External Cultural Ties and the Politics of Language in China

Abstract

This paper utilizes the China Language Usage Survey to examine the political and social economic conditions under which language maintenance and shift occur. The empirical analysis of 54 ethnic minority groups in China shows that forces of modernization such as urbanization are positively correlated with the level of linguistic assimilation. Institutional support for ethnic minority language education is also a significant indicator for minority language retention. External forces are, however, even more significant in explaining linguistic assimilation and ethnic language retention. Minority groups that have relationships with external kin in neighboring countries should find it much easier to resist assimilative pressures from the domestic majority and the state than would other groups that do not possess such relationships with external kin groups.