Ladin language use survey

INTRODUCTION

This survey is distinctive from the others in that it focuses upon a trilingual community involving a minority language group confronted by two state languages - German and Italian. Many members of minority language groups are daunted by the confrontation with a single state language let alone two and in this respect it presents an interesting case study of minority language retention.

ENDOGAMY

The following table makes it clear that most of those interviewed are drawn from a highly restricted area focusing upon Gadertal, and Groden, in South Tyrol, the overwhelming majority having spent their first three years in these locations and evidently having married partners from these same areas. This fact makes it impossible to generalise from this survey to the totality of the Ladin-speaking communities in different valleys.

Evidently there is a high degree of local endogamy with 282 of the 301 respondents being born within the area.

LANGUAGE ABILITY

It is evident that there is a high level of subjectively evaluated ability across all three languages by reference to the present generation but was far less by reference to German and Italian during prior generations. On the other hand there remains a minority who have less than fluent ability in German and Italian.

This focus upon Ladin extends to the partners, nearly all of whom spoke very good or quite good Ladin. This merely serves to indicate the extent of language group endogamy within the community.

Most spoke Ladin with their parents, children and other relatives but significant number also came from Italian speaking households and used Italian with their children. A still smaller group came from German speaking households and used German with their children.

The following table distinguishes between different language abilities:

The level of understanding, speaking, and reading Ladin is high but declines with reference to writing. This has a great deal to do with the role of Ladin in formal education during previous generations of schoolchildren. The ability levels with reference to German are lower, and it would appear that Ladin carries higher ability levels than the state language - Italian. Again this difference is ironed out in the present generation of schoolchildren.

FAMILY LANGUAGE USE

REPRODUCTION

Given the above information it should not be surprising that Ladin dominates as the language of the household.

The majority used language with all members of the household and Ladin was the language of communication between the parents in 84% of the cases. However there are a small minority of German speaking households.

Similarly most of the children used Ladin together.

Evidently Ladin is the main language in more than 80% of the households and is used in 86% of the households. These figures appear to hold across all inter-personal relationships within the household.

COMMUNITY LANGUAGE

It is interesting to note that the use of Ladin as a community language has increased if anything since the informants were children. This would certainly appear to be the case with reference to religious activity which we shall return to below.

The following table gives a good indication of the extent of actual use of Ladin in daily contexts, both by reference to the availability of specific interlocutors who can use the language and by reference to propensity to use Ladin when such interlocutors are available. It indicates that in most situations Ladin use is possible and used. A glaring exception is the police, presumably because this is the main arm of the state (though it can be argued that successful policing should be accompanied by a knowledge of the community language in order to avoid the alienating effect of not knowing it. Also a high proportion of the professionals such as dentists, lawyers or driving instructors do not allow the Ladin speaker to use his/her language.

The preceding table also indicates the extent to which public sector activities are occupied by Ladin speakers, suggesting that there is a general presence of Ladin speakers within the local labour market, at least at the lower socio-economic levels.

Even though the following table contains a limited amount of data it does suggest that most of the leisure activities of the children are undertaken through the medium of Ladin. The one exception is the military which, presumably is again seen as the prerogative of the state.

Among the adults it seems, once again, that the extent of participation in voluntary associations is limited, but that these activities tend to be undertaken through the medium of Ladin.

Almost two thirds of the respondents claimed that all of their friends spoke Ladin, this figure rising to 87% by reference to neighbours. Most frequented shops owned by Ladin speakers and were involved in leisure activities where Ladin was the language of interaction.

The weakest element in this respect appears to be religion and we will now take a closer look at religious behaviour by reference to language use.

Among the adults it seems, once again, that the extent of participation in voluntary associations is limited, but that these activities tend to be undertaken through the medium of Ladin.

Almost two thirds of the respondents claimed that all of their friends spoke Ladin, this figure rising to 87% by reference to neighbours. Most frequented shops owned by Ladin speakers and were involved in leisure activities where Ladin was the language of interaction.

The weakest element in this respect appears to be religion and we will now take a closer look at religious behaviour by reference to language use.

RELIGION

Evidently religious behaviour plays a central role in the life of most respondents, few not participating.

The preceding figures are now given some context. It is evident that both German and Italian play an important role in religious activities. However unlike the case of Catalan in Aragon the minority language is also given its place in religious activities. In this respect the religious institutions are acknowledge to have an individual, community and state role without the imposition of a single language format.

EDUCATION

Most of the respondents received a mixture of the three languages in their primary and middle education though Ladin is generally only used to teach the language. A smaller number had their education entirely in Italian and an even smaller number only in German. The common pattern is to receive two hours weekly of Ladin, the remainder of the education being in Italian and German.

The preceding table makes it clear that the situation is fixed and that there is no choice beyond this norm that encompasses all three languages. A small minority have succeeded in obtaining an education in one or other of the two state languages.

WORLD OF WORK

Given that most of the respondents were self-employed in agricultural or service sector activities it is hardly surprising that the data with reference to the language behaviour of large enterprises is limited:

Even so it is clear that Ladin does enter the world of work and in quite a broad context. This is reflected in the importance allocated to the various languages for economic behaviour:

The importance allocated to German has to be understood in terms of the proximity of the area to Austria, of the high importance of tourism in the local economy, and, of course, of the fact that South Tyrol (Alto Adige) has been part of Italy for under eighty years. The importance of tourism also influences Italian, which has a further role on account of it being the state language.

MASS MEDIA

The broadcasting media involves all three languages, partly on account of this being a border area that receives trans-state programmes. The evidence suggests that Ladin language programmes are available on both radio and television.

It is interesting that there is a fairly similar distribution of viewing and listening behaviour across all three languages. While there may be functional differences by reference to language this would appear to indicate that language plays a secondary role to the nature of programmes in broadcasting.

IDENTITY AND ATTITUDES

It should already be evident that this is a self contained community with a high degree of language endogamy and use, the very conditions that would suggest a high self-confidence vis a vis the minority language. This is reflected in the high response to the question on Ladin identity with over 90% of those who responded regarding themselves as Ladin. The figures for a Sud Tyrol identity are not surprising given that this, for some, is a spatial identity which does not apply to them. What is surprising is the low degree of self-identification in terms of being Italian.

Perhaps this is explained, partially, by the following figures which show the extent of interest shown by different bodies in the Ladin language, and, therefore, by projection, in themselves. Only the regional government, and in-migrants, are perceived as displaying little interest in Ladin by at least a sizeable minority of respondents.

The regional government is clearly regarded as being less interested in Ladin than more local forms of government, which are seen as having a positive orientation. Indeed the Ladin government is felt to have the highest orientation of all the agencies enquired about. This overlap of administrative and personal orientation is the sine qua non of good government. Given what we have encountered above concerning language use in the family and the community it is hardly surprising that self, family and friends all score highly on this scale. The church also scores quite highly, and it is certainly not regarded as an alienating force by reference to language. The responses to the questions concerning in-migrants and private organisations did not receive such a high response, partly because it is a relatively uncommon phenomenon.

This leads us to the attitude scales. The first probe is interesting in that the responses demonstrate the uncertainty about the extent to which a minority language that is highly prestigious on a local level bears relevance outside of the area, that is whether status corresponds to prestige. Yet there is an evident feeling that the language should be extended in administrative use but the specific probe concerning such a use in public service in item 6 does not emanate such a positive response. The general orientation towards Ladin is positive few feeling that it is under threat while feeling that it is an essential ingredient of being Ladin, and that children should be socialised by reference to the language. In no way is it seen as a marker of low social status. However there is a higher degree of uncertainty when Ladin is related to modernity and science.

The eleven statements about which respondents were asked to indicate their degree of agreement of disagreement were as follows:

1. (-) To get on, there are more valuable languages to learn than Ladin ("Es gibt wertvollere Sprachen als Ladinisch, die zu erlernen sind, um im Leben voranzukommen")
2. (+) It seems to me a good idea that Ladin is used in the administration ("Es scheint mir ein guter Einfall zu sein, daß Ladinisch in der Verwaltung verwendet wird")
3. (-) Ladin is a dying language ("Ladinisch ist eine sterbende Sprache")
4. (+) The Ladin area would not really be Ladinia without Ladin-speaking people ("Das ladinische Gebiet wäre nicht Ladinien, wenn die Menschen nicht Ladinisch sprechen würden")
5. (-) You are considered a lower class person if you speak Ladin ("Man wird als Person der unteren Klassen angesehen, wenn man Ladinisch spricht")
6. (+) In order to work in the public sector in the Ladin area, one should be able to speak Ladin ("Wenn jemand im ladinischen Sprachgebiet arbeitet, sollte er in der Lage sein, Ladinisch zu sprechen")
7. (-) Ladin has no place in the modern world ("Ladinisch hat keinen Platz in der modernen Welt von heute")
8. (+) It is essential that children in the Ladin area learn Ladin ("Es ist erforderlich, daß Kinder im ladinischen Gebiet auch die ladinische Sprache erlernen")
9. (-) The Ladin language cannot be made suitable for business and science ("Die ladinische Sprache kann den sprachlichen Erfordernissen in Wissenschaft und Wirtschaft nicht angepaßt werden")
10. (+) Speaking Ladin helps people get promotion in their jobs ("Wenn Personen Ladinisch sprechen, begünstigt dies ihre beruflichen Aussichten")
11. (-) Most people view things associated with Ladin as old-fashioned ("Die meisten Leute betrachten Dinge, die mit dem Ladinischen verknüpft, als altmodisch")

CONCLUSION

This is a relatively small language group with a high sense of vitality. In controlling a specific economic niche that focuses upon agriculture and tourism they are a fairly affluent group that carries their language as a feature both of that status and also as a manifestation of in-grouping. The high degree of spatial and language group endogamy together with the high self-image insures a high degree of family use that, together, with community use and educational support serve to generate a high level of production and reproduction. The weakest agency in this respect is the church but even here this is not an alienating force and all three languages are allocated a role in religious activities.

The prestige of the language partly relates to the high socio-economic status of its speakers, with few willing to disassociate the economic, the social and the linguistic. In the same manner the other two languages carry a degree of prestige in the sense that they are of value in economic activities, most particularly, tourist activities. Thus the well-being of the community is closely inter-twined with this link between language and economy.

The local authorities legitimise the language by making it a central feature of social policy. This again has economic consequences since it becomes the language of social practice within the public services, allocating an employment role to the language. It is hardly surprising therefore that the language use is highly institutionalised across a range of activities.

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