The notion of speakers in 11 sociolinguistic investigations of mapudungun in chile. an analysis and reflection exercise

Abstract

The notion of speaker is discussed in this article based on the diversity presented in 11 sociolinguistic studies on the Mapuche language spoken in Chile, an example of heterogeneity that usually goes unnoticed in these research works. The perspective and conceptualization observed in these studies pay little attention to the types of speakers that exist in situations of sociolinguistic displacement. As a result, the category "speaker" is presented in a general way, not recognizing the displacement processes and the consequences over the formative aspect of different types of speakers, and the emergence of multilingual repertoires. From a content analysis exercise of 11 sociolinguistic works developed in Chile on the Mapuche language, a typology of speakers is evidenced, that emerges in situations of linguistic vulnerability. Finally, this work concludes with a reflection that proposes rethinking taxonomies from a perspective focused on the complexities of the historical sociolinguistic processes that a language goes through and the experiences of the speakers immersed in them. This paper aims to contribute to the discussion of this category in the context of the processes of sociolinguistic displacement experienced by Mapudungun and to the understanding of these processes and the difficulties and potential benefits they activate for the preservation and revitalization of the language.