A typology of arguments for and against bilingual place-naming in Aotearoa New Zealand

• Published in: Journal of multilingual and multicultural development Vol. 38; no. 9; pp. 831 - 842
• Main Authors: Albury, Nathan John, Carter, Lyn
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Abingdon Routledge 21-10-2017; Taylor & Francis Ltd
• Subjects: Biculturalism; Bilingual place names; Bilingualism; Civil Rights; Classification; Cultural differences; Cultural heritage; Cultural identity; Cultural Maintenance; English; Epistemology; Ethnic Groups; Foreign Countries; Foreign Policy; Indexing; Indigenous peoples; Language Planning; Language policy; Legislation; Malayo Polynesian Languages; Maori language; Maoris; Multiculturalism & pluralism; Māori; Naming; Native rights; New Zealand; Online Surveys; Pacific Islanders; place-naming theory; Polls & surveys; Postcolonialism; Public interest; Public Policy; Statistical Analysis; Surveys; Toponymy; Youth; New Zealand
• ISSN: 0143-4632; 1747-7557
• DOI: 10.1080/01434632.2016.1275654

Naming places is theorised as an activity in heritage whereby a name will index a people's narrative and history. In postcolonial societies where the colonised and the colonisers share spaces, individual locations can host different sides of history and different cultural significance. To this end, the New Zealand government has pursued bilingual place-naming policy to reflect the heritage of both Māori as the Indigenous people, and Pākehā as the European colonisers. Drawing on quantitative and qualitative data from an attitudinal survey of New Zealand youth about bilingual place-naming as public policy, this paper places under critical review the theoretical and policy assumption that representing heritage is a core public interest vis-à-vis place names. The paper finds that only a minority of the surveyed youth were concerned about indexing heritage, with the majority instead arguing for and against bilingual place-naming on the basis of Aotearoa New Zealand's contemporary bicultural identity, perceived linguistic challenges and opportunities associated with bilingualism, and a concern for enforcing Indigenous rights legislation. The paper typologises how these youth argued for and against bilingual place-naming with attention to a diversity of evaluative and epistemological starting points when thinking about place names.