Language policy

Danish democracy in English

by
vote counts 2 1

This is an English translation of Dorte Lønsmann and Jacob Thøgersen’s article. Read the Danish article here.

During the recent election campaign for municipal and regional elections in Denmark, we encountered a new linguistic phenomenon: although the election campaign was conducted predominantly in Danish, the English language – and other languages – also played a significant role, at least in some places. This has led us to consider: what role does English actually play in the Danish democracy?

Unlike in parliamentary elections, foreign nationals residing in Denmark have the right to vote in local elections if they are EU citizens or if they have lived in Denmark for at least 4 years. Kommunernes Landsforening (Local Government Denmark) estimates that … ↪

Tamazight – Language, power, and identity in North Africa

by
Berber flag.svg

This is a translation and updated version by Mena B. Lafkioui of her original article in Dutch, which can be read here. A Danish translation is available here.

Language is central to the Amazigh claim. Through language, the Imazighen are able to understand and fully appreciate their millennia-old and richly layered linguistic and cultural heritage. At the same time, language functions as a crucial symbol and instrument of power. If the Imazighen wish to preserve and further develop their Amazighness or Tamuzgha – that is, their transnational collective Amazigh identity – then speaking and writing in Tamazight is indispensable.

The vast majority of today’s North African population descends from the Imazighen, the original inhabitants of the region. Tamazgha, … ↪

Swahili: The Rise of an African World Language

by
kofi2

Today Lingoblog celebrates United Nations Swahili Day with this post by Kofi Yakpo.

Encounters with Swahili

In 1995, I won a scholarship to study Swahili at the Institute of Swahili and Foreign Languages in Zanzibar, Tanzania. I had crammed for two months before the qualifying exam, trying to catch up with African Studies students who had been studying Swahili for two years. I couldn’t utter a single coherent sentence, but I knew all the nominal classes and verbal extensions by heart. It got me through.

I stayed with the family of Bi Faiza in Michenzani, Zanzibar, a household consisting of Bi Faiza and her three daughters. She welcomed me as her son, and so, my journey of learning began. … ↪

On some colonial power structures in the field of linguistics

by

A central discipline within linguistics is language description, which in many cases is carried out by white, Western researchers doing fieldwork on languages that are not spoken in the West. It is no secret that this tradition has its roots partly in European colonization and partly in Christian missionary work. Many language descriptions have thus been motivated by the wish to describe and map out the cultures and areas that the Europeans colonized, and furthermore, language descriptions have acted as foundations for translations of the Bible in connection with Christian missionary work. Much of modern linguistics is built on the works of this tradition, but despite this, it has not has not confronted its colonial past as a scientific discipline. … ↪

When language becomes violence

by
Anmærkning 2020 06 01 163929

Can language cause harm? Can a speech act be an act of violence? These are important questions – especially in times when citing the right to freedom of expression is used as a way to legitimize hate speech. This is a tactic employed by people like the Danish right-wing politician Rasmus Paludan (henceforth RP), who uses ‘freedom of speech’ as a shield to say very negative things about Muslims (among others). It is always interesting to expand your linguistic horizons, so in this blog post I will attempt to examine hate speech and linguistic violence with insights from affect theory and philosophy.

Harmful speech

To understand how language can be violence, let us begin by considering professor and philosopher Judith … ↪

2019 – International Year of Indigenous Languages

by
indigenous 4

2019 – International Year of Indigenous Languages

2019 – Internationaal Jaar van de Inheemse Talen

2019 – Internationalt år for indfødte sprog

2019 – Ôma askiy kâ-miyawâtamihk iyiniw-pîkiskwêwina misiwêskamik

2019 – Hur gatung haba ba pinang ajimi gi’e palika kakanap taang unavera

On the 28th of January, the start of the International Year of Indigenous Languages (IYIL) will take place. IYIL is an initiative by the United Nations and is organised by UNESCO. International Years are organised yearly, with the goal of creating awareness for a particular issue of current importance to earth and/or mankind, and to allow and mobilise people to take action for a certain cause. Already in 2016 did the UN decide that 2019 would … ↪