Language Planning and Policy Covers many issues – orthography, education, administration, international communication, language rights Mainly concerned with national government policy but not always – churches, universities, local govts.

continued General – language planning is the deliberate attempt to change linguistic behaviour (deliberate language change) Or to stop it changing Language policy – general principles behind such attempts

General Questions Is language planning possible? Is planning in general possible? – record of planned economies is very poor What about planned languages? Yes, sometimes – but often at a high cost – money, minority/majority rights, bureaucracy Quebecs language police

continued Is language planning desirable? – many sociolinguists would say no Compare fate of English vs French

Corpus Planning Internal structure and features of languages –pronunciation, spelling, syntax Changes in Malay – compare place names In English – no central control – Oxbridge and the Times, BBC – regional accents of news readers

continued Writing systems sometimes a problem – which system? Political implications Central Asia/Azerbeijan – shift from Cyrillic to Roman (but not Arabic) – each script linked with political ideology

continued Spelling reforms – modest American reforms in English, reforms in Malay/Indonesian, proposals for German New words – often a political or religious issue – divergence of Hindustani – native words in Icelandic and French Codifying and teaching grammar

Example: Icelandic Language Institute – 36 terminology committees -- keeping English out by inventing new Icelandic words Computer – tolva – combines words for number and prophetess frio D jofur -- thief of peace (pager) TV screen – sk jar cows amniotic sac

Standardisation Standard linguistic rules – local, national, regional, national Range of standardisation Oral languages without writing systems – not used in education or for high purposes, lot of variation –Aslian languages Partial standardisation – written language, used in primary education – Yoruba, Tamil

continued Restricted standardisation – language is not used in law or higher education or is used for religion but not for science – Arabic? Hebrew? Mature standardisation – language is used in all types of communication – how many?

Status planning Relationship between languages – often reflects political conflict and status of those who speak (or granparents) spoke the language Northern Ireland – demands for official recognition of Irish (and then Ulster Scots)

continued Allocation of functions National or official – symbolic or ceremonial Malay in Singapore (national anthem) Irish (political parties – a chara (Oh friend) in letters Welsh, Maori, African languages in South Africa

continued Provincial – French in Quebec, Welsh, Catalan, Iban in Sarawak Lingua franca – Swahili, Lingala Group – Roma, Yiddish Educational – Latin, Sanskrit, Pali, Classical Arabic

continued Literary – Hebrew, Latin Religious – Sanskrit etc Mass media Industrial, services Also prestige and acquisition planning – cintai bahasa

Language planning processes: selection Choice of language or variety for certain functions originally gradual and unplanned – East Midlands dialect – standard English Parisian French, Kano Hausa

continued Deliberate creation of standard language from a specific dilaect, Basque, Indonesian, Bahasa Melayu from Johore-Riau, Pilipino from Tagalog Most powerful or numerous dialect becomes the standard Not always – Tuscan – standard Italian

Codification Creation of linguistic standards or norms Graphisation – writing system Grammatication – syntax and morphology Lexicalisation – new words Done by language academies, government bodies, individuals

Implementation Production of written materials Extension of domains Marketing Enforcement – official or unofficial, occasionally violent

Case studies Indonesia – many different languages – Javanese largest numbers of speakers but many varieties – admin language Dutch – Malay a trade language National language before independence – Malay Dutch – no international value, fear of Javanese domination

continued Singapore – dominant Chinese population – but spoke stigmatised dialects – no natural resources Multilingual policy – some free choice – encouragement of 2 H varieties Linguistic variety reduced – English/Mandarin bilinguals dominant group

continued Malaysia – dominant Malay group No role for minority vernaculars – spoke stigmatised varieties Malay national and official language Modified in recent years

continued Timor Leste Local language Tetum – a L variety Official language Portuguese 1975 occupied by Indonesia – then independent – Portuguese became the national language

Modernisation Lexical enrichment Borrowing (often politically motivated) Extension of existing words neologisms

conclusion Language planning – successful when supported by social or economic forces or political interests – French, Catalan, Mandarin in Singapore Less successful if opposed by economic or political forces – Irish, Welsh, anti-Singlish, anti- rojak Often unsuccessful – preserve Aboriginal or Amerindian languages