Memory and the existence of the linguistic ecosystem

Abstract

The objective of this article is to show the importance of memory for the existence of the linguistic ecosystem, which may be looked at from the perspective of community (language community, speech community). Memory is an important feature of anthropology of the imaginary (imaginaire, in French); linguistic ecosystem is a central component of ecolinguistics. With examples of nickname use as well as of a short narrative in small communities of the country’s hinterland the article shows that some components of the community’s memory may disappear but the community as a whole remains. This shows that community and language are always changing.

Keywords

• memória
• ecossistema linguístico
• evolução
• ecolinguística