Mother Tongues and Literary Languages

This lecture examines the notion of 'native speaker' and 'mother tongue': the former acquired popularity in the early Twentieth century, the latter is based on a Medieval Latin expression (lingua materna) which particularly in its German shape (Muttersprache) became central for European national movements in the Eighteenth and Nineteenth centuries. The implications of these notions are discussed with reference to Renaissance Latin, the revival of Hebrew, and modern Italian (particularly its twentieth-century development into a spoken language, distinct both from the dialects and from the traditional written language). Finally, the intriguing question is considered, whether poets can more appropriately be said to express themselves in a native or a literary language.