Linguistic ambiguity in Timor- Leste: local languages between pride and shame
Boldoni, Carolina
2021
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978-88-5511-267-3
e-ISBN
978-88-5511-268-0
Abstract
Emerging from centuries of Portuguese colonisation and a violent Indonesian military occupation lasted 24 years (1975-1999), Timor-Leste became the first sovereign state of the 21st century, in 2002. The Democratic Republic of Timor- Leste adopted Portuguese and Tetun Dili as the two national languages and this decision has been under debate since the birth of the nation, not just among local politicians, but also among foreign consultants and scholars. Based on an ethnographic fieldwork lasted 18 months, conducted between 2017 and 2018, this paper aims to address the ambiguities regarding the linguistic diversity in Timor- Leste. Local indigenous languages have been undergoing a process of governmental recognition (being 20 the local languages mentioned in the Constitution as ‘mother tongues’) and other international institutions have developed projects aimed to their safeguard. However, often both in national institutions as well as to a more grassroot level, the local linguistic diversity is considered more as a burden than as an asset. By focusing on these local ambiguities, the paper aims to discuss the interaction between linguistic prestige and status, as well as economic relations embedded in the Timor-Leste national linguistic policies.
Subjects
Publisher
EUT Edizioni Università di Trieste
Source
Carolina Boldoni, "Linguistic ambiguity in Timor-
Leste: local languages between
pride and shame", in: Ilaria Micheli, Flavia Aiello, Maddalena Toscano, Amelia Pensabene (Edited by), "Language and Identity Theories and experiences in lexicography and linguistic policies in a global world", Trieste, EUT Edizioni Università di Trieste, 2021, pp. 231-243
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en
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Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 Internazionale
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