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Papers by Jouko Lindstedt
Esperantologio – Esperanto Studies, 2024
(English below) Esperantologio kutime estas prezentata kiel branĉo de interlingvistiko (aŭ planl... more (English below)
Esperantologio kutime estas prezentata kiel branĉo de interlingvistiko (aŭ planlingvistiko). Esperanto estas tamen escepta planlingvo, ĉar granda parto de ĝia nuna strukturo estas nek eksplicite planita nek planebla. Ĝi ne estus bona modelo por eventualaj novaj internaciaj helplingvoj, kaj aliflanke ĝi havas malmultajn komunajn trajtojn kun lingvoj konstruitaj por artaj celoj. Pluraj gravaj esplortemoj pri Esperanto metodologie rilatas ne al interlingvistiko sed al aliaj branĉoj de lingvistiko kaj kulturaj studoj. Tiaj temoj estas ekzemple lingvokontaktoj kaj dulingveco, parta simileco inter Esperanto kaj kontaktolingvoj, denaskiĝo kaj spontanea lingvoŝanĝiĝo pro ĝi kaj sendepende de ĝi, parta simileco al minoritataj lingvoj, kaj la Esperanta lingvokomunumo kiel kulturkrea komunumo. Esperantologio tial ne plu estas branĉo de interlingvistiko. La strategio enkonduki Esperanton en la sciencan kaj universitatan mondon sub la mantelo de interlingvistiko turnas la atenton de lingvistoj mise al ĝia artefarita komenco anstataŭ ĝia posta natura kaj kulturkrea evoluo, kiu estus science multe pli interesa. Interlingvistiko tamen restas unu el la subtenaj fakoj, kiujn esperantologio bezonas, same kiel ekzemple malgranda parto de anglistiko plu bezonas historian-komparan ĝermanistikon.
Esperanto studies are usually presented as a branch of interlinguistics (or study of planned languages). However, Esperanto is exceptional among planned languages because a significant part of its current structure is not explicitly planned nor plannable. Esperanto would not serve today as a good model for possible new international auxiliary languages; conversely, it shares only a few common features with languages constructed for artistic purposes. Several important research topics that are conducted as part of Esperanto studie are not related methodologically to interlinguistics, but rather to other branches of linguistic and cultural studies. Such topics include language contacts and bilingualism, the partial similarity between Esperanto and contact languages, nativization and spontaneous language change due to – as well as independent of – nativization, partial similarity with minority languages, and the Esperanto language community as a culture-creating community. Consequently, Esperanto studies are no longer a branch of interlinguistics. The strategy of introducing Esperanto as a scholarly or academic topic under the cloak of interlinguistics wrongly turns linguists’ attention to its artificial origins instead of its subsequent natural and culture-creating evolution, which would be of much greater scholarly interest. However, interlinguistics remains one of the supporting disciplines of Esperanto studies, just as a small part of English studies, for instance, still needs historical-comparative Germanic studies.
Serta Gratulatoria in Honorem Gerrit Berveling, 2023
Kiel oni povas transdoni en Esperanto la formon de epopeo, kiu devenas de ekster tiu kultursfero,... more Kiel oni povas transdoni en Esperanto la formon de epopeo, kiu devenas de ekster tiu kultursfero, de kiu la Esperanta poezio prunteprenis siajn ĉefajn formajn rimedojn?
Internacia Kongresa Universitato, 2023
Gustaf John Ramstedt (1873–1950) estis unu el la plej fruaj finnaj esperantistoj. Li fariĝis mond... more Gustaf John Ramstedt (1873–1950) estis unu el la plej fruaj finnaj esperantistoj. Li fariĝis monde konata lingvisto, pioniro de la scienca studado kaj de la mongola kaj de la korea lingvoj. Li estis ankaŭ la unua diplomato sendita de la nove sendependa Finnlando al Japanio (1919–1929), kaj dum sia tempo en la lando li multe kunlaboris kun japanaj esperantistoj.
Ramstedt verkis du librojn kun memoraĵoj el Azio: Seitsemän retkeä itään 1898–1912 (“Sep vojaĝoj orienten 1898–1912”), kiu aperis en 1944, kaj Lähettiläänä Nipponissa: muistelmia vuosilta 1919–1929 (“Diplomato en Nipono [Japanio]: memoraĵoj el la jaroj 1919–1929”), aperinta nur en lia mortojaro 1950. La unua el ili enhavas interesajn observojn el la Rusa Imperio, Mongolio kaj Ĉinio, kaj krome ofte legiĝas kiel aventura romano. En la dua troviĝas malpli da aventuroj, sed ĝi estas interesa raporto pri la tiutempa Japanio kaj la internacia politiko en Orienta Azio. Ĝi rakontas ankaŭ pri la esperantista vivo en Japanio. Mi tradukas ambaŭ librojn en Esperanton.
Balkan Syntax and (Universal) Principles of Grammar
Tense and Aspect in the Languages of Europe, 2000
Kielentutkimuksen menetelmiä I-IV, 2020
The fact that Esperanto has native speakers proves that its structure is not significantly differ... more The fact that Esperanto has native speakers proves that its structure is not significantly different from that of natural languges. However, native speakers of Esperanto have not initiated changes in the language, nor do they have a central role in the speech community. As Esperanto does not possess a real community of native speakers, it is not a creole. Rather there have been spontaneous changes in the structure of the language that are similar to those taking place in natural languages, and which were initiated by anonymous, probably nonnative speakers. For the proper understanding of the roles of native speakers and the speech community of Esperanto, an interesting parallel is presented by the minority languages being revitalized, especially those which can be sociolinguistically characterized as ingroup second languages.
The rapid spread of the Proto-Slavic language in the second half of the first millennium CE was l... more The rapid spread of the Proto-Slavic language in the second half of the first millennium CE was long explained by the migration of its speakers out of their small primary habitat in all directions. Starting from the 1980s, alternative theories have been proposed that present language shift as the main scenario of the Slavic spread, emphasizing the presumed role of Slavic as the lingua franca of the Avar Khaganate. Both the migration and the language shift scenarios in their extreme forms suffer from factual and chronological inaccuracy. On the basis of some key facts about human population genetics (the relatively recent common ancestry of the East European populations), palaeoclimatology (the Late Antique Little Ice Age from 536 to around 660 CE), and historical epidemiology (the Justinianic Plague), we propose a scenario that includes a primary rapid demographic spread of the Slavs followed by population mixing and language shifts to and from Slavic in different regions of Europe....
Until the Balkan Wars of 1912–1913, the region of Macedonia, part of the Ottoman Empire, was rema... more Until the Balkan Wars of 1912–1913, the region of Macedonia, part of the Ottoman Empire, was remarkably multiethnic and multilingual. Because Macedonia was partitioned and annexed by various nation states as late as 1913, the kind of complex multilingualism that had given birth to the famous Balkan sprachbund (linguistic area) survived there longer than in other regions of the Balkans. Therefore, we have more detailed descriptions of this multilingualism by scholars and travelers than in other regions. This paper concentrates on the linguistic situation in the Central Balkan area around Lakes Ohrid and Prespa and also in Pelagonia, with the city of Bitola as its center – areas where the linguistic situation reported in late Ottoman times was particularly complex. Pieces of historical information about multilingualism will be put into the context of the general linguistic situation in the Empire. In addition, the use of parallel columns in printed books, manuscripts, and private note...
The history of the Balkans is mostly written as the history of the Balkan nations, especially in ... more The history of the Balkans is mostly written as the history of the Balkan nations, especially in the historiography of the Balkan states themselves. This approach produces textbooks and national multi-volume history works that transfer a sense of national identity to ever new generations, but it also gives a skewed perspective on the past and hinders a proper understanding of the past in its own terms. National historiography stresses ethno-linguistic continuity as the main fabric of history and leads to empty quarrels about the ownership of ancient symbols and personalities, such as the violent megalomaniac Alexander the Great, whom both the Greeks and the Macedonians claim as part of “their” history. It also sees the present nationstates (at least the particular nation-state of each native historian themselves) as the necessary and predestined outcome of historical processes. One of the three paradoxes of nationalism mentioned in Anderson’s (2006 [1983], 5) influential study is “[...
Esperantologio – Esperanto Studies, 2024
(English below) Esperantologio kutime estas prezentata kiel branĉo de interlingvistiko (aŭ planl... more (English below)
Esperantologio kutime estas prezentata kiel branĉo de interlingvistiko (aŭ planlingvistiko). Esperanto estas tamen escepta planlingvo, ĉar granda parto de ĝia nuna strukturo estas nek eksplicite planita nek planebla. Ĝi ne estus bona modelo por eventualaj novaj internaciaj helplingvoj, kaj aliflanke ĝi havas malmultajn komunajn trajtojn kun lingvoj konstruitaj por artaj celoj. Pluraj gravaj esplortemoj pri Esperanto metodologie rilatas ne al interlingvistiko sed al aliaj branĉoj de lingvistiko kaj kulturaj studoj. Tiaj temoj estas ekzemple lingvokontaktoj kaj dulingveco, parta simileco inter Esperanto kaj kontaktolingvoj, denaskiĝo kaj spontanea lingvoŝanĝiĝo pro ĝi kaj sendepende de ĝi, parta simileco al minoritataj lingvoj, kaj la Esperanta lingvokomunumo kiel kulturkrea komunumo. Esperantologio tial ne plu estas branĉo de interlingvistiko. La strategio enkonduki Esperanton en la sciencan kaj universitatan mondon sub la mantelo de interlingvistiko turnas la atenton de lingvistoj mise al ĝia artefarita komenco anstataŭ ĝia posta natura kaj kulturkrea evoluo, kiu estus science multe pli interesa. Interlingvistiko tamen restas unu el la subtenaj fakoj, kiujn esperantologio bezonas, same kiel ekzemple malgranda parto de anglistiko plu bezonas historian-komparan ĝermanistikon.
Esperanto studies are usually presented as a branch of interlinguistics (or study of planned languages). However, Esperanto is exceptional among planned languages because a significant part of its current structure is not explicitly planned nor plannable. Esperanto would not serve today as a good model for possible new international auxiliary languages; conversely, it shares only a few common features with languages constructed for artistic purposes. Several important research topics that are conducted as part of Esperanto studie are not related methodologically to interlinguistics, but rather to other branches of linguistic and cultural studies. Such topics include language contacts and bilingualism, the partial similarity between Esperanto and contact languages, nativization and spontaneous language change due to – as well as independent of – nativization, partial similarity with minority languages, and the Esperanto language community as a culture-creating community. Consequently, Esperanto studies are no longer a branch of interlinguistics. The strategy of introducing Esperanto as a scholarly or academic topic under the cloak of interlinguistics wrongly turns linguists’ attention to its artificial origins instead of its subsequent natural and culture-creating evolution, which would be of much greater scholarly interest. However, interlinguistics remains one of the supporting disciplines of Esperanto studies, just as a small part of English studies, for instance, still needs historical-comparative Germanic studies.
Serta Gratulatoria in Honorem Gerrit Berveling, 2023
Kiel oni povas transdoni en Esperanto la formon de epopeo, kiu devenas de ekster tiu kultursfero,... more Kiel oni povas transdoni en Esperanto la formon de epopeo, kiu devenas de ekster tiu kultursfero, de kiu la Esperanta poezio prunteprenis siajn ĉefajn formajn rimedojn?
Internacia Kongresa Universitato, 2023
Gustaf John Ramstedt (1873–1950) estis unu el la plej fruaj finnaj esperantistoj. Li fariĝis mond... more Gustaf John Ramstedt (1873–1950) estis unu el la plej fruaj finnaj esperantistoj. Li fariĝis monde konata lingvisto, pioniro de la scienca studado kaj de la mongola kaj de la korea lingvoj. Li estis ankaŭ la unua diplomato sendita de la nove sendependa Finnlando al Japanio (1919–1929), kaj dum sia tempo en la lando li multe kunlaboris kun japanaj esperantistoj.
Ramstedt verkis du librojn kun memoraĵoj el Azio: Seitsemän retkeä itään 1898–1912 (“Sep vojaĝoj orienten 1898–1912”), kiu aperis en 1944, kaj Lähettiläänä Nipponissa: muistelmia vuosilta 1919–1929 (“Diplomato en Nipono [Japanio]: memoraĵoj el la jaroj 1919–1929”), aperinta nur en lia mortojaro 1950. La unua el ili enhavas interesajn observojn el la Rusa Imperio, Mongolio kaj Ĉinio, kaj krome ofte legiĝas kiel aventura romano. En la dua troviĝas malpli da aventuroj, sed ĝi estas interesa raporto pri la tiutempa Japanio kaj la internacia politiko en Orienta Azio. Ĝi rakontas ankaŭ pri la esperantista vivo en Japanio. Mi tradukas ambaŭ librojn en Esperanton.
Balkan Syntax and (Universal) Principles of Grammar
Tense and Aspect in the Languages of Europe, 2000
Kielentutkimuksen menetelmiä I-IV, 2020
The fact that Esperanto has native speakers proves that its structure is not significantly differ... more The fact that Esperanto has native speakers proves that its structure is not significantly different from that of natural languges. However, native speakers of Esperanto have not initiated changes in the language, nor do they have a central role in the speech community. As Esperanto does not possess a real community of native speakers, it is not a creole. Rather there have been spontaneous changes in the structure of the language that are similar to those taking place in natural languages, and which were initiated by anonymous, probably nonnative speakers. For the proper understanding of the roles of native speakers and the speech community of Esperanto, an interesting parallel is presented by the minority languages being revitalized, especially those which can be sociolinguistically characterized as ingroup second languages.
The rapid spread of the Proto-Slavic language in the second half of the first millennium CE was l... more The rapid spread of the Proto-Slavic language in the second half of the first millennium CE was long explained by the migration of its speakers out of their small primary habitat in all directions. Starting from the 1980s, alternative theories have been proposed that present language shift as the main scenario of the Slavic spread, emphasizing the presumed role of Slavic as the lingua franca of the Avar Khaganate. Both the migration and the language shift scenarios in their extreme forms suffer from factual and chronological inaccuracy. On the basis of some key facts about human population genetics (the relatively recent common ancestry of the East European populations), palaeoclimatology (the Late Antique Little Ice Age from 536 to around 660 CE), and historical epidemiology (the Justinianic Plague), we propose a scenario that includes a primary rapid demographic spread of the Slavs followed by population mixing and language shifts to and from Slavic in different regions of Europe....
Until the Balkan Wars of 1912–1913, the region of Macedonia, part of the Ottoman Empire, was rema... more Until the Balkan Wars of 1912–1913, the region of Macedonia, part of the Ottoman Empire, was remarkably multiethnic and multilingual. Because Macedonia was partitioned and annexed by various nation states as late as 1913, the kind of complex multilingualism that had given birth to the famous Balkan sprachbund (linguistic area) survived there longer than in other regions of the Balkans. Therefore, we have more detailed descriptions of this multilingualism by scholars and travelers than in other regions. This paper concentrates on the linguistic situation in the Central Balkan area around Lakes Ohrid and Prespa and also in Pelagonia, with the city of Bitola as its center – areas where the linguistic situation reported in late Ottoman times was particularly complex. Pieces of historical information about multilingualism will be put into the context of the general linguistic situation in the Empire. In addition, the use of parallel columns in printed books, manuscripts, and private note...
The history of the Balkans is mostly written as the history of the Balkan nations, especially in ... more The history of the Balkans is mostly written as the history of the Balkan nations, especially in the historiography of the Balkan states themselves. This approach produces textbooks and national multi-volume history works that transfer a sense of national identity to ever new generations, but it also gives a skewed perspective on the past and hinders a proper understanding of the past in its own terms. National historiography stresses ethno-linguistic continuity as the main fabric of history and leads to empty quarrels about the ownership of ancient symbols and personalities, such as the violent megalomaniac Alexander the Great, whom both the Greeks and the Macedonians claim as part of “their” history. It also sees the present nationstates (at least the particular nation-state of each native historian themselves) as the necessary and predestined outcome of historical processes. One of the three paradoxes of nationalism mentioned in Anderson’s (2006 [1983], 5) influential study is “[...
The rapid spread of the Proto-Slavic language in the second half of the first millennium CE was l... more The rapid spread of the Proto-Slavic language in the second half of the first millennium CE was long explained by the migration of its speakers out of their small primary habitat in all directions. Starting from the 1980s, alternative theories have been proposed that present language shift as the main scenario of the Slavic spread, emphasizing the presumed role of Slavic as the lingua franca of the Avar Khaganate. Both the migration and the language shift scenarios in their extreme forms suffer from factual and chronological inaccuracy. On the basis of some key facts about human population genetics (the relatively recent common ancestry of the East European populations), palaeoclimatology (the Late Antique Little Ice Age from 536 to around 660 CE), and historical epidemiology (the Justinianic Plague), we propose a scenario that includes a primary rapid demographic spread of the Slavs followed by population mixing and language shifts to and from Slavic in different regions of Europe. There was no single reason for the Slavic spread that would apply to the whole of the area that became Slavic-speaking. The northern West Slavic area, the East Slavic area, and the Avar sphere and South-Eastern Europe exhibit different kinds of spread: mainly migration to a sparsely populated area in the northwest, migration and language shift in the east, and a more complicated scenario in the southeast. The remarkable homogeneity of Slavic up to the jer shift is not attributable to a lingua-franca function over a great area, as is often surmised. It was a founder effect: Proto-Slavic was originally a small Baltic dialect with little internal variation, and it took time for the individual Slavic languages to develop in different directions.
Beletra Almanako, 2022
Recenzo de Sabine Fiedler & Cyril Robert Brosch (2022), Esperanto – Lingua Franca and Language Co... more Recenzo de Sabine Fiedler & Cyril Robert Brosch (2022), Esperanto – Lingua Franca and Language Community