Mechanics of multilingualism in the Atlas of the Languages of Iran

• In-person event

Institute of Oriental Studies, Otto-Friedrich-Universität Bamberg presents

Mechanics of multilingualism in the Atlas of the Languages of Iran
Erik Anonby, Carleton University

Linguistic diversity, most notably the use of competing codes at societal and individual levels, is the raison d’être for language mapping. Conversely, the tools of language mapping are well situated to consolidate complex observations about language and communicate them in an efficient, accessible way. But what happens when the diversity in a given context – and conflicting interpretations about the nature of this diversity – seem too overwhelming to contend with? This is the case for Iran, where since the 1950s scholars have attempted, and recurrently failed, to complete an atlas of the country’s languages. This talk will introduce the ongoing Atlas of the Languages of Iran (ALI) research programme and reflect on the ways in which the enterprise of language mapping contends with historical and present-day movements of people in Iran; individual and community multilingualism; structural effects of language contact; competing perspectives on language identity and classification; and precipitous erosion of diversity as Persian moves closer to establishing itself, for the first time, as the mother tongue of most Iranians.

* Note: the session is scheduled for 6:00 p.m. German time which is 12:00 (noon) Ottawa time.