Academic literature on the topic 'Sri Lanka – Langues'

This is an English version of the author's French work, Atlas géographique des langues et des ethnies de l'Inde et du Subcontinent, (Les Presses de l'Université Laval, Québec, 1976.) Since it was originally based on data from the 1971 (or even earlier) censuses of India, Nepal, Pakistan, and Sri Lanka (and since Bangladesh was part of Pakistan in 1971, and Bhutan data were not reliable earlier), it has been updated to include data from various regional census sources, mostly those conducted in 1981 and 1991. One notes that there are various censuses of Nepal (1952/54, 1971, 1981, 1991) cited, but that Sri Lanka does not seem to have done one since 1953. The cartographic techniques have also benefited from this updating, with new methods of representation not previously available. This makes it possible to compare various increases of speakers and languages in various parts of the subcontinent, in tables added for this purpose. This version also includes a very useful bibliography of sources – not only various censuses, but also other studies of language distribution, language classification, ethnicity, and language issues. There are also a language classification and plate index, a subject and author index, and material on the diffusion of South Asian languages and scripts outside the subcontinent proper.

The study of calling patterns is a useful non-invasive method for determining population densities and the taxonomic relationships of rare or cryptic animal species. The Western purple-faced langur Trachypithecus vetulus nestor, endemic to Sri Lanka’s lowland rainforests, is severely impacted by forest fragmentation, with most remaining populations living almost completely in home gardens. Due to their shy nature, little is known about the behaviour of this subspecies; analysing the regular loud calls emitted by these langurs could allow for improvement of census techniques, clarification of their taxonomy, and an understanding of the impact of forest destruction on their behaviour. In 2007, we recorded the calling patterns of five male T. v. nestor at Talangama Wetlands. Time, duration, weather conditions, and stimulant of 253 calls were noted. Loud calls comprised three structural units: harsh barks, whoops and residuals. The average call contained 4 phrases and 3.8 residuals, was 38 seconds in length, had an average maximum frequency of 3.5 kHz, a formant frequency of 0.36 kHz, and a fundamental frequency of 0.2 kHz. Significant differences were found between individuals for the number of phrases and residuals within a call, two different phrase lengths, the formant frequency and the fundamental frequency. The earliest call occurred at 05:27 hrs, while the latest was made at 17:57 hrs. The greatest percentage of calls (73.5%) was heard in the morning (05:00-09:59 hrs), mostly stimulated by territorial battles with neighbouring troops. These results show that vocalisations can be used to distinguish individual males; as langurs are more often heard than seen, and most troops contain only a single adult male, vocalisations may be used to determine the number of troops in an area. Calls of this taxon also differed from the other subspecies, suggesting that they may be used to distinguish subspecies and their boundaries. Finally, calling behaviour differed from other subspecies. Deforestation may be a direct cause of different calling patterns. These baseline data form a valuable starting point for further studies of this Critically Endangered primate.

La discussion porte sur la synapse casuelle en linguistique (Louis Hjelmslev, Gustave Guillaume, et surtout Roch Valin). Après une synthèse théorique sur l'état de la question, la synapse comme outil méthodologique est appliquée à l'étude du singhalais : il s'agit de reprendre et d'approfondir la réflexion sur le genre dans cette langue, notamment par la discussion concernant l'opposition entre animé et inanimé qui s'y manifeste sur plusieurs paradigmes allant des cas nominaux à la morphologie du verbe. Au delà des idées reçues et des recherches philologiques traditionnelles, l'objectif n'est plus tant de déterminer si ou en quoi le singhalais serait une langue "indo-aryenne" plutôt que "dravidienne" mais, au regard de la linguistique moderne, d'identifier le dynamisme en jeu de permanence dans une langue donnée - postulat au fondement même de la notion théorique de synapse. Cette approche demande de considérer la langue étudiée dans son contexte inévitablement multilingue : dialectes, langues parlée et écrite, langues environnantes (tamoul, langues aborigènes de Sri Lanka). . . Sont donc prises en compte les dynamiques d'intégration et de renouvellement que l'on observe dans toute langue et qui en font la personnalité : emprunts, substrats divers, et tous processus d'innovation ou plutôt de recomposition en langue par analogie, re-étymologisation, motivation. La question des nodules monophonémiques finalement définis ici pour le singhalais pose celle de la sémantisation minimale des phonèmes. C'est le singhalais parlé contemporain qui est la base de cette recherche - sûrement la première en ce domaine sur un plan synchronique lié à la théorie - , laquelle devrait servir ensuite de référence pour une histoire "régressive" de la langue singhalaise où l'on devra tenter de se dégager des "pièges" des vestiges écrits. Pourront alors être tracés les grands axes d'une grammaire dynamique du singhalais, qui reste à venir, autant que d'une théorie générale de l'accusatif, notamment, qui serait une contribution plus globale encore à la linguistique générale
This is a discussion about the "synapse" concerning the cases in linguistic (Louis Hjelmslev, Gustave Guillaume, and especially Roch Valin). After a theoretical synthesis on the question, the said synapse is used as a methodological tool and applied to the analysis of the Sinhalese language : the aim is then to revise the discussion about the Gender in this language, particularly about the opposition between the animate and inanimate categories which are covering several paradigms, extending from the cases of the name to the morphology of the verb. Beyond the common ideas and the traditional researches in philology, the aim here is not much to determine if or how Sinhalese is an "indo-Aryan" rather than a "Dravidian" language but, following modern Linguistics, to identify the dynamism permanently operating in any language - and this is the theoretical ground of the synaptic analysis. Such an approach obliges to consider the analysed language in its context which is evidently a multilingual one : dialects, spoken and written forms, surrounding languages (Tamil, Aboriginal languages of Sri Lanka. . . ) We have then to take into account the dynamics of integration and renewal which are to be observed in any language and which personalize it : the loans, the various substrata, and all kinds of processes of innovation or recomposition in the language (analogy, popular etymologies, motivation). What is called here "monophonemical nodules " is a way to define, at least for Sinhalese, the conditions of the minimal semantism of the phonemes. The contemporary spoken Sinhalese is at the basis of this research - combining here the theory to the study on a synchronical level. Such a study is the preliminary condition to establish afterwards a dynamic grammar of the Sinhalese language as well as a "general theory of the Accusative" which has to be conceived as a more global contribution to general linguistics

La traduction est une affaire culturelle. De prime abord, elle se présente comme la recherche d’équivalents lors du passage d’une langue à l’autre. Mais si on se penche sur le travail qu’effectuent les traducteurs, on se rend compte rapidement que traduire exige des opérations bien plus complexes. Ainsi, un texte littéraire rédigé en une langue ne peut pas être traduit vers une autre langue sans que le traducteur ou la traductrice fasse attention au contenu culturel que véhicule la langue. Un même message est communiqué de deux manières différentes par deux peuples issus de cultures distinctes. Ainsi opère un système très complexe qui déborde le champ de la linguistique et s’enracine dans la culture qu’exprime chaque langue. Toutes les actions humaines, la communication, les sentiments, les réactions, la compréhension, l’interprétation (pour en nommer quelques-unes) ont la culture pour fondement.Intitulée « L’épreuve de l’étranger : traductions françaises d’écrivains sri lankais contemporains de langue anglaise », notre thèse a pour mots-clés : « culture », « sri lankais » et « traduction ». Elle a pour point de départ une question formulée en quelques mots simples : comment transmettre en français la culture sri lankaise ? Ces deux cultures sont distantes sur le plan géographique mais aussi pour ce qui concerne leurs pratiques et leurs valeurs. C’est donc une rencontre entre l’Orient et l’Occident que permet la traduction par le truchement de la langue anglaise.Les deux œuvres que nous avons choisies pour notre corpus, Funny Boy de Shyam Selvadurai (1994) et Running in the Family de Michael Ondaatje (1982), sont imprégnées de culture sri lankaise. Nous avons tenté de mettre en évidence systématiquement les stratégies utilisées par les traducteurs pour préserver l’identité de la culture source. La tâche du traducteur n’est pas de dissimuler ou de minimiser les éléments culturels sri lankais mais de les rendre visibles dans ses textes. Par les stratégies qu’il utilise, le traducteur parvient à préserver la culture sri lankaise dans le texte d’arrivée, du moins dans des limites qu’il nous faudra également définir. Lawrence Venuti (2004 : 20) propose un système binaire, la traduction ethnocentrique ou domesticating (naturalisation) et la traduction éthique qui laisse place à l’étrangeté qu’il qualifie de foreignizing (dépaysement). Conserver les traces de l’œuvre originale est considéré comme la chose la plus importante. Nous nous plaçons ainsi entre les stratégies de naturalisation et de dépaysement. Traduire, c’est effectuer un travail qui « est ouverture, dialogue, métissage et décentrement » comme l’écrit Berman (1984 : 16), c’est aussi négocier un autre type de produit final.Dans un premier temps, nous verrons comment opère le dépaysement en tant que stratégie de traduction dans Drôle de garçon (Frédéric Limare et Susan Fox-Limare, 1998) de Shyam Selvadurai et Un air de famille (Marie-Odile Fortier-Masek, 1991) de Michael Ondaatje. Dans un deuxième temps, nous prêterons attention à la stratégie de la naturalisation qui rend la lecture plus fluide, en atténuant les différences trop importantes entre cultures. Dans un troisième temps, nous verrons de quelle manière certaines faits culturels restent intraduits dans les traductions pour diverses raisons que nous identifierons au cours de l’analyse, tout en repérant également les ellipses qui modifient le message d’origine. Notre analyse tentera de démontrer que la traduction est une rencontre entre les cultures : une rencontre qui se fait de manière fructueuse pour enrichir la littérature d’une culture nouvelle en permettant au lecteur un voyage vers une destination lointaine.Mots clés : culture, dépaysement, Funny Boy, Michael Ondaatje, naturalisation, Running in the Family, Shyam Selvadurai, Sri Lanka, traduction
Translation is a cultural matter. At first sight, it may appear as a search for equivalents in the transfer from one language to another. However, in depth translation analysis reveals much more than meets the eye. A literary text written in one language cannot be translated into another language without paying attention to its associated cultural background. It has become a truism today to say that individuals belonging to different cultures do not communicate in the same way; while the linguistic dimension is important, so is the cultural one, since cultural habits are at the root of all human actions.The title of this thesis, “The Trials of the Foreign: French Translations of Contemporary Sri Lankan Writers in English”, combines three key words: “culture”, “Sri Lanka” and “translation”. The broad research question we started out with is: how is it possible to convey Sri Lankan culture in French literary translation? The two countries are distant not only geographically but also in terms of practices and values. Therefore, a true encounter between East and West is at stake here, mediated by the English language, which the authors of the two Sri Lankan novels we study here chose as a medium of expression.In his or her attempt to identify viable equivalents of different cultural realities, the translator is confronted with decisions about whether differences should be mitigated or, on the contrary, preserved, in order to maintain the local colour. When cultural differences are smoothed over in translation and the target text contains very few traces, if any, of the source culture, the reader may have the impression of reading an original. On the other hand, when the source culture is given prominence, the translation has the potential to make the reader travel abroad, and gain new experience.The two literary works which make the object of our research, Michael Ondaatje’s Running in the Family (1982) and Shyam Selvadurai’s Funny Boy (1994), are imbued with Sri Lankan culture and pose significant challenges to translation. We draw on Lawrence Venuti’s (1995/2004) distinction between ethnocentric or domesticating translation (naturalisation) and foreignizing translation (dépaysement), while at the same time recognizing the importance of not taking this dichotomy for granted. And we assume, as Antoine Berman did, that translation is “openness, dialogue, blending and decentring” (1984: 16).We start by outlining a number of theoretical considerations about translation strategy, culture, and translating culture. We then carry out fine-grained analyses of the texts and endeavour to show how foreignization operates in Drôle de garçon (1998), the French translation by Frédéric Limare and Susan Fox-Limare of Selvadurai’s novel Funny Boy, and in Un air de famille (1991), the translation of Ondaatje’s Running in the Family by Marie-Odile Fortier-Masek. In the second part of our analysis, we focus on the strategy of domestication, which makes reading more fluent due to the mitigation of differences between cultures. Finally, we discuss some of the ways in which certain cultural facts remain untranslated, with implications for the integrity of the message, and the target readers’ experience of the text. We conclude that translation is indeed an encounter between cultures: a meeting that is fruitful and has the potential to enrich the literature of a new country, by allowing the reader to embark on a journey to a distant destination.Key words: culture, domestication, foreignization, Funny Boy, Michael Ondaatje, Running in the Family, Shyam Selvadurai, Sri Lanka, translation

En partant de l’idée que transmettre une langue n’est pas un simple acte linguistique, mais une transmission chargée d’affects, nous nous proposons de travailler sur le parcours langagier souvent complexe des enfants tamouls du Sri Lanka. C’est dans un contexte récent et particulier que la plupart des familles tamoules ont migré en France. Cette recherche concerne les enfants qui ont entre quatre ans et cinq ans, qui sont nés en France, ainsi que leurs parents venus du Sri Lanka. Cette thèse s’inscrit dans la recherche sur le bilinguisme : d’une langue à l’autre (qui fait partie d’un Programme Hospitalier de Recherche Clinique), menée par l’équipe pluridisciplinaire du service de psychopathologie de l’enfant et de l’adolescent de l’hôpital Avicenne, grâce à laquelle nous avons pu évaluer les enfants en tamoul et en français et rencontrer leurs parents. Cette recherche a pour but de valider un outil permettant d’évaluer la langue maternelle et de mettre en évidence des facteurs qui sont déterminants dans l’acquisition du bilinguisme. Les données de cette thèse sont recueillies dans le cadre de la recherche sur le bilinguisme. Ainsi, en étudiant l’utilisation des langues et leurs représentations, nous avons trouvé des traces de filiation et d’affiliations dans le langage des enfants tamouls. En travaillant sur les langues avec les enfants et leurs parents, nous avons pu mettre en évidence que la transmission de la langue maternelle ne se fait pas seulement par des mots et que les enfants sont sensibles à ce qui est transmis au-delà des mots, soit aux affects et aux représentations. Cette recherche a pour but de mieux comprendre la place des langues afin de proposer des soins adaptés aux difficultés langagières des enfants tamouls originaires du Sri Lanka
Based on the idea that transmitting language is not only a linguistic act, but a transmission filled with affect, we intend to work on the often complex linguistic course of Tamil children from Sri Lanka. It is in a recent and particular context that most Tamil families have migrated to France. This research concerns children between four and five years old, born in France from parents coming from Sri Lanka. This thesis is part of a research on bilingualism: “A language to another” (which is a Hospital Clinical Research Program) conducted by the multidisciplinary team of the departement of child and adolescent psychopathology of Avicenne Hospital, whereby we were able to assess children in Tamil and French and meet their parents. This research aims at validating a tool which allows assessing the mother tongue and highlighting critical factors to the acquisition of bilingualism. The data in this thesis are collected as part of research on bilingualism. Thus, studying the use of languages and their representations, we found traces of filiation and affiliation in the language of Tamil children. Working on language with the children and their parents, we were able to show that the transmission of mother tongue does not consist only of words and that children are sensitive to what is transmitted beyond the words, through affects and representations. This research aims at better understanding the place of languages in order to provide appropriate care for Tamil children from Sri Lanka having language difficulties

Historical records link Christianity in Sri Lanka to colonial rule. In 1505 the Portuguese introduced Catholicism to Sri Lanka and were followed by the Dutch, who in 1658, introduced the Dutch Reformed Church (Protestant). In 1796 the British, who brought with them the Church of England, gained control of the entire country by 1815. Today, five centuries after the advent of colonial rule, the combined number of Roman Catholics and other Christians stands at less than 9% of the total population. The Roman Catholic Church is spread across Sri Lanka, with churches in every district and ministering in all languages and across a wide cross-section of social groups, while growth within Protestant denominations has been stagnant. The Sri Lankan constitution in 1972 recognised Buddhism as the national, state-supported religion. Sri Lankan Buddhists and Tamil Hindus regard Christianity as a residue of the colonial governments. With the cycles of violence, Christian churches find opportunity to bring together believers from the Sinhala and Tamil ethnic groups and work for peace. In addition, with more emphasis on addressing key social justice issues, there is ground for confidence that Christianity in Sri Lanka can sustain itself and flourish in the coming century.

This chapter analyzes the culture of hatred. The Canadian sociologist Matthew Lange has found that ethnic supremacist education is a fundamental source of division in some of the most ethnically divided countries in the world. Supremacist schools are a direct cause of the hostility between Jews and Palestinians in Israel, between Sinhalese and Tamils in Sri Lanka, between Greeks and Turks in Cyprus, between French Quebecois and English Canadians in Quebec, and between hostile ethnic groups in many other nations. The places Lange writes about are dissimilar, but the causes of xenophobic education generally are the same. These lead to enduring ethnic hostility that could last for generations. The chapter then focuses on ethnic supremacist education in Sri Lanka.

In this chapter we examine the notion of linguistic and other types of societal diversity that have become an important factor in evaluating economic, political and societal progress. While most of the existing research on the measurement of diversity has been focused either on the number and size of different groups, this approach fails to take into account the degree of their distinctiveness. Thus, it is important to incorporate the notion of distances or dissimilarity between groups which should help resolving the difficult group identification problem. We discuss various ways of measuring similarity between groups, the wide range of fractionalization and polarization indices and their impact (positive or negative) on various economic and political outcomes. To mitigate the negative impact of linguistic fractionalization, societies has often chosen to standardize by reducing the number of official languages. The numerous examples of such standardization policies (in the Russian Empire, India, Sri Lanka, among many others, including the European Union) lead to the feeling of disenfranchisement experienced by some population groups, and often end up failing. The search for a compromise between efficiency and the sentiment of being disenfranchised represents a serious challenge for any multi-lingual country or union; we examine this problem in the context of the European Union for which good data are available.