[Corpora-List] Re: Minor(ity) Language

[Nicholas Sanders]

I think I agree the term "immigrant languages" (as long as  
"immigrant" isn't seen as offensive), but neither of your 'native'  
languages would fit my strict definition of minority language. Welsh  
probably would!

Nick


On 9 Mar 2006, at 15:57, Briony Williams wrote:

> Actually, there *is* a possible reason for not using the word  
> "minority" in relation to either the people group or the language.   
> In the case of Urdu, Arabic, Mandarin, etc. as spoken in London,  
> these are certainly minority languages within the context of the  
> UK, but not within a global context. However, in the case of  
> Gaelic, Cornish, etc., these are likewise minority languages within  
> the UK, but also minority languages within a global context - there  
> is no political entity in which they constitute a dominant language.
>
> The distinction is an important and useful one, and so it may be  
> better to refer to the first group by a separate term (such as  
> "immigrant languages", perhaps).



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Nicholas J A Sanders
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