Konzepte von Sprachtod und Vitalität auf dem Prüfstand: Der Fall slawisches Nordgriechenland

Christian Voss

doi:10.32798/zl.714

Published: 2020-09-22

Vol. 54 (2020)

Challenging concepts of language death and vitality: The case-study of the Slavic presence in Northern Greece

Christian Voss

Zeszyty Łużyckie

Section: Articles

https://doi.org/10.32798/zl.714

Abstract

The article describes the sociolinguistic situation of Christian Slavic-speaking groups in Aegean Macedonia and Muslim Slavic-speaking groups in Western Thrace. The failed integration of both groups into the Greek nation-state during 20th century (ethnic cleansing, repression, assimilation in Macedonia, and marginalization and stigmatization in Thrace) has led to different scenarios of language shift in the communities. The two case studies challenge the leading model of language death as developed by Hans-Jürgen Sasse in 1992 and try to identify the unique selling points of the case studies from the Southern Balkans. Sasse as a typologist tends to neglect the sociopolitical context relevant for the emergence of linguistic loyalty/disloyalty. In the case of the Pomak minority, we see a rare case where attempts at codifying a minoritized language contribute to its death – a finding that clearly contradicts the sociolinguistic state of the art.

Keywords:

language death, language vitality, Aegean Macedonia, Western Thrace, Balkan Muslims

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Voss, C. (2020). Challenging concepts of language death and vitality: The case-study of the Slavic presence in Northern Greece. Zeszyty Łużyckie, 54, 15–28. https://doi.org/10.32798/zl.714

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Christian Voss

christian.voss@hu-berlin.de

Affiliation:

Humboldt University of Berlin Germany

Bio Statement:

Christian Voss has been Professor and Head of the Department for South Slavic Studies at Humboldt University in Berlin since 2006. His research addresses the interface of sociolinguistics, historiography, and anthropology, and focuses on the South Slavic-Greek border region. He has published extensively on issues of sociolinguistics in the Balkans, especially on language decay and revitalization of Slavic varieties in Northern Greece. Founder and editor of the book series “Studies on Language and Culture in Central and Eastern Europe”. Member of the editorial board of “Balkan Studies Library”, “Mediterranean Language Review”, “Südost-Forschungen”, and “Colloquia Humanistica”.