Abstract:
Linguistic worldview is a language-entrenched interpretation of reality
that emerges in a speech community inseparable from its culture. Therefore,
the task of ethnolinguistics is to reconstruct not only worldviews but also
communal identities. Drawing from both linguistic and co-linguistic data,
researchers may be led to a culturally embedded speech community – not
necessarily a monolingual one. A case in point are speakers of Esperanto, who
form a multilingual voluntary diaspora. The status of Esperantists as a stable
speech community could be investigated within the ethnolinguistic framework,
with a view to finding a homogenous cultural worldview that attests to their
communal identity. This article presents two pilot studies which suggest that
active Esperanto speakers hold a coherent worldview based on the sense of
belonging to the community and its shared culture.
