Thesis
Language loss in Cajun Louisiana: Integrative evolutionary approaches in linguistic anthropology
Washington State University
Master of Arts (MA), Washington State University
2006
Handle:
https://hdl.handle.net/2376/507
Abstract
This thesis is a preliminary exploration of integrative evolutionary approaches in linguistic anthropology, utilizing fieldwork case studies and historical data from southern Louisiana. The purpose of this thesis is to: 1) examine how evolutionary anthropological approaches to language loss apply to the Cajuns of Louisiana; 2) explore the relationship between language and cultural identity among Cajuns in an anthropological framework; and, 3) to contribute to Cajun ethnography. These goals are accomplished by examining the three primary neoevolutionary approaches used commonly in anthropology today: evolutionary psychology, behavioral ecology and evolutionary cultural anthropology, along with evolutionary and traditional approaches to linguistics, and proposing an integrative, heuristic method to examine language loss by analyzing historical, ethnographic and linguistic information concerning Cajun communities in Southern Louisiana as a starting point for developing workable hypotheses regarding language loss, language change, and ethnic identity. Several hypotheses are presented, and practical applications of known data and literature are outlined in light of each hypothesis in order to gain a fuller understanding of the relationship between language loss and the maintenance of cultural identities.
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Details
- Title
- Language loss in Cajun Louisiana
- Creators
- Michelle Y. Fiedler
- Contributors
- Barry S. Hewlett (Degree Supervisor)
- Awarding Institution
- Washington State University
- Academic Unit
- Anthropology, Department of
- Theses and Dissertations
- Master of Arts (MA), Washington State University
- Publisher
- Washington State University; [Pullman, Washington] :
- Identifiers
- 99900524881301842
- Language
- English
- Resource Type
- Thesis