Language shift from a nonspeaker perspective: Themes in the accounts of linguistic practices of first-generation non-Swedish speakers in Gammalsvenskby, Ukraine

Abstract

Abstract In this article, the collective language shift from Swedish to Ukrainian in the traditionally Swedish-speaking community of Gammalsvenskby is studied particularly through interview data from sixteen first-generation nonspeakers of the heritage language. The article argues that it is not enough to study collective language shift merely from the point of view of the last-speaker generation, but that the nonspeaker generation's views are also needed to understand and describe language shift, since they are also participants in language shift. Two themes, seemingly central in language shift research, are explored: agency in language nontransmission, and external pressure on heritage-language speakers to conform linguistically. The conclusion of the study is that most of the interviewed nonspeakers see the language shift mainly as a pragmatic development, although some also quote external pressure as a factor. (Language shift, Gammalsvenskby, nonspeaker)*

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