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Language Ideologies in TirOna

Morgan, Carrie Ann
http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=osu1429538090

Abstract Details

2015, Master of Arts, Ohio State University, Slavic and East European Studies.
As far back as the late Ottoman Empire, language ideologies have construed the two main dialects of Albanian, Geg in the north and Tosk in the south, as iconic of sociocultural figures representing the rural/undeveloped/closed and the urban/developed/open, respectively. These figures were reinforced by the Tosk-dominated socialist-era government’s codification of a Tosk-based standard language and its removal of literary Geg from the public sphere. The post-socialist period, however, has seen different ideologies surrounding Geg, Tosk, and Standard Albanian arise due to political changes and increased dialect contact, particularly in the capital city of Tirana. I argue that speakers’ language ideologies under contact conditions in contemporary Tirana posit two different models of difference, one between the Albanian north and south and another between the Albanian periphery and center, the latter largely represented by Tirana. The metaphors underlying these differences are importantly tied to Albania’s place in Europe. Furthermore, these models and the beliefs about European modernity that underlie them have implications for the social indexical meaning of dialects and features, in particular Standard Albanian and Geg as they are used in Tirana. Differences in the way dialect features are construed metalinguistically and the way they are used in everyday conversation depend on the models of difference speakers align with. Ultimately, I argue this suggests that standard language ideologies can be about more than the national and that etically defined dialect differences alone cannot explain the social significance of dialect features and communicative practices.
Brian Joseph (Advisor)
Anna Babel (Committee Member)
114 p.
Cultural Anthropology; Sociolinguistics
language ideologies, dialect contact, Albanian, linguistic anthropology, sociolinguistics

Recommended Citations

Citations

  • Morgan, C. A. (2015). Language Ideologies in TirOna [Master's thesis, Ohio State University]. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=osu1429538090

    APA Style (7th edition)

  • Morgan, Carrie. Language Ideologies in TirOna. 2015. Ohio State University, Master's thesis. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center, http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=osu1429538090.

    MLA Style (8th edition)

  • Morgan, Carrie. "Language Ideologies in TirOna." Master's thesis, Ohio State University, 2015. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=osu1429538090

    Chicago Manual of Style (17th edition)

osu1429538090
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This open access ETD is published by The Ohio State University and OhioLINK.