Offers a sociolinguistic appraisal of the representation of languages (as "languages" or "dialects") in the Indian census, with special reference to the status of Maithili. Classifying Maithili as an independent language threatens the homogeneity of the "Hindi belt"; conversely, treating it as a Hindi dialect might…

It is argued that the relationship between Kiswahili and ethnic community languages in Tanzania is not diglossic. The paper applies definitions/redefinitions to the Tanzanian sociolinguistic profile, considers Tanzanian language policy, suggests the basic tenets of diglossia do not apply, and proposes another term for the Kiswahili relationship…

Focuses on the quest of contested speech forms for legitimacy as languages rather than dialects, the distinction being explored solely in a political context. Suggests that although the European Union supports the role of nation states in the legitimization of languages, the regular use of French and English has enhanced the status of these two…

Examines whether Greek Cypriots regard the presence of certain sounds in their dialect as harsher and less pleasant than their corresponding underlying phonemes in standard Modern Greek. (Author/VWL)

This study concerns the urban vernacular "Leewarders" and the two other languages, Dutch and Frisian, spoken in Leeuwarden, Netherlands. The study was carried out by interviews, a survey, a variant of the matched-guise experiment, and participant observation. (JL)

Describes the situation of minority languages and Chinese dialects, discusses and analyzes language planning and language reform of spoken Chinese, summarizes language achievements made through China's educational system, and discusses the problems that remain for spoken language reform in China. (25 references) (Author/CB)

Introduces some of the factors that have facilitated the standardization process and the concomitant deterioration of the Ryukyuan vernacular languages in southern Japan, and points out that present patterns of language use in the area suggest the language death of Ryukyuan and the society's impending shift to monolingualism in Standard Japanese.…

General survey of history of Ingrian Finns and discussion of Ingrian Finnish dialect are presented. On the basis of morphological analysis of interviews with Ingrian Finns in Canada, Sweden, and Russia, an attempt is made to ascertain how Ingrian Finnish dialects have been preserved or changed in different parts of the world and under the…

Results of a study of language ability from the first census in the republic of Vanuatu in Melanesia are reported. They show that it is necessary to consider a wide range of demographic information to be able to estimate how many people speak a particular vernacular. (Contains 12 references.) (Author/LB)

Posits two hypotheses arising from the great immigration to Sweden and the immigrants' use and learning of Swedish: (1) Swedish as used by immigrant children may show certain features, related to a creolization process; and (2) the Swedish language may in future show signs of influence from the varieties used by persons with immigrant background.…

Surveys administered to 823 Chinese in Taiwan to measure the extent of language maintenance of mother dialects and shift toward use of Mandarin revealed a substantial shift toward the use of Mandarin. Successive family generations increasingly used Mandarin, and Mandarin was generally recognized as a common language for intergroup communication.…

Examines issues related to Cyprus's current sociolinguistic situation, where language is central in defining the identity of Greek Cypriots. Discusses linguistic practices of Cypriots described in various studies covering the diglossic situation in Cyprus, language and identity, attitudes toward dialect, language attitudes and how they affect…

Study of Danish language needs of an immigrant student leads to the assertion that concepts pertaining to first- and second-language vocabulary need revision, particularly regarding certain minority languages and certain fields, including the distinction between "active" and "passive" vocabulary and first-language and…

Summarizes contact-linguistic research on the Samis and Finns, the northernmost minorities in Scandinavia. The monolingual view of northern Scandinavian languages in the past is complemented with a multilingual perspective of the interaction between minority and larger languages. Among contact patterns discussed are North Germanic-Sami,…

Describes a Danish language-attitude study, arguing that views presented in the literature often differ from people's private uncensored stereotypes. Surveys of people from four regions in Denmark investigated their attitudes after listening to voices with seven different regional dialects. Results indicated that people assigned social-class…