美国加州维塞利亚镇拉祜族家庭的母语传承

A Survey on the Mother Tongue Transmission in Lahu Families in Visalia,California,USA

家庭,是语言使用的一个重要社会单位,又是语言得以生存和延续的一个阵地。家庭代际语言使用的变化反映出语言变化的趋势。生活在美国加州维塞利亚镇的拉祜族,他们的婚姻既有族内婚姻又有族际婚姻,由于环境的影响和制约,族际婚姻呈上升趋势。本文以5个族际婚姻的拉祜族家庭为例,通过调查他们的语言使用情况,找出他们家庭代际语言使用的差异和影响因素,发现是否族际婚姻对拉祜语的传承具有关键的影响,家庭和教堂是拉祜语使用传承的主要场所,进而说明语言认同乃至身份认同并不完全受地域限制。

This paper studies intergenerational language transmission within an immigrant community in the United States, and analyzes the impact of marriage on language use in family settings. Family is not only an important social unit where language is used, but it is also a sanctuary where language is maintained and transferred. Intergenerational language shift in domestic contexts reflects the trend of language shift in the community. Based on our interviews of five Lahu families in Visalia California, both endogamy and intermarriage as well as different patterns of family language use are found. Due to the limit of the social environment, intermarriage appears to be increasing. Our findings demonstrates that endogamy facilitates mother tongue transmission while intermarriage leads to intergenerational language shift.