Comparative analysis of language minorities: A sociopolitical framework

Abstract

Much research has been devoted to comparative analysis of language minorities from the perspective of sociolinguistics. This research has focused primarily on trends in language contacts, including diglossia, bi‐ and multi‐lingualism, goegraphical and circumstantial patterns of language use, the birth of hybrid sublanguage forms (argots, dialects, creolisation, etc.), and minority language loss or decline. While language has long been recognised by scholars as a possible key component of ethnic identification, hence of nationalism or its minority form, ethnonationalism, relatively limited attention has been paid directly to the political context of minority language trends. This paper represents an attempt at synthesis of theoretical typologies in the fields of ethnic relations, studies in ethnonationalism, and sociolinguistics, developed by the author over the past decade (Anderson, 1978, 1979, 1980, 1981, 1983, 1986, 1987, 1989; Anderson & Frideres, 1981). Based on this earlier work, the present paper provides a sociopolitical framework, in the form of several revised typologies for analysing various types of ethnolinguistic minority situations, of alternative state policies toward minorities, of minority responses to state policies, and finally of considerations relating specifically to minority languages. Throughout this theoretical discussion, reference is made to particular minority situations in Europe, North America, and the Third World.

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