Presentation prepared for the invited talk at the British School of Amsterdam, 28 Sep 2022

1. Reflecting upon the European Day of Languages
Multilingualism and Language Regimes
Federico Gobbo
F.Gobbo@uva.nl
The British School of Amsterdam, 28 Sep 2022
1

2. Council of Europe: 46 member states, 42 languages (web site)
Source: https://edl.ecml.at/, 27 Sep 2022

3. The Council of Europe is the guardian of human rights
Source: https://www.coe.int/en/web/about-us/do-not-get-confused, 27 Sep 2022

4. (C)overt multilingualism in the EU

5. 27 member states, 24 official languages
Source: https://europa.eu/!QRCCVP, 6 May 2020

6. Not all Europe’s languages are official
Source: https://www.eurominority.eu/index.php/langues-deurope/, 27 Sep 2022

7. A closer look to the British Isles and The Netherlands
Source: https://www.eurominority.eu/index.php/langues-deurope/, 27 Sep 2022

8. Are languages a taboo in the EU?

9. Any language on the pound?

10. Any language on the Swiss Franc?
recto
verso

11. Any language on the euro? (recto, old version)

12. Any language on the euro? (verso, old version)

13. Any language on the euro? (recto, new version)

14. Any language on the euro? (verso, new version)

15. How we write ‘euro’ in the official languages of EU
13

16. Language Regimes of the EU

17. A classic definition of language regimes
There are many ways to theorize about the interdependence that may exist
between language and politics. One way is to consider the mutual influen-
ces of the typical language situations and political situations that people
try to bring into being. At any time, there are only a few types of situa-
tions that many people have names for and work for or against.
We can call these salient types of situations “regimes.”
Johnatan Pool (1990, my emphasis)
14

18. Language regimes as constraints on political regimes
• There is no zero-option: fully a-linguistic state policies simply do not
exist (De Schutter 2007)
15

19. Language regimes as constraints on political regimes
• There is no zero-option: fully a-linguistic state policies simply do not
exist (De Schutter 2007)
• Language regimes are generally understood as a prerequisite of
nationhood and statehood (in the sense of ‘imagined’ communities,
Anderson 1983)
15

20. Language regimes as constraints on political regimes
• There is no zero-option: fully a-linguistic state policies simply do not
exist (De Schutter 2007)
• Language regimes are generally understood as a prerequisite of
nationhood and statehood (in the sense of ‘imagined’ communities,
Anderson 1983)
• Language regimes can strengthen cultural bonds and social trust, or
they may exacerbate cultural differences and power imbalances
15

21. Language regimes as constraints on political regimes
• There is no zero-option: fully a-linguistic state policies simply do not
exist (De Schutter 2007)
• Language regimes are generally understood as a prerequisite of
nationhood and statehood (in the sense of ‘imagined’ communities,
Anderson 1983)
• Language regimes can strengthen cultural bonds and social trust, or
they may exacerbate cultural differences and power imbalances
• Language regimes are not defined once and for all, but rather they
develop over time along societal, political and economic change
15

22. Language regimes as constraints on political regimes
• There is no zero-option: fully a-linguistic state policies simply do not
exist (De Schutter 2007)
• Language regimes are generally understood as a prerequisite of
nationhood and statehood (in the sense of ‘imagined’ communities,
Anderson 1983)
• Language regimes can strengthen cultural bonds and social trust, or
they may exacerbate cultural differences and power imbalances
• Language regimes are not defined once and for all, but rather they
develop over time along societal, political and economic change
• Research on language regimes needs interdisciplinarity
15

23. The 24 official languages of the EU
Bulgarian, Croatian, Czech, Danish, Dutch, English, Estonian, Finnish, French,
German, Greek, Hungarian, Irish, Italian, Latvian, Lithuanian, Maltese, Polish,
Portuguese, Romanian, Slovak, Slovenian, Spanish, Swedish. (source: europa.eu)
Remark. Luxembourgian is not an official language of the European Union even if
Luxembourg is one of the 6 countries that signed in 1951 the Treaty of Paris (along with
Belgium, France, West Germany, Italy, and the Netherlands).
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24. Regional and Minority languages of the EU after 1992
The EU is home to over 60 indigenous regional or minority languages, spoken
by some 40 million people, approx 10% of EU population. They include
Basque, Catalan, Frisian, Saami, Welsh and Yiddish.
Remark. While it is national governments that determine these languages’ legal status
and the extent to which they receive support, the European Commission maintains an
open dialogue, encouraging linguistic diversity to the extent possible. (source:
europa.eu)
17

25. The language regime of the EU
The European Union recognizes 2 levels of official statuses:
1. official languages
2. regional and minority languages (RMLs)
The 2012 Eurobarometer survey on Europeans and their languages revealed
very positive attitudes to multilingualism:
• 98% say mastering foreign languages will benefit their children.
• 88% think that knowing languages other than their mother tongue is very
useful.
• 72% agree with the EU goal of at least 2 foreign languages for everyone.
• 77% say improving language skills should be a policy priority.
(source: europa.eu)
18

26. “Recent” migration languages
No legal status. No general official surveys. Relevant examples:
• Arabic (lot of variation across communities)
• Chinese (not only Mandarin, also Chinese ‘dialects’)
• Russian (especially in the Baltic states)
• Swahili
• Turkish (some variation across communities)
• ...
19

27. Sign languages
Some recognition, if any, at the state level. Peculiarities:
• Deafhood (culture) vs deaf-as-handicap
• Independent typology (e.g. VGT (Flemish) and NGT (Dutch) are very
different, while VGT and LSFB (French Belgian) are closely related)
• multi-modal communication, new ICT challenges
20

28. Are other regimes possible?

29. Building the EU: main steps
1951 Treaty of Paris establishing the European Coal and Steel Community,
1957 Treaty of Rome establishing the European Economic Community (EEC),
1993 The Maastricht Treaty (European Union, EU)
2005 Stop: referenda on the European Constitution
21

30. Building the EU: steps of the language regimes
1951 Treaty of Paris establishing the European Coal and Steel Community,
1953 Discussion over an English-French (with Esperanto used to make this option
fail) (Sokolovska 2006)
1957 Treaty of Rome establishing the European Economic Community (EEC),
1958 Article 1 states the official and working languages
1992 The European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages (CETS 148)
1993 The Maastricht Treaty (European Union, EU)
2005 Stop: referenda on the European Constitution
2019 The European Ombudsman launches a survey on multilingualism in the EU
institutions
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31. Esperanto in the discussion in 1953
Source: Sokolovska (2016: 14)

32. Esperanto is a contact language

33. Ludwik Lejzer Zamenhof launched Esperanto in 1887
Source: Graphic novel Bonvenon! (Gobbo & Gamberoni 2018)

34. From the Jewish ghetto in Warsaw…
2014 Vikimedio. Charlie Chaplin, The Great Dictator, 1940

35. …through the persecutions during WW2…
© 2014 Dan Mazur. Esperantists

36. …to the UNESCO resolutions…
General Conference of UNESCO. Eight session. Montevideo (Uruguay), 1954. Resolution
adopted on December 10th
, 1954, in the eighteenth plenary-meeting.
IV.1.4.422 - The General Conference, Having discussed the report of the
Director-General on the international petition in favour of Esperanto (8C/PRG/3),
IV.1.4.4221 - Takes note of the results attained by Esperanto in the field of
international intellectual relations and the rapprochement of the peoples of the world ;
IV.1.4.4222 - Recognizes that these results correspond with the aims ans ideals of
UNESCO ;
IV.1.4.4223 - Takes note that several Member States have announced their readiness to
introduce or expand the teaching of Esperanto in their schools and higher educational
establishments, and requests these Member States to keep the Director-General
informed of the results attained in this field ;
IV.1.4.4224 - Authorizes the Director-General to follow current developments in the
use of Esperanto in education, science and culture, and, to this end, to co-operate with
the Universal Esperanto Association in matters concerning both organizations.

37. …and beyond!
© 2015 F Gobbo. World Esperanto Congress, Lille, FR

38. La geamikoj salutas nin
Source: kursosaluton.org/, 27 Sep 2022

39. Kelkaj priskriboj de la foto / Some descriptions of the photo
La geamikoj salutas vin afable
verbo
artikolo subjekto
objekto
adverbo
• La geamikoj salutas la klason.
• La geamikoj salutas vin per
*
mano
+
.
• La geamikoj salutas vin per
*
mano sur
*
la aerŝipo
++
.
• La aŭtoro desegnas la geamikojn sur
*
la papero
+
.
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40. Unu regulo por nomoj kaj adjektivoj
en Esperanto en la nederlanda en la angla
granda elefanto een grote olifant a big elephant
malgranda elefanto een kleine olifant a small elephant
rapida ĉevalo een snel paard a fast horse
malrapidaj ĉevaloj langzame paarden slow horses
© 2015 Huffington Post
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41. La povo de la sufiksoj / The power of suffixes
en Esperanto en la nederlanda en la angla
ĉevalo paard horse
ĉevalino merrie mare
ĉevalido veulen colt
ĉevalejo stal stable
ĉevalaro een kudde paarden a herd of horses
© 2013 Kelly Walkotten on Flickr 33

42. Dankon por via atento!