zum Inhalt springen

Philosophische FakultätSociolinguistic Lab

Diversity of minority language communities: mutual intelligibility, identity, and standard

October 06-08, 2021

The workshop "Diversity of minority language communities: Mutual intelligibility, identity, and standard" will be offered by Prof. Adli (University of Cologne)  Prof. Amirpur (University of Cologne),  Prof. Karimi-Doostan (University of Tehran) and  Prof. Karimi (University of Kurdistan). This course is a joint class with students from the University of Cologne, the University of Tehran, and the University of Kurdistan, as part of the international, cross-cultural teaching project.

We will focus on sociolinguistic issues of minority language communities, both in Europe (such as Sicilian in Italy) and beyond (such as Kurdish in Iran). We will in particular discuss the aspects of mutual intelligibility, the question of a common identity among divergent dialects of a minority language, and the role of a dominant majority language (such as Italian with regard to Sicilian, or Persian, Turkish, or Arabic with regard to Kurdish). The intensive workshop will be followed by a period of selected reading. 

 

WEDNESDAYTHURSDAYFRIDAY
Minorities, religious diversity and identityMinority languages in the Romance world: the case of SicilianMinority languages in the Indo-Iranian world: the case of Kurdish
09:00- 09:50

(10:30-
11:20 am)		Aria Adli (Univ. of Cologne) & Katajun Amirpur (Univ. of Cologne):
Introduction

09:00- 09:45

(10:30-
11:15 am)

Johannes Müller (Univ. of Cologne):
From "dolce stil novo" to "linguaggio mafioso" - How history shaped the Sicilian dialect's bad reputation

09:00- 10:20

(10:30-
11:50 am)

Zaniar Naghshbandi (Univ. of Kurdistan):
Hawrami: a general dialectological overview and a brief grammatical sketch
10:00- 11:30

(11:30 am-
1:00 pm)		Students (Oriental Studies Cologne):
Kurds across the borders

10:00- 11:00

(11:30 am-
12:30 pm)

Alessia Cassarà (Univ. of Cologne):
The sociolinguistic situation of Sicilian today

10:20- 11:00

(11:50 am-
12:30 pm)

Zaniar Naghshbandi (Univ. of Kurdistan):
A short glance at Southern Kurdish
11:40- 13:00

(1:10-
2:30 pm)		Mukhtar Hashemi:
Sufism in East Kurdistan: Functionality of Sema in Qadri Order with Reference to the Socio-cultural and Artistic Aspects of Sufi Life

11:10- 13:00

12:40-
2:30 pm)

Student session:
Readings on minorities and identity

11:15- 13:00

(12:45-
2:30 pm)

Manijeh Mirmokri (Univ. of Kurdistan):
Mutual intelligibility between Southern and Central Kurdish dialects: a case study on Mahabadian and Ilami varieties in Iran

13:00-
14:00

(2:30-
3:30 pm) 

Break

14:00- 15:00

(3:30-
4:30 pm)

Vincent Vaessen (Univ. of Cologne):
Yāresān as a performatively lived culture of remembrance

14:00- 17:30

(3:30-
7 pm)

Alessia Cassarà (Univ. of Cologne): Introduction to Sicilian language

14:00- 15:45

(3:30-
5:15 pm)

Ebrahim Moradi (Univ. of Kurdistan):
A short glance at the Kurdish writing system

15:15- 16:45

(4:45-
6:15 pm)

Sanaz Ehterami (Univ. of Kurdistan):
The Kurdish Dialect Atlas

16:00- 17:30

(5:30-
7 pm)

Round table discussion with Geoffrey Haig (Univ. of Bamberg)

16:45- 17:30

(6:15-
7 pm)

Group discussion

 

Practical Information

First steps in Zoom

- Free download and installation of the Zoom Client for Meetings.
- Register with full name and valid e-mail address.
- Connect speakers and microphone and test: Home -> Settings -> Audio
- Familiarize with the app.
- If you encounter any problems with Zoom, visit the Zoom Help Center.

Recommended settings in Zoom

- Video: Settings -> Video -> Enable HD.
- Audio:
1. Log in to Zoom Web Portal -> Settings ->  Enable: Allow users to select stereo audio in their client settings -> Log out.
2. Log in to Zoom Desktop Client -> Settings -> Audio -> Advanced -> Enable Stereo audio. (Headphones are recommended to perceive the improvement through stereo audio.)
(3. If this does not work right away, log out and log in again.)