Activity Reports

Activity Reports

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Sociolinguistics Division Lecture - "Ryukyuan Language Endangerment and the Response of Linguistics"

Lecturer: Patrick Heinrich (Associate professor, Dokkyo University)
Date: Friday, 28 January 2011, 18:15-19:45
Venue: Medium Conference Room, 2F Administration offices, TUFS Fuchu campus

The Sociolinguistics Division organized a lecture entitled "Ryukyuan Language Endangerment and the Response of Linguistics" by Professor Patrick Heinrich. More than 30 people attended.

Professor Heinrich was a researcher at the University of the Ryukyus in 2009. During his stint, he conducted field research across the Southwest Islands. In this lecture, he made a presentation on the challenges faced by the Ryukyuan languages, such as surveys on the language situation and people's linguistic awareness, current use of the language, and language transmission issues, with specific examples, and pointed out the danger of the Ryukyuan languages becoming extinct in the near future. Traditionally, the Ryukyuan languages have been classified as Japanese 'dialects' in national language studies and dialectology but according to Professor Heinrich, this has almost no linguistic basis, and is merely a political decision, making the framework of this classification questionable. Besides mentioning the historical background, Professor Heinrich also raised issues like the current use of the Ryukyuan languages, the linguistic and sociolinguistic responses, and how linguistics and sociolinguistics should act now after a lack of active 'intervention' so far, drawing many comments and questions from the floor.

Photo gallery ( Slide Show )

Handout ( PDF )

Poster ( PDF )

 Japanese page