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Language repertoires and the middle class in urban Solomon Islands

  • Christine Jourdan
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Social Lives in Language – Sociolinguistics and multilingual speech communities
This chapter is in the book Social Lives in Language – Sociolinguistics and multilingual speech communities

Abstract

In Honiara, Solomon Islands, 64 vernacular languages coexist with Pijin, the lingua franca and linguistic cement of the town, and with English, the former colonial language. The chapter shows how the modalities of urban linguistic repertoires vary with different phases of Honiara’s transformation and with the life course of individuals. There is a reconfiguration of the linguistic repertoires of most urbanites and language shift for some, particularly the younger urban middle-class. The first section presents a background on multilingualism in the Solomon Islands and the typical linguistic repertoires prevalent before urbanization. An analysis of the development of the middle class in Honiara follows. Finally, it addresses the social forces shaping the language practices of the middle-class. The paper shows that, if societal language shift is the trend in Honiara, young members of the urban middle-class are at the forefront of this change.

Abstract

In Honiara, Solomon Islands, 64 vernacular languages coexist with Pijin, the lingua franca and linguistic cement of the town, and with English, the former colonial language. The chapter shows how the modalities of urban linguistic repertoires vary with different phases of Honiara’s transformation and with the life course of individuals. There is a reconfiguration of the linguistic repertoires of most urbanites and language shift for some, particularly the younger urban middle-class. The first section presents a background on multilingualism in the Solomon Islands and the typical linguistic repertoires prevalent before urbanization. An analysis of the development of the middle class in Honiara follows. Finally, it addresses the social forces shaping the language practices of the middle-class. The paper shows that, if societal language shift is the trend in Honiara, young members of the urban middle-class are at the forefront of this change.

Chapters in this book

  1. Prelim pages i
  2. Table of contents v
  3. Acknowledgements ix
  4. Introduction: Social lives in language 1
  5. Photos of Gillian: Then and now 17
  6. Biographies of contributors and email addresses 19
  7. Part I. Language Ideology: From the speakers, what can we learn about the language?
  8. Language, mobility and (in)security: A journey through Francophone Canada 27
  9. Language repertoires and the middle class in urban Solomon Islands 43
  10. Land, language and identity: The socio-political origins of Gurindji Kriol 69
  11. "I've been speaking Tsotsitaal all my life without knowing it": Towards a unified account of tsotsitaals in South Africa. 95
  12. Tok Bokis, Tok Piksa: Translating parables in Papua New Guinea 111
  13. Part II. Bridging Macro- and Micro-sociolinguistics
  14. Chiac in context: Overview and evaluation of Acadie's Joual 137
  15. How to predict the evolution of a bilingual community 179
  16. How local is local French in Quebec? 195
  17. Part III. Quantitative sociolinguistics: From the languages, what can we learn about the speakers?
  18. Ne deletion in Picard and in regional French: Evidence for distinct grammars 223
  19. The dynamics of pronouns in the Québec languages in contact dynamics 249
  20. Subordinate clause marking in Montreal Anglophone French and English 273
  21. Mysteries of the substrate 315
  22. Empirical problems with domain-based notions of "simple" 327
  23. Index of names 357
  24. Index of subjects 361
https://doi.org/10.1075/impact.24.07jou

Chapters in this book

  1. Prelim pages i
  2. Table of contents v
  3. Acknowledgements ix
  4. Introduction: Social lives in language 1
  5. Photos of Gillian: Then and now 17
  6. Biographies of contributors and email addresses 19
  7. Part I. Language Ideology: From the speakers, what can we learn about the language?
  8. Language, mobility and (in)security: A journey through Francophone Canada 27
  9. Language repertoires and the middle class in urban Solomon Islands 43
  10. Land, language and identity: The socio-political origins of Gurindji Kriol 69
  11. "I've been speaking Tsotsitaal all my life without knowing it": Towards a unified account of tsotsitaals in South Africa. 95
  12. Tok Bokis, Tok Piksa: Translating parables in Papua New Guinea 111
  13. Part II. Bridging Macro- and Micro-sociolinguistics
  14. Chiac in context: Overview and evaluation of Acadie's Joual 137
  15. How to predict the evolution of a bilingual community 179
  16. How local is local French in Quebec? 195
  17. Part III. Quantitative sociolinguistics: From the languages, what can we learn about the speakers?
  18. Ne deletion in Picard and in regional French: Evidence for distinct grammars 223
  19. The dynamics of pronouns in the Québec languages in contact dynamics 249
  20. Subordinate clause marking in Montreal Anglophone French and English 273
  21. Mysteries of the substrate 315
  22. Empirical problems with domain-based notions of "simple" 327
  23. Index of names 357
  24. Index of subjects 361
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