Tales of a Lost Language: Methodological Challenges in the Investigation of Language Shift among Norwegian Jews.

• Stian Hårstad ^[1]
  1. [1] Norwegian University of Science and Technology

     Norwegian University of Science and Technology

     Noruega

     
• Localización: Sociolinguistica: Internationales Jahrbuch für Europäische Soziolinguistik=International Yearbook of European Sociolinguistics=Annuaire International de la Sociolinguistique Européenne, ISSN 0933-1883, Vol. 39, Nº. 1, 2025 (Ejemplar dedicado a: Sociolinguistic perspectives on historical multilingualism in Europe), págs. 103-124
• Idioma: varios idiomas
• Texto completo no disponible (Saber más ...)
• Resumen

  • Documenting a historical language loss is a demanding endeavour, not least because relevant data from the past is typically sparse and fragmentary. This paper focuses on the investigation of a relatively recent language shift that occurred approximately 100 years ago. It exhibits significant methodological challenges, due to the limited empirical data available. The study centres on members of the Jewish minority in Norway, who predominantly spoke Yiddish when they immigrated from territories within the Russian Empire between the 1870s and the First World War. The overall trend suggests a relatively rapid shift into Norwegian as the dominant language over a couple of decades. By the end of the Second World War, Yiddish was basically moribund in Norway, largely due to the Holocaust, which devastatingly decimated the Jewish minority. However, more in-depth knowledge of these processes has so far been elusive, primarily because sources from the first two generations of immigrants are scarce. Moreover, this scarcity was intensified by the systematic seizure and disposal of Jewish families’ property during the Second World War. This paper seeks to address possible ways to remedy the extensive lack of concrete documentation from the early history of this minority group, limited to the 1880–1940 timeframe. Specifically, the focus is on utilising indirect reporting of linguistic practices and language choices found in sources such as biographies, memoirs, newspaper articles, local history, literature and other texts that comprise individuals’ life stories. The main assertion is that, when adeptly employed, these sources can provide valuable insights into historical language conditions, shedding light on the motivations behind language maintenance and shift, even in retrospect.