Dialogue on Dialect Standardization
About this ebook
The chapters in this volume address two major themes: first, the imperative for standardization is influenced by many social and political factors, including identity, age, ease of use of the language, and familiarity, as well as the nature of the language itself. The second theme investigated by the authors is the assumption of the value of standardization, which in many cases leads to overt or covert negotiations or conflicts in the process of language planning and orthography development. These themes are addressed through the experiences of the authors of working with languages and dialects in various parts of the world, including Cyprus, Poland, Canada, the Caribbean, and Mexico, among others. The languages examined in this volume include both those for which there have long been writing systems for “standard” dialects (such as Cypriot Greek and Podlachian, which is sometimes said to be a Belarusian-Ukrainian variety) and those for which writing has been only recently introduced (such as Cayuga, Oneida, and Mixean).
About the author
Tania Granadillo is an Associate Professor of Anthropology and Linguistics at the University of Western Ontario. She has worked on endangered languages in Venezuela.
Keren Rice is a Professor in Linguistics at the University of Toronto. She has been involved with orthography standardization, and has taught the subject of developing orthographies
Jorge Emilio Rosés Labrada is a PhD candidate at the University of Western Ontario and the Université Lumière-Lyon 2. His research focuses on the Mako language of Venezuela and the pre-history of the Sáliban family.
