Societal multilingualism in Hong Kong

Abstract

This chapter discusses societal multilingualism in Hong Kong with reference to the colonial history and post-colonial development of this remarkable city-state since the resumption of Chinese sovereignty in 1997. In its survey of the macro-sociolinguistics of contemporary Hong Kong, it begins with a description of the linguistic diversity of the community, as well as the linguistic difficulties faced by ethnic minorities. The article later proceeds to a discussion of language policies, language use, and language debates related to the politics of language in a Chinese society struggling to maintain the high degree of political and linguistic autonomy promised by the policy of ‘one country, two systems’. In this context, the future maintenance of Cantonese as the predominant language of Hong Kong society is seen very much at stake.

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