Conclusion

Abstract

Over the past number of decades, much discussion in sociolinguistics and the sociology of language has centred on concerns over the survival prospects of lesser-used or minority languages (see for example Dorian 1989; Edwards 2010; Fase et al. 1992; Fishman 1991; Grenoble and Whaley 1998; Hogan-Brun and Wolff 2003; King et al. 2008; Williams 2005). Researchers have been particularly interested in isolating the factors which best determine such survival. However, almost none of the factors cited in connection with language maintenance and shift is on its own a reliable predictor of the outcome of any particular situation of language contact (Romaine 1995). Socio-political changes have knock-on effects on the level of institutional support for a language and the degree to which language policy in favour of the minority language will be put in place. The effect of language policy may in turn be altered by socio-structural and socio-economic changes. Linguistic proximity or distance between the two languages in contact can also affect the degree to which language maintenance or shift will take place.