Towards a sociolinguistic prospective: from prophesy to prospective

Abstract

The paper begins by defining the term prospective and goes on to analyse the studies that have been carried out “significantly, only in Catalonia” to predict the future of the Catalan language.
Firstly, a critical analysis is made of ‘pseudo-prophetic’ studies – which cannot be considered prospective – that are based on an inability to contemplate amonolingual future, a dream that began with the onset of democracy. The second part of the paper deals with studies that, conversely, can be termed prospective and the third part highlights the advantages of prospective studies and suggests that they be used in language sociology, particularly in the areas of planning and language policy in order to both foresee and prevent.

KEY WORDS: prospective, prediction, the future of Catalan, prophecy, discourse analysis.