What Is Language Shift? Language shift occurs in a community which involves multiple spoken languages when members abandon their original vernacular language for another1. And such interesting phenomenon is observed in the Wu family. While both Chiu Chownese and Cantonese are available, members in the Wu family incline to give up on Chiu Chownese for Cantonese. Speakers allocate different languages in different domains such as family, friendship and employment2. And such allocation leaves a clue to whether Chiu Chownese will be maintained. Away from Chiu Chownese while Towards Cantonese The Oldest Generation
As for Grandpa Wu and Grandma Wu, they come from Chiu Chow and their first language is Chiu Chownese. They settled in Hong Kong with their son Papa Wu in their fifties. After living in Hong Kong for about thirty years, they can understand most of the Cantonese but can only speak a few. Chiu Chownese is the only language they use with their family and friends in Chiu Chow. They sometimes code-switch between Chiu Chownese and Cantonese when communicating with a few friends in Hong Kong.
The Second Generation Papa Wu was born and raised in Chiu Chow. When he was eighteen, he moved to Hong Kong with his parents and his wife Mama Wu. Cantonese is his second language which he self-learnt from watching television in Hong Kong. Papa Wu is bilingual in Chiu Chownese and Cantonese. He talks only in Chiu Chownese to Grandpa Wu and Grandma Wu and to his Chiu Chownese employees in his restaurant. Although he tends to use Chiu Chownese when he is with his Chiu Chownese friends in Hong Kong, he sometimes code-switches between Chiu Chownese and Cantonese when he talks to his Chiu Chownese friends and customers who live in Hong Kong. At home, he always talks in Cantonese with his wife and children. But he sometimes code-switches between Chiu Chownese and Cantonese. Therefore, Papa Wu uses Chiu Chownese and Cantonese rather evenly and does code-switching between the two quite often.
The Youngest Generation In comparison, the language allocation of the youngest generation is quite different from that of the previous generations. Instead of Chiu Chownese, Cantonese becomes the most actively used language in the youngest generation. Among the four siblings, only Cantonese is used. Although Emily the oldest sister uses full Chiu Chownese when talking with her grandparents, she tends to code-switch between Chiu Chownese and Cantonese when talking with her parents and Chiu Chownese customers who live in Hong Kong. Yvonne, who has been living in Australia, mostly uses Cantonese in Hong Kong but English and Mandarin in Australia. Remarkably, she notices her code-switching between Chiu Chownese and Mandarin when talking with her grandparents after she moves to Australia because of her frequent use of Mandarin. Similarly, John does not use any Chiu Chownese unless he needs to communicate with his grandparents by code-switching between Chiu Chownese and Cantonese.
Language Shift in the Wu Family
Since Grandpa Wu and Grandma Wu speak only Chiu Chownese, Chiu Chownese is originally the dominant language in the Wu family. Their son Papa Wu and daughter-in-law Mama Wu, after moving to Hong Kong from Chiu Chow, become bilingual in Chiu Chownese and Cantonese. Language shift to another language arises in the third generation2. Among the four siblings, Cantonese has become their dominant language and occupied most of their daily language use. While older sisters and brother know how to speak Chiu Chownese, John the youngest brother can understand some of the Chiu Chownese only but fail to construct complete Chiu Chownese sentences. In other words, older siblings possess active knowledge but younger siblings only have passive knowledge of Chiu Chownese. Therefore, there is an upward trend in the use of Cantonese but a downward trend in the use of Chiu Chownese across the three generations and within the youngest generation in the family.
References 1. Kandler, A., Unger, R. and Steele, J. (2010). Language Shift, Bilingualism and the Future of Britain’s Celtic Languages. Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B. Volume 365, Issue 1559. 3855–3864. Retrieved from https://www-ncbi-nlm-nih-gov.eproxy2.lib.hku.hk/pmc/articles/PMC2981914/pdf/rstb20100051.pdf. 2. Myer-Scotton, C. (2006). Language Maintenance and Shift. Multiple Voices: An Introduction to Bilingualism. Malden, MA/Oxford: Blackwell.
