The social value of a dialect: language attitudes of adolescents in Lithuanian cities

This paper will analyse how the dominant language ideology of the society effects language attitudes of young people in the cities. In Lithuania, as well as in many European countries, the standard language has a higher status... [ view full abstract ]

This paper will analyse how the dominant language ideology of the society effects language attitudes of young people in the cities. In Lithuania, as well as in many European countries, the standard language has a higher status than the local dialects. Language ideology has an effect also on the linguistic behaviour. Previous studies have shown that the use of local dialects in Lithuania is changing. The change is particularly visible in the cities and towns where about 70 percent of Lithuania’s population live. In the urban space, the traditional dialects tend to be used less than previously for everyday communication, they are seldom spoken with the younger generation, with children and grandchildren. Therefore, in order to evaluate the vitality of the dialects and the perspectives of their survival, it is important to analyse the language attitudes of the young. This paper will look into direct and indirect attitudes of adolescents who live in cities towards dialects comparing them to attitudes towards the standard language. The paper is based on dual data, gathered in the context of the project “Lithuanian language ideals, ideologies and identity shifts” (2010-2013). Group discussions have been organized in schools of nine major Lithuanian cities (Alytus, Kaunas, Klaipėda, Marijampolė, Panevėžys, Šiauliai, Telšiai, Utena and Vilnius), during which overt attitudes of the students towards the standard language and the dialects have emerged. An experiment was conducted after the group discussions, when the students were asked to describe speakers of different linguistic varieties. The analysis of the experiment data allows the identification of the subconscious values that young people attribute to the speakers of dialects and the standard language. This paper will analyse whether the overtly expressed language attitudes of adolescents living in cities correspond to the subconscious attitudes when describing the stereotypical speakers speaking the standard language and dialect. The focus will be drawn to the dimensions of social status, social distance and social attractiveness, that are related to overt and subconscious language attitudes.