AN (UN)FETTERED ALBANIAN LANGUAGE IN THE POST-MODERN AGE: TAKING A GLANCE AT THE CONTRIBUTIONS OF JANET BYRON IN LIGHT OF REVISITING THE CURRENT STANDARD

AN (UN)FETTERED ALBANIAN LANGUAGE IN THE POST-MODERN AGE: TAKING A GLANCE AT THE CONTRIBUTIONS OF JANET BYRON IN LIGHT OF REVISITING THE CURRENT STANDARD

M. Kolgjini, Julie

Nearly four decades have passed since the publication of Janet Byron’s contributions in the 1970s concerning official language policy and planning (LPP) efforts for Unified Literary Albanian (i.e., Literary Albanian or more recently Standard Albanian). Her analyses have been found to be well-grounded and substantiated, especially by linguists who have dealt extensively with Albanian. Further, over the years, numerous scholars have voiced their concerns regarding ULA’s monocentrism, basing the standard on primarily the Tosk dialect (at the expense of other plausible varieties and alternatives), where such a selection reflected elements of what has come to be known as standard language ideology, involving an imposition of linguistic uniformity and invariance, an attitude of moral superiority, and hegemony, among others. Given Byron’s characterizations of LPP for ULA, including its inception and later culmination in Tiranain 1972 at the Congress of Orthography, perhaps an approach that integrates an adequate dose of what has been referred to as de-standardization of language, combined with elements of a critical approach to LPP, could result in a more relaxed, balanced language, one that allows for the integration of what Byron refers to as the “rejected alternates,” one that is more user-friendly for the majority of its speakers, including for both NSs and NNSs (in that it would reflect actual language usage) in the 21st century. Such an approach is of particular importance in a contemporary linguistic landscape that takes into account the current sociolinguistic reality, recent literature on standard language ideology, critical sociolinguistics, local practices of language users, linguistic variation and diversity, linguistic ecology, identity, metrolinguism, plurilingualism, literacy, and multiculturalism in a constantly shifting urban space. (Word count: 271) Keywords: Albanian; G(h)eg (variety); Tosk (variety); Unified Literary Albanian; language policy and planning; standard language ideology; (de)standardization; language variation; criticalsociolinguistics; critical social theory; language ecology; linguistic human rights (word count: 29)

Conference or Workshop Item
PeerReviewed

2014

3463