three communities have undergone Russian colonization in 17th century and the sociopolitical changes associated with the Soviet era (cf. Sablin, Savelyeva, 2011), and all three are relatively small, numbering only several hundred individuals during most of the 20th century (Filippova, 2017; Kirillova, 2012: 117; Pevnov, Khasanova, 2006: 451-452). And yet, while all three lects are definitely endangered, they are at different stages of the endangerment scale (Grenoble, Whaley, 2011: 40): Negidal is nearly extinct (Pakendorf, Aralova, 2018: 11), Bystraja Even is moribund, and Lamunkhin Even is disappearing. In this abstract, I discuss the factors that have shaped the current levels of language vitality among these lects and the reasons for the observed differences.
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