Urban Youth languages Research Papers (original) (raw)

In the present paper, we combine qualitative and quantitative analyses in an investigation of linguistic coherence. We propose a view of coherence as an interpretation of empirical observations rather than something that would be “out... more

In the present paper, we combine qualitative and quantitative analyses in an investigation of linguistic coherence. We propose a view of coherence as an interpretation of empirical observations rather than something that would be “out there in the data”, and argue that this interpretation should be based on evidence of systematic links between linguistic phenomena, as established by patterns of covariation between phenomena that can be shown to be related at linguistic levels.
Against this background, we identify as a particularly interesting domain for investigations into coherence the new urban dialects that have emerged in multiethnic and multilingual Europe over the last decades. These dialects emerge in highly diverse contexts characterised by a large range of contact situations, diverse repertoires, and the fast pace of language variation and change this brings with it, thus providing an interesting challenge for assumptions of coherence.
For our case study, we choose a set of phenomena that have been described for Kiezdeutsch, a new dialect from multilingual urban Germany. Qualitative analyses point to linguistic relationships between different phenomena and between pragmatic and linguistic levels. Quantitative analyses, based on corpus data from KiDKo, point to systematic differences between the main corpus KiDKo/Mu, with data from a multiethnic and multilingual context, and the complementary corpus KiDKo/Mo, with data from a mostly monoethnic and monolingual (German) context, showing advantages for the Kiezdeutsch data provided by KiDKo/Mu.
Taken together, this indicates patterns of covariation that support an interpretation of coherence for this new dialect: our findings point to an interconnected linguistic system, rather than to a mere accumulation of individual features. We show that accounting for Kiezdeutsch as a systematic variety along these lines does not entail separating it from other variants of German. Rather, its characteristics are embedded in the general range of options in contemporary German, pointing not only to internal coherence, but also to something we could call external coherence, that is, an integration with other variants of German.

This article examines how voiceless th-stopping (e.g. ting for thing) is used by a group of adolescents in Manchester, UK. The data come from an ethnographic project into the speech of fourteen to sixteen year olds who have been excluded... more

This article examines how voiceless th-stopping (e.g. ting for thing) is used by a group of adolescents in Manchester, UK. The data come from an ethnographic project into the speech of fourteen to sixteen year olds who have been excluded from mainstream education. Although th-stopping is often strongly associated with black varieties of English, multiple regression analysis finds ethnicity not to be a statistically significant factor in its production. Instead, conversational context and involvement in aspects of particular social practices—grime (rap) and dancehall music—emerge as potentially more relevant. Subsequent interactional analysis adds support to this interpretation, illustrating how the feature is being used more or less strategically (and more or less successfully) by individuals in this context in order to adopt particular stances, thereby enacting particular identities that are only tangentially related to ethnicity. I argue that use of th-stopping in this context indexes a particular street identity that is made more available through participation in grime especially.

Sammanfattning på svenska: En del forskare har hävdat att användningen av rak ordföljd i konte>rter som i standardsvenskan kräver omvänd ordföljd är ett drag som otta förekommer i varieteter av svenska som talas bland ungdomar i... more

Sammanfattning på svenska:
En del forskare har hävdat att användningen av rak ordföljd i konte>rter som i standardsvenskan kräver omvänd ordföljd är ett drag som otta förekommer i varieteter av svenska som talas bland ungdomar i flerspråkiga storstadsmiljöer. I denna artikel redovisas delresultat från en större studie som undersöker om och hur ungdomar i några flerspråkiga skolor i Stockholm, Göteborg och Malmö varierar mellan rak respektive omvänd ordföljd i olika situationer. De overgripande resultaten visar att ungdomarna använder rak ordföljd i relativt begränsad utsträckning. Framförallt förekommer det i samtal kamrater emellan. Många deltagare använder inte rak ordföljd alls, men samtidigt finns det ett fåtal ungdomar som använder rak ordföljd relativt ofta i flera situationer. Resultaten tyder på att det inte finns något direkt samband mellan användningen av rak ordföljd och svenska som andraspråk i den aktuella kontexten. Snarare är användningen av rak ordföljd för vissa ungdomar förknippad med en avslappnad, ungdomlig samtalsstil och kan utgöra en del av en språklig strategi som de använder mer eller mindre medvetet för att uttrycka sin identifikation med den flerspråkiga miljön, visa solidaritet med kamratgruppen eller manifestera någon form av motstånd.

"Based on a recent investigation into the use of Tsotsitaal in Cape Town, and following on from Mesthrie (2008), Hurst (2009), and Mesthrie & Hurst (forthcoming), this paper outlines the argument for the term ‘stylect’ to describe the... more

"Based on a recent investigation into the use of Tsotsitaal in Cape Town, and following on from Mesthrie (2008), Hurst (2009), and Mesthrie & Hurst (forthcoming), this paper outlines the argument for the term ‘stylect’ to describe the nature of a particular group of urban varieties that can broadly be classified as tsotsitaals. It is argued that tsotsitaals involve more than just linguistics: that they draw on other symbolic performances of identity such as body language, clothing, and other facets of what could commonly be called ‘style’. It is argued that a linguistic phenomenon that can be classed as a stylect is more than merely a ‘slang’, but not a ‘language’: it is a performed discursive act of styling to constitute identity.
The particular identities constituted through the use of Tsotsitaal in South Africa are outlined in terms of, on the one hand, their historical continuity and on the other hand their specific contemporality. The relations between the spectrum of tsotsitaal subcultures, and the trajectory of apartheid and democracy in South Africa are outlined, in order to demonstrate the intimate relationship between urban languages and both national and global discourses.
Hurst, E. (2009) Tsotsitaal, global culture and local style: identity and recontextualisation in twenty-first century South African townships. Accepted for publication in Social Dynamics, September issue.
Mesthrie, R. (2008) “I’ve been speaking Tsotsitaal all my life without knowing it”: towards a unified account of Tsotsitaals in South Africa. In M. Meyerhoff and N. Nagy (eds.) Social Lives in Language. New York: Benjamins, New York: 95-109.
Mesthrie, R. & Hurst, E. (forthcoming) Cape Town Tsotsitaal: a challenge to previous characterisations of tsotsitaals in South Africa.
"

Among (post-)colonial varieties of German, Namibian German is a particularly interesting case. It has a unique status compared to the other extraterritorial varieties as well as to those in the German-speaking area in Europe. First, it is... more

Among (post-)colonial varieties of German, Namibian German is a particularly interesting case. It has a unique status compared to the other extraterritorial varieties as well as to those in the German-speaking area in Europe. First, it is based on a speech community with German ancestry who still live in Namibia today, which distinguishes it from such colonial varieties as Unserdeutsch in the South Pacific and makes it more similar to such German " language island " varieties as, e.g., Texas German in the United States or the German varieties still spoken in Brazil. Second, though, unlike language island varieties as well as other postcolonial varieties and more similar to those in Germany, Namibian German is linguistically vital. It is passed on to younger generations and is also used in public domains, supporting, e.g., register differentiation. Third, unlike most varieties in Germany, however, it is integrated in a setting of societal multilingualism, with speakers who routinely use two or more languages in addition to German in their daily lives, and with a broader context of high linguistic diversity, offering a wealth of language contact opportunities. In this paper, we describe this special status of Namibian German and present first results from a project that capitalises on this to investigate the (socio-)linguistic dynamics that this setting supports, affording us a spotlight on tendencies of language attitudes and language variation in contact situations of German.

"Urban varieties in South Africa are developing rapidly in the multilingual townships of major cities such as Durban, Cape Town, and Johannesburg. They are characterized by a high incidence of innovation, code switching and style... more

"Urban varieties in South Africa are developing rapidly in the multilingual townships of major cities such as Durban, Cape Town, and Johannesburg. They are characterized by a high incidence of innovation, code switching and style variation impacting on both lexicon and syntax. These patterns can be viewed as the interaction and interface between different local languages (both African and colonial) with additional influences arising from the penetration of global phenomena into these complex urban contexts.
The lexicon in urban language forms is responsive to a number of influences –inter alia: globalization, multilingualism, youth slang and the media. This paper is based on an ongoing analysis of the lexical content of the urban language phenomenon broadly termed ‘tsotsitaal’. A number of data sets are examined to determine a ‘core’ lexicon for the phenomenon. This lexicon is then considered in terms of the influences upon it, and what can (and cannot) be said about the urban form tsotsitaal on the basis of existing research into its lexical content.
The analysis highlights some ambiguities; for example, what can usefully be said about any variety on the basis of lexical identification by researchers? To what extent can claims be made about lexical items ‘belonging’ to particular varieties? It is shown that lexical contributions ‘bleed’ into different language contexts in an urban situation (for example a term considered to be ‘tsotsitaal’ can actually be commonly used in international media as well as by speakers of a ‘non-tsotsitaal’ urban variety in a South African township). This can complicate our picture of the reality and status of urban languages, and make it difficult for linguists to identify and describe these phenomena, particularly if we are not careful in our theorisation of language itself.
The research ultimately leads towards the complexity of language practices in an age of super-diversity. Work by theorists such as Blommaert, Pennycook and Makoni provides a framework by which to begin to approach such phenomena.
"

Der Beitrag beschreibt neue Varianten von Majoritätssprachen, wie sie sich heute im mehrsprachigen urbanen Europa entwickeln, als neue urbane Dialekte. Diese Perspektive erlaubt es uns, systematische Charakteristika auf... more

Der Beitrag beschreibt neue Varianten von Majoritätssprachen, wie sie sich heute im mehrsprachigen urbanen Europa entwickeln, als neue urbane Dialekte. Diese Perspektive erlaubt es uns, systematische Charakteristika auf sprachstruktureller Ebene ebenso zu berücksichtigen wie ihre Variation in unterschiedlichen sprachlichen und sozialen Kontexten, ähnlich wie wir dies für traditionelle, stärker regional gebundene Dialekte kennen. Gegenüber letzteren werden neue urbane Dialekte durch eine sprachlich besonders vielfältige Sprechergemeinschaft gestützt, die unterschiedliche ein- und mehrsprachige Repertoires einbringt.
Die Metapher des Feature Pool, die für die vielfältigen sprachlichen Ressourcen vorgeschlagen wurde, auf die diese Sprechergemeinschaft zugreifen kann, wird hier ergänzt durch eine Metapher des Feature Pond, die das Ergebnis dieses Zugriffs nicht als beliebige, unstrukturierte Zusammenstellung beschreibt, sondern als System ineinandergreifender Elemente: Neue urbane Dialekte basieren nach dieser Auffassung auf einer reichen sprachlichen Ökologie, die interagierende Muster auf verschiedenen sprachlichen Ebenen hervorbringt. Sprecher/innen wählen aus diesem Netzwerk systematisch je nach Gesprächssituation aus. Dies stützt eine integrative Sichtweise, die uns erlaubt, Charakteristika dieser Sprechweisen als Stil vs. Varietät gleichermaßen zu erfassen. Wir können so die Systematik auf sprachlicher Ebene anerkennen, ohne die gezielte Wahl, die Sprecher/innen jeweils treffen, zu vernachlässigen.
Neue Dialekte im mehrsprachigen urbanen Europa stellten sich vor diesem Hintergrund dar als Neuzugänge zum sprachlichen Spektrum der jeweiligen Majoritätssprachen, die durch eine besondere sprachliche Dynamik charakterisiert sind. Der sprachlich heterogene, durch vielfältige Sprachkontaktsituationen gekennzeichnete Kontext stützt eine charakteristische Offenheit gegenüber sprachlicher Variation und erlaubt es diesen neuen Dialekten, interne, binnenstrukturelle Entwicklungen der Majoritätssprachen besonders leicht aufzunehmen. Entsprechend sind sie gekennzeichnet durch ein komplexes, je unterschiedlich gewichtetes Zusammenspiel von Sprachkontakt und binnenstrukturellen Entwicklungstendenzen.
Diese Dialekte fügen der Dynamik, die urbane Sprache generell auszeichnet, damit eine neue Qualität hinzu. Eine solche Dynamik findet sich auch auf Sprecherebene: Neue urbane Dialekte entstehen in Sprechergemeinschaften, die durch vielfältige, heterogene sprachliche Repertoires gekennzeichnet sind. In diesen Repertoires stehen sie neben weiteren, informellen und formellen, Varianten der betreffenden Majoritätssprachen ebenso wie solchen aus anderen Sprachen, wobei Kenntnisse anderer Sprachen nicht an die Grenzen von Herkunftssprachen gebunden sein müssen. Sprecherrepertoires in solchen sprachlich vielfältigen Gemeinschaften überschreiten damit herkömmliche Unterscheidungen von ein- und mehrsprachigen Sprecher/inne/n ebenso wie die von „native vs. non-native speakers“ der Majoritätssprachen.

Bachelor thesis (german) on youth language in Iceland

The standard understanding of Irish is that there are three principal dialects, all rural, and all spoken on Ireland's coastal periphery. The presence of Irish-language radio stations in Dublin and Belfast, however, as well as... more

The standard understanding of Irish is that there are three principal dialects, all rural, and all spoken on Ireland's coastal periphery. The presence of Irish-language radio stations in Dublin and Belfast, however, as well as Irish-language programming on local stations in Galway and Cork, suggests that there is a significant Irish-speaking population in Ireland's cities. City speakers have often been derided as speakers of "Nua-Ghaeilge" ("New Irish") by Gaeltacht dwellers, and they very often deride themselves as speakers of "Gaeilge Lofa Líofa" ("Rotten Fluent Irish") but there has been no attention given to the type of Irish that they speak.
A detailed systematic analysis, comparing newsreaders and presenters on the Gaeltacht station Raidió na Gaeltachta and the urban stations Raidió na Life and Raidió Fáilte strongly suggests that a new dialect, perhaps more accurately described as a Pidgin, is growing among the urban Irish-language population. This dialect, using simplified phonetics and morphology, remains unstable, probably because most urban speakers do not speak Irish at home (and therefore have no native environment in which to speak the language), but also because they have little allegiance to the Gaeltacht, where Irish is still partially spoken as a community language. Because their native language is mostly English, the Irish that they speak, mostly learned at school and from friends, is prone to instability and is likely to remain so until a significant number of urban speakers choose to raise their children in the language, thus creating native speakers and a stable dialect or Creole. Notably, the urban dialect differs from many pidgins in having a comparatively sophisticated lexicon and syntax.

This paper critically contributes to the question of what a descriptive approach can contribute to the clarification of the linguistic status of Sheng. As a starting point I take my own experience of the transparency of the transcripts of... more

This paper critically contributes to the question of what a descriptive approach can contribute to the clarification of the linguistic status of Sheng. As a starting point I take my own experience of the transparency of the transcripts of conversations amongst young people from Eastleigh (Nairobi) which were labeled “Sheng”. From this follows a methodological and conceptual critique of the available literature on Sheng that aims at operationalizing the notion of linguistic practice and language as resource. As one possible alternative I suggest to make use of a repertoire based approach to language description and applying a corpus linguistic perspective to the data. From that point of view, however, categorial distinctions between Swahili, Nairobi Swahili and Sheng lose relevance. Taking (Standard) Swahili as a descriptive background,
the results show that the verbal complex is marked by a surprisingly high degree of Swahili linguistic proficiency and some innovation. Restructuring and reduction is mainly visible within the nominal phrase. Therefore the results support the literature with regard to the nominal phrase, albeit from the background of a more “disinterested” data collection. In addition, processes of innovation and restructuring are displayed through the instability of the phenomena that become visible in the corpus. Finally, I suggest understanding Sheng primarily as the name given to urban/urban youth practices of which linguistic practices are but one aspect.

Cet article propose de contribuer à une réflexion théorique sur le « parler jeune » en tant que construction idéologique et modèle réflexif d'utilisation de la langue, dans une perspective d’anthropologie sémiotique, à partir de l’exemple... more

Cet article propose de contribuer à une réflexion théorique sur le « parler jeune » en tant que construction idéologique et modèle réflexif d'utilisation de la langue, dans une perspective d’anthropologie sémiotique, à partir de l’exemple du francanglais (ou camfranglais) au Cameroun. La réflexion est basée sur la théorie de la mise en registre (enregisterment) d’A. Agha (2007), selon laquelle un registre ou un style langagier est un modèle culturel d'action qui résulte de processus socio-historiques de « mise en registre », processus par lesquels ses formes et ses valeurs sont reconnues comme distinctes de celles attribuées à d'autres registres, et sont associées à des types spécifiques de pratiques sociales, de personae (locuteurs et interlocuteurs) et d'activités (Agha 2007 : 168). Il s'agit donc de décrire les processus de mise en frontière à l’œuvre dans les discours métapragmatiques de migrants camerounais résidant en région parisienne, âgés de 25 à 30 ans. À travers l’opposition entre langue et argot, qui recoupe celle entre français et francanglais, les sujets réactualisent les idéologies associées à l'argot qui le définissent comme une sous-variété de la langue standard, associée à des interactions informelles et à des valeurs sociales ambivalentes (Agha 2015). Ainsi, ils tracent des frontières non seulement entre des locuteurs types, mais aussi entre deux types de relations sociales : la relation de proximité affective ou de solidarité, basée sur le partage de caractéristiques sociales communes, et la relation de distance ou de pouvoir. Cette analyse nous amène, en conclusion, à problématiser la relation entre langage et jeunesse pour le francanglais : comme pour les autres « parlers jeunes », les formes langagières associées au francanglais indexeraient d'abord, au niveau de l'interaction, des positionnements tels que la familiarité et la proximité affective, ainsi que des caractéristiques personnelles du locuteur et des activités sociales spécifiques, avant d’indexer, de façon indirecte, l’appartenance à une classe d’âge. La relation entre le francanglais et la catégorie « jeune » n'est donc pas directe et exclusive, mais elle dépend surtout du sens que les locuteurs (qu'ils soient ou non perçus comme
« jeunes ») veulent construire en interaction.

Taking a comparative perspective on European and African settings, this chapter describes several contact dialects that emerged in multilingual and multiethnic urban contexts among young people. These dialects emerge as peer-group markers... more

Taking a comparative perspective on European and African settings, this chapter describes several contact dialects that emerged in multilingual and multiethnic urban contexts among young people. These dialects emerge as peer-group markers of a new generation of locally born speakers who grow up in multiethnic urban communities based on (internal or external) immigration. In different societal contexts, they take on different forms of contact-linguistic codes: the societal multilingualism typical for many African countries supports the formation of Multilingual Mixed Languages, whereas the monolingual bias in European societies favours new variants of the respective majority languages, which involve contact-induced as well as contact-facilitated language change. In both cases, standard language ideologies can lead to negative views of urban contact dialects in the larger society; in European nation states, the devaluation of these dialects can also serve as a proxy for the devaluation of their speakers, who are constructed as social and ethnic 'Others'.

The present research work about lexical creativity in youth languages of Cameroon and Germany is based on the idea that youths have resort to some linguistic techniques to create new words for their slangs.... more

The present research work about lexical creativity in youth languages of Cameroon and Germany is based on the idea that youths have resort to some linguistic techniques to create new words for their slangs. Taking into consideration that youth languages emerge from contacts between languages and are a phenomenon of linguistic variation, this work aims at analyzing linguistic phenomena such as lexical borrowing, semantic change, semantic amplification, word formation, and onomatopoeia from a descriptive and lexicological perspective. These procedures have been analyzed comparatively within eight texts of Cameroonian and German Rap. The first chapter deals with the definition of the concept of youth language, its characteristics and the delimitation to other neighboring concepts. Here, youth language is being defined as a sociolect that is a language variety from the perspective of Heinrich Löffler. In the second chapter, youth languages are perceived as resulting from the contacts between languages at the level of multilingual individual or society. This part also deals with the history of scientific theoretical or empirical researches on Camfranglais or on German youth languages, the latest being vulgarized and widespread through media and mostly through the Hip Hop scene. The third chapter deals with the presentation of the analysis methodology and defines the main categories of the work. The fourth concerns the analysis of lexical creativity in selected texts of Rap. Through a more qualitative than quantitative lexicological-descriptive approach, it has been noticed that the youths of both linguistic areas have recourse to all of the studied linguistic procedures, with the aim of extending or finding new Signifiers and Signified for their specific lexicon. Lexical borrowing from the English language or from the American urban culture is more important in the concerned milieus. Nevertheless, each procedure presents internal differences when contrasting with the other language. This can be explained with the differences in socio-cultural milieus, in the socialization of these youths likewise in their linguistic uses. Beyond this, lexical creativity can be exemplified with the phenomenon of spontaneity that the youths of the two countries express, because many lexemes have been created spontaneously and by chance.

There is undisputed evidence that the use of so-called non-standard varieties of language in South Africa is on the increase, and serves as an important communication bridge for a supranation that has many people of different ethnicities... more

There is undisputed evidence that the use of so-called non-standard varieties of language in South Africa is on the increase, and serves as an important communication bridge for a supranation that has many people of different ethnicities living side-by-side in different urban settings in the country. This paper illustrates, using Sepitori (also called ‘Pretoria Sotho’) as a case in point, that non-standard varieties should be explored further with a view to institutionally recording, formalising and supporting them. The paper does this through, first, showing that Sepitori is a mixed language that is used as a lingua franca by many people; second, by re-visiting the literature that demonstrates the important and crucial role played by non-standard varieties in a multilingual society, such as, South Africa, particularly with regard to formal settings (e.g., classrooms, formal meetings, and the media); and, third, by using the strength of such literature to call for a change in attitudes by language purists, who should realise that the sooner non-standard varieties are allowed space beyond the use in informal settings, the better it would be for further development of standard varieties.

Tsotsitaal in South Africa has many characteristics in common with other African ‘urban youth languages’), for example, it incorporates lexical innovation, metaphor and neologisms, its origins are in criminal argot, and it is used... more

Tsotsitaal in South Africa has many characteristics in common with other African ‘urban youth languages’), for example, it incorporates lexical innovation, metaphor and neologisms, its origins are in criminal argot, and it is used primarily by male youth in urban centers possibly as a marker of modernism and being ‘streetwise’.
It can be considered as a set of language resources rather than a ‘language’ in any traditional sense of the term, and one of the more interesting characteristics of tsotsitaal in South Africa is its existence in multiple base languages – all the official languages in South Africa (11 in total) have their own accompanying tsotsitaal. Other non-official languages, including mixed forms of language in highly multi-lingual townships such as Soweto, also have their variety of tsotsitaal.
This paper gives examples of tsotsitaals which utilize a range of base languages – Setswana (Tswana); Tshivenda (Venda); Sesotho sa Lebowa (Northern Sotho); Sesotho (Sotho); IsiZulu (Zulu); Sepedi (Pedi); and IsiXhosa (Xhosa) – to demonstrate the core features of the phenomenon, and to try to outline why the tsotsitaal phenomenon is an exemplar of youth language practice as fluid repertoire.

This paper seeks to investigate the role of language ideologies in relation to the Ethiopian youth language Yarada K'wank'wa. The study of African youth languages, which has increased in popularity over the past two decades, has... more

This paper seeks to investigate the role of language ideologies in relation to the Ethiopian youth language Yarada K'wank'wa. The study of African youth languages, which has increased in popularity over the past two decades, has concentrated mainly on strategies of language manipulation and the varieties' functions of marking identity, which have both been identified as important aspects of these language practices (cf. Kießling and Mous, 2004; Nassenstein and Hollington, 2015). Both of these issues are very much informed and shaped by underlying language ideologies. Irvine and Gal (2000) focus on the recognition and representation of linguistic differences in language ideologies. Linguistic differentiation is at the core of language ideologies and practices of speakers of (African) youth languages; defining one's identity in opposition to some (imagined) 'other' is often reflected in linguistic images and practices (ibid.). This paper seeks to shed light on the ideologies of speakers of Yarada K'wank'wa, a youth language of Ethiopia, and looks at ideologies which rely on the concepts of association (solidarity) and dissociation (differentiation). These ideologies shape the (linguistic) practices of the speakers; they can display, for instance, linguistic differentiation in terms of manipulative strategies. However, ideologies do not always match practices and linguistic realities. Discussing the case of Yarada K'wank'wa in this regard clarifies the complex relationship between language ideologies and practices. This paper will do so by drawing on new empirical data, emphasizing the role of language ideologies and linguistic practices in Yarada K'wank'wa and its broader social context. This discussion may have implications for the understanding of other (African) youth languages.

The linguistic practices and creativity of youths reflect an amazing way of dealing with the dynamics of urban and global African city life. Communities of practice (CoP) emerge, in which global trends, local concepts and cutting-edge... more

The linguistic practices and creativity of youths reflect an amazing way of dealing with the dynamics of urban and global African city life. Communities of practice (CoP) emerge, in which global trends, local concepts and cutting-edge styles, identities of resistance and contested spaces all play a role and impact on the linguistic practices of youths. The implementation of linguistic manipulative patterns that are often acquired from other youth languages, as well as strategies such as translanguaging, borrowing, language crossing and bricolage, brought about through local, global and pan-African contact and trends, including music cultures such as Hip Hop and Reggae, have molded youth identities and urban practices. The focus of this article is on youth languages found in Addis Ababa (Ethiopia) and Kinshasa/Goma (DR Congo), where the multilayered range of social and linguistic impacts of globalization has led to new linguistic practices and identities. Both speakers' fluid patterns of contact and manipulation across digital (Facebook, WhatsApp, YouTube, Twitter) and real spaces, and their manipulative strategies in the formation of new " repertoires " , are analyzed in the article. Youth languages, especially in the African context, have usually been described as modern, urban and fluid. We argue that these characteristics also hold for other linguistic practices and non-urban contexts, and that youth languages differ in terms of the speed and manner in which these processes and modifications occur or are deliberately employed.

Tsotsitaal is a linguistic phenomenon which is inseparable from a style adopted by many youth living in urban townships in South Africa. The style is signalled by the unique and innovative lexicon of Tsotsitaal, and additionally indicated... more

Tsotsitaal is a linguistic phenomenon which is inseparable from a style adopted by many youth living in urban townships in South Africa. The style is signalled by the unique and innovative lexicon of Tsotsitaal, and additionally indicated by clothing and other identity markers. Features of the style are ‘urban-ness’, consumerism (in terms of brand names) and cultural iconography, such as music and sports. While many of these items are influenced by, or even drawn from,global cultures (particularly in the diaspora), they are transformed into uniquely South African cultural currency by a process of recontextualisation in township spaces and between individuals. There has been a dialogue between the Tsotsitaal style and the global since at least the 1940s, which should put to rest fears that increased global influence since the end of apartheid will diminish the integrity of local South African cultures.

This thesis is the fruit of a research project which marries translation practice and theory. Separated into two volumes, it explores questions related to the translation of slang in fictional texts. The first volume is a critical... more

This thesis is the fruit of a research project which marries translation practice and theory. Separated into two volumes, it explores questions related to the translation of slang in fictional texts. The first volume is a critical commentary composed of three parts, and the second a translation from French into English of the novel Moi non by Patrick Goujon (Gallimard, 2003). Since the plot unfolds in the banlieue of Paris, the critical component investigates the way in which marginalised youth can express themselves through slang, a variety of non-standard language. Often representative of a specific place and identity, slang constitutes one of many forms of expression that contribute to setting marginalised youth apart from dominant groups. Such use of language raises a number of questions, both concrete and abstract in nature, when one decides to transcribe and translate it in a work of fiction. Translators often employ standard language to render this voice in the translated text or otherwise make use of an “equivalent” slang. The proposed translation of Moi non embodies an alternative method inspired by an overall informal style of writing, as well as by the creative devices employed in rap lyrics and in the creation of slang words and expressions. In an effort to avoid suggesting a specific setting outside of the banlieue, this translation seeks to identify and harness features of English shared by young people throughout the Anglosphere. This thesis thus represents an opportunity to ensure the coherence and the logic of this alternative approach to translating slang in an entire novel, and to compare this approach with that adopted by the translators of similar texts.

Demographic changes associated with the transformation from traditional to advanced economies are the basis for many of today's theories of violent and non-violent protest formation. Both levels of urbanization and the size of the "youth... more

Demographic changes associated with the transformation from traditional to advanced economies are the basis for many of today's theories of violent and non-violent protest formation. Both levels of urbanization and the size of the "youth bulge" have shown to be reliable measures for predicting protest events in a country. As these two processes result from modernization, it seems logical to hypothesize that the combined effect of the rise in urbanization and the increase in the youth population, urban youth bulge, would be a more relevant predictor for protests. Our tests on cross-national timeseries data from 1950 to 2010 for 98 countries reveal that the combined effect of the two forces is an important predictor of anti-government protests. It may seem that the role of the urban youth bulge would appear to be an issue of the past as in more recent decades the proportion of the urban youth tends to decline in most countries of the world. However, this factor tends to be very relevant for many developing countries where both youth bulges have been growing for several decades and the general urban population is on the rise.

Slang words and phrases are unconventional linguistic expressions. Slang includes not just words but words used in a particular social context. Using slang terms is regarded as a response to a kind of need and is of an informal style. The... more

Slang words and phrases are unconventional linguistic expressions. Slang includes not just words but words used in a particular social context. Using slang terms is regarded as a response to a
kind of need and is of an informal style. The use of slang varies from region to region. Mostly slang words are considered to be taboo and are not to be used in the public sphere.
This paper investigates the research areas: definitions of English swear words, its history; cultural and sociolinguistic context; psychological function in people; evolution, growth, and
attitudinal change towards slang language in a technologically advanced globalized world. The two major hypotheses that sprang from my research areas are: globalization of communication
technology and influx of western media influences the Bangladeshi youngsters (18-25 years) to use more English swearwords than the vernacular ones and Bangladeshi youngsters are more
open to adopting the English swears in their daily speech than their elders. Thus the aim of this research paper is to study, analyze, and understand the prevalence of English swear words among
the urban younger population of Dhaka.
The research paper makes use of both quantitative and qualitative data collection methods to gather and analyze data to test the hypotheses. The analysis of both primary and secondary data
validates the hypotheses proposed in the paper. The primary data is collected through a survey questionnaire. The secondary data is acquired from previous research works and books on the
topic.

The Igbo wh-phrases display interesting variable behaviours in movement, with respect to whether they move to the left peripheries of direct or embedded interrogative clauses. A question arises why, unlike the English wh-phrases, the Igbo... more

The Igbo wh-phrases display interesting variable behaviours in movement, with respect to whether they move to the left peripheries of direct or embedded interrogative clauses. A question arises why, unlike the English wh-phrases, the Igbo wh-phrases cannot maintain consistent shape and behaviour across the different syntactic constructions and in the face of different movement triggers. This paper dissects the wh-phrases in Igbo with the view to showing that they are not only different in their surface shapes but also in their internal configurations. The wh-phrases divide into basic and non-basic. It is found that the basic wh-phrases have their wh-features merged not only higher in the primary trees but as the head of the maximal wh-projections whereas the non-basic ones have theirs merged lower, usually as complement of DPs. The paper argues that these differences in internal configuration determine the wh-ness of the wh-phrases and are responsible for the observed variability in response to different syntactic stimuli or wh-movement triggers in direct and indirect wh-interrogative constructions. The study explores the minimalist framework.

In Folge von Migration und generell gestiegener Mobilität ist das moderne Europa geprägt durch eine große Diversität, die sich auch auf sprachlicher Ebene niederschlägt. Insbesondere in den urbanen Zentren findet sich ein hohes Maß an... more

In Folge von Migration und generell gestiegener Mobilität ist das moderne Europa geprägt durch eine große Diversität, die sich auch auf sprachlicher Ebene niederschlägt. Insbesondere in den urbanen Zentren findet sich ein hohes Maß an Mehrsprachigkeit: Viele Sprecher/innen beherrschen nicht nur die Majoritätssprache des jeweiligen Landes, sondern bringen daneben ein breites Spektrum unterschiedlicher Herkunftssprachen ein. Solche vielsprachigen Kontexte entwickeln eine besondere Dynamik, insbesondere in der generell sehr dynamischen Gruppe der jugendlichen Sprecher/innen. In den letzten Jahrzehnten sind hier neue sprachliche Praktiken in den Blick der Forschung geraten, die unter anderem als (Multi-)Ethnolekte, neue Dialekte oder neue urbane Umgangssprachen charakterisiert wurden. Der Beitrag fasst unterschiedlichen Aspekte für das deutsche Beispiel zusammen und bezieht sich dabei auf grammatische und soziolinguistische Forschungsergebnisse zu einem Sprachgebrauch, der unter anderem als „Kiezdeutsch“ bekannt ist (etwa Wiese 2009, 2012; Jannedy 2010; Canoğlu 2012; Du Bois 2013). Ich gebe zunächst einige Beispiele für grammatische Entwicklungen in Kiezdeutsch, gehe dann auf den Status von Kiezdeutsch im sprachlichen Repertoire ein und beschreibe abschließend die öffentliche Wahrnehmung hierzu.

This paper investigates a public debate in Germany that put a special spotlight on the interaction of standard language ideologies with social dichotomies, centering on the question of whether “Kiezdeutsch”, a new way of speaking from... more

This paper investigates a public debate in Germany that put a special spotlight on the interaction of standard language ideologies with social dichotomies, centering on the question of whether “Kiezdeutsch”, a new way of speaking from multilingual urban neighbourhoods, is a legitimate German dialect. Based on a corpus of emails and postings to media websites, I analyse central topoi in this debate and an underlying narrative on language and identity. Central elements of this narrative are claims of cultural elevation and cultural unity for an idealised standard language “High German”, a view of German dialects as part of a national folk culture, and the construction of an exclusive in-group of “German” speakers who own this language and its dialects. The narrative provides a potent conceptual frame for the Othering of Kiezdeutsch and its speakers, and for the projection of social and sometimes racist deliminations onto the linguistic plane.

This master thesis addresses language use among multilingual youth in Bergen. The main purpose of the thesis is to determine whether it is possible to identify a unique speech style among youth in multilingual settings in Bergen. The... more

This master thesis addresses language use among multilingual youth in Bergen. The main purpose of the thesis is to determine whether it is possible to identify a unique speech style among youth in multilingual settings in Bergen. The formulation is based on the research question from UPUS-Oslo, and I attempt to shed light on the same question for Bergen within the scope of a master thesis.
The procedures are also inspired by the methods used in UPUS-Oslo, and it is mainly a qualitative study. The data are based on my own observations from fieldwork, from a questionnaire with 45 participants, and 12 of these have then participated in an interview and 5 adolescents participated in peer conversations. The data collection took place in multilingual settings in different areas in Bergen, and one setting which represents a perspective outside of the multilingual environments.
One of the research questions concerns situational switching. By comparing language usage in the interviews and peer conversations, it became apparent that the adolescents use certain linguistic features only in the conversation among friends. This can be interpreted as if the style is used in informal situations with peers. The features that appeared in the peer conversations in contrast to the interviews are lexical, grammatical and prosodic. When the adolescents themselves characterize the style, they mainly mention lexical features. Code switching, crossing and stylization are linguistic practices that seem to be a part of the style. These are analyzed in the light of the concept languaging, which means that the adolescents use the linguistic resources that are available in the communities of practice they belong to.
Concerning what the adolescents themselves report about the functions of the speech style, some say it has no function, while what others mention can be related to in-group, secret language, having fun, to represent the “foreigner”, toughness and prestige, socio-economic status and to belong to a local place. These functions are complex and can overlap each other. The use of the speech style can be connected to acts of identity; that is, linguistic features are used both to identify with certain groups and to dissociate oneself from others, and this seems to be evident in my findings.
When asked whether there exists a unique form of Norwegian in multilingual environments in Bergen, almost all participants answer yes. It can however, on this basis, not be stated that there exists one unique way of speech within these groups, because it cannot be taken for granted that the adolescents share the same perception of the speech style, and furthermore, features used by some of the adolescents were not observed with others. Linguistic heterogeneity seems to be a fitting description of both the structural and functional aspects of the linguistic practices. Rather than speaking of one distinct variety or speech style, it seems reasonable to discuss the emergence of new linguistic features in the communities, which the adolescents use as a part of their available linguistic resources as "languagers".