This study explores Adzagbe, a youth language based on Ewe, spoken in Aflao, Ghana. It aims to uncover how this code is created and the reasons behind its development among Aflao's youth. Data was... Show moreThis study explores Adzagbe, a youth language based on Ewe, spoken in Aflao, Ghana. It aims to uncover how this code is created and the reasons behind its development among Aflao's youth. Data was collected through recorded conversations, interviews, and observations across four key zones of Adzagbe speakers: Zorokpome, Dekeme, Atisukorpe, and Border. Findings show that Adzagbe is formed through the manipulation of Ewe, combined with elements from some Ghanaian and West African languages, English and French, resulting in unique lexical items spanning nouns, verbs, adjectives, and adverbs. These manipulations include morphological changes like prefixation, suffixation, and reduplication, as well as phonological adjustments such as clipping and metathesis of word syllables. Semantic alterations involve metaphor, euphemism, and narrowing. Adzagbe idiomatic expressions are creative, often humorous, and rooted in Ewe, reflecting the speakers'identity, which is distinct from the older generation and mainstream Aflao culture. The language and associated culture are male-dominated, with practices like nicknaming, flamboyant fashion, and rebellious music. Displays of wealth, drug use, and attention-seeking behaviours such as hair dyeing and splurging on expensive vehicles are common in public settings. Adzagbe is also gendered and ageist, attracting criticism from the older generation, particularly towards its female speakers. Show less
This book is about three West African sign languages with different time-depths, community sizes and patterns of social interactions. Adamorobe Sign Language (AdaSL), Ghana, is an old village sign... Show moreThis book is about three West African sign languages with different time-depths, community sizes and patterns of social interactions. Adamorobe Sign Language (AdaSL), Ghana, is an old village sign language used by 33 deaf people. Langue des Signes de Bouakako (LaSiBo), Côte d'Ivoire, is a new village sign language, used by six deaf people. Língua Gestual Guineense, Guinea-Bissau, is an emerging school-based sign language used by around 500 deaf people.In the three sign languages, 45 narratives of personal experiences were analysed to better understand how the time depth, the community size and the socialisation frequency influenced the three sign languages. Four different descriptive analyses of the narratives were carried out. Study 1 analysed the structure of the narratives, following Labov & Waletzky's model (1967) and Freytag's dramatic pyramid (1894). Studies 2, 3 and 4 focus on specific narrative devices that work to make narratives more convincing, as part of Labov's (1972) "evaluation" component. These devices refer to the moments when storytellers give dramatic prominence to narratives through the incorporation of characters, such as the use of different signing perspectives (Study 2), the use of role shifting between characters and constructed dialogues (Study 3) and the use of different types of descriptions of the animal (Study 4).These studies show that AdaSL and male LGG signers use devices that reflect a greater ability to capture the audience's attention, while LaSiBo and female LGG signers tend to show similar patterns in using simpler or reduced devices.This study shows that the frequency of social interaction between deaf peers is the most crucial factor in language change over time. Show less
This paper takes as its point of departure the fact that the loci of many sociolinguistic theories originate from Western, industrial, and ideologically monolingual (and often Anglophone) societies... Show moreThis paper takes as its point of departure the fact that the loci of many sociolinguistic theories originate from Western, industrial, and ideologically monolingual (and often Anglophone) societies such as the United States, the United Kingdom, and many of the European nation states. This fact leads to a theoretical bias. After an explanation of the problem, this paper proposes ways to decolonise biases in sociolinguistics in practical terms. In general, it is suggested that researchers reach out and collaborate in all kinds of ways. Specific solutions suggested include, amongst others, redetermining what ‘good’ academic English and research constitute, using translation as a tool, proactively soliciting manuscripts, stimulating writing and research cooperation between authors with various backgrounds, making introductions to sociolinguistics broader in their cultural/linguistic focus, providing writing help, and diversifying editorial boards of journals. Show less
Wat doet meertaligheid met je geloofsbeleving? We zijn ons er vaak niet zo van bewust welk effect een specifieke taal kan hebben op de manier waarop je denkt, voelt en gelooft. Elke taal draagt een... Show moreWat doet meertaligheid met je geloofsbeleving? We zijn ons er vaak niet zo van bewust welk effect een specifieke taal kan hebben op de manier waarop je denkt, voelt en gelooft. Elke taal draagt een eigen wereld met zich mee die een ander verhaal vertelt. In dit artikel laat ik zien hoe complex meertaligheid eigenlijk is, en waarom we het in het geloof juist moeten vieren. Show less
Language contact has presumably had an impact on all of the world’s languages. This Ph.D. dissertation provides a thorough description of the lexical outcomes of the contact between the arguably... Show moreLanguage contact has presumably had an impact on all of the world’s languages. This Ph.D. dissertation provides a thorough description of the lexical outcomes of the contact between the arguably young American Spanish and the youngest variety of Southern Hemisphere Englishes, thus closing a gap in the literature on Spanish and English as contact languages.Situated at the crossroads of toponomastics, lexical semantics, and language attitudes, and embedded within a theoretical framework of contact linguistics, this thesis addresses the contact history of Falkland Islands English with Spanish and examines to what extent such contact played a part in the shaping of the archipelago’s official language. To do so, an innovative mixed-methods approach is used to broaden the analytical depth of the results. Furthermore, a range of sources are used, i.e., archival research, literature reviews, and ethnographic fieldwork.The findings show that (i) Spanish-English contact in the Falklands has left two main linguistic products: loanwords and place names; (ii) even though the Falklands currently host an English-speaking community, the Islands have a long history of Spanish-speaking settlers; (iii) Spanish loanwords are mainly related to horse tack and horse types, and most words are tightly connected to gaucho vernacular but not exclusively with their equestrian duties, and (iv) Falkland Islands English hosts a handful of loanwords that are originally from autochthonous South American languages.This dissertation will be of interest to scholars working on language contact, toponomastics, world Englishes, and ethnolinguistic approaches to data collection. Show less
This thesis deals with the first century of Karamanlidika printing and more precisely the Turkophone Christian Orthodox cleric Serapheim Attaliates, one of the most important figures in... Show moreThis thesis deals with the first century of Karamanlidika printing and more precisely the Turkophone Christian Orthodox cleric Serapheim Attaliates, one of the most important figures in Karamanlidika publishing. Through the study of his life and of the language used in Serapheim’s books, an effort is made to trace the motives and beliefs that urged him to publish his books, his techniques, and the impact his books had on the Turkophone Orthodox of Anatolia and on Karamanlidika as a phenomenon.The major question is what Serapheim’s works tell us about the form and function of Karamanlidika texts in the Anatolian context, about their connection to the Turkish Anatolian dialects and about the wider historical and cultural context of the Christian Turkophone Orthodox of the region. Serapheim’s works reflect a conscious use of everyday speech in the Anatolian Turkish dialect of the south-western region in the eighteenth century, rather than the elaborate Ottoman Turkish language used by the elite. Serapheim incorporated many different linguistic varieties and variants in his books, so when dealing with the religious vocabulary and the liturgical parts they fit the definition of a formulaic language which to some extent might have functioned as a “sacred language”. Show less
