The interaction of age,second language,types of code-alternation and multilingualism in the Zauzou community

Abstract

Aims and objectives:

This paper describes the multilingualism patterns practiced in the Zauzou community, a small ethnic group in Southwestern China. Zauzou is in contact with Lisu, Bai, Lama, and Mandarin Chinese. The present study aims to characterize the relationship between the social/linguistic factors including age, second language (L2), types of code-alternation, and the multilingualism patterns in this community.

Design/methodology/approach:

Self-reports and participant observation were used to discover any recurrent multilingualism patterns regulated by social/linguistic factors.

Data and analysis:

Self-reported data on Zauzou speakers’ language repertoire and language use were collected by means of demographic survey. Code-alternation between Zauzou and different L2s were collected from systematic linguistic fieldwork.

Findings/conclusions:

Zauzou is the dominant language in intragroup multilingualism, while intergroup multilingualism is dominated by Zauzou speakers’ L2s. Zauzou speakers exhibit a shift from the local multilingualism toward Mandarin-Zauzou bilingualism. The two patterns can be characterized by speakers’ age, L2, and the type of code-alternation. Zauzou-Mandarin bilingualism is realized as both code-mixing and code-switching, and is pervasive among the younger generation, while multilingualism is realized as code-switching and is dominant among older speakers. This shift is due to the new market economy and the language policy that promotes Mandarin in the whole area.

Originality:

This study presents naturalistic data on multilingualism practices in a small minority group in China, which is overlooked by most linguistic descriptions and sociolinguistic studies of lesser-studied languages in China.

Significance/implications:

This paper discovers three parameters to define two cross-linguistic multilingualism patterns in small indigenous societies: the local multilingualism and the national bilingualism, and the shift toward bilingualism that directly results from language policy and economy.

Keywords

Zauzou multilingualism Tibeto-Burman code-switching language contact

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