Standardising Minority Languages, 2018

More than 70 historical minority languages are spoken in Europe, and several are in the process of being standardised. Studies of minority language standardisation typically focus on language revitalisation by addressing topics such as types of domain where the minority language is used, identifying domains in need to be strengthened and development of vocabulary, grammars and textbooks. Recently, the focus has been extended to issues of power and identity and discussions of whether standardization transfers nation state ideologies to minority languages. Developing a standard for a minority language is not a neutral process; this has consequences for the status of the language and how the language users relate to the new standard. An inherent problem with standardisation is whether the users themselves will accept and identify with the standard chosen. When standardising minority languages, one risks establishing standards that the users do not identify with. Thus, standardisation which was supposed to empower minority language speakers may create a new form of stigma for those who feel that they cannot live up to the codified standard. This project will employ a new theoretical approach to carry out in-depth analyses of standardisation, expanding the focus from language policy and linguistic aspects to include sophisticated analyses of how the users relate to standardisation processes. Language standardisation can be seen as a form of technology, and the project will use theories from the tradition of science and technology studies (STS) to analyse standardisation of historical minority languages in Europe. STS has dealt with different aspects of the standardisation of technologies. These insights will be applied to the case of language standardisation, and the project will explore the relevance of issues such as: how the users of the standard are configured, the exclusionary effects of standards, the positions of non-users, and the political role of standards.

For further information about ”Standardising Minority Languages, 2018”, please contact the principal investigator.

欧洲有超过70种历史少数民族语言在使用，其中若干正处于标准化进程中。少数民族语言标准化研究通常聚焦于语言复兴，涉及的主题包括少数民族语言的使用领域类型、识别需强化的领域，以及词汇、语法与教材的开发。近年来，研究焦点已拓展至权力与身份议题，以及关于标准化是否将民族国家意识形态传递至少数民族语言的讨论。为少数民族语言制定标准并非中立过程，这会对语言地位及使用者与新标准的关系产生影响。标准化的一个固有问题在于使用者自身是否会接受并认同所选标准。在对少数民族语言进行标准化时，存在制定出使用者不认同的标准的风险。因此，本应赋予少数民族语言使用者权力的标准化，可能会为那些认为自己无法达到编码标准的人带来新的污名形式。本项目将采用新的理论方法对标准化进行深入分析，将研究焦点从语言政策与语言学层面拓展至使用者与标准化进程关系的精细化分析。语言标准化可被视为一种技术形式，本项目将运用科学与技术研究（STS）传统中的理论，分析欧洲历史少数民族语言的标准化。STS已探讨过技术标准化的不同方面。这些洞见将被应用于语言标准化案例，项目将探索以下议题的相关性：标准使用者如何被构建、标准的排他效应、非使用者的立场，以及标准的政治角色。

如需了解《2018年少数民族语言标准化》的更多信息，请联系项目负责人。