Today in Guangzhou, Tomorrow in Hong Kong? A Comparative Study of the Language Situation in Two Cities

Many in Hong Kong voice concerns about the fate of Cantonese, including nativists (“localists”) and the general public. Guangzhou is seen as a harbinger of diminishing Cantonese in Hong Kong. News and commentaries paint a gloomy picture of Cantonese in Guangzhou. Yet rarely do we read about surveys on the range of Cantonese use and identity in Guangzhou. Neither do we see analyses on how the social context differences between Hong Kong and Guangzhou may have contributed to the two cities’ unique language situations. Our study delineates the Guangzhou and Hong Kong language situations, comparing mother tongues, ordinary languages, and language attitudes. Cantonese is unrivalled in Hong Kong and remains vital in Guangzhou. We put the two cities’ different use frequency and proficiency of Cantonese and Putonghua (“Mandarin”) in the sociocultural context of motivation and migration. We conclude that some claims of diminishing Cantonese are unsupported. We also address how likely it is that Cantonese will diminish or even be replaced in Hong Kong.

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A tale of two cities : a comparative study of the 1966 riots in Macau and the 1967 riots in Hong Kong and their consequences

10.5353/th_b3195290 ◽

2001 ◽

Author(s):

Ka-lun, Allan Au

Keyword(s):

Hong Kong ◽

Comparative Study ◽

Two Cities

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Social Security Provision in Singapore and Hong Kong

Journal of Social Policy ◽

10.1017/s0047279400010965 ◽

1981 ◽

Vol 10 (3) ◽

pp. 353-366 ◽

Cited By ~ 11

Author(s):

Nelson W. S. Chow

Keyword(s):

Hong Kong ◽

Social Security ◽

Social Economic ◽

South East Asia ◽

Social Security Systems ◽

Security Systems ◽

Industrial Countries ◽

The Social ◽

Two Cities ◽

Similarities And Differences

ABSTRACTSingapore and Hong Kong are two of the most advanced industrial countries in east and south-east Asia. Comparisons between them have often been made, and this article takes their social security systems as a subject for examination. It begins with a brief discussion of the social, economic and political structures of Singapore and Hong Kong, identifying their similarities and differences; this is followed by a comparison of their existing social security provisions and the functions they perform in the two societies. It is found that, while Singapore and Hong Kong are now both affluent enough to provide their workers with comprehensive income protection, industrialization in the two cities has not brought a corresponding development in their social security systems. Other considerations seem to be more important than the need for such measures.

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A bibliography of planctus

Journal of the Plainsong and Mediaeval Music Society ◽

10.1017/s0143491800000350 ◽

1981 ◽

Vol 4 ◽

pp. 12-52 ◽

Cited By ~ 2

Author(s):

Janthia Yearley

Keyword(s):

Social Context ◽

Comparative Study ◽

Musical Settings ◽

Passion Plays ◽

Passion Play ◽

The Social ◽

Liturgical Drama ◽

History Of ◽

The Relationship ◽

Musical Forms

The present bibliography was originally compiled to provide a basis for my research into the relationship between words and music and the social context of the medieval European planctus. The planctus, a lament normally written at the death of an important historical, biblical or classical personage, or at the destruction of a city, has featured prominently in discussions about the development of liturgical drama and the possible origins of the Passion play; in studies of funeral verse; and in histories of the interrelation of European verse and musical forms. The relationship between the Marienklage and German Passion plays, the sequence and lai characteristics of Abelard's six planctus and the melodic style of the sequence melody planctus cygni have to some extent been studied by both musical and literary scholars. It has not, however, been possible to estimate the significance of these three issues in the history of either the planctus or of medieval monophonic song, since the planctus has never before been considered as a whole, in a comparative study which investigates both words and music. In fact, it has never been established that the planctus constitutes a genre in the first place, in what way this might be, and whether the surprisingly numerous musical settings which survive are composed in a consistent style.

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