491 Ostindoeuropäische und keltische Sprachen
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The visibility of an endangered language online plays a crucial role in language revitalisation. The internet offers a new domain for using minority languages, especially for speakers living outside the language communities. This article investigates Karelian language visibility on X, formerly known as Twitter, and describes the first corresponding data collection using language-related keywords and hashtags. In total, 2,625 entries written fully or partially in Livvi, South and Viena Karelian were scraped with Postman API. The visibility of Karelian on Twitter (X) has been increasing considerably in the past few years, with Livvi-Karelian being the most prominent dialect. Automatic language detection was tested on such data for Karelian for the first time, and allows the identification of Livvi-Karelian (or a mix of dialects that include Livvi-Karelian) with 99.7% sensitivity, and South Karelian and Viena Karelian as Livvi-Karelian with 90% and 73.8% sensitivity, respectively. The entries were also analysed thematically, and 10 major topics were identified. Since the data was collected using keywords and hashtags related to the Karelian language itself, most of the entries are related to the language and vocabulary in sense of translation or language learning. Language status and policy is another important topic identified in the data. Although language-related topics are the most popular, there are a substantial number of entries on eight further topics. Excluding citations from religious texts and media headlines, 751 Twitter (X) entries could be used for linguistic and sociological research. Further data collection considerations are also discussed.
The analysis of intercultural misunderstandings constitutes an important core area of intercultural studies. They deal with documented special situations of intercultural contact where failure has already been refl ected during the respective interaction. However, intercultural practice also knows »hidden« misunderstandings which are not perceived as intercultural misunderstandings by the interactors but which in the end might lead to negative results as well. The present contribution discusses the possibilities of a heuristic approach to examining these hidden misunderstandings using the example of an application interview. In order to explain the cultural causes of a hidden misunderstanding, established terms like common knowledge, values and judgments as well as cognitive schemes are applied. Due to its high explanatory potential, Hofstede’s concept of »cultural dimensions« is highlighted in particular.
