Language revitalization, modernity, and the Csángó mode of speaking

Abstract

This study points out that language revitalization is closely connected to the discourse of language endangerment that objectifies languages considering them countable, regarding them separable from both the speaker and their use while speaking. It argues that this “modernist” approach of language defines the nature and, implicitly, the results of language revitalization actions. Using the example of the Moldavian Csángó Hungarian Educational Programme in North-East Romania, the article shows that while this language teaching movement unfolded within the framework of modernity, it came into conflict with the local ideologies surrounding language and speaking. Although the latter were not created by the discourses of the nation state, they are not independent notions as late modern changes had a significant impact on them. The authors analyse language ideologies prior to modernity and the way they have changed as a result of more recent developments, particularly in the context of the standardization of the Moldavian Csángó mode of speaking.

Keywords

• language endangerment
• standardization
• csángó hungarian of north-east romania
• language ideologies
• nation-state