Linguae Europaeae

By Seyoung Jung Seyoung Jung is a graduate student in Political Science at The University of Illinois and wrote this blog post in the 418 ‘Language and Minorities in Europe’ course in spring 2019. Seyoung’s future plans include continuing the Ph.D. program. Let’s imagine the following situation. We have a main character named Lang and she is in a dangerous situation. One day, a candidate in a political campaign approaches Lang about her representing the very fundamental problem of our society. He brings a crowd of reporters and gives a passionate speech about Lang. She immediately becomes the most controversial topic of the election. On one hand, she is glad people are finally recognizing the issue that deserves attention, but she is also feeling overwhelmed now that people are deeply invested, and the tension keeps escalating. Lang now feels the conversation is no longer about her but something greater, and she is not sure she wants to be the catch-all term for all the problems t...

by Laura Ther It is commonly believed in Ireland that knowing a handful of words in Irish is enough to consider oneself fluent. There is a well-established cultural pretense that "a few words will do" and only a few basic pleasantries in Irish are needed. It seems that those few words are learned primarily in childhood, as the number of adult Irish speakers reporting to speak the language tends to decrease rather precipitously with age (Figure 1). Knowing no words in Irish at all can also condemn someone as a complete cultural outsider, which might bring us to conclude that the Irish language is of primary importance to its people. This assumption is correct, but it is not necessarily reflected in everyday practice. Everyday communication in Ireland has been conducted exclusively in English for at least two centuries, which led to the relative neglect of Irish. After generations of British interference, Irish had all but disappeared from public life. The events leading ...

by Soffia H. Kuehner Gray Soffia H. Kuehner Gray is a junior in Communication and French Studies at the University of Illinois. She is planning on attending law school and completing a Master’s degree in Communication. She wrote this blog text while enrolled in 418 ‘Language and Minorities in Europe’ in the spring of 2015. La rivière Chicago est teinte verte pour la Saint Patrick [ Image Source ] Si on marche dans la rue dans une ville aux États-Unis dans le mois de mars, il se peut qu’on voie un étalage de trèfles, de lutins et de pots d’or. Tous ces bibelots sont affichés pour la Saint Patrick. Centaines de milliers de personnes vont aux défilés comme le Défilé des Irlandais dans le sud de Chicago pour honorer leur héritage irlandais. En fait, n’importe quand dans l’année, on peut acheter les anneaux de Claddagh, les pulls d’Aran et du thé irlandais. Alors que les bibelots et les festivals qui font partie de la culture irlandaise gagnent en popularité, la langue irlanda...

by Soffia H. Kuehner Gray Soffia H. Kuehner Gray is a junior in Communication and French Studies at the University of Illinois. She is planning on attending law school and completing a Master’s degree in Communication. She wrote this blog text while enrolled in 418 ‘Language and Minorities in Europe’ in the spring of 2015. Chicago River on St. Patrick’s Day [ Image Source ] If you walk down the street of nearly any city in the United States during the month of March, chances are that you will encounter an array of shamrocks, leprechauns, and pots of gold all displayed in celebration of St. Patrick’s Day. Hundreds of thousands swarm to parades like the South Side Irish Parade in Chicago to honor their Irish heritage. Indeed, no matter the time of year, Claddagh rings, Aran sweaters, Guinness beer, and Irish tea are all readily available for purchase at local gift shops. While the trinkets and festivals that are a part of Irish culture are only increasing in popularity, the ...

by Max Colon Max Colon is a junior in Psychology and Spanish at the University of Illinois. Max is interested in continuing his work with the non-profit organization Illini Fighting Hunger to provide food aid to those in need. He is planning on pursuing a career in Human Resources Management in the future. Max wrote this text as a student enrolled in 418 ‘Language and Minorities in Europe.’ Image Source The home of 500 million people speaking well over 100 different languages, the European Union is a potent political-economic entity of 28 member states with a core mission to improve all aspects of life for its constituents. With its member countries ranging in size from very small to very large, the E.U. is a complex organization with many interests and challenges. In such a large organization, one would imagine that a single language would be used in an administrative capacity so as to promote efficiency and ease of governance. However, this idea actually runs counter to the...

by Dora Lee | editors: Jessica Nicholas (PhD candidate in French) Zsuzsanna Fagyal (Associate Professor of French) | “Où se trouve la bibliothèque?” [Where is the library ?] “Up the street two blocks, turn to your right, just pass Burger King and you’re right there.” “Je vous ai dit, “Où se trouve la bibliothèque?” [I’m asking: Where is the library?] “And I told you, up two blocks, to your right, right past Burger King.  Don’t you understand English?" We don’t often anticipate someone responding to us in a language other than the one we’ve spoken to them in.  Even if they’re just telling us that no, they don’t in fact speak our language, they usually manage to muddle through our language well enough to inform us that they just can’t muddle through it any longer.  Not so in Ireland, apparently, where muddling through just doesn’t seem to cut it! Irish Language Commissioner Seán Ó Cuirreáin has recently issued a report detailing the rise in com...