The Status of Minority Languages in Deeply Divided Societies

Abstract

Determination of an official language is one of the most complex and important tasks befalling every multilinguistic state. This decision is political in nature. Its impact for members of linguis- tic minorities is fateful due to its effect on these groups socioeco- nomic status, as well as their collective identity. This article analyzes how two deeply divided democracies - India and Israel - deter- mined and implemented language policies with respect to two major minority languages - Urdu and Arabic, respectively. The policy of secular democratic India regarding Urdu, a language of its Mus- lims minority, is compared with that of Israel, an ethnic democracy, regarding Arabic, the language of its Arabic Palestinian minority. The findings indicate that both states have consigned the minority language to a marginal position on the public stage. In addition, significant differences are found between formal policy and political practices in linguistic matters, especially true in the case of Israel.

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