Ethnic Minority Languages in China: Policy and Practice 1501511513, 9781501511516

Citation preview

Copyright © 2020. De Gruyter, Inc.. All rights reserved.

Ethnic Minority Languages in China

Zhou, Qingsheng. Ethnic Minority Languages in China : Policy and Practice, De Gruyter, Inc., 2020. ProQuest Ebook Central, http://ebookcentral.proquest.com/lib/trinitycollege/detail.action?docID=6357833. Created from trinitycollege on 2023-04-19 10:34:56.

Language Policies and Practices in China

Edited by Li Wei (李嵬)

Copyright © 2020. De Gruyter, Inc.. All rights reserved.

Volume 5

Zhou, Qingsheng. Ethnic Minority Languages in China : Policy and Practice, De Gruyter, Inc., 2020. ProQuest Ebook Central, http://ebookcentral.proquest.com/lib/trinitycollege/detail.action?docID=6357833. Created from trinitycollege on 2023-04-19 10:34:56.

Zhou Qingsheng

Ethnic Minority Languages in China

Copyright © 2020. De Gruyter, Inc.. All rights reserved.

Policy and Practice

China Classics International Social Sciences Academic Press (China)

Zhou, Qingsheng. Ethnic Minority Languages in China : Policy and Practice, De Gruyter, Inc., 2020. ProQuest Ebook Central, http://ebookcentral.proquest.com/lib/trinitycollege/detail.action?docID=6357833. Created from trinitycollege on 2023-04-19 10:34:56.

Copyright © 2020. De Gruyter, Inc.. All rights reserved.

ISBN 978-1-5015-1502-6 e-ISBN (PDF) 978-1-5015-1183-7 e-ISBN (EPUB) 978-1-5015-1151-6 ISSN 2195-9838 Library of Congress Control Number: 2020944568 Bibliographic information published by the Deutsche Nationalbibliothek The Deutsche Nationalbibliothek lists this publication in the Deutsche Nationalbibliografie; detailed bibliographic data are available on the Internet at http://dnb.dnb.de. © 2020 Walter de Gruyter Inc., Boston/Berlin and China Classics International Typesetting: Integra Software Services Pvt. Ltd. Printing and binding: CPI books GmbH, Leck www.degruyter.com

Zhou, Qingsheng. Ethnic Minority Languages in China : Policy and Practice, De Gruyter, Inc., 2020. ProQuest Ebook Central, http://ebookcentral.proquest.com/lib/trinitycollege/detail.action?docID=6357833. Created from trinitycollege on 2023-04-19 10:34:56.

Copyright © 2020. De Gruyter, Inc.. All rights reserved.

Acknowledgments In the last ten years, I have been hosting or participating in many collaborative academic projects, especially the Green Paper on Language Life in China published every year. I have worked on it for eight years, so much so that I have had no time to pay attention to my personal work – not even to think about it. Three years ago, one of my old friends, Prof. Li Wei, who is the VicePresident of Birkbeck, University of London, Dean of the Birkbeck Graduate School, and Fellow of the British Academy, emailed me. He told me that he was helping the German publisher De Gruyter to compile a series of books, and he invited me to write a book in English on language policy and language use concerning ethnic minorities in China. This suggestion came as a surprise. I thought about it carefully. It was really worth doing. Then I started initial work on the manuscript. Song Yuehua, a teacher from the Social Sciences Academic Press, had worked with me for a period. At the beginning of 2012, she came to our institute to give us information on applying to various social scientific publication funds. She advised me to apply to the Social Sciences Academic Press for funding from the China Classics International Publishing Project. I did so, and it was a big surprise to me that my application was approved. Funding was now guaranteed for the English translation of the manuscript. After that, the Social Sciences Academic Press suggested that I apply to the CASS Philosophical and Social Sciences Innovation Project. This application was also successful, so the publication of the Chinese text was guaranteed funding. Chen Zhangtai, who is the former Executive Vice-Dean of the State Language Affairs Commission and a research fellow of the Institute of Applied Linguistics at the Ministry of Education, and Li Yuming, who is the former Vice-Dean of the State Language Affairs Commission and a professor at Beijing Language and Culture University, took time out of their busy schedules to write prefaces to this book. My book became much better due to their expert, comprehensive, and profound comments. Prof. Li Wei provided valuable ideas and suggestions on how to compile and choose chapters and sections. Moreover, he wrote a preface for this book. Mr. Liu Dan, from the Social Sciences Academic Press, read through the whole manuscript and provided many very constructive and valuable suggestions. He made great efforts in editing and publishing the book. The book Yuyan Shenghuo yu Yuyan Zhengce: Zhongguo Shaoshu Minzu Yanjiu (Language Life and Language Policies: Studies on Ethnic groups Minorities in China) was published in 2015. This book is a translated English version of the https://doi.org/10.1515/9781501511837-202

Zhou, Qingsheng. Ethnic Minority Languages in China : Policy and Practice, De Gruyter, Inc., 2020. ProQuest Ebook Central, http://ebookcentral.proquest.com/lib/trinitycollege/detail.action?docID=6357833. Created from trinitycollege on 2023-04-19 10:35:08.

VI

Acknowledgments

Copyright © 2020. De Gruyter, Inc.. All rights reserved.

book, but cut some chapters from the Chinese version. The contents and the framework of the book are almost the same as the Chinese version. The overwhelming bulk of the translation was done by Zheng Wuxi, from the School of Chinese Language and Literature at South China Normal University. Without the good opportunities, suggestions, and assistance provided to me by the above-mentioned teachers and friends, it would have been impossible for me to publish the book now. I would like to express my heartfelt thanks to the above-mentioned people, the China Classics funding scheme, and the Innovation Project publishing fund of CASS. Due to limited time and personal fallibility, mistakes in the book are unavoidable. Comments are welcome.

Zhou, Qingsheng. Ethnic Minority Languages in China : Policy and Practice, De Gruyter, Inc., 2020. ProQuest Ebook Central, http://ebookcentral.proquest.com/lib/trinitycollege/detail.action?docID=6357833. Created from trinitycollege on 2023-04-19 10:35:08.

Copyright © 2020. De Gruyter, Inc.. All rights reserved.

Acknowledgments In the last ten years, I have been hosting or participating in many collaborative academic projects, especially the Green Paper on Language Life in China published every year. I have worked on it for eight years, so much so that I have had no time to pay attention to my personal work – not even to think about it. Three years ago, one of my old friends, Prof. Li Wei, who is the VicePresident of Birkbeck, University of London, Dean of the Birkbeck Graduate School, and Fellow of the British Academy, emailed me. He told me that he was helping the German publisher De Gruyter to compile a series of books, and he invited me to write a book in English on language policy and language use concerning ethnic minorities in China. This suggestion came as a surprise. I thought about it carefully. It was really worth doing. Then I started initial work on the manuscript. Song Yuehua, a teacher from the Social Sciences Academic Press, had worked with me for a period. At the beginning of 2012, she came to our institute to give us information on applying to various social scientific publication funds. She advised me to apply to the Social Sciences Academic Press for funding from the China Classics International Publishing Project. I did so, and it was a big surprise to me that my application was approved. Funding was now guaranteed for the English translation of the manuscript. After that, the Social Sciences Academic Press suggested that I apply to the CASS Philosophical and Social Sciences Innovation Project. This application was also successful, so the publication of the Chinese text was guaranteed funding. Chen Zhangtai, who is the former Executive Vice-Dean of the State Language Affairs Commission and a research fellow of the Institute of Applied Linguistics at the Ministry of Education, and Li Yuming, who is the former Vice-Dean of the State Language Affairs Commission and a professor at Beijing Language and Culture University, took time out of their busy schedules to write prefaces to this book. My book became much better due to their expert, comprehensive, and profound comments. Prof. Li Wei provided valuable ideas and suggestions on how to compile and choose chapters and sections. Moreover, he wrote a preface for this book. Mr. Liu Dan, from the Social Sciences Academic Press, read through the whole manuscript and provided many very constructive and valuable suggestions. He made great efforts in editing and publishing the book. The book Yuyan Shenghuo yu Yuyan Zhengce: Zhongguo Shaoshu Minzu Yanjiu (Language Life and Language Policies: Studies on Ethnic groups Minorities in China) was published in 2015. This book is a translated English version of the https://doi.org/10.1515/9781501511837-202

Zhou, Qingsheng. Ethnic Minority Languages in China : Policy and Practice, De Gruyter, Inc., 2020. ProQuest Ebook Central, http://ebookcentral.proquest.com/lib/trinitycollege/detail.action?docID=6357833. Created from trinitycollege on 2023-04-19 10:35:08.

VI

Acknowledgments

Copyright © 2020. De Gruyter, Inc.. All rights reserved.

book, but cut some chapters from the Chinese version. The contents and the framework of the book are almost the same as the Chinese version. The overwhelming bulk of the translation was done by Zheng Wuxi, from the School of Chinese Language and Literature at South China Normal University. Without the good opportunities, suggestions, and assistance provided to me by the above-mentioned teachers and friends, it would have been impossible for me to publish the book now. I would like to express my heartfelt thanks to the above-mentioned people, the China Classics funding scheme, and the Innovation Project publishing fund of CASS. Due to limited time and personal fallibility, mistakes in the book are unavoidable. Comments are welcome.

Zhou, Qingsheng. Ethnic Minority Languages in China : Policy and Practice, De Gruyter, Inc., 2020. ProQuest Ebook Central, http://ebookcentral.proquest.com/lib/trinitycollege/detail.action?docID=6357833. Created from trinitycollege on 2023-04-19 10:35:08.

Contents Acknowledgments List of Figures List of Tables

V XXIII

XXV

Copyright © 2020. De Gruyter, Inc.. All rights reserved.

Part 1: Overview Chapter 1 The social language situation in China 3 1.1 Introduction 3 1.2 The framework used to analyze the social language situation 3 1.2.1 The analytical framework proposed by Ouyang Jueya 3 1.2.2 The analytical framework proposed by Ferguson 4 1.2.3 The analytical framework employed in this chapter 5 1.3 Diversity of languages 6 1.3.1 Plurality in ethnicities, languages, and writing systems 6 1.3.2 Super-major languages and major languages 7 1.3.3 Summary 17 1.4 Dominant languages 17 1.4.1 Putonghua and standardized Chinese writing are unique languages used nationwide for writing in China 17 1.4.2 Mandarin Chinese is used the most for transregional and transnational communication in China 18 1.5 Further conclusions and problems 21 1.5.1 Problems regarding the development and use of transnational languages 21 1.5.2 Problems regarding bilingual education 21 1.5.3 Problems regarding language maintenance 21 1.5.4 Problems regarding endangered languages 22 Chapter 2 Requiring Putonghua as the common language and encouraging ethnolinguistic diversity: The development of language policy in China 23 2.1 Introduction 24 2.1.1 One common language and diversity in language use 24

Zhou, Qingsheng. Ethnic Minority Languages in China : Policy and Practice, De Gruyter, Inc., 2020. ProQuest Ebook Central, http://ebookcentral.proquest.com/lib/trinitycollege/detail.action?docID=6357833. Created from trinitycollege on 2023-04-19 10:35:19.

VIII

2.1.2 2.2

2.2.1 2.2.2

2.3 2.3.1 2.3.2 2.3.3

2.4 2.4.1 2.4.2 2.4.3

Copyright © 2020. De Gruyter, Inc.. All rights reserved.

2.5

2.5.1 2.5.2 2.6 2.6.1 2.6.2

Contents

A unified multi-ethnic country and unified multi-language policy 25 Promotion of cultural education and the establishment of a language policy of one common language and linguistic diversity 26 One common language: The development of cultural education and the writing system policy reform 27 Diversity: The construction of a regional ethnic autonomy system and the use and development of ethnic minority language and writing policies 30 Influences of leftism on the policy of one common language and linguistic diversity 32 Influences of leftism on policy regarding ethnic minority languages 32 The Cultural Revolution and the suspension of the policy of one common language and linguistic diversity 33 The tortuous development of the policy of one common language and linguistic diversity after the Cultural Revolution 33 Modernization and the development of the policy of one common language and linguistic diversity 35 Adjustment of language policy 36 One common language: The State’s promotion of Putonghua and standardized Chinese characters 36 Diversity: The use and development of ethnic minority languages 38 Initial establishment of the market economy and the promulgation and implementation of the “National law of commonly used languages and writing systems” 42 One common language: Language legislation 42 Diversity: Conservation and development of ethnic minority languages 47 Conclusion 50 Overt changes in language policy 50 New trends in language policy 51

Zhou, Qingsheng. Ethnic Minority Languages in China : Policy and Practice, De Gruyter, Inc., 2020. ProQuest Ebook Central, http://ebookcentral.proquest.com/lib/trinitycollege/detail.action?docID=6357833. Created from trinitycollege on 2023-04-19 10:35:19.

Contents

Part 2: Language life

Copyright © 2020. De Gruyter, Inc.. All rights reserved.

Chapter 3 The composition of the bilingual population in China 55 3.1 Ethnic composition of the bilingual population 55 3.1.1 Classification of the bilingual population of ethnic minorities 55 3.1.2 Ratio differences in terms of ethnic groups’ bilingual population 58 3.2 Composition of the bilingual population by age 58 3.2.1 Composition of bilingual speakers by age 58 3.2.2 Differences in the composition of ethnic groups’ bilingual population by age 61 3.3 Gender composition of the bilingual population 61 3.3.1 Gender composition of ethnic groups’ bilingual population 62 3.3.2 Differences between ethnic groups in terms of the gender composition of their bilingual populations 64 Chapter 4 Language, ethnicity, and identity in China 66 4.1 Criteria and practices of official ethnic recognition 66 4.2 Correspondence of language to ethnic group and language functions 70 4.2.1 One ethnicity, one language 70 4.2.2 One ethnicity, many languages 71 4.2.3 Many ethnicities, one language 71 4.2.4 Summary 72 4.3 Incongruities between language, ethnicity, and ethnic identity 72 4.3.1 Different origins, same ethnicity, different languages 73 4.3.2 Same origin, same ethnicity, different languages 74 4.3.3 Different origins, different ethnicities, same language 74 4.3.4 Same origin, different ethnicities, same language 75 4.4 Conclusion 76

Zhou, Qingsheng. Ethnic Minority Languages in China : Policy and Practice, De Gruyter, Inc., 2020. ProQuest Ebook Central, http://ebookcentral.proquest.com/lib/trinitycollege/detail.action?docID=6357833. Created from trinitycollege on 2023-04-19 10:35:19.

IX

Copyright © 2020. De Gruyter, Inc.. All rights reserved.

X

Contents

Chapter 5 The language situation of ethnic group in the transborder regions of China 77 5.1 Languages that are weak inside and strong outside China 78 5.1.1 Mongolian 79 5.1.2 Kazakh 79 5.1.3 Korean 79 5.1.4 Kyrgyz 80 5.1.5 Uzbek 81 5.1.6 Tajik 81 5.1.7 Gin 82 5.1.8 Russian 82 5.2 Languages that have the status of major languages both outside and inside China 82 5.2.1 Zhuang 83 5.2.2 Miao 83 5.2.3 Hani 83 5.2.4 Yao 84 5.2.5 Wa 84 5.2.6 Dai 85 5.2.7 Jingpo 85 5.2.8 Lahu 86 5.2.9 Lisu 86 5.3 Languages that have the status of a major language inside China but that of an ethnic minority language outside China 86 5.3.1 Uygur 86 5.3.2 Tibetan 87 5.3.3 Yi 87 5.3.4 Bouyei 88 5.4 Languages with the status of an ethnic minority language inside China but that of a major language outside China 88 5.4.1 Tatar 88 5.4.2 Deang 89 5.4.3 Lhoba 89 5.5 Languages that have the status of ethnic minority languages both inside and outside China 89 5.5.1 Blang 90 5.5.2 Achang 90

Zhou, Qingsheng. Ethnic Minority Languages in China : Policy and Practice, De Gruyter, Inc., 2020. ProQuest Ebook Central, http://ebookcentral.proquest.com/lib/trinitycollege/detail.action?docID=6357833. Created from trinitycollege on 2023-04-19 10:35:19.

Contents

5.5.3 5.5.4 5.5.5 5.5.6 5.5.7 5.5.8 5.5.9

Ewenki Monba Nu 91 Derung Oroqen Gelao Hezhen

90 91 92 92 92 93

Copyright © 2020. De Gruyter, Inc.. All rights reserved.

Chapter 6 An investigation into bilingualism in Dehong Dai 94 6.1 Research background and purposes 94 6.1.1 Background 94 6.1.2 Purposes 94 6.2 Research subjects and methods 95 6.2.1 Research subjects 95 6.2.2 Composition of the sample 95 6.2.3 Research methods 98 6.3 Statistical results 99 6.3.1 Bilingual use patterns 99 6.3.2 Patterns in the use of bilingual or multilingual writing systems 99 6.3.3 Scope of bilingual practice 101 6.4 Analysis and discussion 102 6.4.1 Proficient bilingual speakers and their ages 103 6.4.2 Proficient bilingual speakers and their educational attainment levels 103 6.4.3 Proficient bilingual speakers and their occupations 104 6.4.4 Gender and place of residence 104 6.5 Conclusion 105 Chapter 7 Language change and economic and social transition: The case of the Gin in China 107 7.1 Introduction 107 7.2 The Gin monolinguals and shallow-sea fishing 108 7.3 Gin–Cantonese bilingualism and the project of enclosing tideland for cultivation 108 7.4 Multilingualism and the development of trade and tourism 110

Zhou, Qingsheng. Ethnic Minority Languages in China : Policy and Practice, De Gruyter, Inc., 2020. ProQuest Ebook Central, http://ebookcentral.proquest.com/lib/trinitycollege/detail.action?docID=6357833. Created from trinitycollege on 2023-04-19 10:35:19.

XI

XII

7.5 7.6

Contents

Enthusiasm for Gin and Vietnamese and the establishment of the China–ASEAN Free Trade Area 111 Conclusions 113

Part 3: Language variation and change Chapter 8 Overview of language variation 117 8.1 Language differences in different villages 117 8.1.1 Influences caused by family names and migration 8.1.2 Influences of language contact 119 8.2 Gender-based language differences 119 8.3 Age differences in language use 122

Copyright © 2020. De Gruyter, Inc.. All rights reserved.

Chapter 9 The categories of language variation 125 9.1 Social variation 125 9.1.1 Social hierarchical variation 125 9.1.2 Social relationship variations 127 9.2 Variation by role 128 9.2.1 Teknonymy 130 9.2.2 Tekeisonymy 130 9.3 Religious variation 131 9.3.1 Buddhist terms 132 9.3.2 Laic terms 132 9.4 Socio-psychological variation 132 9.5 Contextual variation 133 Appendix: The categories of language variation

118

136

Chapter 10 Variation of kinship terms in Dai 137 10.1 Introduction 137 10.2 Quoting terms and addressing terms 138 10.3 Ranking terms and explanatory terms 140 10.4 Buddhist terms and laic terms 143 10.5 Matrilocal and patrilocal terms 146 10.6 Teknonymy and tekeisonymy 146 10.7 Endearing terms and general terms 153 10.8 Hierarchical addressing terms 156

Zhou, Qingsheng. Ethnic Minority Languages in China : Policy and Practice, De Gruyter, Inc., 2020. ProQuest Ebook Central, http://ebookcentral.proquest.com/lib/trinitycollege/detail.action?docID=6357833. Created from trinitycollege on 2023-04-19 10:35:19.

XIII

Contents

Chapter 11 Hierarchical structures and social functions of personal names in the Dai ethnic group 163 11.1 Introduction 163 11.2 The social background and classification of names 164 11.3 Nicknames: Structures, implications, and functions 166 11.3.1 Hierarchical structures and cultural implications of nicknames 166 11.3.2 Structural categories of nicknames 168 11.3.3 Social functions of nicknames 168 11.4 Buddhist names: Structures, implications, and functions 170 11.4.1 Rules for conversion to Buddhism and returning to secular life, and hierarchical rules for monks 170 11.4.2 Hierarchical structures and cultural implications of Buddhist names 172 11.4.3 Structural categories and functions of Buddhist names 174 11.5 Laic names: Structures, implications, and functions 176 11.5.1 Lifespan of laic names 176 11.5.2 Hierarchical structures and cultural implications of laic names 176 11.5.3 Structural categories and functions of laic names 179 11.6 Officials’ names: Structures, implications, and functions 181 11.6.1 Officials’ names and official hierarchies 181 11.6.2 Hierarchical structures and cultural implications of officials’ names 182 11.6.3 Structural categories and social functions of officials’ names 186 11.7 Conclusion 187

Copyright © 2020. De Gruyter, Inc.. All rights reserved.

Part 4: Language maintenance Chapter 12 Language loss and language maintenance: The example of Tungus 12.1 Hezhen 191 12.2 Ewenki 192 12.3 Oroqen 193 12.4 Conclusion 194

Zhou, Qingsheng. Ethnic Minority Languages in China : Policy and Practice, De Gruyter, Inc., 2020. ProQuest Ebook Central, http://ebookcentral.proquest.com/lib/trinitycollege/detail.action?docID=6357833. Created from trinitycollege on 2023-04-19 10:35:19.

191

XIV

Contents

Part 5: Language policies and practices

Copyright © 2020. De Gruyter, Inc.. All rights reserved.

Chapter 13 Language policies and practices for ethnic groups introduced by the Kuomintang and the Communist Party of China during the National Government period (1927–1949) 199 13.1 The Kuomintang’s language policies and practices in border areas 199 13.1.1 Policies on frontier languages 199 13.1.2 Educational language policies in the frontier regions 203 13.2 Language policies and practices relating to ethnic groups enacted by the Communist Party 207 13.2.1 General policy: Adhering to national equality and unity, and developing ethnic languages and writing systems 207 13.2.2 Respecting ethnic languages and writing systems, prohibiting language discrimination, and maintaining ethnic unity 209 13.2.3 The use and development of ethnic languages and writing systems 210 13.2.4 Assisting ethnic minorities in the cultural and educational enterprise of native languages and writing systems 214 Chapter 14 Ethnic language policies and their implementation during the reform and opening-up period 217 14.1 Social and historical background 217 14.1.1 Placing ethnic languages on the agenda of ethnicity-related work 217 14.1.2 Effects of the National Language Work Conference 218 14.1.3 New situations and new problems for work relating to ethnic languages 219 14.1.4 Production of documents 220 14.2 Primary content of the new policies 220 14.2.1 Conclusions for ethnic language work 220 14.2.2 Guidelines and tasks regarding ethnic languages 224 14.2.3 Measures where ethnic languages are concerned 226 14.3 Effects of implementing new policies 230 14.3.1 Political life 230 14.3.2 Legal systems 230

Zhou, Qingsheng. Ethnic Minority Languages in China : Policy and Practice, De Gruyter, Inc., 2020. ProQuest Ebook Central, http://ebookcentral.proquest.com/lib/trinitycollege/detail.action?docID=6357833. Created from trinitycollege on 2023-04-19 10:35:19.

Contents

14.3.3 14.3.4 14.3.5 14.3.6 14.3.7

Copyright © 2020. De Gruyter, Inc.. All rights reserved.

14.4 14.4.1 14.4.2 14.4.3 14.4.4 14.4.5 14.4.6

Ethnic language translation, publication, news, broadcasting, and film 233 Education 233 Normalization, standardization, and information technology 234 Different ethnicities learning languages and writing systems from one another 237 Transprovincial, transregional, transindustrial, and transdepartmental cooperation 237 Conclusion 238 The principle of language equality 238 The principle of context-specific guidance 239 The principle of voluntary choice 239 The principle of acting cautiously and safely 239 The principle of learning about one another 239 The principle of transprovincial cooperation 240

Chapter 15 Comparison of language laws in Tibet and Xinjiang 241 15.1 Introduction 241 15.2 Language laws in Tibet 242 15.2.1 Social and historical background 242 15.2.2 Language issues and “Several regulations on studying, using, and developing Tibetan in the Tibet Autonomous Region (trial implementation)” 243 15.2.3 The reasons for and significance of revising the “Old regulations” 244 15.3 Language laws in Xinjiang 248 15.3.1 Social and historical background 248 15.3.2 Production of the “Regulations on languages and writing systems of the Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region” 249 15.3.3 The “Old regulations” and their significance 251 15.3.4 Main content of the “New regulations” 253 15.4 Comparison of language laws and regulations 256 15.4.1 Similarities in language legislation between Xinjiang and Tibet 256 15.4.2 Differences in language legislation between Tibet and Xinjiang 257 15.5 Conclusion 259

Zhou, Qingsheng. Ethnic Minority Languages in China : Policy and Practice, De Gruyter, Inc., 2020. ProQuest Ebook Central, http://ebookcentral.proquest.com/lib/trinitycollege/detail.action?docID=6357833. Created from trinitycollege on 2023-04-19 10:35:19.

XV

XVI

Contents

Chapter 16 Challenges and opportunities for ethnic minority languages in a time of social transformation 260 16.1 Introduction 260 16.2 Five challenges 261 16.2.1 Ethnic minority language communities are shrinking 262 16.2.2 Challenges to ethnic minority writing systems brought about by market competition 264 16.2.3 Impacts of population movements on bilingual education in the Korean ethnic group 264 16.2.4 Impacts of reform on Mongolian education 265 16.2.5 Competition and permeation from outside China 266 16.3 Five opportunities 267 16.3.1 The State releases new documents on ethnic minority languages and writing systems 267 16.3.2 The State vigorously promotes the information processing and normalization of ethnic languages 268 16.3.3 The government organizes the rescue of endangered languages 269 16.3.4 Bilingual lawsuits and trials increase the demand for bilingual judges 271 16.3.5 International trade inspires a craze for ethnic minority languages 272 16.4 Conclusion: Ethnic minority languages from “usage and development” to “scientific protection” 273

Copyright © 2020. De Gruyter, Inc.. All rights reserved.

Part 6: Innovation in and reform of writing systems Chapter 17 The creation of writing systems and nation-building 277 17.1 Introduction 277 17.2 Nation-building and the creation of writing systems 277 17.2.1 The social situation of China’s writing systems 277 17.2.2 National-political development and the creation of writing systems 278 17.2.3 National-cultural development and activity concerning the creation of writing systems 279 17.3 The official status of Roman letters 281 17.3.1 Formulation of the scheme for Hanyu Pinyin Fang’an 281

Zhou, Qingsheng. Ethnic Minority Languages in China : Policy and Practice, De Gruyter, Inc., 2020. ProQuest Ebook Central, http://ebookcentral.proquest.com/lib/trinitycollege/detail.action?docID=6357833. Created from trinitycollege on 2023-04-19 10:35:19.

Contents

17.3.2 17.3.3 17.4 17.4.1 17.4.2 17.5 17.6

Copyright © 2020. De Gruyter, Inc.. All rights reserved.

17.6.1 17.6.2 17.7

XVII

Suggestions by the elite 282 Experience of creating Roman writing systems in the Soviet Union 283 The process of creating new writing systems 284 The exploratory stage (February 1951 to December 1955) 284 The full-scale stage (December 1955 to December 1958) 284 New Roman writing systems meet with misfortune 286 Successes and problems in the creation of writing systems 287 Successes 287 Difficult problems 289 Rethinking the creation of writing systems 290

Chapter 18 The creation and trial implementation of the Eastern Guizhou Miao writing system 293 18.1 Social language background 293 18.2 Formation and revision of the writing system of Eastern Guizhou Miao 294 18.2.1 The draft on the writing system of Eastern Guizhou Miao (1956) 295 18.2.2 The first revision (1956–1957) 296 18.2.3 The second revision (1958) 297 18.2.4 The third revision (1982) 298 18.3 Situation and effects of the implementation of the current Miao writing system 299 18.3.1 From the initial stage to the middle stage: The trial situation in the 1950s 299 18.3.2 From the recovery stage to the development stage: Trials in the 1980s 301 18.4 Evaluation and reflection in different social sectors 315 18.4.1 Attitudes towards the writing system of Eastern Guizhou Miao and implementation of the Miao writing system 315 18.4.2 Satisfaction with the usage situation of Eastern Guizhou Miao 316 18.4.3 Attitudes about whether the Eastern Miao writing system is useful or not 318 18.4.4 The purpose and significance of learning the writing system of Eastern Guizhou Miao 318 18.4.5 Parents choosing schools for their children 319

Zhou, Qingsheng. Ethnic Minority Languages in China : Policy and Practice, De Gruyter, Inc., 2020. ProQuest Ebook Central, http://ebookcentral.proquest.com/lib/trinitycollege/detail.action?docID=6357833. Created from trinitycollege on 2023-04-19 10:35:19.

XVIII

Contents

18.4.6 18.4.7

Opinions on bilingual education 319 Views on the methods for eradicating illiteracy in rural areas 319 Primary experiences of trial work 319 Experiences of creating and revising the writing system of Eastern Guizhou Miao 319 Primary experiences of trial work on the writing system for Eastern Guizhou Miao 320 Conclusion 321

18.5 18.5.1 18.5.2 18.6

Copyright © 2020. De Gruyter, Inc.. All rights reserved.

Chapter 19 Three major reforms of writing systems in Xinjiang and Mongolia 322 19.1 Currently used traditional writing systems 322 19.1.1 Arabic 322 19.1.2 Traditional Mongolian scripts 323 19.2 The first major change of alphabets: Cyrillization 324 19.2.1 Social and historical background 324 19.2.2 Xinjiang 325 19.2.3 Inner Mongolia 327 19.3 The second major alphabet reform: Romanization 329 19.3.1 Social and historical background 329 19.3.2 Basic principles of designing alphabets for ethnic minority languages 330 19.3.3 Steps of the second writing system reform 331 19.4 The third major alphabet reform: Nationalization 332 19.4.1 Social and historical background 332 19.4.2 Returning to old scripts 333 19.5 Conclusion 333 Chapter 20 Assessment of the theory and practice of the standardization of the Yi writing system 335 20.1 Introduction 335 20.2 The background to and development of the standard Yi writing system 335 20.3 Contributions of the successful standardization of the Yi writing system to the theory of the reform of writing systems 338 20.3.1 Romanization principles 338 20.3.2 The national aspect, supplemented by romanization 340

Zhou, Qingsheng. Ethnic Minority Languages in China : Policy and Practice, De Gruyter, Inc., 2020. ProQuest Ebook Central, http://ebookcentral.proquest.com/lib/trinitycollege/detail.action?docID=6357833. Created from trinitycollege on 2023-04-19 10:35:19.

Contents

20.4 20.5

Influences of the standard Yi writing system Conclusion 343

XIX

343

Part 7: Bilingual education and motivations for second language acquisition

Copyright © 2020. De Gruyter, Inc.. All rights reserved.

Chapter 21 The development and problems of bilingual education in China 347 21.1 Introduction 347 21.2 The development of modern bilingual education in China 348 21.2.1 The initial foundation period (1905–1946) 348 21.2.2 The later foundation and development period (1947–1958) 350 21.2.3 The slow development and stagnation period (1959–1976) 353 21.2.4 The recovery and rapid development period (1977–1987) 354 21.3 Problems and suggestions 355 21.3.1 Educational efficiency and language barriers 355 21.3.2 Leaders’ attitudes and organizations 357 21.3.3 Devising bilingual education plans 358 21.3.4 Education policies and education legislation 359 Chapter 22 Types of bilingual education in China 360 22.1 Introduction 360 22.1.1 Overview of research outside of China 360 22.1.2 Overview of research in China 361 22.2 Classification 362 22.2.1 Types of bilingual teaching plan 362 22.2.2 Types of bilingual education system 366 22.3 Characteristics 367 22.3.1 Types of writing systems use and types of bilingual education 367 22.3.2 Distribution characteristics 369 22.4 Conclusion 370

Zhou, Qingsheng. Ethnic Minority Languages in China : Policy and Practice, De Gruyter, Inc., 2020. ProQuest Ebook Central, http://ebookcentral.proquest.com/lib/trinitycollege/detail.action?docID=6357833. Created from trinitycollege on 2023-04-19 10:35:19.

Copyright © 2020. De Gruyter, Inc.. All rights reserved.

XX

Contents

Chapter 23 A report on transitions between bilingual teaching models in China 378 23.1 The current situation in the implementation of bilingual teaching models 379 23.1.1 Five patterns of regional distribution 379 23.1.2 Use of the five patterns for different languages 380 23.2 Achievements and characteristics 383 23.2.1 The quality of bilingual Korean–Mandarin education in northeastern China is excellent 383 23.2.2 Bilingual education in ethnic languages and Mandarin in Xinjiang develops rapidly 383 23.2.3 Mandarin-teaching schools establish ethnic minority languages curricula 384 23.2.4 Rescuing and preserving endangered languages and passing on ethnic cultures 384 23.2.5 Overseas children come to China to receive bilingual Dai– Mandarin education 385 23.2.6 Creating the “Program for practical phonetic symbols for the Dongxiang language” and carrying out bilingual education 385 23.3 Debated topics 385 23.3.1 Heritage and development 385 23.3.2 Continuous decreases in the enrollment of students in bilingual schools 387 23.3.3 Insufficient numbers of bilingual teachers are restricting the development of bilingual education 387 23.4 Discussion 387 23.4.1 The correct way of dealing with the relationship between the national commonly used language and ethnic minority languages 387 23.4.2 Respecting and guaranteeing ethnic minorities’ right to use their native languages and writing systems and receive education 388 23.4.3 Revision of the bilingual teaching model 389 Chapter 24 Three transitions in ethnic minority language teaching models 391 24.1 The first transition: From frontier language education to ethnic language education (1930–1977) 391

Zhou, Qingsheng. Ethnic Minority Languages in China : Policy and Practice, De Gruyter, Inc., 2020. ProQuest Ebook Central, http://ebookcentral.proquest.com/lib/trinitycollege/detail.action?docID=6357833. Created from trinitycollege on 2023-04-19 10:35:19.

Contents

24.1.1 24.1.2 24.2 24.2.1 24.2.2 24.2.3 24.3

24.3.1 24.3.2

Copyright © 2020. De Gruyter, Inc.. All rights reserved.

24.3.3 24.3.4 24.4

Language education in border areas in the period of the Nanjing National Government 391 Ethnic language education in New China 393 The second transition: From ethnic language education to self-selected bilingual education (1978–2009) 395 Social background 395 Education in ethnic languages and Mandarin 396 The self-selected type of bilingual education 397 The third transition: From the self-selected type of bilingual education to the collectively agreed type of bilingual education (2010–present) 399 Social background 399 Enforcing Mandarin education in the process of bilingual education 400 The collectively agreed type of bilingual education 401 The need and policies for transformation 402 Conclusion 403

Chapter 25 Comparison of the motivations for second language acquisition among ethnic children 404 25.1 Research background and objectives 404 25.2 Research hypotheses 405 25.3 Research objects and methods 406 25.4 Statistical results 408 25.4.1 Frequency counts for the geographical distribution and motivations for Mandarin acquisition of ethnic children 408 25.4.2 Percentages of parents who encourage their child leaving home to go to school 408 25.5 Analysis and discussion 408 25.5.1 Comparative analysis of motivations for Mandarin acquisition 408 25.5.2 Comparative analysis of the degree of encouragement from parents 413 25.5.3 Discussion: The influences of cultural background 418 25.6 Conclusion 423

Zhou, Qingsheng. Ethnic Minority Languages in China : Policy and Practice, De Gruyter, Inc., 2020. ProQuest Ebook Central, http://ebookcentral.proquest.com/lib/trinitycollege/detail.action?docID=6357833. Created from trinitycollege on 2023-04-19 10:35:19.

XXI

XXII

Contents

Part 8: Conclusion Chapter 26 Constructing a harmonious language life 427 26.1 Language harmony and language development 428 26.2 Harmony between ethnic languages and Mandarin 428 26.3 Harmony between Putonghua and dialects 429 26.4 Harmony between the official language and folk languages 430 References 443

Copyright © 2020. De Gruyter, Inc.. All rights reserved.

Index

431

Zhou, Qingsheng. Ethnic Minority Languages in China : Policy and Practice, De Gruyter, Inc., 2020. ProQuest Ebook Central, http://ebookcentral.proquest.com/lib/trinitycollege/detail.action?docID=6357833. Created from trinitycollege on 2023-04-19 10:35:19.

List of Figures Bilingual patterns in the Dai ethnic group 100 Patterns of writing system use among ethnic Dai 100 Adoption of bilingualism among ethnic Dai for work and public affairs 101 Bilingualism in Dai people’s daily life 102 Proficient bilingual speakers and writing system users and their ages 103 Proficient bilingual speakers and their educational levels 104 Proficient bilingual speakers and their occupations 105 Gender ratios and places of residence of proficient bilingual speakers 105 Categories of language variation 136 Structural categories of nicknames in Dai (“~” indicates “without stable formation”) 169 Figure 11.2 Structural categories of Buddhist names in Dai (“Ø” indicates a zero form, “~” indicates names without stable forms) 175 Figure 11.3 Structural categories of names used on resuming secular life in Dai (“Ø” indicates a zero form, “~” represents a term without stable form) 180

Copyright © 2020. De Gruyter, Inc.. All rights reserved.

Figure 6.1 Figure 6.2 Figure 6.3 Figure 6.4 Figure 6.5 Figure 6.6 Figure 6.7 Figure 6.8 Figure 9.1 Figure 11.1

https://doi.org/10.1515/9781501511837-204

Zhou, Qingsheng. Ethnic Minority Languages in China : Policy and Practice, De Gruyter, Inc., 2020. ProQuest Ebook Central, http://ebookcentral.proquest.com/lib/trinitycollege/detail.action?docID=6357833. Created from trinitycollege on 2023-04-19 10:35:29.

Copyright © 2020. De Gruyter, Inc.. All rights reserved. Zhou, Qingsheng. Ethnic Minority Languages in China : Policy and Practice, De Gruyter, Inc., 2020. ProQuest Ebook Central, http://ebookcentral.proquest.com/lib/trinitycollege/detail.action?docID=6357833. Created from trinitycollege on 2023-04-19 10:35:29.

List of Tables Table 1.1 Table 1.2 Table 1.3 Table 1.4 Table 3.1 Table 3.2 Table 3.3 Table 4.1 Table 4.2 Table 4.3 Table 4.4 Table 6.1 Table 6.2 Table 6.3 Table 7.1 Table 7.2 Table 8.1 Table 8.2 Table 8.3 Table 8.4 Table 9.1 Table 9.2

Copyright © 2020. De Gruyter, Inc.. All rights reserved.

Table 9.3 Table 9.4 Table 9.5 Table 10.1 Table 10.2 Table 10.3 Table 10.4

The super-major and major language situation in China 8 The situation of ethnic minority languages in China 10 Extreme-ethnic minority languages in China 12 Situations where ethnic minorities speak both Mandarin Chinese and other ethnic minorities’ languages 18 Ethnic composition of the bilingual population in China from 1986 to 1988 56 Composition of the bilingual population in China by age from 1986 to 1988 59 Gender composition of the bilingual population in China from 1986 to 1988 62 Ethnic minorities in China 67 Officially recognized ethnicities in China 69 Relationships between language and ethnicity in China 72 Incongruities between language, ethnicity, and ethnic identity 76 Gender, educational level, and age composition of the sample 96 Respondents’ residence, marital status, and occupation 97 Subjects’ professional fields 98 Statistics on Chinese loanwords in the Gin language 109 Ethnicity and language in the ten countries of ASEAN 112 Phonological comparison of Zhuang language varieties in the unincorporated villages of Wulong Village 118 Lexical comparison of gender-based differences in the Wenshui dialects of the Taiya language 120 Changes in consonant clusters by age group in the Qiang ethnic groups in Li County 122 Phonological variation in the Mian language as spoken by the Longsheng Yao people 123 Examples of the system of honorific terms in Tibetan 126 Comparison of common and intimate forms of personal pronouns in the Dai language 128 Personal pronouns indicating vertical relations in the Dai language 129 Examples of the emotional variation of the classifier ge in the Miao used in Weining, Guizhou Province 133 Phonological comparison of spoken and written language in the Tianjun variety of the Amdo dialect of Tibetan 134 Comparison of quoting terms and addressing terms for relatives from the same generation in Dai 139 Structural analysis and examples of explanatory terms with explained names in Dai 142 Examples of explanatory terms without explained names in Dai 143 Hybrid Buddhist–laic terms for sisters/brothers from the same generation in Dai 145

https://doi.org/10.1515/9781501511837-205

Zhou, Qingsheng. Ethnic Minority Languages in China : Policy and Practice, De Gruyter, Inc., 2020. ProQuest Ebook Central, http://ebookcentral.proquest.com/lib/trinitycollege/detail.action?docID=6357833. Created from trinitycollege on 2023-04-19 10:35:45.

XXVI

List of Tables

Copyright © 2020. De Gruyter, Inc.. All rights reserved.

Table 10.5

Comparison of teknonymic and quoting terms in the generation of the addressee’s parents and in the same generation as the addressee in the Dai ethnic group 148 Table 10.6 Comparison of tekeisonymy of the full-name type as applied to the generation below the addresser in Mengla Township, Jinghong City, and Menghai Township 151 Table 10.7 Comparison of endearing terms, quoting terms, and teknonyms used by the same generation as the addressee in Dai 153 Table 10.8 Comparison of endearing terms and addressing terms of the younger generation in Dai 155 Table 10.9 Comparison of kinship terms used in Xuanweijie by the topmost Dai leader and those used by commoners 159 Table 10.10 Comparison of kinship terms in Xuanweijie used by the Weng level and by commoners 160 Table 10.11 Comparison of hierarchical kinship terms used by the Zhaozhuang nobility and by commoners in Xiangshan Township, Menghai County 161 Table 11.1 Hierarchical structures and cultural implications of nicknames in Dai 167 Table 11.2 Hierarchical structures and cultural implications of Buddhist names in Dai 173 Table 11.3 Hierarchical structures and cultural implications of laic names in Dai 177 Table 11.4 Hierarchical structures and cultural implications of officials’ names in Dai 183 Table 14.1 Regulations on languages and writing systems in autonomous ethnic regions (1987–2005) 231 Table 14.2 Roman alphabet transcriptions and codes for ethnic minority names in China (GB/T3304-1991; the release date is May 8, 2004) 235 Table 17.1 The programs for newly created writing systems in China in the 1950s 285 Table 17.2 Institutions of writing system creation and promotion in the 1950s 288 Table 17.3 Ethnic presses publishing in the new writing systems 289 Table 18.1 Statistics on Eastern Miao language courses in Guizhou secondary schools and colleges 304 Table 18.2 Comparison of Mandarin scores between bilingual classes and monolingual classes in Jiuyang Township, Jianhe County 306 Table 18.3 Statistics on publications in literature, the arts, and history written in the writing system of Eastern Guizhou Miao (1987–1995) 309 Table 18.4 Statistics on newspapers and journals written in ethnic writing systems in Guizhou Province between 1982 and 1995 310 Table 18.5 Social composition of the sample Miao population in South-eastern Guizhou Prefecture 316 Table 20.1 Comparison of features of the new, old, and standard Yi writing systems 342 Table 22.1 Statistics on bilingual education at high schools and primary schools in China 371 Table 23.1 Comparison of new and old bilingual teaching models 389

Zhou, Qingsheng. Ethnic Minority Languages in China : Policy and Practice, De Gruyter, Inc., 2020. ProQuest Ebook Central, http://ebookcentral.proquest.com/lib/trinitycollege/detail.action?docID=6357833. Created from trinitycollege on 2023-04-19 10:35:45.

List of Tables

Table 25.1

Table 25.2

Table 25.3 Table 25.4 Table 25.5

Copyright © 2020. De Gruyter, Inc.. All rights reserved.

Table 25.6

Frequency counts for the stated motivations for Mandarin acquisition and geographical distribution of ethnic children in Xishuangbanna, by ethnicity 409 Percentage of ethnic children’s parents in Xishuangbanna who encouraged their only child leaving home to go to school, by ethnicity 410 Summary of interaction analysis between ethnic groups by geographical distribution and motivation for Mandarin acquisition 412 Comparison of Z-values for parental encouragement of ethnic children by geographical distribution 414 Comparison of Z-values for the degree of parental encouragement for ethnic children of the same gender by geographical distribution 415 Comparison of Z-values for the degree of parental encouragement for ethnic children from the same area by geographical distribution 417

Zhou, Qingsheng. Ethnic Minority Languages in China : Policy and Practice, De Gruyter, Inc., 2020. ProQuest Ebook Central, http://ebookcentral.proquest.com/lib/trinitycollege/detail.action?docID=6357833. Created from trinitycollege on 2023-04-19 10:35:45.

XXVII

Copyright © 2020. De Gruyter, Inc.. All rights reserved. Zhou, Qingsheng. Ethnic Minority Languages in China : Policy and Practice, De Gruyter, Inc., 2020. ProQuest Ebook Central, http://ebookcentral.proquest.com/lib/trinitycollege/detail.action?docID=6357833. Created from trinitycollege on 2023-04-19 10:35:45.

Copyright © 2020. De Gruyter, Inc.. All rights reserved.

Part 1: Overview

Zhou, Qingsheng. Ethnic Minority Languages in China : Policy and Practice, De Gruyter, Inc., 2020. ProQuest Ebook Central, http://ebookcentral.proquest.com/lib/trinitycollege/detail.action?docID=6357833. Created from trinitycollege on 2023-04-19 10:35:45.

Copyright © 2020. De Gruyter, Inc.. All rights reserved. Zhou, Qingsheng. Ethnic Minority Languages in China : Policy and Practice, De Gruyter, Inc., 2020. ProQuest Ebook Central, http://ebookcentral.proquest.com/lib/trinitycollege/detail.action?docID=6357833. Created from trinitycollege on 2023-04-19 10:35:45.

Chapter 1 The social language situation in China 1.1 Introduction “Language situation” is a term often used in the sociolinguistic literature. In China, the phrase “language usage situation” is generally used. An analysis of the language usage situation may focus on a country, a geographical area, a ethnic groups, or an organization, and may typically cover a range of topics in relation to a community: historical background, geographical language, social language, law and politics, science and technology, commerce and trade, culture, and so forth. The social language situation mainly concerns the functional distribution, functional classification, and usage pattern of the different languages used in a community; it can also include people’s attitudes towards various languages or language variations. I propose an analytical framework on the basis of original data from the China–Canada collaboration project entitled The written language of the world: A survey of the degree and modes of use (China) (McConnell 1995) and previous work conducted in the field by Chinese and international scholars. I then use this analytical framework to describe the language situation in China. Such an account may be useful for revealing the basis and nature of a country’s current language policies, for assessing their future prospects, and for forecasting the developmental trends of that country’s language situation.

1.2 The framework used to analyze the social language situation

Copyright © 2020. De Gruyter, Inc.. All rights reserved.

1.2.1 The analytical framework proposed by Ouyang Jueya Ouyang Jueya (1994) has analyzed the language situation of ethnic minority languages in China. His analytical framework mainly includes the following elements: how an ethnic group uses its native language, how it uses those of other ethnic group(s), how it shifts from its native language to other languages, and how it uses written language. This framework uses five important concepts or terms. The first is “language use,” which refers to the use by any ethnic group of its native Note: The original version of this chapter was published in Yuyan yu renlei: Zhonghua minzu shehui yuyan toushi, 67–83. Minzu University Press, 2000. https://doi.org/10.1515/9781501511837-001

Zhou, Qingsheng. Ethnic Minority Languages in China : Policy and Practice, De Gruyter, Inc., 2020. ProQuest Ebook Central, http://ebookcentral.proquest.com/lib/trinitycollege/detail.action?docID=6357833. Created from trinitycollege on 2023-04-19 10:35:58.

Chapter 1 The social language situation in China 1.1 Introduction “Language situation” is a term often used in the sociolinguistic literature. In China, the phrase “language usage situation” is generally used. An analysis of the language usage situation may focus on a country, a geographical area, a ethnic groups, or an organization, and may typically cover a range of topics in relation to a community: historical background, geographical language, social language, law and politics, science and technology, commerce and trade, culture, and so forth. The social language situation mainly concerns the functional distribution, functional classification, and usage pattern of the different languages used in a community; it can also include people’s attitudes towards various languages or language variations. I propose an analytical framework on the basis of original data from the China–Canada collaboration project entitled The written language of the world: A survey of the degree and modes of use (China) (McConnell 1995) and previous work conducted in the field by Chinese and international scholars. I then use this analytical framework to describe the language situation in China. Such an account may be useful for revealing the basis and nature of a country’s current language policies, for assessing their future prospects, and for forecasting the developmental trends of that country’s language situation.

1.2 The framework used to analyze the social language situation

Copyright © 2020. De Gruyter, Inc.. All rights reserved.

1.2.1 The analytical framework proposed by Ouyang Jueya Ouyang Jueya (1994) has analyzed the language situation of ethnic minority languages in China. His analytical framework mainly includes the following elements: how an ethnic group uses its native language, how it uses those of other ethnic group(s), how it shifts from its native language to other languages, and how it uses written language. This framework uses five important concepts or terms. The first is “language use,” which refers to the use by any ethnic group of its native Note: The original version of this chapter was published in Yuyan yu renlei: Zhonghua minzu shehui yuyan toushi, 67–83. Minzu University Press, 2000. https://doi.org/10.1515/9781501511837-001

Zhou, Qingsheng. Ethnic Minority Languages in China : Policy and Practice, De Gruyter, Inc., 2020. ProQuest Ebook Central, http://ebookcentral.proquest.com/lib/trinitycollege/detail.action?docID=6357833. Created from trinitycollege on 2023-04-19 10:36:20.

4

Chapter 1 The social language situation in China

language. The second is “bilingualism,” a phenomenon where members of an ethnic group use not only the group’s own language but also those of other groups. The third is “language shift,” which happens when the use of an ethnic group’s native language ceases among some of its members, who shift to a different language altogether. The fourth is “original writing,” which refers to a writing system an ethnic group created prior to the founding of the People’s Republic of China. The fifth is “newly created writing.” It refers to the Pinyin system in the form of the Roman alphabet created in the 1950s. Experience shows that the analytical framework and terms mentioned above are suitable for describing the usage patterns of ethnic minorities’ languages and writing systems in China. However, they are not sufficient for describing the social language situation because they are not related to the various languages’ functional distributions and classifications.

Copyright © 2020. De Gruyter, Inc.. All rights reserved.

1.2.2 The analytical framework proposed by Ferguson Prior to the framework proposed by Ouyang Jueya, Ferguson, an American sociolinguist, proposed a framework for describing a country’s language situation (Ferguson 1971). He divided a country’s languages into three classes: major languages, ethnic minority languages, and languages of specific status. Three criteria are employed to evaluate whether a language is a major language in a country. First, it must be spoken as a native language by more than 25% of the population in the country, or by more than one million people. Second, the language must be an official language of the nation. Third, it must be the language of education of no less than 30% of the students who graduate from middle schools. If it satisfies one of these three criteria, the language can be regarded as a major language. Two criteria are used to identify a ethnic minority language. First, it must be spoken as a native language by less than 25% and more than 5% of the population, or by more than 100,000 people. Second, it must be used as a medium in the first years of primary school, and school textbooks, rather than primers, must be published in the language. As long as a language meets one of these two criteria, it can be classified as a ethnic minority language. The criteria for a language of special status are wider and include languages used at religious ceremonies, such as the Pali language spoken in Ceylon; languages used for literary purposes, such as the “classical” Chinese used in Taiwan; languages widely taught as independent subjects in secondary schools, such as French as taught in Spanish secondary schools; and languages

Zhou, Qingsheng. Ethnic Minority Languages in China : Policy and Practice, De Gruyter, Inc., 2020. ProQuest Ebook Central, http://ebookcentral.proquest.com/lib/trinitycollege/detail.action?docID=6357833. Created from trinitycollege on 2023-04-19 10:36:20.

1.2 The framework used to analyze the social language situation

5

acting as major languages for certain age groups of the population, such as Japanese as used by certain age groups in Taiwan. Ferguson also stated that the above-mentioned major and ethnic minority languages should be divided into two subclassifications: standard languages and vernacular languages. Ferguson divided language functions into four classes: “official language”; “group language,” spoken within a particular community and functioning to identify the group; “wider communicative language,” spoken within the nation; and “international language,” used to communicate with other nations. Ferguson used abbreviations to represent these classifications and functions, and then summarized a nation’s language situation in a simple formula. For example, the social language situation in Singapore is expressed as follows: 8L = 5Lmaj (Sow, Sowi, Soi, So, Vg) + 3Lmin (3Vg).

Copyright © 2020. De Gruyter, Inc.. All rights reserved.

In the formula, “L” denotes a language, “Lmaj” denotes a major language, “S” denotes a standard language, “o” denotes an official language, “w” denotes a wider communicative language, “i” denotes international communication, “g” denotes communication within a particular speech community, “V” denotes a vernacular language, and “Lmin” denotes a ethnic minority language. The formula shown above is to be read as follows: eight languages are composed of five major languages (including an official standard wider communicative language, an official standard wider international communicative language, an official international communicative standard language, an official standard language, and a group vernacular language) and three ethnic minority languages (three group vernacular languages). The formula proposed by Ferguson is concise and highlights the functional distribution and classification of language, but it does not refer to language usage patterns such as monolingual usage, bilingual usage, and language shift. Even if his formula is applied directly to describe the language situation in China, it will be difficult to reflect the situation comprehensively and accurately.

1.2.3 The analytical framework employed in this chapter Taking the actual situation into consideration, as well as taking advantage of the positive points in the two frameworks mentioned above, I propose a framework composed of the following five parts. The first part is language classification (family, group, branch, etc.). The second part is language usage patterns, such as use of a native language, use of a second language, language shift, and so forth.

Zhou, Qingsheng. Ethnic Minority Languages in China : Policy and Practice, De Gruyter, Inc., 2020. ProQuest Ebook Central, http://ebookcentral.proquest.com/lib/trinitycollege/detail.action?docID=6357833. Created from trinitycollege on 2023-04-19 10:36:20.

6

Chapter 1 The social language situation in China

The third part is language type, which contains four subtypes. The first subtype is a super-major language, which means a national language used as native language by more than a hundred million people. The second subtype is a major language, which means a language used as native language by more than one million people. The third subtype is a ethnic minority language, which means a language used as native language by less than one million and more than one hundred thousand people. The fourth subtype is an extreme-ethnic minority language, which means a language used as native language by less than one hundred thousand people. The fourth part is writing system type, which includes three subtypes. The first subtype is traditional writing, created before the end of the nineteenth century and still in use now; the second subtype is new writing, created between the end of the nineteenth century and the beginning of the foundation of the People’s Republic of China and still in use now; and the third subtype is newly created writing, established after the founding of the People’s Republic of China and still popular today. The fifth part is language function, which comes in seven subtypes: (1) languages used nationwide, that is, in all the areas and fields of a country; (2) languages used at national political meetings; (3) languages officially used by the United Nations; (4) language used regionwide, that is, in many fields in ethnic autonomous regions or places; (5) languages used regionally and in a minority of fields, such as primary education, illiteracy education, road signs, and plaques; (6) languages for communication among members of the same ethnic group, for example languages used by native ethnic families or ethnic communities living in non-urban areas; and (7) languages used for transborder communication, such as languages used for transnational non-governmental communication.

Copyright © 2020. De Gruyter, Inc.. All rights reserved.

1.3 Diversity of languages 1.3.1 Plurality in ethnicities, languages, and writing systems China is a united country composed of a vast diversity of ethnic groups, fifty-six in all. The Han are the dominant ethnic group and account for the majority of the country’s total population; the other fifty-five ethnic groups are ethnic minorities, which together account for 8% of the country’s total population (according to 1994 census data). Excluding the Hui and the Manchu, the ethnic minorities use up to sixty languages. Some scholars have suggested that the number of languages in China may exceed one hundred. Moreover, twenty ethnicities adopt thirty ethnic minority languages and writing systems. Some ethnicities use two

Zhou, Qingsheng. Ethnic Minority Languages in China : Policy and Practice, De Gruyter, Inc., 2020. ProQuest Ebook Central, http://ebookcentral.proquest.com/lib/trinitycollege/detail.action?docID=6357833. Created from trinitycollege on 2023-04-19 10:36:20.

1.3 Diversity of languages

7

or more spoken languages and writing systems. Linguistic diversity is particularly pronounced in China.

Copyright © 2020. De Gruyter, Inc.. All rights reserved.

1.3.2 Super-major languages and major languages The functional distribution of languages in northern China is distinct from that in southern China; the major languages distributed in southern China are different from one another. According to the above standards of classification, only Mandarin Chinese can be considered a super-major language in China, whereas twelve languages are considered major languages, including Mongolian, Tibetan, Uygur, Kazakh, Yi, and Zhuang (see Table 1.1). Tables 1.1–1.4 in this chapter are based on McConnell (1995: book 1). Of the twelve major languages besides Mandarin Chinese listed in Table 1.1, the first five are mostly distributed in northern China; moreover, these five languages are roughly identical and highly consistent with one another in terms of writing system type and language function. The latter seven languages shown in the table are distributed in southern China; none of these seven languages is used regionwide for speaking and writing. The major languages in southern China are, to a large extent, distinct from one another and display differences. Why are the languages in northern China largely consistent with one another in terms of functional distribution and classification, while those in southern China are quite different from one another? I believe that, apart from an ethnic group’s social, historical, and cultural background, this phenomenon may be related to geographical environments. Many northern ethnic groups live in vast pasturing grasslands and lead a nomadic lifestyle, which increases the frequency of communication, enlarges the range of contacts, and reduces the number of dialectal gaps caused by regional elements. Even if people live far away from each other, they can communicate with each other much more easily. In contrast, the southern ethnic groups practice farming in settlements, and the large number of high mountains reduces the frequency and scope of their communication. Over time, greater diversity has developed among the different dialects of the languages in the south than among the different dialects of the languages in the north. Table 1.2 displays fourteen ethnic minority languages in China. Kyrgyz is used regionwide, and the other thirteen languages are either used regionally or for communication among members of the same ethnic group. Table 1.3 shows thirty-two extreme-ethnic minority languages. Thirty-one languages are used either regionally or for communication among the members of an ethnic group; only the Xibe language is used regionwide.

Zhou, Qingsheng. Ethnic Minority Languages in China : Policy and Practice, De Gruyter, Inc., 2020. ProQuest Ebook Central, http://ebookcentral.proquest.com/lib/trinitycollege/detail.action?docID=6357833. Created from trinitycollege on 2023-04-19 10:36:20.

.

.

Mongolian Altaic (Mongolian)

Sino-Tibetan (Tibeto-Burman)

Altaic (Turkic)

Altaic (Turkic)

under discussion

Tibetan

Uygur

Kazakh

Korean .

.

.

,.

Sino-Tibetan

Mandarin

.

.

.

.

.

.

Number of % of the relevant native speakers ethnic group’s (in ,s) populationb

Groupa

Language

Table 1.1: The super-major and major language situation in China.

Copyright © 2020. De Gruyter, Inc.. All rights reserved.

major

major

major

major

major

supermajor

Language type

traditional

traditional

traditional

traditional

traditional

traditional

Writing system type

an official language in the Chinese government’s political meetings, regionwide, transborder communication between ethnic groups

an official language in the Chinese government’s political meetings, regionwide, transborder communication between ethnic groups

an official language in the Chinese government’s political meetings, regionwide, transborder communication between ethnic groups

an official language in the Chinese government’s political meetings, regionwide, transborder communication between ethnic groups

an official language in the Chinese government’s key political meetings,c regionally, transborder communication between ethnic groups

nationwide, an official language of the United Nations

Scope and functions of language use

8 Chapter 1 The social language situation in China

Zhou, Qingsheng. Ethnic Minority Languages in China : Policy and Practice, De Gruyter, Inc., 2020. ProQuest Ebook Central, http://ebookcentral.proquest.com/lib/trinitycollege/detail.action?docID=6357833. Created from trinitycollege on 2023-04-19 10:36:20.

Sino-Tibetan (Zhuang-Dong)

Sino-Tibetan (Miao-Yao)

Sino-Tibetan (Zhuang-Dong)

Sino-Tibetan (Zhuang-Dong)

Sino-Tibetan (Tibeto-Burman)

Sino-Tibetan (Tibeto-Burman)

Zhuang

Miao

Buyei

Dong

Hani

Bai .

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

major

major

major

major

major

major

major

newly created

newly created

newly created

new (five types)

newly created

communication among ethnic group member

regionally, transborder communication between ethnic groups

regionally

regionally, transborder communication between ethnic groups

regionally, transborder communication between ethnic groups

an official language in the Chinese government’s political meetings, regionally, transborder communication between ethnic groups

traditional an official language in the Chinese government’s (two types) political meetings, regionally, transborder communication between ethnic groups

b

Language families are followed by branches or groups in parentheses. As per the population census conducted in 1982 (summarized by electronic computer), the total population is 100,391,400,000. If other types of people and foreigners of Chinese nationality are not included, the actual total population of the country would be 100,310,930,000. c “Key political meetings” means the National Congress of the Communist Party of China, the National People’s Congress, and the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference.

a

Sino-Tibetan (Tibeto-Burman)

Yi

Copyright © 2020. De Gruyter, Inc.. All rights reserved.

1.3 Diversity of languages

Zhou, Qingsheng. Ethnic Minority Languages in China : Policy and Practice, De Gruyter, Inc., 2020. ProQuest Ebook Central, http://ebookcentral.proquest.com/lib/trinitycollege/detail.action?docID=6357833. Created from trinitycollege on 2023-04-19 10:36:20.

9

.

.

.

Sino-Tibetan (Zhuang-Dong)

Sino-Tibetan (Miao-Yao)

Sino-Tibetan (TibetoBurman)

Austro-Asiatic (Mon-Khmer)

Mian (Yao ethnic group)

Lisu

Bunu (Yao Sino-Tibetan ethnic group) (Miao-Yao)

Sino-Tibetan (TibetoBurman)

Li

Lahu

Wa

Zhou, Qingsheng. Ethnic Minority Languages in China : Policy and Practice, De Gruyter, Inc., 2020. ProQuest Ebook Central, http://ebookcentral.proquest.com/lib/trinitycollege/detail.action?docID=6357833. Created from trinitycollege on 2023-04-19 10:36:20.

.

.

.

.

Sino-Tibetan (Zhuang-Dong)

Dai

Number of native speakers (in ,s)

Groupa

Language

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

% of the relevant ethnic group’s populationb

Table 1.2: The situation of ethnic minority languages in China.

Copyright © 2020. De Gruyter, Inc.. All rights reserved.

minority

minority

minority

minority

minority

minority

minority

Language type

Scope and functions of language use

new

new

new (two types)

regionally, transborder communication between ethnic groups

regionally, transborder communication between ethnic groups

communication among members of the same ethnic group

regionally, transborder communication between ethnic groups

communication among members of the same ethnic group, transborder communication between ethnic groups

communication among members of the same ethnic group

traditional regionally, transborder communication (four types) between ethnic groups

Writing system type

10 Chapter 1 The social language situation in China

Sino-Tibetan (TibetoBurman)

Altaic (Mongolian)

Sino-Tibetan (TibetoBurman)

Sino-Tibetan (TibetoBurman)

Altaic (Turkic)

Altaic (Mongolian)

Naxi

Dongxiang

Tujia

Qiang

Kyrgyz

Tu .

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

minority

minority

minority

minority

minority

minority

minority

newly created

traditional

newly created

regionally

regionwide, transborder communication between ethnic groups

communication among members of the same ethnic group

communication among members of the same ethnic group

communication among members of the same ethnic group

Regionally

communication among members of the same ethnic group

b

Language families are followed by branches or groups in parentheses. As per the population census conducted in 1982 (summarized by electronic computer), the total population is 100,391,400,000. If other types of people and foreigners of Chinese nationality are not included, the actual total population of the country would be 100,310,930,000.

a

Sino-Tibetan (Zhuang-Dong)

Shui

Copyright © 2020. De Gruyter, Inc.. All rights reserved.

1.3 Diversity of languages

Zhou, Qingsheng. Ethnic Minority Languages in China : Policy and Practice, De Gruyter, Inc., 2020. ProQuest Ebook Central, http://ebookcentral.proquest.com/lib/trinitycollege/detail.action?docID=6357833. Created from trinitycollege on 2023-04-19 10:36:20.

11

Groupa

Tibeto-Burman (Zhuang-Dong)

Altaic (Mongolian)

Sino-Tibetan (TibetoBurman)

Sino-Tibetan (TibetoBurman)

Altaic (Turkic)

Sino-Tibetan (TibetoBurman)

Language

Mulam

Daur

Zaiwa (Jingpo ethnic group)

Gyalrong (Tibetan ethnic group)

Salar

Blang .

.

.

.

.

.

Number of native speakers (in ,s)

Table 1.3: Extreme-ethnic minority Languages in China.

Copyright © 2020. De Gruyter, Inc.. All rights reserved.

.

.

.

.

.

.

% of the relevant ethnic group’s populationb

extrememinority

extrememinority

extrememinority

extrememinority

extrememinority

extrememinority

Language type

newly created

Writing system type

communication among ethnic group members, transborder communication between ethnic groups

communication among ethnic group members

communication among ethnic group members

regionally, transborder communication between ethnic groups

communication among ethnic group members, transborder communication between ethnic groups

communication among ethnic group members

Scope and functions of language use

12 Chapter 1 The social language situation in China

Zhou, Qingsheng. Ethnic Minority Languages in China : Policy and Practice, De Gruyter, Inc., 2020. ProQuest Ebook Central, http://ebookcentral.proquest.com/lib/trinitycollege/detail.action?docID=6357833. Created from trinitycollege on 2023-04-19 10:36:20.

Sino-Tibetan (Zhuang-Dong)

Altaic (ManchuTungusic)

Sino-Tibetan (TibetoBurman)

Indo-European (Indo-Iranian)

Sino-Tibetan (TibetoBurman)

Altaic (ManchuTungusic)

Sino-Tibetan (TibetoBurman)

Austro-Asiatic (Mon-Khmer)

Maonan

Xibe

Jingpo

Tajik

Achang

Ewenki

Jino

Deang

Copyright © 2020. De Gruyter, Inc.. All rights reserved.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

extrememinority

extrememinority

extrememinority

extrememinority

extrememinority

extrememinority

extrememinority

extrememinority

new

new

Zhou, Qingsheng. Ethnic Minority Languages in China : Policy and Practice, De Gruyter, Inc., 2020. ProQuest Ebook Central, http://ebookcentral.proquest.com/lib/trinitycollege/detail.action?docID=6357833. Created from trinitycollege on 2023-04-19 10:36:20.

(continued )

communication among ethnic group members, transborder communication between ethnic groups

communication among ethnic group members

communication among ethnic group members, transborder communication between ethnic groups

communication among ethnic group members, transborder communication between ethnic groups

communication among ethnic group members, transborder communication between ethnic groups

regionally, transborder communication between ethnic groups

regionwide

communication among ethnic group members

1.3 Diversity of languages

13

Groupa

Sino-Tibetan (TibetoBurman)

Sino-Tibetan (TibetoBurman)

Altaic (Mongolian)

under discussion

Sino-Tibetan (Zhuang-Dong)

Sino-Tibetan (Zhuang-Dong)

Sino-Tibetan (TibetoBurman)

Language

Nusu (Nu ethnic group)

Derung

Bonan

Gin

Lakkia (Yao ethnic group)

Gelao

Tsangluo language (Monba Ethnic group)

Table 1.3 (continued)

Copyright © 2020. De Gruyter, Inc.. All rights reserved.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

Number of native speakers (in ,s)

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

% of the relevant ethnic group’s populationb

extrememinority

extrememinority

extrememinority

extrememinority

extrememinority

extrememinority

extrememinority

Language type

Writing system type

communication among ethnic group members, transborder communication between ethnic groups

communication among ethnic group members

communication among ethnic group members

communication among ethnic group members, transborder communication between ethnic groups

communication among ethnic group members

communication among ethnic group members, transborder communication between ethnic groups

communication among ethnic group members, transborder communication between ethnic groups

Scope and functions of language use

14 Chapter 1 The social language situation in China

Zhou, Qingsheng. Ethnic Minority Languages in China : Policy and Practice, De Gruyter, Inc., 2020. ProQuest Ebook Central, http://ebookcentral.proquest.com/lib/trinitycollege/detail.action?docID=6357833. Created from trinitycollege on 2023-04-19 10:36:20.

Altaic (ManchuTungusic)

Altaic (ManchuTungusic)

Altaic (Mongolian)

Altaic (ManchuTungusic)

Altaic (Turkic)

Sino-Tibetan (TibetoBurman)

Sino-Tibetan (TibetoBurman)

Altaic (Turkic)

Uzbek

Western Yugur (Yugur ethnic group)

Eastern Yugur (Yugur ethnic group)

Oroqen

Tuva (Mongolian ethnic group)

Lhoba

Monba language (Monba ethnic group)

Tatar

Copyright © 2020. De Gruyter, Inc.. All rights reserved.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.