Written fixation of a minority language: necessity or political intention?

Abstract

The article discusses the importance of the written fixation of the language of the Friulian ethnic minority, officially recognized by the Italian Republic as one of the twelve minority languages of the state. In the light of the policy of state language regulation, the authorities of the Friuli region (the northeastern region of Friuli-Venezia Giulia) have taken a number of measures to enhance the prestige of the Friulian language: these are television and radio broadcasting in Friuli, the introduction of native language lessons in primary and secondary schools, and the popularization of Friulian language in the region. However, most of the measures focused on fixing the language in graphic symbols: the creation of explanatory and bilingual dictionaries and a spelling corrector, the translation of precedent texts, the translation of toponyms and road signs from Italian into Friulian, the introduction of offi ce work in local authorities in Friulian. Accordingly, this article is devoted to the identification of these channels of written fixation, as well as the analysis of the linguo-pragmatic effectiveness of the measures taken. The study reveals that the introduction of office work in the Friulian language in local governments seems to be ineffective in the fi eld of language practice, but is justified from a cultural, historical, political and ideological point of view because it confirms the prestigious status of the official language. An unexpectedly strong vector for the actualization of linguistic identity was the introduction of written fixation of the Friulian language in the form of translation of sacred texts, toponyms, signs, commemorative inscriptions into the Friulian language, as well as the creation and publication of a huge number of bilingual dictionaries. This trend is already determined from the point of view of ethnolinguistic intention: it is necessary to remove the minority (Friulian) language from the traditional sphere of functioning of Italian dialects — oral speech

References

1. Chelysheva I.I. 2001. Ital’yanskie dialekty [Italian dialects]. Yazyki mira. Romanskie yazyki [Languages of the world. Romance languages]. Moscow, Academia Publ., pp. 90–145. (In Russ.)

2. Martynova M.YU. 2016. Model’ Triyesta i naseleniye ital’yano-slavyanskogo pogranich’ya [Model of Trieste and the population of the Italian-Slavic borderland]. Europe of minorities — minorities in Europe. Ethnocultural, religious and linguistic groups. Moscow, Institute of Ethnology and Anthropology RAS Publ., pp. 146–173. (In Russ.)

3. Narumov B.P., Suhachyov N.L. 2001. Friul’skij yazyk [Friulian language]. Yazyki mira. Romanskie yazyki [Languages of the world. Romance languages]. Moscow, Academia Publ., pp. 365–391. (In Russ.)

4. Rayevskaya M.M. 2019. YAzykovaya ideologiya kak mental’naya model’ i issledovatel’skaya paradigma [Language ideology as a mental model and research paradigm]. Moscow State University Bulletin. Series 19: Linguistics and Intercultural Communication, no. 2, рp. 24–35. (In Russ.)

5. Shevlyakova D.A. 2019. Formirovaniye yazykovoy politiki gosudarstva: zako nodatel’nyye urovni — teoriya i praktika (na primere Ital’yanskoy Respubliki, 1946–2017 gg. [Formation of the state’s language policy: legislative levels — theory and practice (on the example of the Italian Republic, 1946–2017]. Bulletin of the Moscow State Linguistic University. Humanities, no. 826, pp. 186–197. (In Russ.)

6. Yedlichko A.I. 2017. Kommertsializatsiya yazyka v aspekte yazykovoy politiki gosudarstva [Commercialization of language in the aspect of state language policy]. Moscow State University Bulletin. Series 19: Linguistics and Intercultural Communication, no. 4, рp. 18–127. (In Russ.).

7. Zagryazkina T.YU. 2016. Etnodiskurs v prostranstve yazyka i kul’tury [Ethnodiscourse in the space of language and culture]. Moscow State University Bulletin. Series 19: Linguistics and Intercultural Communication, no. 2, pp. 52–65. (In Russ.