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In:Contested Languages: The hidden multilingualism of Europe
Edited by Marco Tamburelli and Mauro Tosco
[Studies in World Language Problems 8] 2021
► pp. 163–182

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Chapter 9
Revitalising contested languages

The case of Lombard

 | University of Malaya
 | Bangor University
 | Committee for the Safeguarding of Linguistic Heritage (CSPL), Italy
Published online: 21 January 2021
DOI logo with link
https://doi.org/10.1075/wlp.8.09col
Abstract
This chapter opens with an introduction to the Lombard language and its institutional and sociolinguistic situation, including the reasons why the term “language” is used and not the commonly used “dialect”. The second and main part of the chapter looks at what has been done to date and what is currently being done to try to reverse the ongoing language shift that is constantly reducing the number of speakers and the domains where the language is used. This includes a detailed account of corpus planning, particularly the phase known as ‘graphisation’ (writing systems, including the latest polynomic system for all Lombard varieties), status planning and acquisition planning, all of which have been carried out by committed individuals and private associations. The chapter closes with a short discussion on the present status of Lombard with reference to the recent regional law for the protection and promotion of the Lombard language.
Article outline
  • 1.Introduction
  • 2.Italian regional languages
  • 3.Lombard
  • 4.Lombard: One language? Many dialects?
  • 5.Language planning
    • 5.1Corpus planning
    • 5.2Status planning
    • 5.3Acquisition planning
  • 6.Conclusions
  • Acknowledgements
  • Notes
  • References
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