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The last language on earth : linguistic utopianism in the Philippines / Piers Kelly.

By: Series: Oxford studies anthropology language seriesPublisher: New York, NY : Oxford University Press, [2022]Description: xxxi, 291 pages : illustrations, maps ; 24 cmContent type:
  • text
Media type:
  • unmediated
Carrier type:
  • volume
ISBN:
  • 9780197509920
Subject(s): Additional physical formats: Online version:: Last language on EarthDDC classification:
  • 499.2 K29 23/eng/20210930 2022
LOC classification:
  • PL7501.E85 K45 2022
Contents:
Introduction Part I: Locating the Eskaya. Language, literacy, and revolt in the southern Philippines Contact and controversy Part II: Language, letters, literature. How Eskayan is used today The writing system Words and their origins Eskaya literature and traditional historiography Part III: Insurrection and Resurrection. From Pinay to Mariano Datahan (and back again) Eskayan revealed: a scenario Conclusion: The first language and the last word
Summary: "The Eskayan language of Bohol in the southern Philippines has been an object of controversy ever since it came to light in the early 1980s. Written in an unusual script Eskayan bears no obvious similarity to any known language of the Philippines, a fact that has prompted speculation that it was either displaced from afar, fossilized from the deep past, or invented as an elaborate hoax. This book investigates the history of Eskayan through a systematic review of its writing system, grammar and lexicon, and carefully evaluates written and oral narratives provided by its contemporary speakers. The linguistic analysis largely supports the traditional view that Eskayan was the deliberate creation of a legendary ancestor by the name of Pinay. The study traces the identity of Pinay through the turbulent history of early 20th-century Bohol when the island suffered a series of catastrophes at the hands of the United States occupation. It was at this time that the ancestor Pinay was channelled by Mariano Datahan, a multilingual prophet who foretold that English and other languages would be abandoned and that Eskayan would one day be spoken by everyone in the world. To make sense of this situation, the book draws on theorizations of postcolonial resistance, language ideology, mimesis, and the utopian political dynamics of highland societies. In so doing, it offers a linguistic and ethnographic history of Eskayan and of the ideologies and historical circumstances that motivated its creation"-- Provided by publisher.
Holdings
Item type Current library Collection Call number Status Barcode
Books Books College Library Filipiniana Section FIL Fil 499.2 K29 2022 (Browse shelf(Opens below)) Available HNU004923

Includes bibliographical references and index.

Introduction
Part I: Locating the Eskaya. Language, literacy, and revolt in the southern Philippines
Contact and controversy
Part II: Language, letters, literature. How Eskayan is used today
The writing system
Words and their origins
Eskaya literature and traditional historiography
Part III: Insurrection and Resurrection. From Pinay to Mariano Datahan (and back again)
Eskayan revealed: a scenario
Conclusion: The first language and the last word

"The Eskayan language of Bohol in the southern Philippines has been an object of controversy ever since it came to light in the early 1980s. Written in an unusual script Eskayan bears no obvious similarity to any known language of the Philippines, a fact that has prompted speculation that it was either displaced from afar, fossilized from the deep past, or invented as an elaborate hoax. This book investigates the history of Eskayan through a systematic review of its writing system, grammar and lexicon, and carefully evaluates written and oral narratives provided by its contemporary speakers. The linguistic analysis largely supports the traditional view that Eskayan was the deliberate creation of a legendary ancestor by the name of Pinay. The study traces the identity of Pinay through the turbulent history of early 20th-century Bohol when the island suffered a series of catastrophes at the hands of the United States occupation. It was at this time that the ancestor Pinay was channelled by Mariano Datahan, a multilingual prophet who foretold that English and other languages would be abandoned and that Eskayan would one day be spoken by everyone in the world. To make sense of this situation, the book draws on theorizations of postcolonial resistance, language ideology, mimesis, and the utopian political dynamics of highland societies. In so doing, it offers a linguistic and ethnographic history of Eskayan and of the ideologies and historical circumstances that motivated its creation"-- Provided by publisher.

College of Education Bachelor of Secondary Education major in Social Studies

In English

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