The Anong language: studies of a language in decline
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Sun Hongkai
Abstract
Research and investigation of Anong started in 1960. Except for the long interruption during the Cultural Revolution, we did follow-up fieldwork on Anong a number of times at quite regular intervals to collect additional data. Altogether seven fieldwork trips were undertaken over a span of 43 years ending in the fall of 2003. Forty years is a very short time period in terms of diachronic development of a language. Therefore, we should not expect to see a lot of changes in Anong over such a short period of time. However, it is noteworthy that during those years, the region inhabited by the Anong underwent tremendous changes. Revolutionary changes took place in economy, transportation, commerce, culture and education, health, and communications. A once closed Anong society suddenly opened its doors to allow other ethnic groups to come in and settle down in their midst, which led to cross-marriages between Anong and other ethnic minorities. At the same time, some Anong traveled freely from their villages to other places to go to school, to seek employment opportunities, to engage in business activities, and so on. Interactions and communications between various ethnic groups reached unprecedented width and depth. These social changes have been reflected in the Anong language. Data collected from different time periods indicate that the Anong language is undergoing some changes.
© Walter de Gruyter
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Articles in the same Issue
- Introduction: language policy and language endangerment in China
- A dialect murders another dialect: the case of Hakka in Hong Kong
- Tungusic: an endangered language family in Northeast Asia
- Contact, attrition, and structural shift: evidence from Oroqen
- Diachronic and synchronic overview of the Tujia language of Central South China
- Survey of the current situation of Laomian and Laopin in China
- Language revitalization or dying gasp? Language preservation efforts among the Bisu of Northern Thailand
- The Anong language: studies of a language in decline
- Sanie and language loss in China
- A vanishing language: the case of Xiandao
- Book review
