FROM INTERACTION TO ELABORATION:

MOVING BEYOND CONVERSATION

Stabilizing Indigenous Languages SymposiumMay 2011

University of New Mexico, AlbuquerqueDr. Freddie Bowles & Dr. George Ann Gregory

WORKING THESIS

Viability of a language is supported not only through social realms where it is used, but also through the amount of complexity or linguistic variety in that language.

FISHMAN

Stage 8 Only a few elders speak the language Stage 7 Only adults beyond child bearing age speak the language Stage 6 Some intergenerational use of language Stage 5 Language is still very much alive and used in the community Stage 4 Language is required in elementary school Stage 3 Language is used in places of business and by employees in

less specialized work areas Stage 2 Language is used by local government and in the mass

media in the local community Stage 1 Some language use by higher levels of government and in

higher education

FISHMAN

Linguistic Elaboration associated primarily with Stages 4, 2, and 1.

Stage 4 Language is required in elementary school

Stage 2 Language is used by local government and in the mass media in the local community

Stage 1 Some language use by higher levels of government and in higher education

BIBERGenre Linguistic Items Commonly Associated in English

conversations/interactional

In the home or at work

I, you, it, demonstrative pronouns without referents, indefinite pronouns (anybody,

somebody), questions, that-clauses, Wh-clauses, adverbial subordinators, reduced that

complements, post posed adverbial clauses, private verbs, stranded prepositions, split

infinitives, analytic negation

fiction/narratives past tense, adjectives, perfect aspect, third person pronouns, infinitives, participles

prose/informational text

News reporting, legal

documents, academic prose

nominalization, passive constructions, prepositions, that-complements, infinitives,

participles, relative clauses, preposed adverbial clauses, lexical specificity, conjuncts,

split auxiliaries

CUMMINS

BICS-Basic Interpersonal Communication skills Highly contextualized language (Stage 5)

CALP—Cognitive Academic Language Proficiency Decontextualized language (Stages 4, 7 & 8)

More words with Greek and Latin roots Greater variety of vocabulary Nominalization, subordination, passives Written in reported speech (past tense, references to

distant events and places Few graphics

WORKING THESIS

Language loss equals loss of culture. Language represents a way of viewing life.

(Whorf) Language reflects a way of thinking and shapes

the thinking of children who speak it. (Vygotsky).

EXAMPLES OF VIEWPOINTS

Word order—English sentences begin with the actor-action-receiver of the action; Choctaw begins with actor-receiver of action-ends with action.

Common images in English involve the use of war—War on drugs; Love is war; Māori use taonga (treasure) to speak about their language

Color examples

WORKING THESIS

Linguistic variability in genres is affected by different elements in different languages. In English, genre dictates linguistic variability; In

Navajo, audience plays a stronger role. In some languages gender of speaker and audience

dictates language variability. In Choctaw, the distance in time when something

happened dictates tense choice. Whether the agent is known or unknown dictates

passive construction in Navajo.

AKINASSO

Literate and non-literate cultures In literate cultures, linguistic elaboration found in

writing In non-literate cultures, linguistic elaboration found in

ceremonial and storytelling uses.

MĀORI LANGUAGE

Fishman assessment Stage 1– used in academia; used in very limited capacity

in national government; used in Rangitu religion and some Māori Anglican churches.

Stages 2 & 3--in iwi, hapu, marae government & business; 2 Māori language TV stations and many radio stations

Stage 4—offered in most elementary and secondary schools; some elementary & secondary immersion schools

~135,600 speakers

MĀORI LANGUAGE

Genres & Linguistic elaboration Legal Documents and Corpus

—Treaty of Waitangi Ko te Tuatoru

Hei wakaritenga mai hoki tenei mo te wakaaetanga ki te Kawanatanga o te Kuini. Ka tiakina e te Kuini o Ingarani nga tangata maori katoa o Nu Tirani. Ka tukua ki a ratou nga tikanga katoa rite tahi ki ana mea ki nga tangata o Ingarani

Article the Third.

In consideration thereof, Her Majesty the Queen of England extends to the Natives of New Zealand Her Royal Protection and imparts to them all the Rights and Privileges of British subjects

MĀORI LANGUAGE

Genres & Linguistic elaboration Written formal arguments from 19th & 20th Centuries

Te Nūpepa o Te Aute nā Apirina Ngata He nui to mātou pouri it to mātou kitenga I ē tahi kupu kaore e tika kia perehitia i rototē tahi o a tatou

pepa Maori.

We were very disappointed when we saw language that should not in fact be printed in our Maori papers.

19th Century Māori newspapers Māori Bible Songs Media and Māori Broadcast Corpus Plays/literature (limited) Personal stories Children’s books

NAVAJO LANGUAGE

Fishman assessment Stage 1—national council conducted in Navajo; some

academic-UNM has creative writing in Navajo; ceremonies & some church services

Stage 2—chapter house business conducted in Navajo; several Navajo language radio stations; NNTV

Stages 3& 4 – Navajo owned businesses; a few elementary schools & K-12 programs

~100,000 speakers (~52%)

NAVAJO

Genres & Linguistic elaboration Traditional ceremonies & Prayers Some legal documents Radio/limited TV Traditional stories

Tsé yiyi’í ákwe’é ni’tát’ah k’éédídlééh jiní nashjahii’ łigaigo k’éédidlééh jini.

He usually planted at Earth-shelf Place in the Rock Canyon (Sacred Canyon). 4th person obj = ho/ subject = ji

Personal stories Children’s books

CHOCTAW LANGUAGE IN OKLAHOMA

Fishman assessment No stages 1-4 Stage 5—language alive in some communities; still

used in some Choctaw churches Stage 6—limited if any; most classes offered for

teenagers and adults only; young children taught single words and phrases—no real language

~11,000 speakers (~7 to 10%)

CHOCTAW LANGUAGE IN OKLAHOMA

Genres & Linguistic elaboration Mostly from the 19th Century

Legal documents Yohmi kvt kana inli sanali keyu. Mikmvt kana inla ettemapisa keyu. Therefore, no one must go against this

Religious literature Chihowa hvt chukfvlhpoba chomihchit si o, nanah sv bvnna he keyushke. The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want.

Songs/hymns Newspaper articles Personal letters Traditional stories Poetry Limited digital productions in present time

PUEBLO LANGUAGES

Fishman assessment Stages 2-4

Zuni—has 80-90% fluency & is used in school & local government; ceremonies (9700 speakers)

Tanoan—varies from pueblo to pueblo: used in ceremonies & local governments; classes taught (4000 speakers, 3 languages, 11 pueblos)

Keres—varies from pueblo to pueblo: used in ceremonies & local government; classes taught (7900 speakers in 7 pueblos: 229 speakers to 1880 speakers)

PUEBLO LANGUAGES

Genres & Linguistic elaboration Ceremonial Traditional stories Song Some religious translations A few digital media 1 children’s book in Keresan

Srue “taawa nishaatsi sutrusa ‘kuu n’un’atsa sutrusa. In this way, we will always continue as a strong and healthy people

Male and female language/dialects.

RECOMMENDATIONS

Maintain current genres and levels of linguistic elaboration

Use any extant published written and media sources

Use language in new genres with particular attention paid to children and adult literature and expanded media sources for children and adults

EXAMPLES

Children’s Books Simon Ortiz—Keres

Navajo

Māori Choctaw

EXAMPLES

Adult Literature Navajo coyote tales: The Curley Tó Aheedlíinii version Ofelia Zepeda, Joy Harjo, Simon Ortiz, Nora Yazzie,

Colleen Gorman Shakespeare in Māori

SUGGESTED READINGS / REFERENCES

Akinnaso, F. Niyi. (1982). The literate writes and the nonliterate chants: Written language and ritual communication in sociolinguistic perspective. In W. Frawley (Ed.), Linguistics and literacy (pp. 7-36). New York: Plenum Press.

Biber, Douglas. (1988). Variation across speech and writing. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

Cummins, Jim. Fishman, Joshua A. (1991). Reversing Language Shift. Bristol, UK : Multilingual

Matters. Vygotsky, L.S. (1962). Thought and language. (E. Haufmann & G. Vakar, Eds. &

Trans.). Cambridge, MA: The MIT Press. Vygotsky, L.S. (1978). Mind in Society (M. Cole, V. John-Steiner, I. Scribner, & E.

Souberman, Eds.). Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press. Whorf, Benjamin. (1956). The relation of habitual thought and behavior to language.

In Carroll, John B. (Ed.) Language, thought, and reality: Selected writings of Benjamin Lee Whorf (pp. 134-159). Cambridge, MA: MIT.

CONTACT INFORMATON

Freddie A. Bowles fbowles@uark.edu

George Ann Gregorylinguisticdoc@drgrammarguru.com