Article published In:
Minorities in Italy in a changing legal landscapeEdited by Gabriele Iannàccaro and Vittorio Dell’Aquila
[Language Problems and Language Planning 44:3] 2020
► pp. 273–286
Edited by Gabriele Iannàccaro and Vittorio Dell’Aquila
[Language Problems and Language Planning 44:3] 2020
► pp. 273–286
The dilemmas of ‘saving’ a dying language
Walser German between documentation and planning
Walser German is a prototypical example of ‘extreme’ minority language, the survival of which appears at present extremely
critical, at least in the Italian context. From a sociolinguistic point of view, Walser German is dispersed in a discontinuous territory and
subject to language shift, language attrition and demographic shrinkage. Linguistically, it is part of a dialect continuum that stretches
north of the Alps; yet, the dialects spoken in Italy have developed independently from each other and from their Swiss counterparts, with
the result that they are now mutually unintelligible, and structurally too distant from Standard Modern German for this variety to be
eligible as their Dachsprache. Given this background, the effects of a law protecting and promoting minority languages were
foreseeable: Walser German is not a language under any sociolinguistic respect and could neither be protected or promoted by encouraging its
use in administrative domains or developing a standard variety. However, what actually happened was not foreseeable either. Legal and
funding support fostered documentation activities creating or enhancing local expertise in various domains; in addition, communities started
to feel legitimised of a cultural and linguistic ‘otherness’ that could be exploited as a commodity, especially in the domain of
tourism.
Article outline
- 1.Foreword
- 2.Walser German in Italy
- 2.1Demography and language shift
- 2.2Linguistic dispersion
- 3.Language problems and language planning
- 4.Discussion
- Notes
-
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