Esperanto – Lingua Franca and Language Community

Description

This book addresses a fascinating topic – a constructed language that has turned from a project into a fully-fledged language used by some of its speakers on a daily basis. Based on extensive fieldwork, this book provides rare and profound insights into the use of Esperanto in a large number of communicative areas. It studies the speakers’ use of code-switching, phraseology and metaphors, techniques they employ to enhance understanding, such as metacommunication and repair strategies, as well as their predilection for humour. The study also contributes to a comparison between the communication in Esperanto and in the language that is now predominantly used as a lingua franca – English – and allows conclusions to be drawn on the question of what a lingua franca is all about. Esperanto – Lingua Franca and Language Community Editorial page Title page Copyright page Table of contents List of figures List of tables List of abbreviations 1. Speakers’ mother tongues (see ISO 639–3) 2. Other abbreviations Key to transcription symbols A note to the reader Part I. Introduction Chapter 1. What is Esperanto? Chapter 2. What is a lingua franca? Chapter 3. Previous interlinguistic research Chapter 4. The aim of this book Chapter 5. Methods and data Chapter 6. On the structure of this book Part II. Esperanto – an overview Chapter 7. Planned languages and interlinguistics Chapter 8. The history and ideological background of the Esperanto movement Chapter 9. Main current domains Chapter 10. Esperanto as a family language and the phenomenon of Esperanto “native speakers” Chapter 11. Esperanto as a linguistic system Phonology and alphabet Lexicon Morphology Word formation Syntax Textual examples Part III. Excursus: The use of Esperanto outside the speech community Chapter 12. Introduction: Esperanto as a metaphor Chapter 13. The use of Esperanto for artistic purposes Chapter 14. The use of the glottonym Esperanto Chapter 15. The use of Esperanto words in branding a. “Esperanto is an international (universal) and neutral language; the use of Esperanto words is to express the idea that everybody should be addressed and feel involved” b. “Esperanto as a language aims at equality and understanding between peoples. An Esperanto word is chosen to show commitment to and support for these ideas” c. “Esperanto words are chosen as names because they sound nice” d. “The meaning of Esperanto words is recognisable” e. “Words are not yet trademarked” Chapter 16. Some concluding remarks on Esperanto outside its speech community Part IV. The main characteristics of Esperanto communication Chapter 17. Introduction: Communication in Esperanto Chapter 18. Metacommunication 18.1 Introduction 18.2 Metacommunicative utterances and their functions 18.2.1 Text organisation A. Introducing communicative actions B. Structuring communicative events C. Referring to visual elements and to following or preceding passages D. Labelling illocutions E. Managing time and situation F. Managing linguistic form 18.2.2 Audience orientation G. Managing channel H. Checking understanding I. Highlighting the relevance of information J. Evaluating others’ talk K. Anticipating criticism 18.3 Properties of metacommunicative utterances 18.3.1 Position within the text 18.3.2 Personal pronouns 18.3.3 Metacommunicative utterances that have become set expressions 18.3.4 Variation in the use of metacommunication 18.4 Some concluding remarks on metacommunication in Esperanto Chapter 19. Working towards mutual understanding: Repairs 19.1 Introduction 19.2 Types and structure of repairs 19.3 Repairs in Esperanto talk 19.3.1 Self-initiated self-repairs Repetitions Reformulations Synonyms and paraphrases Offering variants 19.3.2 Other-initiated self-repairs 19.3.3 Self-initiated other-repairs 19.3.4 Other-initiated other-repairs 19.4 Some concluding remarks on repairs in Esperanto Chapter 20. Humour 20.1 Introduction 20.2 Humour theories 20.3 The linguistic resources of Esperanto for creating humour 20.3.1 Language-based humour 20.3.2 Main types of language play in Esperanto A. Creating pseudo-homonymy B. Playing with abbreviations C. Toying with proper names D. Phraseology – a treasure trove of verbal humour 20.4 Humour as a discursive strategy 20.4.1 Functions of humour in Esperanto interactions 20.4.2 Humorous devices in conversation A. Teasing B. Allusions C. Heckling 20.4.3 Failed humour 20.5 Some concluding remarks on humour in Esperanto Chapter 21. Phraseological units and metaphors 21.1 Introduction 21.2 Definition A. The polylexemic character of phraseological units B. The semantic and syntactic stability of phraseological units C. Lexicalisation D. Idiomaticity E. Connotations 21.3 Classifications 21.4 The use of phraseological units 21.4.1 PUs as text constituents 21.4.2 PUs as text-structuring elements 21.4.3 Modifications 21.5 Analysis of the Esperanto phraseology in the dataset 21.6 Historical phraseology: A pilot study 21.7 Metaphors and similes 21.8 Some concluding remarks on phraseology and metaphors in Esperanto Chapter 22. Code-switching in Esperanto communication 22.1 Introduction 22.2 “Ne krokodilu” – language loyalty as a main characteristic of the Esperanto speech community 22.3 Types, functions and extent of code-switching 22.3.1 Code-switching and setting 22.3.2 Functions of code-switching in Esperanto A. Expressing politeness B. Word search C. Enhancing precision D. Language play 22.3.3 The extent of code-switching in Esperanto 22.4 Some concluding remarks on code-switching in Esperanto Chapter 23. Written vs oral Esperanto 23.1 Introduction 23.2 Written vs spoken communication 23.3 Spoken and written Esperanto 23.4 Esperanto in computer-mediated communication 23.5 Some concluding remarks on Esperanto in writing and speech Chapter 24. Attitudes to accents 24.1 Introduction 24.2 Accents in ethnic languages 24.3 Previous research on accents in Esperanto 24.4 The role of accents in Esperanto communication 24.5 Some concluding remarks on accents in Esperanto Chapter 25. Esperanto and language change 25.1 Introduction 25.2 Factors influencing language change in Esperanto 25.3 Zamenhof’s ideas on language change 25.4 The role of speakers in language change 25.5 Examples of language change in Esperanto 25.5.1 Phonological changes 25.5.2 Orthographic changes 25.5.3 Lexical changes 25.5.4 Semantic changes 25.5.5 Morphological change 25.5.6 Grammatical change 25.6 Some concluding remarks on language change in Esperanto Chapter 26. Esperanto as a corporate language: A case study of an educational NGO 26.1 Introduction 26.2 Participants and methods 26.3 Communication in an NGO in Esperanto 26.4 Some concluding remarks on Esperanto as a corporate language Acknowledgements Part V. Conclusion Chapter 27. The main characteristics of Esperanto communication Chapter 28. The speakers of Esperanto and their culture Chapter 29. Language “ownership” Chapter 30. Final remarks Bibliography Appendix 1. Recordings and other sources Appendix 2. The sixteen rules of the Fundamental Grammar of Esperanto GRAMMAR A. THE ALPHABET B. PARTS OF SPEECH C. GENERAL RULES Index