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Article published In: Journal of Pidgin and Creole Languages
Vol. 39:2 (2024) ► pp.409–434

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Orthography, ideology and the codification of Mauritian Creole

The implications of decreasing linguistic Abstand

 | University of Mauritius
Published online: 11 July 2023
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https://doi.org/10.1075/jpcl.22018.auc
Abstract
This paper examines the choices made at the levels of Ausbau (‘language by development’, Kloss, Heinz. 1967. Abstand Languages and Ausbau Languages. Anthropological Linguistics 91. 9–41.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar: 29–30) and Abstand (‘language by distance’, ibid) during the codification phase of Mauritian Creole. Using the document Lortograf Kreol Morisien (Ministry of Education and Human Resources (MoEHR). 2011. Lortograf Kreol Morisien. Port Louis: Mauritius. [URL] (13 October, 2022)) as its focal point, it studies the co-association between Ausbau and Abstand and connects the choices made to a broader ideological framework which sets out to ‘promot[e] our country’s language’ (. 2011. Preface from chairperson, AKM. In Ministry of Education and Human Resources (MoEHR), Lortograf Kreol Morisien. Port Louis: Mauritius. [URL] (6 January, 2021): 9). It explores the implication of adopting a linguistic form which a user can ‘intimately connect with loved ones, community and personal identity’ (Delpit, Lisa. 2006. What should teachers do? Ebonics and culturally responsive instruction. In Neo J. Shondel (ed.), Dialects, englishes, creoles, and education, 93–101. New York: Routledge.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar: 95) while simultaneously providing it with the stature traditionally enjoyed by the lexifier. In the final instance it views the decreasing Abstand of Mauritian Creole as a form of prestige planning (Haarmann, Harald. 1986. Language in ethnicity: A view of basic ecological relations. Berlin: Walter de Gruyter. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar) carried out with the possible intention of enhancing its public image.
Article outline
  • 1.Introduction
  • 2.Codification in creole-speaking contexts: Theoretical considerations
  • 3.Lortograf Kreol Morisien: Move towards enhanced Abstand
  • 4.The LKM and the case for increasing linguistic Ausbau
  • 5.Balancing Abstand and Ausbau: Prestige planning in the Mauritian context
  • 6.Conclusion
  • Notes
  • References
References (63)
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