LIN251H1 Chapter Notes - Chapter 3: Language Shift, Chewa Language, Ethnolinguistics
Document Summary
When communities become aware of their speakers moving from one lag to another, they usually make efforts to maintain their own lang. Language stability (where 2 langs coexist over a long period of time) can occur (ex. Swedish and finnish in finland), but is more rare. Lang contact occurs as a result of mobility (current, recent or historical past: reasons involving migration: exploration, business, conflict (ex. refugees of war), colonization, work, religion, education, tourism. Colonizing langs may: wipe out local langs (ex. how latin created french and portuguese, be absorbed by them, remain locally significant, become lost without trace. Contact leads to lang maintenance or lang shift (the extremes being lang death or creation) Lang contact can occur from media (from scrolls/sacred texts of past to smartphone of today) Can be: broadly public: prestigious" according to dominant society (used in education, media, gov"t law, parliament, religion, business, commerce, private: includes communication among family, friends, community, local commercial activity)
