Thesis--Göteborg. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 138-142).

Thesis--Göteborg. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 138-142).

This study constitutes the first in-depth description and analysis of Texas Alsatian as spoken in Medina County, Texas, in the twenty-first century. The Alsatian dialect was transported to Texas in 1842, when the entrepreneur Henri Castro recruited colonists from the Alsace to fulfill the Texas Republic’s stipulations for populating his land grant located to the west of San Antonio. Texas Alsatian (TxAls)is a dialect distinct from other varieties of Texas German (Gilbert 1972: 1, Salmons 1983: 191) and is mainly spoken in Eastern Medina County in and around the city of Castroville. With a small and aging speaker population, it has not been transmitted to the next generation and will likely survive for only another two to three decades. Despite this endangered status, TxAls is a language undergoing death with minimal change. This study provides both a descriptive account of TxAls and discussions on extralinguistic factors linked to ethnic identity and language loyalty, which have enabled the maintenance of this distinctive Texas German dialect for 150 years. To investigate the extent of the maintenance of lexical, phonological, and morphological features, this study identifies the main donor dialect(s), Upper Rhine Alsatian, and compares its linguistic features to those presently maintained in the community, based on current data collected between 2007 and 2009 and Gilbert’s (1972) data collected in the 1960s. This discussion of TxAls is three-fold: (1) an analysis of social, historical, political, and economic factors affecting the maintenance and decline of TxAls, (2) a detailed structural analysis of the grammatical features of TxAls, supported by a description of its European donor dialect and substantiated by Gilbert’s (1972) data, and (3) a discussion of the participants’ attitudes toward their ancestral language, which have either contributed to the maintenance of TxAls, or are now accelerating its decline, based on responses to a survey developed for the TxAls community, the Alsatian Questionnaire. / text

Taiwan is a country colonized by various regimes over the past four hundred years. The research first adopted the narrative inquiry-an autobiography on my journey to find my Taiwanese identity and mother tongue loss. Secondly, a phenomenological study on three Taiwanese families was conducted to secure an in-depth complex understanding on the scope and extent of the language loss phenomenon in Taiwan, of the thoughts and feelings about losing mother tongues, of the role of political power, the colonial history and other sociocultural contexts in the language loss phenomenon in Taiwan. Ten features and eleven themes were identified in this study. The political power and colonial history are important factors of mother tongue loss among my three participant families.

Taiwan is a country colonized by various regimes over the past four hundred years. The research first adopted the narrative inquiry-an autobiography on my journey to find my Taiwanese identity and mother tongue loss. Secondly, a phenomenological study on three Taiwanese families was conducted to secure an in-depth complex understanding on the scope and extent of the language loss phenomenon in Taiwan, of the thoughts and feelings about losing mother tongues, of the role of political power, the colonial history and other sociocultural contexts in the language loss phenomenon in Taiwan. Ten features and eleven themes were identified in this study. The political power and colonial history are important factors of mother tongue loss among my three participant families.

In the following thesis, an analysis of the fundamental aspects of Lucumí phonology and word-formation will be presented with the aim of determining the extent to which this liturgical language is related to Standard Yoruba. Additionally, this thesis will provide an overview of selected socio-cultural and historical factors pertaining to the environment in which Lucumí developed. This overview aims to offer a general perspective on how interactions with other languages may have influenced certain innovations observed in Lucumí. However, it is important to note that the scope of this research is primarily confined to the comparison of sound correspondences between Lucumí and Yoruba, which is considered to be the ancestral language of Lucumí. The findings of this historical examination reveal that there is a minimum of 29% cognates in basic vocabulary between Lucumí and Standard Yoruba. This implies that, at a lexical level, Lucumí can be classified as a close relative of Yoruba. Nevertheless, the dynamic evolution of phonemes and allophones appears to be arbitrary, lacking clear and consistent correspondences. In the thesis this phenomenon is discussed as being effects of language death. From a phonological perspective, Lucumí demonstrates evident influences from various languages, most notably Spanish, as well as a substantial number of loanwords whose origins are not thoroughly addressed within the confines of this thesis.

No description available.

Many of the languages in the world are currently dying at an alarming rate. One of these languagesis Eldalian. It is a small language spoken by about 2,500 people in the village of Älvdalen in theDalarna county of Sweden. Despite shrinking numbers, attitudes towards the language remain highand people are increasingly identifying themselves with the language.Through qualitative datacollection and by using the analytical frameworks of framing as well as place-making to examinethe issues, this thesis details the relationship between the language and its speakers with a focus onthe speakers. Based on the ethnographic accounts and the subsequent analysis, this thesis pointstowards how the change in attitudes regarding the language during the 20th century led to adecrease in the presence of the language is viewed as the main reason why the language is where itis today; with Swedish having replaced the language in most public settings. To change this, therevitalisation movement strives to increase the value of the language by “framing” it in variouscontexts, arguing for its existence, and enriching its usage through values that can be found indifferent contexts. Furthermore, this leads to an engagement with the place-making of Älvdalen bywhich the language is “imbued” into the place through signs and the content production of thosewho live village; increasing its presence by placing it firmly in the Älvdalen setting. Hence,Elfdalian is currently situated in the middle between the “private” to “public”.

No description available.

The aim of the study is to provide an account of the present state of Portuguese in the Johannesburg Portuguese community, and to identify factors influencing the maintenance of, and shift from the mother tongue. South African society necessitates a knowledge and daily use of English, and sometimes Afrikaans. Literacy and proficiency in the Portuguese mother tongue is therefore rapidly decreasing, especially amongst the third generation. Despite this decline, certain factors play a role in maintaining Portuguese. The most important factors in the maintenance of the mother tongue are education, cultural activities, contact with Portugal, parental influence and positive attitudes. If measures are not taken, and an awareness created within the community of the need to create a situation of stable bilingualism, the Portuguese language will continue to be eroded. / 0 objectivo desta tese e analisar o nivel actual da lingua portuguesa, na comunidade Portuguesa em Joanesburgo, e identificar os factores que influenciam a manutenc;ao e ou o afastamento da lingua materna. A sociedade sul-africana necessita de urn conhecimento diario da lingua inglesa e, par vezes da lingua afrikaans. Por conseguinte, a capacidade de ler e escrever fluentemente na lingua portuguesa esta rapidamente a desaparecer, especialmente na 3a gerac;ao. Apesar deste declinio, existem ainda determinados factores que contribuem para a sobrevivencia da lingua portuguesa na comunidade. Os factores mais importantes sao: a educac;ao, as actividades culturais, o contacto com Portugal, a influencia familiar - atitudes positivas tomadas pela propria comunidade. Se nao forem criadas medidas pelos portugueses, que garantam a consciencializac; ao da lingua materna e urn determinado bilinguismo, a lingua portuguesa acasani par desaparecer na Africa do Sul. / Linguistics / M.A. (Linguistics)