26 The Linguist Vol/56 No/6 2017
www.ciol.org.uk
FEATURES
With so many social media sites, chatrooms and email
lists now easily accessible, it is difficult to determine
the extent to which people in the diaspora make
use of them. Many websites also include their own
communication tools; for example, the North American
Basque Organisation runs a 'knowing each other'
service, aimed at helping members to meet up
(www.nabasque.org/know_each_other.html) in addition
to a 'communicators' network of volunteers helping to
disseminate information. The Fillos de Galicia web portal
includes a number of forums (www.fillos.org/taboleiro)
and a blog (fillosdegalicia.blogaliza.org).
Colonising cyberspace
It is currently estimated that almost half of all websites
are in languages other than English, but most of these
are in widely spoken or culturally significant tongues,
such as Russian, German, Japanese and Spanish (all
with around 5% of sites).
1
Of the minority cultures from
the Atlantic coast of Europe, Basque is one of the
strongest. The Basque community has long used a
variety of networking resources – from mail, telegraph
and telephone to the internet – to overcome the barriers
of distance.
More recently, Basques have begun to make up for
lost land by 'colonising' the new frontier of digital
landscapes. Between 2005 and 2007, free-standing
websites dominated the Basque webscape, while the
2007-09 period was characterised by the rise of social
networking sites: first blogs, then MySpace, and, since
November 2011, Facebook, when the site became
available in Basque.
2
This is in stark contrast to the position of Breton, which
in spite of the number of speakers is one of the most
vulnerable Western European minority languages. The
linguist Jean Le Dû concluded that a sound future for the
Breton language could only be achieved "if the Bretons
and their elected representatives engaged in a policy akin
to that being pursued in Catalonia, the Basque Country
and Galicia. Do I need to say that I have my doubts?"
3
Nevertheless, a number of striking features emerge from
this brief article that reflect the use of ICT (information
communication technology) across the Western European
minority language diaspora. First, the range of ICT
applications in use – for education, politics, language
learning, history and so on. Second, the sheer variety of
languages, from Celtic languages such as Gaelic and
Welsh to Galician and Basque. Finally, the huge expansion
in the use of social media sites, chatrooms and email lists.
Despite concerns for the future of these languages, these
factors do, at least, provide some reasons to be hopeful.
Notes
1 See www.omniglot.com/links/endangered.htm for links to sites
concerned with specific minority and endangered languages
2 See, e.g, 'Basque Diaspora Featured Today in Facebook
Stories' (11/9/12) bit.ly/2hORFPj; and 'Facebook Now Available in
Basque Language' (11/11/11) bit.ly/2hairAX
3 Le Dû, J (2013) 'Dialect or Standard Language? The case of
Brittany'. In Ó Baoill, D, Ó hAodha, D & Ó Muraile, N (eds),
Saltair, Saíochta, Sanasaíochta agus Seanchais. A Festschrift for
Gearóid Mac Eoin, Galway, Four Courts Press, pp.88-98
RICH TAPESTRY
Panels of the Scottish
Diaspora Tapestry:
(Clockwise from top
left) 'Auld Lang Syne'
celebrates the
worldwide diaspora;
a panel entitled
'Valparaíso' from Mary
Richardson in Chile;
'Soldier' by stitchers
Lisbeth Cajstam and
Neta Cajstam
commemorates the
first Scots in Sweden;
from South Africa, a
portrait of 'Tiyo Soga
& Janet Burnside',
Xhosa translator and
Scottish weaver; a
panel from Lorraine
Knowles in Hong Kong
entitled 'The East
India Company'; and
'The Otago Settlement'
in New Zealand
For writers' biographies for all feature articles, see page 34.
©
PRESTOUNGRANGE
ARTS
FESTIVAL
2014;
WWW.SCOTTISHDIASPORATAPESTRY.ORG;
REF
GE02,
CL01,
SE01,
NZ05,
CN02
&
ZA02
