Minorities and Language

TY - CHAP

T1 - Minorities and Language

AU - Gorter, D.

N1 - 2nd edition. K. Brown (ed in chief). doi:10.1016/B0-08-044854-2/01295-5

PY - 2006

Y1 - 2006

N2 - The relationship between minorities and language is complicated and related to the development of nation-states. Language minorities, as a social group, are distinguished from minority languages. The definition of minority is problematic. The size of a minority can differ widely. For membership, there is the issue of who counts as a speaker. Important frameworks are discussed. The model of 'ethnolinguistic vitality' measures chances for survival as a distinctive community. The GIDS scale (Graded Intergenerational Disruption Scale) assigns a key role to language group reproduction in reversing language shift (RLS). The policy-to-outcome path uses capacity, opportunity, and desire as central conditions for minority languages to be used.

AB - The relationship between minorities and language is complicated and related to the development of nation-states. Language minorities, as a social group, are distinguished from minority languages. The definition of minority is problematic. The size of a minority can differ widely. For membership, there is the issue of who counts as a speaker. Important frameworks are discussed. The model of 'ethnolinguistic vitality' measures chances for survival as a distinctive community. The GIDS scale (Graded Intergenerational Disruption Scale) assigns a key role to language group reproduction in reversing language shift (RLS). The policy-to-outcome path uses capacity, opportunity, and desire as central conditions for minority languages to be used.

M3 - Chapter

SP - 156

EP - 159

BT - Encyclopedia of Language and Linguistics

PB - Elsevier B.V.

CY - London

ER -