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11 Wakhi in New York: Multilingualism and Language Contact in a Pamiri Diaspora Community

  • Ross Perlin , Daniel Kaufman , Habib Borjian and Husniya Khujamyorova
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Iranian and Minority Languages at Home and in Diaspora
This chapter is in the book Iranian and Minority Languages at Home and in Diaspora

Abstract

Pamiri languages, which make up a sizeable group within the Eastern Iranian language family, are spoken today in an areal continuum in the high-mountain region where the national borders of Tajikistan, Afghanistan, Pakistan, and China meet. Within just the last few decades, increasing outmigration from the region and new patterns of global mobility have resulted in a small but growing Pamiri community in New York City. The Endangered Language Alliance (ELA), a non-profit research organization founded in 2010, has been engaged in documenting several Pamiri languages. This paper provides a sociolinguistic description of this, still relatively small and young, community within the current universal trend of mass migration from remote rural areas to megacities. Two sample texts conclude the paper, analyzing contact effects and language attrition in Wakhi, one of the Pamiri languages now spoken in New York City.

Abstract

Pamiri languages, which make up a sizeable group within the Eastern Iranian language family, are spoken today in an areal continuum in the high-mountain region where the national borders of Tajikistan, Afghanistan, Pakistan, and China meet. Within just the last few decades, increasing outmigration from the region and new patterns of global mobility have resulted in a small but growing Pamiri community in New York City. The Endangered Language Alliance (ELA), a non-profit research organization founded in 2010, has been engaged in documenting several Pamiri languages. This paper provides a sociolinguistic description of this, still relatively small and young, community within the current universal trend of mass migration from remote rural areas to megacities. Two sample texts conclude the paper, analyzing contact effects and language attrition in Wakhi, one of the Pamiri languages now spoken in New York City.

Chapters in this book

  1. Frontmatter I
  2. Acknowledgements V
  3. Foreword VII
  4. Contents IX
  5. 1 Introduction 1
  6. Part I: Iranian Minority Languages
  7. 2 At the Crossroads: Caspian Languages through a Sociolinguistic Lens 9
  8. 3 Mazandarani: Current Status and Future Prospects 37
  9. 4 Balochi: Literary Development, Status and Vitality 61
  10. 5 Attitudes Towards Tati Language Among its Native Speakers in Western Iran 83
  11. 6 The Bakhtiari Language: Maintenance or Shift? A Diachronic Survey on the Status of Bakhtiari in the City of Masjed Soleiman between 1996–2020 111
  12. Part II: Non-Iranian Minority Languages
  13. 7 Ebb and Flow of Azeri and Persian in Iran: A Longitudinal Study in the City of Zanjan 177
  14. 8 Language Shift and Language Maintenance among Turkmen Speakers 205
  15. 9 Language Change and Maintenance among Mandaic Speakers of Iran: A Socio-linguistic Study 231
  16. 10 Armenian Language and Identity in Iran: The Case of Iranian Armenians of Isfahan 249
  17. Part III: Iranian Heritage Languages in Diaspora
  18. 11 Wakhi in New York: Multilingualism and Language Contact in a Pamiri Diaspora Community 273
  19. 12 Language Maintenance and Language Shift: A Perspective from the First- Generation and Second-Generation Pashto Speakers Living in the United States and Canada 305
  20. 13 Persian as a Diasporic Language in the United States: A Survey of Heritage Persian Learners at College Level 333
  21. Index 379
https://doi.org/10.1515/9783110694277-011

Chapters in this book

  1. Frontmatter I
  2. Acknowledgements V
  3. Foreword VII
  4. Contents IX
  5. 1 Introduction 1
  6. Part I: Iranian Minority Languages
  7. 2 At the Crossroads: Caspian Languages through a Sociolinguistic Lens 9
  8. 3 Mazandarani: Current Status and Future Prospects 37
  9. 4 Balochi: Literary Development, Status and Vitality 61
  10. 5 Attitudes Towards Tati Language Among its Native Speakers in Western Iran 83
  11. 6 The Bakhtiari Language: Maintenance or Shift? A Diachronic Survey on the Status of Bakhtiari in the City of Masjed Soleiman between 1996–2020 111
  12. Part II: Non-Iranian Minority Languages
  13. 7 Ebb and Flow of Azeri and Persian in Iran: A Longitudinal Study in the City of Zanjan 177
  14. 8 Language Shift and Language Maintenance among Turkmen Speakers 205
  15. 9 Language Change and Maintenance among Mandaic Speakers of Iran: A Socio-linguistic Study 231
  16. 10 Armenian Language and Identity in Iran: The Case of Iranian Armenians of Isfahan 249
  17. Part III: Iranian Heritage Languages in Diaspora
  18. 11 Wakhi in New York: Multilingualism and Language Contact in a Pamiri Diaspora Community 273
  19. 12 Language Maintenance and Language Shift: A Perspective from the First- Generation and Second-Generation Pashto Speakers Living in the United States and Canada 305
  20. 13 Persian as a Diasporic Language in the United States: A Survey of Heritage Persian Learners at College Level 333
  21. Index 379
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