Studia Ethnologica Pragensia (Dec 2023)
Ethnolinguistic Revitalization: Theory and Practical Application
Abstract
In the past decades, the study of ethnolinguistic revitalization has become an important subfield on the border between ethnology/social anthropology and sociolinguistics. In two main blocks of the text, the author focuses on both aspects of the mentioned issue — theoretical and practical. Current trends in the field of ethnolinguistic assimilation and revitalization are briefly presented at the theorizing level of the work. The question of whether ethnolinguistic revitalization efforts are a cloistered scholars’ vision or a natural phenomenon is analyzed and interpreted in detail; partial conclusions are also outlined. The level of practical dealings focuses primarily on the phenomenon of new speakers as a significant current sociolinguistic phenomenon. Three Central European cases (the Sorbs, the Wilamowiceans and the Huncokár Germans) are presented in more detail. The given data are also linked to the Europe-wide context. In conclusion, a synthesizing summary of the above-mentioned thematic levels and data of the topic under discussion is presented.
