Language attitudes as a change agent for language vitality : a case study of two Khoesan languages in Platfontein (RSA).
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Date
2017
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Abstract
Khoesan languages are considered an endangered language family. This study investigates how
language attitudes influence language vitality intergenerationally in a case study of two
Khoesan languages, namely !Xun and Khwedam. The case study investigates two extended
families, one of !Xun, one of Khwedam speakers, respectively, in Platfontein, South Africa.
Language attitudes are defined according to the tripartite model first suggested by Baker
(1992:15) consisting of (1) knowledge (contextual knowledge), (2) emotion (emotional
reactions) and (3) behaviour (behavioural predispositions). Language attitudes were determined
through an ethnographic approach that included interviews and observations over a period of
two years. Moreover, extra-linguistic factors were considered in the assessment of language
attitudes in this study. Results reveal that both the !Xun and the Khwe family expressed indepth
knowledge of the social, political, historical and economical significance of their mother
tongues. Emotional reactions towards their mother tongues were strongly positive for both
speech communities. However, among the !Xun the ancestral language was especially revered.
This difference in attitudes may reflect differences in the family trees of the two extended
families investigated: The !Xun family consists of five generations with a number of family
members who are older than 60 years residing in Platfontein. In contrast, this older generation
is absent in the Khwe family. Perceived language use as accounted for by participants and as observed in the field, revealed
that speakers of both languages predominately used their mother tongue in and around the
home. A change in lifestyle from nomadic hunter gatherers to a ‘westernised’ sedentary life
resulted in the loss of cultural practices, such as traditional wedding ceremonies and traditional
trance dance healing practices. Lifestyle changes, furthermore introduced ‘new’ language
settings, such as formal education, formal employment, government services, church, media
and technology, which are largely inaccessible in Khoesan languages. Hence, strong positive
language attitudes towards their mother tongue may not suffice to secure the vitality of !Xun
and the Khwedam spoken by these families. Without intervention, a language shift to Afrikaans,
the socially and politically dominant language in the area, is likely to occur in these families.
Description
Doctor of Philosophy in Linguistics. University of KwaZulu-Natal. Durban, 2017.