Anna Verschik

The language situation in Estonia

Abstract This article first offers a brief social history of the Estonian language from the early nineteenth century to the present, before concentrating on the present day language situation. The latter is discussed with a focus on the nature of emerging language contacts, on aspects of linguistic creativity, on identity construction as well as on language at the state level (language legislation and integration).⟨p;⟩

Lingua receptiva (LaRa) – remarks on the quintessence of receptive multilingualism:

This article introduces and defines the notion lingua receptiva (LaRa) as a mode of multilingual communication in which interactants employ a language and/or a language variety different from their partner’s and still understand each other without the help of any additional lingua franca. The quintessence of lingua receptiva is discussed in terms of pragmatic, psycholinguistic and language psychology approaches to multilingualism. Moreover, the occurrence of this mode is documented across various language families throughout time and in various discursive intercultures which it creates. Furthermore, three central characteristics are discussed, namely ideological barriers resulting in asymmetry, ‘inference-making’ mechanisms and the function of idiomatic expressions. Finally, lingua receptiva is compared to other multilingual modes, especially with English as lingua franca.

Successful Family Language Policy

Description based on online resource; title from PDF title page (ebrary, viewed January 13, 2014).

Practising receptive multilingualism: Estonian–Finnish communication in Tallinn

The present article deals with receptive multilingualism (RM) in communication between Estonian salespersons and Finnish customers in Tallinn. A historical background and general description of this communication is provided. It is argued that RM is an established practice in this type of communication and that a nation-state is not necessarily marginalizing communication that deviates from monolingual norms. The notion of mutual intelligibility is critically analysed, and the data confirm that understanding is not exclusively dependent on material similarities between closely related varieties. Accommodation and negotiation are present in both sides, yet strategies employed by Finnish and Estonian interlocutors differ. The distinction between inherent and acquired RM is relevant in Russian–Finnish communication which takes place in the same environment. Finally, further research questions are formulated.

Research into Multilingualism in Estonia.

The present paper concentrates on several issues relevant to research into multilingualism in Estonia. It is argued that a macrosociolinguistic approach is insufficient when not counterbalanced with microsociolinguistic studies (case studies of actual linguistic behaviour, linguistic creativity, mechanisms and practices of multilingual communication, construction of immediate and long-term strategies of multilingual communication, etc). Furthermore, it is demonstrated why the census of 2000 in Estonia gives a rather distorted picture of multilingualism. Another problem is the lack of scholarly attention to the so-called third languages (non-Russian and non-Estonian). The example of the Jewish community in Estonia shows how a minority with a supposedly common ethnohistorical background is in fact split into two separate groups (indigenous and nonindigenous) with different sociolinguistic profiles. It remains to be seen for which minority groups in Estonia the same kind of division is relevant. Finally, topics for future research (language change and identity construction, dynamics of multilingual conversation, emerging ethnolects) are outlined.

Achieving Success in Family Language Policy: Parents, Children and Educators in Interaction

A family faces various challenges in its attempt to bring up a bilingual or sometimes multilingual child. For example, there are identity conflicts, time pressure restraints in negotiating conflicting language demands and the negative effects of macro-level social processes such as state language policy. Yet, even in these difficult circumstances, some do succeed in holding on to their language and using it with their children. Understanding how immigrant, intermarried, indigenous bilingual and deaf community families achieve success in their family language policy (hereafter FLP) despite very challenging social conditions can help us understand how we can best support others in a similar situation.

Ethnolect debate: evidence from Jewish Lithuanian

Abstract This article presents the concept of Jewish Lithuanian as a range of post-Yiddish varieties spoken by some Jews in Lithuania and seeks to synthesise findings in contemporary ethnolect studies and in the field of Jewish language research. The legitimacy of the term ‘ethnolect’ is questioned by some researchers; however, it is argued that contemporary ethnolect research concentrates on postmodern urban immigrant communities in the west, which are very different from the situation of Jews in contemporary Eastern Europe. It is argued that language and identity matters are more complex than just ‘Jewish’, ‘Lithuanian’ or ‘assimilated Jew’. Jewish Lithuanian exhibits realisation of diphthongs and palatalised consonant different from that in mainstream Lithuanian. These features are traceable back to Yiddish. There is very little Yiddish impact on the lexical level; as for morphosyntax and pragmatics, more data are needed. The informants exhibit a high degree of linguistic awareness and their metalinguistic comments provide relevant information. Different from other post-Yiddish varieties, Jewish Lithuanian is not a transitional stage towards monolingualism: the speakers remain multilingual and code-switching between varieties of Lithuanian, Yiddish and Russian is a common phenomenon.

Young Swedish-Estonian Returnees to Estonia: Reflections on Family Language Policy and a Multilingual Upbringing

The present paper reports the findings of a study into the recollections by four Swedish-Estonian young adult informants of their multilingual upbringing and their parents’ family language policy (FLP). With the narratives of the young adult children and their experiences growing up the focus, the paper investigates the outcomes of the respective FLPs and concerns itself with a form of ‘unofficial’ language policy that operates at a level far below that of the state.

Mixed Copying in Blogs: Evidence from Estonian-Russian Language Contacts

The paper applies the Code Copying Framework ( CCF ) to Estonian-Russian language contacts in Live Journal blogs. The nature of blogs (an asynchronous, more written-like genre) allows us to look into individual multilingual practices and to discover aspects of contact-induced change that are absent in oral communication (choice of script, rendition of other-language items etc). CCF distinguishes between global copying (akin to code-switching/borrowing in other frameworks), selective copying (phenomena in morphosyntax, semantics etc) and mixed copying. The latter means that one component of a complex item is a global copy and the other a selective one and occurs in multi-word items (compounds, constructions, analytic forms, idioms). Six types of mixed copies are analysed. It is argued that this type of copying requires closer attention because 1) it demonstrates what is perceived as a collocation or multiword unit by a multilingual user; 2) it contributes to the understanding of meaning (semantically specific components are likely to be copied globally; 3) it is in accordance with notions in cognitive linguistics (compositionality, blending).