Guyome's log
Posted: Thu Jan 02, 2020 2:33 pm
I can't post links yet (if I understood the forum rules correctly) so I thought it might be best to begin this log with a short overview of the languages I am studying/using at the moment (I will list resources in another post). Of course, these short introductions cannot do justice to the relatively complex socio-linguistic situations these languages find themselves in, they are only very broad strokes and I hope I'll be able to add more flesh and nuances in future posts.
Occitan
Occitan is the language I will try and focus on for the next few weeks. Once the main language in what is now southern France, it held out reasonably well there up to the first half of the 20th c. but has since declined sharply and it can now be said to have been replaced by French. There are still quite a few speakers around, especially among older rural generations, but it's probably not a language you'll hear very often unless you make a point of attending specific events. A timid revival of some sort has been taking place in some circles since the 1960/70s and despite the overall dire linguistic situation, books are still published, radio and TV shows are still produced. Despite this, it seems to me Occitan remains in a very precarious state. There is also the fact that the loss of traditional Occitan speaking communities means that L2 speakers may become the main carriers of the language in the very near future, which may in turn lead to even more French influence on Occitan as far as vocabulary, syntax and phonology are concerned.
Manchu
Manchu appeared on the map as a written language at the very beginning of the 17th c. in what is now Northeast China. The Manchus defeated the Ming dynasty (1368-1644) shortly after and founded the Qing dynasty, which would rule over China proper and other conquered territories until its fall in 1912. Being the language of a conquest elite, Manchu was given a place of pride and the amount of documents produced during the Qing dynasty is staggering. Manchu books were also published in large number, but a Manchu literature never really developed and most literary productions are translations of Chinese works. Each year, more and more of these documents and books become available online through digitalisation campaigns, meaning that there is no shortage of reading material available.
The Manchus living in Chinese provinces being vastly outnumbered by their non-Manchu speaking subjects, their language gradually gave way despite efforts by the Qing emperors to foster it. The language held out better in Manchuria proper, but the vicissitudes of the 20 th c. probably hastened its final demise. The language is now bordering on extinction, with reports of only a few elderly speakers still living on the late 2000s.
It should however be mentioned that a close relative of Manchu, the Sibe language, still lives on in the Xinjiang region, spoken by the descendants of soldiers sent there by the Qing emperor in 1764 to guard the empire's border. Their geographic isolation helped the language survive and Sibe materials are still published today (although accessing them outside of China is not an easy task). Written Sibe is almost identical with Manchu as written during the Qing dynasty.
Yiddish
Yiddish is a language I spent a lot of time on some years ago and managed to bring to a level where I can read and listen to it rather confortably. I have very few opportunities to speak it though.
The sociolinguistic situation of Yiddish today is sort of a strange one, with two different poles. On one hand, Yiddish is not exactly doing well as a language in the secular world (despite some sort of "revival" over the last decades) and there isn't a lot of new material produced today. And while I am very interested in the "Old Country" pre-WWII Ashkenazic culture, I wouldn't mind having more contemporary material to interact with from time to time. On the other hand, Yiddish is still the main language of many Ultra-Orthodox Hasidic communities and it is quite easy to find videos, pamphlets, and websites in Hasidic Yiddish. They are however (and not surprisingly) very much Hasidic centered and I woudn't mind having less Hasidic/religious material to interact with from time to time.
Latin
There is probably no need for a long introduction to this language. I have been reading Latin for years now, so I won't post about learning it per se. My main interest lies mainly in Late Antiquity and Medieval Latin rather than Classical Latin, so I will try and post occasionally about interesting texts I encounter.
Occitan
Occitan is the language I will try and focus on for the next few weeks. Once the main language in what is now southern France, it held out reasonably well there up to the first half of the 20th c. but has since declined sharply and it can now be said to have been replaced by French. There are still quite a few speakers around, especially among older rural generations, but it's probably not a language you'll hear very often unless you make a point of attending specific events. A timid revival of some sort has been taking place in some circles since the 1960/70s and despite the overall dire linguistic situation, books are still published, radio and TV shows are still produced. Despite this, it seems to me Occitan remains in a very precarious state. There is also the fact that the loss of traditional Occitan speaking communities means that L2 speakers may become the main carriers of the language in the very near future, which may in turn lead to even more French influence on Occitan as far as vocabulary, syntax and phonology are concerned.
Manchu
Manchu appeared on the map as a written language at the very beginning of the 17th c. in what is now Northeast China. The Manchus defeated the Ming dynasty (1368-1644) shortly after and founded the Qing dynasty, which would rule over China proper and other conquered territories until its fall in 1912. Being the language of a conquest elite, Manchu was given a place of pride and the amount of documents produced during the Qing dynasty is staggering. Manchu books were also published in large number, but a Manchu literature never really developed and most literary productions are translations of Chinese works. Each year, more and more of these documents and books become available online through digitalisation campaigns, meaning that there is no shortage of reading material available.
The Manchus living in Chinese provinces being vastly outnumbered by their non-Manchu speaking subjects, their language gradually gave way despite efforts by the Qing emperors to foster it. The language held out better in Manchuria proper, but the vicissitudes of the 20 th c. probably hastened its final demise. The language is now bordering on extinction, with reports of only a few elderly speakers still living on the late 2000s.
It should however be mentioned that a close relative of Manchu, the Sibe language, still lives on in the Xinjiang region, spoken by the descendants of soldiers sent there by the Qing emperor in 1764 to guard the empire's border. Their geographic isolation helped the language survive and Sibe materials are still published today (although accessing them outside of China is not an easy task). Written Sibe is almost identical with Manchu as written during the Qing dynasty.
Yiddish
Yiddish is a language I spent a lot of time on some years ago and managed to bring to a level where I can read and listen to it rather confortably. I have very few opportunities to speak it though.
The sociolinguistic situation of Yiddish today is sort of a strange one, with two different poles. On one hand, Yiddish is not exactly doing well as a language in the secular world (despite some sort of "revival" over the last decades) and there isn't a lot of new material produced today. And while I am very interested in the "Old Country" pre-WWII Ashkenazic culture, I wouldn't mind having more contemporary material to interact with from time to time. On the other hand, Yiddish is still the main language of many Ultra-Orthodox Hasidic communities and it is quite easy to find videos, pamphlets, and websites in Hasidic Yiddish. They are however (and not surprisingly) very much Hasidic centered and I woudn't mind having less Hasidic/religious material to interact with from time to time.
Latin
There is probably no need for a long introduction to this language. I have been reading Latin for years now, so I won't post about learning it per se. My main interest lies mainly in Late Antiquity and Medieval Latin rather than Classical Latin, so I will try and post occasionally about interesting texts I encounter.