scholarly journals The Ethnolinguistic Vitality of Konjo in Bulukumba Regency of South Sulawesi, Indonesia

2021 ◽  
Vol 4 (1) ◽  
pp. 29-40
Author(s):  
Sri Ningsih ◽  
Hamzah Machmoed ◽  
Noer Jihad Saleh ◽  
Ria Jubhari

The maintenance of an ethnic language in a multilingual setting depends on many factors, and it is including language vitality. This study examines the vitality of the Konjo language in South Sulawesi. By demonstrating the ethnolinguistic vitality (EV) theory, this descriptive study examines Konjo language vitality in two contexts: ethnically homogeneous and ethnically heterogeneous areas in Bulukumba Regency. In the homogenous area, status, demographic, and institutional support are factors to contribute to the EV of Konjo. However, in the heterogeneous area, demographic factors contribute little while status and institutional support contribute to the maintenance of the language. The result of this study shows that the sheer number of Konjo community members distributed throughout the heterogeneous area is not sufficient for language maintenance. Nevertheless, Konjo EV remains high overall because of the community’s strong cultural and ethnic identification with their heritage language..

Author(s):  
Brohanah Tayeh ◽  
◽  
Kamila Kaping ◽  
Nadeehah Samae ◽  
Varavejbhisis Yossiri ◽  
...  

At the Thai-Malaysian border, a majority of the population comprises the Thai-Melayu ethnic group, as speakers of the Pattani-Malay dialect. Here, heritage language maintenance presents a salient factor. The ethnicity resides on both sides of the border. This study aims to investigate the heritage language maintenance and identities of the Thai-Melayu ethnic group in Jaleh Village, Yarang District, Pattani, Thailand, and to examine their attitudes towards the language used in their community. The samples-set comprised 20 local respondents who were born and raised in the village. A questionnaire addressing the effects of the heritage language maintenance of the Thai-Melayu was employed as a tool of data collection. A descriptive analysis method was used for data analysis. The results of the study revealed ideological underpinnings of the ethnic group with regards to language, as well as demographic information that informs population and cultural studies. These factors include that the Pattani-Malay dialect constitutes a major language, where the Thai language in comparison has a minor usage in the community. The Pattani-Malay dialect is used in the family domain, with extended families, or with neighbors, and in ritualistic or religion domains. In contrast, Thai is used with strangers, in government and official domains, in the school domain, and in the domain of public health. Moreover, the results support that the dialect has not as yet become endangered, evidenced by that the samples prefer the Pattani-Malay dialect as the main language for daily life, and for passing on their ethnic language to younger generations, a process labeled as ‘accidental maintenance.’


2016 ◽  
Vol 13 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Horia Siregar ◽  
Busmin Gurning

This study observed Siladang language maintenance in Desa Sipapaga. The objectives of the study are (1) to examine the factors affecting language maintenance (2) to find out the strategies in maintaining the Siladang language and (3) to find out the reasons of the Siladang people in maintaining their language. The method of this study was descriptive qualitative research. The participants were 20 Siladang people who live in Desa Sipapaga were taken by purposive random sampling. The research results are as follows (1) There are seven factors affecting Siladang language maintenance in Desa Sipapaga such as, Ethnolinguistic vitality, living together and see each other frequently, use of language in family domain (intra and inter marriage family, use of language in neighbor domain, use of language in religion domain, use of language in workplace domain, and practice traditional ceremony, (2) In maintaining the Siladang language, the Siladang people conducted some strategies such as; family language policy, using Siladang language in their daily life frequently, the using of Siladang language in cultural activity like in wedding ceremony. (3) The reasons of the Siladang people maintain their language are; they were proud of being Siladang people and speak Siladang language, and speak Siladang language shows their identity as Siladang people.   Keywords: language maintenance, Siladang


Multilingua ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 0 (0) ◽  
Author(s):  
Marie-Eve Bouchard

AbstractIn São Tomé and Príncipe, the language shift toward Portuguese is resulting in the endangerment of the native creoles of the island. These languages have been considered of low value in Santomean society since the mid-twentieth century. But when Santomeans are members of a diaspora, their perceptions of these languages, especially Forro, change in terms of value and identity-marking. It is possible to observe such changes among the Santomeans who learn Forro when they are abroad, who use it as an in-group code, and start to value it more. In this article, I address the role of language contact in the maintenance and expansion of Forro. I investigate the mechanisms of language maintenance by focusing on the shifts in community members’ attitudes and beliefs regarding their languages, as a result of contact. The changing attitudes and beliefs have led to a redefinition of the role of Forro in the speech community. This qualitative study is based on semistructured interviews conducted on São Tomé Island and in Portugal. Findings suggest that the change in value attributed to Forro by Santomeans as a result of contact contribute to the valorization of the language.


2021 ◽  
Vol 2021 (269) ◽  
pp. 123-149
Author(s):  
Lavanya Sankaran

Abstract This article uses the “communicative repertoire” conceptual framework to investigate the evolving linguistic practices in the Sri Lankan Tamil (SLT) diaspora, looking specifically at how changing mobility patterns have had an influence on heritage language use. Drawing on fieldwork undertaken with 42 participants of diverse migration trajectories in London, the study finds that onward migration has important implications for Tamil language maintenance and use in the UK, and for the introduction of European languages into the community. It argues that Tamil practices can only be fully understood if we consider them within the context of participants' communicative repertoires. Further, the definition of Tamil needs to be expanded to include different varieties, registers and styles that have been shaped by onward migration. As the trend of multiple migrations is becoming increasingly common in globalization processes, studying the recent change in SLT migratory patterns is also crucial to gaining insight into the diversities and transnational links that exist within and across diaspora communities respectively.


2014 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-28
Author(s):  
Martin Guardado

The goal of this article is to investigate the discourses surrounding the development and maintenance of Spanish in Canadian Hispanic families and community groups. Although the research literature already contains abundant insights into a variety of issues and factors, such as the individual, familial and societal benefits of heritage language maintenance, its conceptualization from a theoretical perspective of discourses and ideologies in families is less frequently discussed explicitly. Therefore, via analyses of interviews and daily interactions drawn from a 1.5-year ethnography conducted in Western Canada, the article draws attention to the diversity of meanings present in the families’ discursive constructions of heritage language development and maintenance. The interviews with parents were found to contain discourses that embodied implicit and explicit ideologies about language. Some of the metalinguistic constructions of language maintenance discussed in the article include discourses that can be categorized as utilitarian, affective, aesthetic, cosmopolitan and oppositional. The article concludes with implications for theory, research and families.


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