The descriptive linguist’s dilemmas when confronted with the challenge of language planning

Authors

  • Kanavillil Rajagopalan Universidade Estadual de Campinas (Unicamp), Campinas, SP

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.5216/sig.v27i2.35560

Keywords:

language policy, language planning, description vs. prescription, linguist vs. lay person, language politics.

Abstract

It is argued in this paper that the linguist is at a loss when it comes to facing the challenges posed by language policy and language planning and, further, that this has to do with their reluctance to recognize the role of prescription in stage-managing the social life of languages. Their steadfast adherence to the principle of rigorous description of facts and at best an attempt to explain them has limited their ability to intervene in the destiny of a language that is what language politics is all about. It has also stood in the way of there being any fruitful dialogue between the linguist and the lay person.

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Author Biography

Kanavillil Rajagopalan, Universidade Estadual de Campinas (Unicamp), Campinas, SP

Professor  at  the  Universidade  Estadual  de  Campinas  (Unicamp),  Campinas,  SP,  Brazil. CNPq Productivity Research Fellow, PQ -1A. Email: klrajagopalan@yahoo.com.

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Published

2015-12-22

How to Cite

RAJAGOPALAN, K. The descriptive linguist’s dilemmas when confronted with the challenge of language planning. Signótica, Goiânia, v. 27, n. 2, p. 605–624, 2015. DOI: 10.5216/sig.v27i2.35560. Disponível em: https://revistas.ufg.br/sig/article/view/35560. Acesso em: 8 jul. 2024.

Issue

Vol. 27 No. 2 (2015)

Section

Article

License

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