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Topic 6: Language shift and language death

Topic 6: Language shift and language death. Holmes Chapter 3: Key concepts: Language shift Language death Language revival Language vitality Language maintenance. Language shift. A community shifts from using one language for most purposes to using a different one

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Topic 6: Language shift and language death

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  1. Topic 6:Language shift and language death • Holmes Chapter 3: • Key concepts: • Language shift • Language death • Language revival • Language vitality • Language maintenance

  2. Language shift • A community shifts from using one language for most purposes to using a different one • One language replaces the roles and functions of another language in a community • A strong language becomes weak; a weak language becomes strong in a community

  3. Direction of language shifts Whose language would be stronger? • seller ------------- buyer • minority ------------- majority • poor --------------- wealthy • low social status ---------high social status • ruled -------------- ruler

  4. Factors contributing to language shift Economic factor • Seller ------------- buyer Demographic factor • Minority ------------- majority Social factor • Poor --------------- wealthy • Low social status ---------high social status Political factor • Ruled -------------- ruler

  5. What factor(s) account(s) for the following movements of languages in HK? • 1)PTH has become more important in HK after 1997 (political factor) • 2) PTH has become a more important language than English for people working in the retailing industry (economic factor) • 3) Cantonese has replaced some major functions of English in HK in the past decades e.g. a) the language of the government; b) the language of HK Legislative Council; c) the medium of instruction in secondary schools. (political and demographic factors)

  6. 4) The Filipinos are the biggest group of foreign population in HK (2.1%) but their language is not as popular as that of the British which make up only 0.3% of the HK population in 2001. (social factor) • 5) The HK population using other Chinese dialects as a usual language has decreased from 7% in 1991 to 5.5% in 2001. (social and demographic factors)

  7. Language Death • How can a language die? • 1) when all the people who speak that language die; • 2) when the domains in which a language is used are totally replaced by another language; • 3) when a language is suppressed by a political power • Which is more likely to die, a standard language or a dialect?

  8. Language revival/ revitalization What brings dead/dying languages back to life? • New Zealand: Maori (cultural crisis) • Israel: Hebrew (nationalism) • Taiwan: Taiwanese (political independence) • Wales: Welsh (cultural identity) Who brings dead/dying languages back to life? • Acceptance by Institutions (i.e. government, university, church, media etc.) • Acceptance by people

  9. Ethnolinguistic Vitality • Ethno – different ethnic groups • Ethnolinguistic – different ethnic groups speaking different languages • Vitality – strength

  10. Three factors to assess ethnolinguistic vitality Howard Giles: • Social status of the speakers • Demographic strength • Institutional support

  11. Ethnolinguistic Vitality • Giles et al (1977:309) suggest three main factors in assessing the vitality of different ethnolinguistic groups viz. Status, Demographic Strength and Institutional Support. The Status variable is about the prestige of the target linguistic group. The Demographic variables are related to the number of members in a linguistic group and their distribution in the territory. Lastly, Institutional Support refers to the degree to which a language is used in various institutions e.g. the government, church, schools, media. Giles’s theory was devised to examine the interrelationship between different ethnolinguistic groups in a multi-racial society.

  12. Language vitality A language will last long and remain strong in a community if: • The social status of the target language speakers remains high; • The number of people using the target language remains large; • Institutional support to the target language remains high.

  13. How can a minority language be maintained? • If a language is an important identity marker; • If a minority group is cohesive (e.g. China Town); • If a minority group keeps close contact with the homeland; • If a minority language gets institutional support

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