I like to cite an example of something that happened in my language policy class, where<br>(as Jeff notes) I devote a chunk of time to religion as a factor in language policy. I was talking<br>about the Reformation, and the importance of the translation of the Bible into vernaculars<br>
which had never been used for writing before, and mentioned that there were people in the US (at<br>least) who did not realize that the English bible was a translation. A young woman in the front<br>row of the class gasped audibly, and stared at the floor for a moment or two with her mouth gaping<br>
open. At first I thought it was a joke, but it wasn't. She really hadn't realized before that the bible <br>was translated from other languages. <br><br>If you look at the political storms that ensued when people began to translate the bible, especially<br>
in England (where people were burned at the stake for doing so etc.) it turns out that it's intensely<br>political what choices people make when they do translate, especially certain terms. The church<br>fought translation precisely because they couldn't control what people would do and which words they <br>
would choose for terms like 'espiritus' ('spirit? or ghost?) (congregation? or church?) and furthermore,<br>by placing the bible in the hands of untrained or 'unorthodox' people, they might draw their own conclusions about what it<br>
said, and what certain things meant! And of course when the reformation was carried out, that's exactly<br>what happened, and why we have so many protestant sects and schisms in the US in particular, which<br>differ from each other over such issues as whether Jonah was swallowed by an actual whale, or whether <br>
the story of Jonah is a metaphor for something else.<br><br>Hal Schiffman<br> <br><div class="gmail_quote">On Sun, Mar 2, 2008 at 10:20 AM, Jeff Gross <<a href="mailto:jmgross1@gmail.com">jmgross1@gmail.com</a>> wrote:<br>
<blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="border-left: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204); margin: 0pt 0pt 0pt 0.8ex; padding-left: 1ex;">Jason's question, 'How often is religion invoked in discussions of<br>
language policy across the world?' is a disarmingly important one.<br>
Historically, there have to be few factors greater than religion in<br>
shaping the growth and spread of languages and the complex role<br>
language plays in people's lives. Obvious examples are Hebrew as the<br>
official language of the state of Israel or Arabic as the dominant<br>
language of an educated and priestly caste throughout the Muslim umma.<br>
Another place to look is the role of missionaries in education and the<br>
promotion of a written standard -- whether by St. Cyril in the 5th<br>
century or Spanish Jesuits in the 16th or Christian evangelicals in<br>
the 20th. To the extent that a particular language, scriptural or<br>
otherwise, is associated with a religious faith, and that faith shapes<br>
a country or region's social and political life, the implications of<br>
religion on language policy will always be deep and complex.<br>
<br>
Harold Schiffman's Linguistic Culture and Language Policy devotes some<br>
interesting pages to this issue, as does Bernard Spolsky's Language<br>
Policy. Spolsky cites Charles Ferguson's 1982 article, 'Religious<br>
Factors in Language Spread', as the standard scholarly discussion on<br>
the subject.<br>
<font color="#888888"><br>
Jeff Gross<br>
</font><div><div></div><div class="Wj3C7c"><br>
<br>
<br>
On Sat, Mar 1, 2008 at 8:21 PM, Siegel, Jason F. <<a href="mailto:siegeljf@indiana.edu">siegeljf@indiana.edu</a>> wrote:<br>
><br>
> In an effort to redirect the discussion back to language policy and<br>
> away from a topic that could easily be argued about with no end in<br>
> sight, I would like to take the opportunity to pose a question to the<br>
> list (and this is the genuine inquiry of a relative newcomer to the<br>
> field): How often is religion invoked in discussions of language policy<br>
> across the world? I've heard the old quote in support of Official<br>
> English in the U.S. "If it's good enough for Jesus, it's good enough<br>
> for me." (attributed to various people). In the research I've done on<br>
> French policy, however, religion seems to be completely absent from the<br>
> public discourse on language policy. So again, how frequently do<br>
> religious concerns form a part of the discussion of language policy? Do<br>
> we see it more often in certain types of language policy (e.g.<br>
> feminization) than in others (e.g. acquisition planning)?<br>
><br>
> --Jason<br>
><br>
><br>
> --<br>
> Jason F. Siegel<br>
> Ph.D. Student, Linguistics & French Linguistics<br>
> Department of French & Italian<br>
> Ballantine Hall 642<br>
> 1020 East Kirkwood Avenue<br>
> Indiana University<br>
> Bloomington, IN 47405-7103<br>
> USA<br>
> <a href="mailto:siegeljf@indiana.edu">siegeljf@indiana.edu</a><br>
><br>
><br>
><br>
> Quoting L Pierce <<a href="mailto:ldpierce@yahoo.com">ldpierce@yahoo.com</a>>:<br>
><br>
> > It's recorded in the BIble. You can read the history<br>
> > for yourself, as you can read the histories of the<br>
> > previously quoted men (quoted by an earlier<br>
> > contributor) in other recorded histories; I gather<br>
> > that is the empirical evidence you have for them. I<br>
> > don't really know why you want to change the issue,<br>
> > but I am happy to answer your question.<br>
> ><br>
> > Lisa<br>
> ><br>
> > --- Ronald Kephart <<a href="mailto:rkephart@unf.edu">rkephart@unf.edu</a>> wrote:<br>
> ><br>
> >> On 2/29/08 7:13 PM, "L Pierce" <<a href="mailto:ldpierce@yahoo.com">ldpierce@yahoo.com</a>><br>
> >> wrote:<br>
> >><br>
> >> > What some ignorant men wrote hundreds of years ago<br>
> >> did<br>
> >> > not create the order, God did...<br>
> >><br>
> >> We have empirical evidence that men wrote those<br>
> >> rules. Do you have the same<br>
> >> quality evidence for your assertion?<br>
> >><br>
> >> Ron<br>
> >><br>
> >><br>
> ><br>
> ><br>
> ><br>
> ><br>
> > ____________________________________________________________________________________<br>
> > Never miss a thing. Make Yahoo your home page.<br>
> > <a href="http://www.yahoo.com/r/hs" target="_blank">http://www.yahoo.com/r/hs</a><br>
> ><br>
> ><br>
><br>
><br>
><br>
<br>
</div></div></blockquote></div><br><br clear="all"><br>-- <br>=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+<br><br> Harold F. Schiffman<br><br>Professor Emeritus of <br> Dravidian Linguistics and Culture <br>Dept. of South Asia Studies <br>
University of Pennsylvania<br>Philadelphia, PA 19104-6305<br><br>Phone: (215) 898-7475<br>Fax: (215) 573-2138 <br><br>Email: <a href="mailto:haroldfs@gmail.com">haroldfs@gmail.com</a><br>
<a href="http://ccat.sas.upenn.edu/~haroldfs/">http://ccat.sas.upenn.edu/~haroldfs/</a> <br><br>-------------------------------------------------