Papers by Maya Ravindranath Abtahian
This paper examines a scenario of possible language shift in the multilingual village of Hopkins,... more This paper examines a scenario of possible language shift in the multilingual village of Hopkins, where the two most commonly used languages are both ‘minority’ languages: Garifuna, now endangered in many of the communities where it was once spoken, and Belizean Creole (Kriol), an unofficial national lingua franca in Belize. It offers a qualitative examination of beliefs about the three primary languages spoken in the community (Garifuna, Kriol, and English) with data gathered from sociolinguistic interviews and surveys in four rural Garifuna communities in Belize. It situates these findings on the social evaluation of Garifuna and Kriol socio-historically by examining them alongside the recent history of language planning for Garifuna and Kriol in Belize.
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Language and Linguistics Compass, 2015
ABSTRACT
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Journal of Sociolinguistics, 2011
... William Labov 1 ,; Sharon Ash 1 ,; Maya Ravindranath 2 ,; Tracey Weldon 3 ,; Maciej Baranowsk... more ... William Labov 1 ,; Sharon Ash 1 ,; Maya Ravindranath 2 ,; Tracey Weldon 3 ,; Maciej Baranowski 4 ,; Naomi Nagy 5. ... Additional Information. How to Cite. Labov, W., Ash, S., Ravindranath, M., Weldon, T., Baranowski, M. and Nagy, N. (2011), Properties of the sociolinguistic monitor ...
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The dialogue on language endangerment worldwide has largely focused on languages with small speak... more The dialogue on language endangerment worldwide has largely focused on languages with small speaker populations, in line with Krauss’s (1992) prediction that any language with a speaker population of less than 100,000 is at risk. The relationship between population size and language vitality is particularly relevant in the Indonesian context, where over 700 local languages have speaker populations that range from single digits to tens of millions of speakers. This paper considers the role of size in determining the fate of these local languages, against the backdrop of the highly successful development of Indonesian as a national language. Using Javanese as a case study, we show that even a language with over 80 million speakers can be at risk, a trend that has serious implications for all of the languages of Indonesia. Although a large population may signal a greater likelihood for official recognition and a more diverse speaker population that is less likely to simultaneously shift away from the L1, size alone cannot predict whether robust intergenerational transmission is occurring. Rather a clearer understanding of the
demographic, sociolinguistic, and attitudinal factors that lead to individual and community decisions about intergenerational transmission are essential for assessing risk of endangerment.
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Handbook of Linguistics, 2015
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ling.upenn.edu
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University of Pennsylvania Working …, Jan 1, 2008
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Working papers in …, Jan 1, 2006
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Books by Maya Ravindranath Abtahian
International Journal of the Sociology of Language, 2016
This article introduces a quantitative approach to modeling language
shift in communities with mi... more This article introduces a quantitative approach to modeling language
shift in communities with millions of speakers. Using Indonesia as a case study, and employing a large body of data from the Indonesian population census, we document how factors such as urbanization, ethnicity, economic development, gender, and religion correlate with the shift from local languages (Javanese, Sundanese, etc.) to the national language, Bahasa Indonesia. Our findings inform ongoing research on the sociological foundations of language shift across both small and large communities. Methodologically, we introduce a statistical approach that borrows from other social sciences, and show how to exploit massive amounts of untapped linguistic, demographic, and sociological data.
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Papers by Maya Ravindranath Abtahian
demographic, sociolinguistic, and attitudinal factors that lead to individual and community decisions about intergenerational transmission are essential for assessing risk of endangerment.
Books by Maya Ravindranath Abtahian
shift in communities with millions of speakers. Using Indonesia as a case study, and employing a large body of data from the Indonesian population census, we document how factors such as urbanization, ethnicity, economic development, gender, and religion correlate with the shift from local languages (Javanese, Sundanese, etc.) to the national language, Bahasa Indonesia. Our findings inform ongoing research on the sociological foundations of language shift across both small and large communities. Methodologically, we introduce a statistical approach that borrows from other social sciences, and show how to exploit massive amounts of untapped linguistic, demographic, and sociological data.
demographic, sociolinguistic, and attitudinal factors that lead to individual and community decisions about intergenerational transmission are essential for assessing risk of endangerment.
shift in communities with millions of speakers. Using Indonesia as a case study, and employing a large body of data from the Indonesian population census, we document how factors such as urbanization, ethnicity, economic development, gender, and religion correlate with the shift from local languages (Javanese, Sundanese, etc.) to the national language, Bahasa Indonesia. Our findings inform ongoing research on the sociological foundations of language shift across both small and large communities. Methodologically, we introduce a statistical approach that borrows from other social sciences, and show how to exploit massive amounts of untapped linguistic, demographic, and sociological data.