Language Attitudes and Minority Rights

This book presents a detailed sociolinguistic study of the traditionally Catalan-speaking areas of Southern France, and sheds new light on language attitudes, phonetic variation, language ideologies and minority language rights. The region's complex dual identity, both Catalan and French, both peripheral and strategic, is shown to be reflected in the book's attitudinal findings which in turn act as reliable predictors of phonetic variation. The author's careful discursive analysis paints a clear picture of the linguistic ideological landscape: in which French dominates as the language of status and prestige. This innovative work, employing cutting-edge mixed methods, provides an in-depth account of an under-examined language situation, and draws on this research to propose a number of policy recommendations to protect minority rights for speakers of Catalan in the region. Combining language attitudes, sociophonetics, discourse studies, and language policy, this will provide an invaluable reference for scholars of French and Catalan studies and minority languages around the world.

Examines the relationship between language attitudes and phonetic variation in Northern Catalonia Demonstrates how the social, cultural and political context affects the attitudes and linguistic practices of French and Catalan speakers Turns the spotlight on regions that are overlooked, marginalised and far from national capital cities

Autorentext
James Hawkey is Lecturer in Spanish Linguistics at the University of Bristol, UK. His research interests include language attitudes, language policy, language and migration, and language variation and change. His work focuses on Catalonia, France, and Andorra.

Inhalt
Introduction.Chapter 1: Research Context: Northern Catalonia. Chapter 2: Theoretical and Methodological Considerations.Chapter 3: Quantitative Approaches to Language Attitudes in Northern Catalonia.Chapter 4: Phonetic Variation and Language Attitudes in Northern Catalonia.Chapter 5: Qualitative Analysis: Spatial Discourses and Language Ideologies in Northern Catalonia. Chapter 6. Discussion: Minority Language Rights in Northern Catalonia.Conclusions.