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Title: Methods for Modeling Social Factors in Language Shift

Citation Type: Working Paper

Publication Year: 2016

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Abstract: In this paper we expand our understanding of language endangerment by shifting the focus from small language communities to minority language communities with speaker populations in the millions. We argue for a methodological shift toward examining language shift scenarios more broadly and quantitatively for two main reasons: 1) it is becoming increasingly clear that a large speaker population does not protect against language shift (Anderbeck 2013); 2) we need to make a distinction between the symptoms and the causes of language shift, where factors such as a dwindling number of child speakers should be seen as symptoms of language shift that are caused by other factors (Himmelmann 2010). In this paper we use Indonesia as a case study and analyze a sample of the 2010 census. We treat language choice as a sociolinguistic variable and analyze the correlation between six social factors and language choice (local languages vs. the national language, Indonesian). These results provide a starting point for creating more comprehensive models of the sociolinguistics of language shift.

Url: http://repository.upenn.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1922&context=pwpl

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Authors: Abtahian, Maya R; Cohn, Abigail C; Pepinsky, Thomas

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Publication Number: 2

Institution: University of Pennsylvania

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Publisher Location: Pittsburgh, PA

Data Collections: IPUMS International

Topics: Other

Countries: Indonesia