Language, Society and Identity in early Iceland

Abstract

1 Introduction 1.1 Aims of the present study 1.2 Organisation of study 1.3 The settlement of Iceland 1.4 The establishment of social structures 1.5 The language of the Icelanders 1.6 Sources 1.6.1 Historical texts 1.6.2 Religious works 1.6.3 Law codes 1.6.4 Grammatical Treatises 1.6.5 Poetry 1.6.6 Saga material 2 Language and identity: theoretical considerations 2.1 Introduction 2.2 Socio-historical linguistics and sociolinguistic theory 2.3 Language change and norms 2.3.1 Intra-linguistic versus extra-linguistic explanations of language change 2.4 Language and dialect contact 2.4.1 Dialect levelling and koineisation 2.4.2 Markedness in tabula rasa dialect-formation 2.5 Language and dialect isolation 2.5.1 'Drift' 2.6 Language development in tabula rasa societies 2.6.1 Language community types (and settlement patterns) 2.6.2 A deterministic model versus social factors 2.6.3 The Founder Principle and prestige 2.7 Identity: essentialism versus constructivism 2.7.1 Personal identity and group membership 2.7.2 Place and identity 2.8 Language and identity 2.8.1 Accommodation and networks 2.8.2 Accommodation Theory 2.8.3 Social network theory and language change 2.8.4 Deixis, pronouns and identity 2.9 Conclusion 3 Norm-establishment in Iceland 3.1 Introduction 3.2 Norse dialectal variation prior to the Settlement 3.2.1 The runic evidence 3.2.2 Runic evidence and the spoken language 3.3 The settlers: geographic origins and social mobility 3.3.1 The geographic origins of the settlers 3.3.2 Social background and mobility of the settlers 3.3.3 The status of Norse and Common Gaelic at the time of the Settlement 3.4 Dialect features in Iceland, the Faroe Islands and south-west Norway 3.5 Iceland as a 'new society' 3.5.1 Features of 'new societies' 3.6 Language development in early Iceland 3.6.1 The 'mixture theory' 3.6.2 Dialect levelling in early Iceland 3.6.3 The basis for koineisation 3.7 Establishment of a linguistic norm in Iceland 3.7.1 Pre- and post-Settlement linguistic norms 3.7.2 Spoken norms and 'standardised' written languages 3.7.3 The establishment of a norm: skaldic poetry (and the laws) 3.7.4 The establishment of a norm: the role of the sagas 3.8 The homogeneity of Icelandic 3.8.1 Background 3.8.2 Factors explaining the homogeneity of Icelandic 3.9 Conclusion 4 Social structures in the lexicon 4.1 Introduction 4.2 Social identity and Icelandic social structures 4.2.1 Emerging social structures and identities 4.2.2 Characteristics of Icelandic social structures: role of the law 4.2.3 The significance of assembly-attachment 4.3 Specific Icelandic social structures 4.3.1 hreppr ('commune') 4.3.2 bu'ar ('neighbours') 4.3.3 alpingi ('General Assembly') and logre'tta ('Law Council') 4.3.4 godar ('chieftains') 4.4 Individual identity and Icelandic kinship structures 4.4.1 landna'm ('Settlement') and kinship structures 4.4.2 Kinship and land-transfer 4.4.3 Genealogies and identity 4.4.4 Icelandic kinship terminology: cousin terms 4.5 Conclusion 5 Perception and use of language as an identity marker 5.1 Introduction 5.2 Icelanders' perceptions of foreign languages 5.2.1 References to a foreign language 5.2.2 References to Irish 5.3 A vernacular identity: donsk tunga, norraena and its speakers 5.3.1 The donsk tunga as an identity marker 5.3.2 norraena as an identity marker 5.3.3 Norse dialectical variation and Anglo-Norse intelligibility 5.4 Grammatical variables as identity markers 5.4.1 Agreeing possessive adjectives 5.4.2 Pronominal usage in the early Icelandic law codes 5.4.3 The 'they' 5.4.4 The 'we' 5.5 Spatial references: the issue of identity 5.5.1 Spatio-directional particles 5.5.2 Idiomatic use of spatial grammar 5.5.3 Semantics of orientation: the Norwegian system 5.5.4 Semantics of orientation: the Quarter-based system 5.6 Conclusion 6 Conclusion References Index

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