The Social Consequences of Writing Louisiana French

The Social Consequences of Writing Louisiana French

The status of French language in Louisiana over time - diversity, amalgamation, decay, revival, and current modes of expression. How the written French word in the context of Louisiana French language revival has taken on special political and social meaning. The written word as a sight for examining the connections between "social and linguistic change" in Louisiana. From the author: "Studies on language shift often refer to the demise of the ousted variety by detailing various stages of language decay and extinction. Problematic for these accounts are well-documented cases of intervening social phenomena, such as language revival movements, which can alter in some way the stages of decline. French Louisiana's situation illustrates language shift interacting with a strong revival movement. In the wake of the revival and in spite of continued shift, another trend is apparent -- the writing of Louisiana French. Whereas shift clearly represents a stage of language decline, the creation of a written code functions as a key ingredient for language maintenance. A sociolinguistic analysis of these forces reveals the complexity and the conflict involved in the choice of the written word."

Brown, Becky

1993-03

en; fr

Journal Article

17th century - 20th century; Louisiana

0047-4045

1

67-101

Language in Society

<a href="http://www.jstor.org/stable/4168410">http://www.jstor.org/stable/4168410</a><br />

22