Languages of Papua New Guinea

Dialects, orthography and society

Issue Date:
2013
Date Created:
2013
Extent:
8 pages
Abstract:
While there is broad consensus that both linguistic and non-linguistic factors play a role in orthography, there is disagreement as to the relative weight played by the two sets of factors. In this paper, I present case studies from four languages, two from Papua New Guinea and two from Bangladesh, in which orthography interacts with dialectal differences. In two of the studies, orthography is used to show the unity of the communities, while in the other two it is used to establish separate identities. This interaction of orthography and group identity follows naturally from the claim that orthography is primarily a social practice, not a linguistic construct.
Description:
This paper was presented at Methods in Dialectology 14, University of Western Ontario, August 2-6, 2011.
Publication Status:
Published
Content Language:
Work Type:
Nature of Work:
Part of Series:
Work Papers of the Summer Institute of Linguistics, University of North Dakota Session, vol. 53
Entry Number:
59939