language shift & death

LANGUAGE SHIFT &

LANGUAGE DEATH

Youssef Tamer Associate Professor

Department Of English Studies Faculty of Letters and Human Sciences Ibn Zohr University, Agadir, Morocco

/Dr.Youssef.Tamer /YoussefTamer /+Youssef.Tamer /TEFLANDICT

WWW.ENGLISHSTUDIESINFO.BLOGSPOT.COM

• In this session, we will discuss how and why languages shift and sometimes disappear or “die”.

• We shall also look into the factors which make one language stronger than the others at different times.



OBJECTIVES

• By the end of this session you should be able to: !

• 1. Explain how and why languages shift, die, revive and remain vital !

• 2. Suggest ways to resolve the conflict between the need for world-‐wide communication and language preservation



OBJECTIVES

• What is ‘Language shift’? • What are the factors contributing to language shift?

• What is language death? • What kills a language? • How can a language revive? (Language Revival) • What keeps a language vital? (Language Vitality)

• How can a minority language be maintained? (Language Maintenance)



KE Y

CONCEPTS



Language maintenance� Language shift�

When One Language Meets AnotherLANGUAG E

SHIFT



When One Language Meets Another

SCENARIOS�

Migrant minorities�

Migrant majorities�

Non-migrant communities

LANGUAG E

SHIFT



Migrant minorities

Local majority�

Immigrant minority �

LANGUAG E

SHIFT



Migrant minorities

Language shift for practical reasons�

•  Job�•  Education�•  Business

Pressure from the host

society�

•  Language shift is expected�

•  A sign of successful assimilation

LANGUAG E

SHIFT



The language shift of 2nd-‐generation immigrantsLANGUAG E

SHIFT



Migrant Majority

Immigrant majority�

Local minority�

LANGUAG E

SHIFT



Migrant Majority

Language shift does not

necessarily occur �

when multilingualism is

widespread.�

many indigenous vernacular languages�

Language shift could occur �

When one primary

indigenous language is used�

LANGUAG E

SHIFT

• Colonization • The colonial powers impose their languages on the colonies.



LANGUAG E

SHIFT

Migrant Majority

• 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



LANGUAG E

SHIFT

Direction of language shifts

Whose language would be stronger? • seller -‐-‐-‐-‐-‐-‐-‐-‐-‐-‐-‐-‐-‐ buyer • minority -‐-‐-‐-‐-‐-‐-‐-‐-‐-‐-‐-‐-‐ majority • poor -‐-‐-‐-‐-‐-‐-‐-‐-‐-‐-‐-‐-‐-‐-‐ wealthy • low social status -‐-‐-‐-‐-‐-‐-‐-‐-‐high social status • ruled -‐-‐-‐-‐-‐-‐-‐-‐-‐-‐-‐-‐-‐-‐ ruler



LANGUAG E

SHIFT

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



LANGUAG E

SHIFT

What factor(s) account(s) for the following movements of languages in HK?

• 1) PTH (Putonghua, national lge of China) 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)



LANGUAG E

SHIFT

• 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)



LANGUAG E

SHIFT

• 6) Standard Arabic in Morocco after independence Vs French. (political, social factors) !

• 7) Amazigh recently. (social and political factors)



LANGUAG E

SHIFT

• 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?



LANGUAG E

DEATH

Language revival/ revitalizationWhat brings dead/dying languages back to life? 1) New Zealand: Maori (cultural crisis) 2) Israel: Hebrew (nationalism) 3) Taiwan: Taiwanese (political independence) 4) Wales: Welsh (cultural identity) 5) Morocco: Standard Arabic -‐ Amazigh (political independence,

social factors) !Who brings dead/dying languages back to life? 1) Acceptance by Institutions (i.e. government, university, church,

media etc.) 2) Acceptance by people



LANGUAG E

REVIVAL

Ethnolinguistic Vitality

• Ethno – different ethnic groups • Ethnolinguistic – different ethnic groups speaking different languages

• Vitality – strength • Amazigh in Morocco



LANGUAG E

VITALI

TY

Six factors which may help a language to progress (Crystal, 2000)

• An endangered language will progress if its speakers: • increase their prestige within the dominant community

• increase their wealth • increase their legitimate power in the eyes of the dominant community

• have a strong presence in the education system • can write down the language • can make use of electronic technology



LANGUAG E

VITALI

TY

Three factors to assess ethnolinguistic vitality

• Demographic strength • Institutional support • This is very much applicable for Amazigh in Morocco



LANGUAG E

VITALI

TY

Giles et al (1977:309) suggest three main factors in assessing the vitality of different ethnolinguistic groups, namely:

Ethnolinguistic Vitality

• 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.



LANGUAG E

VITALI

TY

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.



LANGUAG E

VITALI

TY

How can a minority language be maintained?

• If a language is an important identity marker (Standard Arabic, Amazigh);

• If a minority group is cohesive (e.g. China Town, Amazigh);

• If a minority group keeps close contact with the homeland;

• If a minority language gets institutional support



MAINTENANCE

language shift & death

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