Linguae Europaeae

by Eric Becker Eric Becker is a graduate student in French Linguistics at the University of Illinois. He is planning on continuing his work towards his Masters and is interested in minority languages in Europe. He wrote this text as a student enrolled in FR 418 ‘Language and Minorities in Europe’. Image Source La situation de la langue live, ou le livonien comme on y réfère dans certains contextes, est précaire : la langue est « en situation critique » d’extinction selon l’UNESCO. La dernière locutrice de cette langue finno-ougrienne proche du finnois et de l’estonien, Grizelda Kristiņa, est morte en 2013 au Canada. Sans aucun locuteur natif, que deviendra la langue live ? Le livonien appartient à la branche fennique des langues finno-ougriennes, mais il était influencé aussi par les langues baltiques et slaves. Le livonien est parlé en Livonie, une région de Lettonie située à la pointe nord de la Courlande sur une péninsule dans le Golfe de Riga. Le livonien est donc class...

by Jonathon Prinz Jonathon Prinz is a senior in Mechanical Engineering with a minor in International Engineering and Germanic Studies. After graduation, Jonathon is planning on working for UOP Honeywell as a mechanical engineer in Des Plaines, Illinois. He is planning on traveling the world after a study abroad experience in Germany last summer sparked his interest in other places and cultures. He wrote this blog post as a student enrolled in 418 ‘Language and Minorities in Europe’. Turkish/German flag flying in Germany [ Image Source ] When people think of Germany, many tend to think of the typical German stereotype: beer, pretzels, and lederhosen.  While this is true in part, people usually never conjure up images of a nation of immigrants.  This is because the textbook German identity is popular, yet is not a realistic depiction of what Germany actually is today. After the Second World War, Germany has seen an enormous increase in immigrants entering as guest work...