The Sociology of Language and Religion: Change, Conflict and Accommodation

254 Pages·2010·1.49 MB·English

by  Tope Omoniyi (eds.)

The Sociology of Language and Religion(cid:3)
This page intentionally left blank
The Sociology of Language
and Religion
Change, Conflict and Accommodation
Edited by
Tope Omoniyi
Roehampton University, UK
Selection and editorial matter © Tope Omoniyi 2010
Chapters © their individual authors 2010
Softcover reprint of the hardcover 1st edition 2010 978-0-230-51699-1
All rights reserved. No reproduction, copy or transmission of this
publication may be made without written permission.
No portion of this publication may be reproduced, copied or transmitted
save with written permission or in accordance with the provisions of the
Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988, or under the terms of any licence
permitting limited copying issued by the Copyright Licensing Agency,
Saffron House, 6-10 Kirby Street, London EC1N 8TS.
Any person who does any unauthorized act in relation to this publication
may be liable to criminal prosecution and civil claims for damages.
The author has asserted his rights to be identified as the author of this work
in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.
First published 2010 by
PALGRAVE MACMILLAN
Palgrave Macmillan in the UK is an imprint of Macmillan Publishers Limited,
registered in England, company number 785998, of Houndmills, Basingstoke,
Hampshire RG21 6XS.
Palgrave Macmillan in the US is a division of St Martin’s Press LLC,
175 Fifth Avenue, New York, NY 10010.
Palgrave Macmillan is the global academic imprint of the above companies
and has companies and representatives throughout the world.
Palgrave® and Macmillan® are registered trademarks in the United States,
the United Kingdom, Europe and other countries.
ISBN 978-1-349-35476-4 ISBN 978-0-230-30471-0 (eBook)
DOI 10.1057/9780230304710
This book is printed on paper suitable for recycling and made from fully
managed and sustained forest sources. Logging, pulping and manufacturing
processes are expected to conform to the environmental regulations of the
country of origin.
A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.
A catalog record for this book is available from the Library of Congress.
10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
19 18 17 16 15 14 13 12 11 10
For Shikl, Joshua A. Fishman
Only the staff and the strategy of a tested generalissimo will
prevail on linguistic pharaohs and instil confidence that
drives the troops to heed the battle cry to re-soul heritage
languages and reverse their shift towards imminent demise.
There’ll always be conflict, but a fair measure of change and
accommodation neutralizes its potential to destroy. Language
and religion both require faith and faith is a function of
institutions as well as of people. In the sociology of lan-
guage and religion they have an opportunity to join forces
for their mutual benefit. Eighty cheers and counting for our
General!
This page intentionally left blank
Contents(cid:3)
List of Figures ix
List of Tables x
Acknowledgements xi
Notes on the Contributors xii
1 Introduction: Change, Accommodation and
Conflict 1
Tope Omoniyi
2 Jewish Religious Multilingualism 14
Bernard Spolsky
3 Mauritian Muslims: Negotiating Changing Identities
through Language 29
Aaliya Rajah-Carrim
4 Arabic and Sociocultural Change among the Yoruba 45
Oladipo Salami
5 Authenticating a Tradition in Transition: Language of
Hinduism in the US 58
Rajeshwari V. Pandharipande
6 Blorít – Pagans’ Mohawk or Sabras’ Forelock? Ideological
Secularization of Hebrew Terms in Socialist Zionist Israeli 84
Azzan Yadin and Ghil’ad Zuckermann
7 Society, Language, History and Religion: a Perspective on
Bangla from Linguistic Anthropology 126
James M. Wilce
8 Metaphors of Change: Adolescent Singaporeans
Switching Religion 156
Phyllis Ghim-Lian Chew
9 African American Vernacular English, Religion and
Ethnicity 190
Nkonko M. Kamwangamalu
vii
viii Contents
10 Holy Hip-Hop, Language and Social Change 205
Tope Omoniyi
Index 235
List of Figures(cid:3)
5.1 Diglossia: priests’ languages 68(cid:3)
5.2 Di glossia: languages of Hindu devotees/Indian(cid:3)
Hindus 69(cid:3)
5.3 Expanding use of English in religious domains 69(cid:3)
5.4 Th e functional distribution of the languages (cid:3)
(independent of the users) 70(cid:3)
5.5 Semantic diglossia 70(cid:3)
6.1 Sources of lexical enrichment 88(cid:3)
6.2 Israeli Parliament, the Knesset 97(cid:3)
8.1 Push and pull factors 161(cid:3)
8.2 The descriptive essay 162(cid:3)
ix