Jonathan Richard Kasstan
Biographic Data
| ID | 76237 |
|---|---|
| NAME | Jonathan Richard Kasstan |
| GIVEN NAMES | Jonathan Richard |
| FAMILY NAME | Kasstan |
| SIGNATURE | KASSTAN J R |
| AFFILIATIONS | Queen Mary University of London |
| ORCID | 0000-0003-4134-5876 |
| VERIFIED | Yes |
| TOTAL WORKS | 15 |
| TOTAL CITATIONS | 35 |
| AUTHOR COUNT | 15 |
| EDITOR COUNT | 0 |
| FIRST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2015 |
| LATEST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2025 |
| H-INDEX | 4 |
A sociolinguistic model for electronically mediating language revitalization
We describe #FPGlobal, a digital platform for revitalizing Francoprovençal, a threatened and underdocumented language. This platform connects speakers and learners of Francoprovençal varieties in three European and two North American countries. Its community-developed, sociolinguistically informed, and electronically mediated approach fosters communication that is less likely to trigger essentialist language ideologies common to language endanger…
I haven't seen any results yet
What does 'good' ethical conduct in linguistics look like from the perspective of the communities with whom we work? We address this question by drawing on observations from a community-bridging and knowledge exchange exercise involving both researchers and members of researched communities. Based on the experiences of those co-authors on the research team working with and for two associations representing Latin Americans and Chagossians in the U…
Teacher perspectives on the introduction of linguistics in the languages classroom
Linguistics is conspicuously absent from language teaching in UK schools. A‐level cultural topics cover a range of themes such as cyber‐society, cultural heritage and multiculturalism, but the approach taken to these topics is not informed by linguistics. In previous work, we have argued that this is an unfortunate omission not only because linguistics is appealing to many language students and perceived by them to be useful, but also because the…
Responding to sociolinguistic change
Aims: The goal of this special issue is to anchor an understanding of language variation and change in a relatively newly adopted framework for researching ‘new speakers’ of minoritized languages. Approach: This paper first reviews basic principles of variationist sociolinguistics as they apply to new-speaker contexts before critically engaging with the notion of speakerhood. Conclusions: We frame our discussion of new speakers as mobile bilingua…
A variationist analysis of the subjunctive mood in a sociolinguistic corpus of spoken Francoprovençal
Variationist studies on the subjunctive in Romance remain focused on dominant nation-state languages. Conversely, very little research focuses on the minoritised varieties (often labelled ‘regional’ languages) with which these dominant languages are in contact. The framework deployed for elucidating on change in the subjunctive has not yet been adequately tested in language endangerment. Using a novel sociolinguistic corpus of spoken Francoproven…
Acoustic characteristics of fricatives in Francoprovençal (Nendaz)
Francoprovençal (FP) is a highly fragmented, severely endangered, and under-documented language spoken in parts of France, Italy and Switzerland. FP spoken in the Swiss Canton of Valais has a relatively rich voiceless fricative inventory, which for some varieties includes /ɬ/. FP is therefore unusual amongst Romance languages given the presence of a phonemic lateral fricative, which is also typologically rare in the world’s languages. Moreover, v…
Reconsidering the variable context
Final consonant cluster simplification, or what variationists have traditionally labelled (t, d)-deletion, remains one of the most well studied variables in the analysis of English (e.g. Labov, 2001: 13). In this body of work, (t, d)-deletion refers to the process whereby /t/ or /d/ can be omitted in word final Ct or Cd coda clusters (e.g. last, mind ). However, despite the attention paid to this feature of connected speech, very little (if any) …
Emergent sociolinguistic variation in severe language endangerment
Contrary to Labov's principle of style shifting , studies in language obsolescence portray speakers of dying languages as ‘monostylistic’, a characterization questioned here. Variationist methodology is adopted in a context of gradual language death. By combining quantitative and interactional analyses of data from older, younger, and new speakers of Francoprovençal in France and Switzerland, the article considers (a) to what extent variability i…
Heritage-language speakers
Migration brings people into situations where languages other than their native tongues are dominant.Their mother tongues often therewith become minority varieties, for young people and later generations what are now called 'heritage languages'.This particular kind of multilingual setting appears to correlate with consistent (but variable) processes of change.In the last few years, heritage-language research has been developing rapidly across sub…
Exploring contested authenticity among speakers of a contested language
This paper explores the notion of speaker authenticity in the context of obsolescent ‘Francoprovençal’: a highly fragmented grouping of Romance varieties spoken in parts of France, Italy, and Switzerland by less than 1% of the total regional population. While Francoprovençal has long been losing ground to the dominant language(s) with which it is in contact, new speakers have begun to emerge within the context of revitalisation movements and acti…
New speakers
While the field of variationist sociolinguistics has advanced rapidly since Labov (1966), it remains the case that a socially informed theory of language change continues to be influenced by only very few languages, typically English and a handful other dominant European languages. This article considers recent work on the emergence of new speakers in (severely) endangered or minority language communities, and what they might have to offer variat…
An overview of Francoprovençal vitality in Europe and North America
We review the current status of Francoprovençal (FP) in all regions where it is spoken. This article is the first of its kind, in that it reports on FP in both Europe and North America (for the latter this is the first demographic report). Figures cited for speaker numbers are therefore speculative. For each region, we present an overview of the linguistic history, current glottopolitical status of FP and demographic information. We describe each…
(L) as a sociolinguistic variable in Francoprovençal
This article argues for (l) as a sociolinguistic variable in Francoprovençal: (l) refers to variable palatalisation of /l/ in obstruent+lateral onset clusters (/kl, ɡl, pl, bl, fl/), a feature that has long been the subject of metalinguistic commentary, but no systematic analysis. Our data, which come from a larger study of Francoprovençal (FP), show significant intraspeaker variation. Sociolinguistic interviews were carried out in the Lyonnais r…
Les variétés régionales non-méridionales de France
Lyonnais (Francoprovençal)
Francoprovençal (known locally as patois) is the glottonym used as a cover term for a highly fragmented Romance dialect-grouping. These varieties are spoken in south-eastern France, and neighbouring parts of Switzerland and Italy; diasporic communities are also reported to maintain the use of Francoprovençal in Germany, Canada, and the United States (see Nagy 2011). Francoprovençal enjoys varying levels of official status across these regions. In…
New speakers
While the field of variationist sociolinguistics has advanced rapidly since Labov (1966), it remains the case that a socially informed theory of language change continues to be influenced by only very few languages, typically English and a handful other dominant European languages. This article considers recent work on the emergence of new speakers in (severely) endangered or minority language communities, and what they might have to offer variat…
Exploring contested authenticity among speakers of a contested language
This paper explores the notion of speaker authenticity in the context of obsolescent ‘Francoprovençal’: a highly fragmented grouping of Romance varieties spoken in parts of France, Italy, and Switzerland by less than 1% of the total regional population. While Francoprovençal has long been losing ground to the dominant language(s) with which it is in contact, new speakers have begun to emerge within the context of revitalisation movements and acti…
Emergent sociolinguistic variation in severe language endangerment
Contrary to Labov's principle of style shifting , studies in language obsolescence portray speakers of dying languages as ‘monostylistic’, a characterization questioned here. Variationist methodology is adopted in a context of gradual language death. By combining quantitative and interactional analyses of data from older, younger, and new speakers of Francoprovençal in France and Switzerland, the article considers (a) to what extent variability i…
Lyonnais (Francoprovençal)
Francoprovençal (known locally as patois) is the glottonym used as a cover term for a highly fragmented Romance dialect-grouping. These varieties are spoken in south-eastern France, and neighbouring parts of Switzerland and Italy; diasporic communities are also reported to maintain the use of Francoprovençal in Germany, Canada, and the United States (see Nagy 2011). Francoprovençal enjoys varying levels of official status across these regions. In…
I haven't seen any results yet
What does 'good' ethical conduct in linguistics look like from the perspective of the communities with whom we work? We address this question by drawing on observations from a community-bridging and knowledge exchange exercise involving both researchers and members of researched communities. Based on the experiences of those co-authors on the research team working with and for two associations representing Latin Americans and Chagossians in the U…
An overview of Francoprovençal vitality in Europe and North America
We review the current status of Francoprovençal (FP) in all regions where it is spoken. This article is the first of its kind, in that it reports on FP in both Europe and North America (for the latter this is the first demographic report). Figures cited for speaker numbers are therefore speculative. For each region, we present an overview of the linguistic history, current glottopolitical status of FP and demographic information. We describe each…
(L) as a sociolinguistic variable in Francoprovençal
This article argues for (l) as a sociolinguistic variable in Francoprovençal: (l) refers to variable palatalisation of /l/ in obstruent+lateral onset clusters (/kl, ɡl, pl, bl, fl/), a feature that has long been the subject of metalinguistic commentary, but no systematic analysis. Our data, which come from a larger study of Francoprovençal (FP), show significant intraspeaker variation. Sociolinguistic interviews were carried out in the Lyonnais r…
Lyonnais (Francoprovençal)
Francoprovençal (known locally as patois) is the glottonym used as a cover term for a highly fragmented Romance dialect-grouping. These varieties are spoken in south-eastern France, and neighbouring parts of Switzerland and Italy; diasporic communities are also reported to maintain the use of Francoprovençal in Germany, Canada, and the United States (see Nagy 2011). Francoprovençal enjoys varying levels of official status across these regions. In…
Les variétés régionales non-méridionales de France
New speakers
While the field of variationist sociolinguistics has advanced rapidly since Labov (1966), it remains the case that a socially informed theory of language change continues to be influenced by only very few languages, typically English and a handful other dominant European languages. This article considers recent work on the emergence of new speakers in (severely) endangered or minority language communities, and what they might have to offer variat…
An overview of Francoprovençal vitality in Europe and North America
We review the current status of Francoprovençal (FP) in all regions where it is spoken. This article is the first of its kind, in that it reports on FP in both Europe and North America (for the latter this is the first demographic report). Figures cited for speaker numbers are therefore speculative. For each region, we present an overview of the linguistic history, current glottopolitical status of FP and demographic information. We describe each…
(L) as a sociolinguistic variable in Francoprovençal
This article argues for (l) as a sociolinguistic variable in Francoprovençal: (l) refers to variable palatalisation of /l/ in obstruent+lateral onset clusters (/kl, ɡl, pl, bl, fl/), a feature that has long been the subject of metalinguistic commentary, but no systematic analysis. Our data, which come from a larger study of Francoprovençal (FP), show significant intraspeaker variation. Sociolinguistic interviews were carried out in the Lyonnais r…
Heritage-language speakers
Migration brings people into situations where languages other than their native tongues are dominant.Their mother tongues often therewith become minority varieties, for young people and later generations what are now called 'heritage languages'.This particular kind of multilingual setting appears to correlate with consistent (but variable) processes of change.In the last few years, heritage-language research has been developing rapidly across sub…
Exploring contested authenticity among speakers of a contested language
This paper explores the notion of speaker authenticity in the context of obsolescent ‘Francoprovençal’: a highly fragmented grouping of Romance varieties spoken in parts of France, Italy, and Switzerland by less than 1% of the total regional population. While Francoprovençal has long been losing ground to the dominant language(s) with which it is in contact, new speakers have begun to emerge within the context of revitalisation movements and acti…
Emergent sociolinguistic variation in severe language endangerment
Contrary to Labov's principle of style shifting , studies in language obsolescence portray speakers of dying languages as ‘monostylistic’, a characterization questioned here. Variationist methodology is adopted in a context of gradual language death. By combining quantitative and interactional analyses of data from older, younger, and new speakers of Francoprovençal in France and Switzerland, the article considers (a) to what extent variability i…
Reconsidering the variable context
Final consonant cluster simplification, or what variationists have traditionally labelled (t, d)-deletion, remains one of the most well studied variables in the analysis of English (e.g. Labov, 2001: 13). In this body of work, (t, d)-deletion refers to the process whereby /t/ or /d/ can be omitted in word final Ct or Cd coda clusters (e.g. last, mind ). However, despite the attention paid to this feature of connected speech, very little (if any) …
Responding to sociolinguistic change
Aims: The goal of this special issue is to anchor an understanding of language variation and change in a relatively newly adopted framework for researching ‘new speakers’ of minoritized languages. Approach: This paper first reviews basic principles of variationist sociolinguistics as they apply to new-speaker contexts before critically engaging with the notion of speakerhood. Conclusions: We frame our discussion of new speakers as mobile bilingua…
A variationist analysis of the subjunctive mood in a sociolinguistic corpus of spoken Francoprovençal
Variationist studies on the subjunctive in Romance remain focused on dominant nation-state languages. Conversely, very little research focuses on the minoritised varieties (often labelled ‘regional’ languages) with which these dominant languages are in contact. The framework deployed for elucidating on change in the subjunctive has not yet been adequately tested in language endangerment. Using a novel sociolinguistic corpus of spoken Francoproven…
Acoustic characteristics of fricatives in Francoprovençal (Nendaz)
Francoprovençal (FP) is a highly fragmented, severely endangered, and under-documented language spoken in parts of France, Italy and Switzerland. FP spoken in the Swiss Canton of Valais has a relatively rich voiceless fricative inventory, which for some varieties includes /ɬ/. FP is therefore unusual amongst Romance languages given the presence of a phonemic lateral fricative, which is also typologically rare in the world’s languages. Moreover, v…
Teacher perspectives on the introduction of linguistics in the languages classroom
Linguistics is conspicuously absent from language teaching in UK schools. A‐level cultural topics cover a range of themes such as cyber‐society, cultural heritage and multiculturalism, but the approach taken to these topics is not informed by linguistics. In previous work, we have argued that this is an unfortunate omission not only because linguistics is appealing to many language students and perceived by them to be useful, but also because the…
A sociolinguistic model for electronically mediating language revitalization
We describe #FPGlobal, a digital platform for revitalizing Francoprovençal, a threatened and underdocumented language. This platform connects speakers and learners of Francoprovençal varieties in three European and two North American countries. Its community-developed, sociolinguistically informed, and electronically mediated approach fosters communication that is less likely to trigger essentialist language ideologies common to language endanger…
I haven't seen any results yet
What does 'good' ethical conduct in linguistics look like from the perspective of the communities with whom we work? We address this question by drawing on observations from a community-bridging and knowledge exchange exercise involving both researchers and members of researched communities. Based on the experiences of those co-authors on the research team working with and for two associations representing Latin Americans and Chagossians in the U…
Linguistics (12 works) · Linguistic Variation and Morphology (11 works) · Multilingual Education and Policy (8 works) · Psychology (8 works) · Philosophy (7 works) · Sociology (7 works) · Sociolinguistics (5 works) · Computer Science (4 works) · Geography (4 works) · History (4 works)