Date: 07-May-2006
From: José Álvarez <jalvarcantv.net>
Subject: Terminology Development in Amerindian Languages
Regarding query: http://linguistlist.org/issues/17/17-1090.html#1
My thanks to the following respondents (alphabetically ordered):
Abolfazl Zarnikhi [a_zarnikhi2002leoki.uhh.hawaii.edu]
Regarding references, I received different sorts of replies. Some of them directed me to bibliographical items dealing with the specific problem of terminology development, while others refer to the wider area of language policy/planning:
- Calvet, Louis-Jean. (2005). La guerre des langues. Hachette. - Calvet, Louis-Jean. (2005). Sociolinguistique. PUF. - Fishman, Joshua A. (2006). Do Not Leave Your Language Alone. The Hidden Status Agendas Within Corpus Planning in Language Policy. Lawrence Erlbaum Associates. - Hinton, Leanne and Ken Hale. (eds.) 2001. The Green Book of Language Revitalization in Practice. Academic Press. - Kennedy, Elaine. (1997) Terminology: A Practical Approach. Linguatech. - Landau, Sidney I. (1989). Dictionaries: The Art and Craft of Lexicography. Cambridge University Press. 2nd edition (April 26, 2001) - Maxwell, Judith. (2003). Runuk'ik K'ak'a' Taq Tzij: Creación de Neologismos Pedagógicos. Guatemala: Ministerio de Educación. - Wright, Sue Ellen and Gerhard Budin (eds.). (1997). Handbook of Terminology Management: Basic Aspects of Terminology Management (Vol. 1). John Benjamins.
I also received information about past, present and future projects in this area. Pius ten Hacken gives information about work beginning on terminology in Benin (Edo in Ethnologue), spoken in Nigeria. Abolfazl Zarnikhi gives news about a terminology project headed by Shahin Nematzadeh in Iran. Judith Maxwell informs about the experience in Guatemala with Mayan languages, under the Dirección General de Educación Bilingüe (DIGEBI), the bilingual branch of the Ministry of Education. She was kind enough to fax me a boolet with guidelines for that work. Jon Reyhner pointed out a comprehensive report on The Mohawk Language Standardisation Project, in Ontario, Canada. Christopher Miller suggested contacting the Commissioner of Official Languages for the Territory of Nunavut in Canada. Harold Schiffman commented on the situation in India where various languages have tried to develop registers for science and technology, but have failed.
Schiffman, who has reflected and written considerably about language policies, feels "very pessimistic about register development for science and technology, because people who do serious science want to be in the same ''loop'' as serious international scholars, who tend to use English or another LOWC." He included part of a larger article on diglossia and language policy in and around Afghanistan, where he outlines the problems. He thinks that it's not feasible to put every language on an equal basis, among other resasons, because many languages lack scientific and technical registers:
"Another issue in creating new registers is that, as we noted above, new registers are created by the users and developers of the particular discipline or subdiscipline that they are working in. Language purists always want to show that their language is capable of being used for scientific purposes (i.e. it is sophisticated enough and 'intellectual' enough to serve this purpose) but what this entails is creating vocabulary for everything that has already been developed in another language. This is a daunting task, not only for the committees tasked with the job of translating (usually) the vocabulary and terminology of another language, but also a daunting task for the users, who must now become comfortable with terminology provided to them, not by users or scientific researchers in their field, but by language pundits intent on creating vocabulary that is wholly based on indigenous sources. Earlier in the industrial revolution, this was less difficult, and nations like Japan that decided in modernize beginning in the 19th century were able to adapt by borrowing much of the vocabulary already in use in other, more 'modern' languages. But 'late modernizers' often resist borrowing, so are faced with an almost insurmountable task-create new terminology, and convince their own people to adopt and use it."
I must confess that I found his fears justified and his arguments very persuasive, although they refer mainly to higher education and scientific research, whereas my query refers to primary and secondary education. Of course, his arguments do not address the problem of technical feasibility, but the problems of desirability and economic viability of such terminological enterprises. Creating new terms using whatever means are available is feasible, though not always viable and socially relevant. It may be the case that we must come to terms with some degree of inevitable diglossia. However, it is a matter of life-or-death to develop scientific terminology for schools, if bilingual education and language maintenance programmes are to have any sense at all.
Although the number of replies does not allow me to evaluate the general situation of terminological projects for minority languages, it seems to me that one of the most interesting success stories is the one of The Hawaiian Lexicon Committee, headed by Larry Kimura Hawaiian (as several respondents also seem to agree). I was fortunate enough to receive a very kind and informative letter about the experience from William/Pila Wilson, whom I quote in extenso:
"[Y]ou might be interested in learning about the work of the Hawaiian language lexicon committee housed here at the University of Hawai'i at Hilo. I work in the College of Hawaiian language (Ka Haka 'Ula O Ke'elikolani) which was mandated by the state government legislature in 1997. Among research, teaching, and curriculum development and lexicon development duties, our college also has a P-12 laboratory school program where we try out new methodologies, terminologies, and teacher training programs.
Hawaiian is currently used as a medium of education from preschool through grade 12 in selected Hawai'i schools serving about 2,000 students annually, most of whom are descendants of speakers, but who have grown up speaking English rather than Hawaiian in the home. With the protection of these schools, the number of native speakers is growing along with the strong increase in second language speakers. There was a history of Hawaiian being used in this way in the 1800s, but Hawaiian medium schools were made illegal from 1896 until 1986. There was thus much work to be done to create materials for the schools. While much work remains, quite a bit has been done by the lexicon committee and its work is available on the web under Mamaka Kaiao. Other sites of interest are under the Aha Punana Leo, Kualono and Ulukau."
Finally, Gordon Bronitsky kindly informs that he is "working to create Native Nations, Native Voices--a festival to honor contemporary Native language writers. To honor Native language authors, Native language writers have been invited to participate in a week-long festival. Writers will read from their works in their own languages; National language translations will be made available to the audience at the option of each writer [...] throughout Native America and beyond, a small but growing body of writers are giving new voice to Native languages, using their own languages to write about and confront the world they live in, the world of the Twenty First Century. Often unknown outside their own communities, such writers have much to say to all of us."
Here I list some useful links suggested by my respondents:
The Commissioner of Official Languages for the Territory of Nunavut in Canada, and other links related to this experience:
http://langcom.nu.ca/en_index.html
http://www.multedata.ca/user/bin/inuktituttools.ppt
http://www.nunatsiaq.com/archives/nunavut021011/news/nunavut/21011_08.html
http://www.gov.nu.ca/Nunavut/English/news/2003/may/may26a.shtml
http://www.nunavut.com/nunavut99/english/our.html
http://www.itk.ca/environment/water-glossary-inuktitut.php
http://action.attavik.ca/home/langcom/attach/English%20OLC%20Newsletter%2011.pdf
The Hawai'i experience:
http://www.hulasource.com/kboo/makamohavo.html
http://www.ahapunanaleo.org/
http://www.olelo.hawaii.edu/eng/
http://ulukau.org/english.php
A report from The Mohawk Language Standardisation Project can be found here:
http://www.edu.gov.on.ca/eng/training/literacy/mohawk/mohawk.html
The document where Harold F. Schiffman addresses this can be found here:
http://ccat.sas.upenn.edu/~haroldfs/messeas/regrep/node2.html
Linguistic Field(s): Anthropological Linguistics Lexicography
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