多语社会中的多语家庭--布鲁塞尔三个多语家庭的语言实践

Multilingual Families in a Multilingual Society:The Language Practices of Three Multilingual Families in Brussels, Belgium

布鲁塞尔是比利时的首都,官方实行双语制(荷兰语-法语),实际上是一个多语化城市,如今城中跨国家庭和多语家庭正日趋普遍。本文简要介绍了布鲁塞尔和比利时的语言生活,对布城及周边3个(语言)背景迥异的多语家庭的语言实践进行了讨论。调查显示,3个家庭的内部交流方式均比他们自己宣称的要更为灵活多样。由此可见,多语家庭的语言构成比当前社会对他们的现有分类要更加复杂和多维。

In Brussels, the officially bilingual(Dutch-French) yet effectively multilingual capital of Belgium, transnational and multilingual families are becoming less and less exceptional. After a brief introduction to the linguistic situation in Brussels and Belgium, this paper discusses the language practices of three multilingual families from different(linguistic) backgrounds, living in and around Brussels. The findings illustrate how these families, regardless of their linguistic background, develop ways of interacting with each other that are far more dynamic and flexible than what they themselves claim to be doing. As a result, the linguistic makeup of these families is more complex and multifaceted than how it is presently being categorized by society.