Las palabras tienen cromosomas oder What Sprachschützer know that linguists don't

Konkurrierende Metaphernprogramme im Sprechen über Sprache

Abstract

The public debate on metalingusitic questions could be characterised as an argument between people interested in the protection of language or language enthousiasts on the one hand and linguists on the other hand. Differences in this debate emerge for instance in the evaluation of language change or lingusitic borrowings which could be linked to a differing conceptualisation of language. The main aim of the paper is to uncover the hidden metaphorical concepts of language ideologies in a selected corpus of German, French and Spanish texts. It shows that the concept of linguistic protection is contrasted in the public debate on metalinguistic questions by a descriptive or functional understanding of language. The article thus seeks to display and analyse the metaphorical networks inherent in these language debates and offers paths towards a better mutual understanding.