Guarani

[Aurolyn Luykx]

Hello Stan,
just a note on your final comment on Guaraní.
Your final comment: "I think that rule of crass
materialism in Paraguay holds that Guarani
> speakers are bilingual in Spanish, not vice versa"
is not quite accurate. Paraguay is in fact the odd
case where the indigenous language has been adopted as
a national language (though certainly a "B" language,
in diglossic terms) by the non-indigenous population.
Ethnic Guaranies are a distinct minority, and the
relatively few monolingual Guarani speakers are the
most marginalized of Paraguay's population.
Nevertheless the language is quite robust, thriving in
its domestic functions among a mostly non-indigenous
population.
Aurolyn Luykx

>
> Stan Anonby
>
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: "Nicholas Ostler"
> <nostler at chibcha.demon.co.uk>
> To: <lgpolicy-list at ccat.sas.upenn.edu>
> Sent: Thursday, April 01, 2004 7:21 PM
> Subject: Does language prestige correlate with
> community size?
>
>
> > At 12:02 pm -0400 1/4/04, Stan & Sandy Anonby
> wrote:
> > >I guess "lesser languages" isn't a good term.
> I'm open to suggestions...
> >
> > In Europe, it's common to use the term "lesser
> used languages", as in
> > European Bureau for Lesser used Languages.
> "Minority languages" too
> > seems fairly objective.
> >
> > >I've only worked for SIL for 2 1/2 years, so I
> can't say my views are
> > >representative of the organization.  I've
> traveled quite a bit, though,
> and
> > >I've noticed the less prestigious groups learn
> the language of the more
> > >prestigious ones.
> >
> > This may be analytic, since the term "prestige"
> characterizes the
> > tendency of the favoured group to attract others
> to assimilate to it.
> > But greater population is not a universal feature
> of such prestige
> > groups. And even dominant groups can look outside
> themselves for the
> > source of the "true class".
> >
> > >I haven't seen any examples to the contrary.
> I've seen
> > >isolated individuals who learn smaller languages,
> but it's pretty
> uncommon,
> > >I think.  Do you have any examples of larger,
> dominant groups learning
> the
> > >language of the smaller groups?
> >
> > Assyrians/Babylonians giving up Akkadian for
> Aramaic, from 8th
> > century BC; as a result, Akkadian, the traditional
> language of the
> > ruling class, died out.
> > Romans using Greek throughout their Eastern
> Mediterranean empire,
> > from 2nd century BC on
> > Turkic conquerors in central Asia learning Persian
> from 10th century,
> > indeed later transmitting it (as elite language)
> to India (e.g. in
> > Mughal Empire)
> > Japanese courtiers affecting Chinese in 8th-11th
> centuries (in
> > writing at least).
> > Elite learners of Greek in Western Europe since
> the Renaissance.
> > Christian clerics learning Hebrew
> > Russian elite speakers affecting French in
> 17th-19th centuries
> > Past language-switch by Ethiopian groups when they
> have changed
> > habitat/way of life (reported by Dick Hayward)
> > Deliberate learning of Guarani by Spanish-speakers
> in Paraguay
> > Afrikaans-speakers learning English in South
> Africa
> > English immigrants to Wales (esp. their children
> in schools,
> > obligatorily) learning Welsh.
> > Most modern learners of Irish (including many
> Americans).
> >
> > And there are many examples of imperial elites
> learning the language
> > of lower-class communities (not necessarily
> indigenous languages):
> >
> > British army officers in 18th-20th centuries
> learning Urdu in India,
> > Swahili in Africa etc.
> > Dutch administrators in 17th-18th century Ceylon,
> learning Portuguese
> > creole (widespread among servant class);
> > Dutch administrators in 17th-20th century Java and
> East Indies
> > generally, learning Malay
> > Portuguese (especially  Jesuits) in Brazil
> 16th-18th centuries,
> > learning Tupinamba
> >
> > In general, it is a remarkable fact that the Dutch
> never passed on
> > their language in their colonies (except for Cape
> Colony in Africa),
> > although they held the East Indies as long as
> Britain did India.
> > There may be a particular sociolinguistic stance
> evinced here,
> > revealed also by the rather low profile of Dutch
> among the modern
> > European languages, despite its high population.
> >
> > >I don't like crass materialism either - that's
> one reason why I live in
> > >Brazil and don't eat at McDonalds - but it would
> seem to me that whether
> we
> > >like it or not, this world is highly motivated by
> materialism.  It may be
> > >noble to fight these world wide trends, but
> what's wrong with admitting
> they
> > >exist?
> > >
> > >Stan Anonby
> >
> > Nothing at all, up to a point.  But remember
> always that apparent
> > "universal trends" may just be passing phases of
> the current era.
> >
> > Nick Ostler
> >
>
=== message truncated ===


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