Regional languages dying in mixed marriages (fwd)

[Matthew Ward]

If Native American societies had been allowed to develop as independent
states, then you would probably see this kind of thing happening on a
widespread scale: language shift occuring in the direction of more
powerful indigenous languages, rather than in the direction of colonial
languages. You would still see endangered minority languages, but you
would also have powerful, thriving indigenous languages, as India has.

The sad thing is that in the American continents, four colonial
languages (Spanish, English, Portuguese and French) are official or
de-facto official in every state, and very few countries have given
either official recognition or widespread official use to indigenous
languages, which has put the latter in a precarious position.

I personally believe that making indigenous languages the de facto state
languages of various reservations or regions would be one of the most
effective ways to fight back. Some of the Alaskan languages, for
example, are relatively healthy, due to their widespread use in local
government and education. It is easier to maintain a language when using
that language is required in order to participate in a variety of
spheres within a given society.

To take the article we read about Easter Island for an example, if
Spanish-speaking newcomers to Easter Island had to learn the local
language in order to navigate local government and education, they would
be more likely to learn that language, and the locals would have a
concrete, practical reason for passing the language on to their
children. I have read about Spanish-speaking migrants to Basque country
in Spain who have complained bitterly about having to learn Basque, but,
in my view, the Basques are simply doing what they need to do in order
to maintain their culture. European minority languages like Catatlan and
Basque remain healthy because their speakers have won political battles
which have enabled them to restore their languages' official status and
use. Hopefully, indigenous people in America (meaning, the American
continents) will be able to win similar battles.

phil cash cash wrote:

> the situation described by the article was quite interesting. in the
> southern Columbia Plateau region (OR, WA, ID), an undocumented
> language isolate--Cayuse--shifted to Nez Perce in the 18th century and
> the last vestiges of the language shift was complete by 1930 with its
> last speakers. this language shift event is unique because it is not a
> contemporary one like we now know, it is entirely an indigenous
> language shift. apparently, the Cayuse and Nez Perce allied themselves
> through intermarriage, political, and economic means. but more than
> anything, it is likely the intermarriage that facilitated the language
> shift.
>
> phil cash cash (cayuse/nez perce)
> UofA, ILAT
>
>
> On Jan 29, 2004, at 4:11 PM, Matthew Ward wrote:
>
>> It's my understanding that there is indeed language shift going on in
>> India, but it is mostly in the direction of Hindi or other major state
>> languages. Hindi is now estimated by some to be the native language of
>> fully one-third of the population, which means, with the population of
>> India having recently passed one billion, that the number of Hindi
>> native speakers in the world population (let alone in India) may have
>> already caught up with that of English. In fact, in the next century
>> Hindi is widely forecasted to pass both English and Spanish to become
>> the world's second largest native tongue, second only to Mandarin
>> Chinese.
>>
>> As for language shift to English, it probably does occur to a certain
>> degree when you are dealing with people like those described in the
>> article: children of members of the small upper-class elite, who are
>> are products of mixed marriages, and whose parents both speak minority
>> languages and are likely to be fluent in English. But, for the large
>> majority of Indians who are not members of this elite, mixed marriages
>> are far more likely to favor dominant indigenous languages like Hindi.
>> At any rates, even liberal estimates put the native-English speaking
>> population of India at a tiny fraction.
>>
>> A personal observation: for some reason, there are a number of Indian
>> students in Las Vegas, New Mexico, where I am living, and although they
>> come from a variety of Indian states and speak a variety of Indian
>> languages, they use Hindi as their lingua franca, although they are
>> living in an English-speaking country and studying in English. Were two
>> such people to marry, it seems clear that their children would be
>> hearing mostly Hindi at home.
>>
>> There is also quite a large anti-English movement in India, and there
>> have been a growing number of states which have eliminated English as
>> one of their official languages in recent years. This is, in my mind, a
>> positive development, but I have also read articles that argue that the
>> focus on containing the national role of English sometimes obscures a
>> more pressing issue: the widespread loss of minority languages to more
>> dominant Indian languages. In the more populated north, especially,
>> where most languages are related to Hindi, the spread of Hindi as the
>> national languages has met with little resistance, as it is not seen as
>> an alien language. Consequently, it puts minority languages at a great
>> deal of risk. In the south, where people speak completely unrelated
>> languages, there is more resistance to Hindi, which has allowed English
>> to remain a lingua franca to a greater degree, arguably a negative
>> development, but it also reduces the likehood that local languages will
>> be replaced by Hindi. Certainly, it is a very good thing indeed that
>> India has chosen for their national language an indigenous language over
>> a colonial language, and I agree that they should continue to expand the
>> role of Hindi at the expense of English, but it does necessarily make
>> the position of minority languages any more secure.
>> For an extreme example of this kind of thing, I think of France, which
>> speaks one of the most dominant languages in the world. All of the
>> French paranoia about English loan words (which have about as much
>> potential of "harming" French as tens of thousands of French loan-words
>> have "harmed" English) have obscured the reality that French-only
>> policies, some of the most conservative in any modern democracy, have
>> put traditional languages like Breton in great danger.
>>
>> I think that the world in general, and not only the people who live in
>> the major English-speaking countries, have a good reason to be wary of
>> the English language, but it is not good to let that wariness draw
>> attention away from the reality that most of the endangered minority
>> languages in the world are not being replaced by English.
>>
>> Don Osborn wrote:
>>
>>> It would seem in principle that the same techniques used by
>>> international
>>> bilingual couples to impart the languages of both to their children
>>> could be
>>> used by interethnic couples within a country to do the same. The
>>> situation
>>> described in the article is probably widespread in multilingual
>>> societies.
>>> In West Africa my impression is that there is not a systematic
>>> approach to
>>> teaching languages to the very young before school (rather laissez
>>> faire,
>>> with kids picking up language from family, neighbors, friends),
>>> except in
>>> isolated(?) cases where parents may insist on speaking French or
>>> English
>>> only at home in the belief this will somehow help their children. So in
>>> linguistically mixed marriages it's catch as catch can for the kids'
>>> language education, especially in the cities.
>>>
>>> Don Osborn
>>> Bisharat.net
>>>
>>> ----- Original Message -----
>>> From: "Phil Cash-Cash" <cashcash at EMAIL.ARIZONA.EDU>
>>> To: <ILAT at LISTSERV.ARIZONA.EDU>
>>> Sent: Thursday, January 22, 2004 6:27 PM
>>> Subject: Regional languages dying in mixed marriages (fwd)
>>>
>>>
>>> Regional languages dying in mixed marriages
>>> SANDHYA IYER
>>>
>>> The Times of India
>>> TIMES NEWS NETWORK[ THURSDAY, JANUARY 22, 2004 05:55:13 AM ]
>>> http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/articleshow/438291.cms
>>>
>>> When two mothertongues meet, the result is a third language. In the
>>> bargain, both the regional languages are forgotten.
>>>
>>> Sociologists are calling it a linguistic cultural quandary, that may
>>> not
>>> be ideal for those keen on a sense of identity and rootedness. But
>>> there seems to be little room for mother-tongues in today s global
>>> village.
>>>
>>> Mixed marriages are breeding children who speak neither the
>>> mother-tongue of the dad or the local lingo of their mom s hometown.
>>>
>>> Says event manager, Namita Shibad, who has two children aged 15 and 10,
>>> "My father was from Mangalore and my mother from Punjab . So they
>>> mostly stuck to speaking English,which is why I couldn t even gather a
>>> smattering of either languages. There is a regret, in the sense that
>>> there is no  native  element to look up to. At the same time, it isn t
>>> so bad to shed regionality and adopt a very global approach towards
>>> life," she reasons.
>>>
>>> Sociologist Sujata Patel, however, warns, "The urban upper-class
>>> populace faces this threat most of all. It is very important for
>>> children to know a regional language.
>>>
>>> Primarily, because a mothertongue brings along with it an entire
>>> cultural ethos. Any kind of diversity and richness only comes when a
>>> regional language is encouraged.
>>>
>>> To be able to attain a certain level of stability, it is important that
>>> a special effort is made towards retaining a regional essence," she
>>> opines.
>>>
>>> That essence is a fast disappearing flavour with each passing
>>> generation
>>> in families where the parents are from different regions.
>>>
>>> Jyotsna and Vighnesh Shahane are another couple who admit that their
>>> five-year-old son Ishaan cannot speak either Marathi or Kannada.
>>>
>>> "There s little we can do about it. My husband is constantly
>>> travelling,
>>> so he gets very little time with Ishaan.
>>>
>>> I m am not too good with my Kannada, so I prefer sticking to English.
>>> The only time my son really listens to Marathi is when his grandparents
>>> come over," says Jyotsna.
>>>
>>> Many parents feel that the challenge is greater when there is no
>>> support
>>> system, in terms of extended family or grand-parents.
>>>
>>> Ashish and Shweta Khandelwal, are very keen that their kids speak both
>>> mothertongues. Says Ashish, "My elder daughter Vanshika can speak
>>> Marwari quite well.
>>>
>>> But it took some effort. My wife Shweta is from the North and doesn t
>>> speak Marwari at all. So it was primarily left to me to teach her the
>>> language.
>>>
>>>> From the beginning, I was very clear that I didn t want her talking
>>>> only
>>>
>>> in English. That attitude will make regional languages completely fade
>>> away," he warns.
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>
>