Small languages and small language communities 72

Jim Hlavac,

doi:10.1515/ijsl-2012-0056

Article

Small languages and small language communities 72

Jim Hlavac,

Published/Copyright: September 14, 2012

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From the journal International Journal of the Sociology of Language Volume 2012 Issue 217

Abstract

This study focuses on a situation of retentive multilingualism and transmission of more than one language in the diaspora. The population in question are bi- or multilinguals who, in an immigrant situation, added a further language, English, to their repertoire. Sixty-six Iraq-born informants who identified as Chaldeans or Assyrians now living in Melbourne, Australia were interviewed about their nominated “first” language, situation and context of acquisition, self-declared level of proficiency and notions of attachment towards and co-identification with respective languages. Proficiency and use of Chaldean and Assyrian remain high among respondents, despite these languages' level of endangerment in Iraq. Only five informants had shifted to Arabic as their “dominant” language. However, Arabic has become, and remains, an established code in in-group situations. Although contact with Arabic-speaking Iraqis and non-Iraqi Arabic-speakers is significant, it is the established status of Arabic as a “complementary” code in Chaldean and Assyrian in-group interactions that accounts for why informants view Arabic as one of their languages alongside their L1, and, to a lesser extent, English. Desire for language maintenance applies chiefly to informants' L1, but also to Arabic, confirmed by data showing informants' practices in maintaining both codes and positive affective responses to them both. In contrast, informants express distance towards Kurdish. The connections between this pattern of language maintenance and attitudes and the social and political situation of the emigrants in Iraq and Australia will be discussed.

Keywords: multilingualism; Chaldeans; Assyrians; language maintenance; language attitudes; Iraqi diaspora

Published Online: 2012-09-14

Published in Print: 2012-09-13

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Articles in the same Issue

https://doi.org/10.1515/ijsl-2012-0056

Keywords for this article

multilingualism; Chaldeans; Assyrians; language maintenance; language attitudes; Iraqi diaspora