Andrés Gerique
    Gerique, Andrés

    Friedrich-Alexander-Universität Erlangen-Nürnberg  Alemania

     

    He is a researcher at the FAU-Erlangen Institute for Geography. He has two decades of experience in research on the use of natural resources and conservation in indigenous communities of the Andes and the Ecuadorian Amazon.

     

    Lecture

    An approach to the current sociolinguistic situation of the Andoa nationality

    The Andoa nationality territory, in the province of Pastaza, is home to a rich biological and cultural diversity, where several indigenous languages coexist with Spanish. The aim of our speech is thus to present some preliminary results of a quantitative research meant for a better understanding of the complexity of the current sociolinguistic situation in the territory of the Andoa nationality. The results provide an insight into the origin of the inhabitants of the region and their influence on the linguistic distribution of the area. In the same way, the data shed some significant information on the shift from Kichwa to Spanish and the degree of presence and dominance of the Katsakati language, the nationality’s own language, which, despite being practically extinct, is being reinstated thanks to the political commitment of its leaders, the work of outside specialists, and the communities’ interest in the language. Undoubtedly, the linguistic attitudes of speakers are not only a key factor in the effective revitalization of a language, but they also reflect the way in which power relations and inequality are manifested in the linguistic dimension. It is in this sense that based on the data we also intend to explore the attitudes of the Andoa towards Katsakati, Kichwa and Spanish, as well as their expectations and hopes for their languages in the medium-term future.