Ethnolinguistic Identity Research Articles

Билингвизм и переключение кодов в молдавском варианте румынского языка: влияние русского языка на формирование этнолингвистической идентичности молдаван

The purpose of the study is to systematize the characteristic linguistic markers of bilingualism and code-switching that were formed under the influence of the Russian language in the Moldovan version of the Romanian language, as well as to determine their role in shaping the ethnolinguistic identity of Moldovans. The scientific novelty of the work lies in the identification of patterns and mechanisms of adaptation of Russian-speaking elements that form a new linguistic space in which Romanian and Russian linguistic units coexist, creating specific lexico-semantic and syntactic models. The article summarizes the historical, social and cultural prerequisites of centuries-old language contacts, leading to the integration of Russianisms, syntactic calculus and interlanguage interference. As a result of the study, it was found that bilingualism and code-switching not only expand the lexical and pragmatic range of the Moldovan version of the Romanian language, but also function as markers of the ethnolinguistic identity of Moldovans. They reflect the regional identity and cultural and historical specifics of the society living in a certain territory, contribute to strengthening group solidarity and differentiation from other Romanian-speaking regions.

Is Secessionism Mostly About Income or Identity? A Global Analysis of 3,153 Subnational Regions

Abstract This paper analyses whether the propensity to secede by subnational regions responds mostly to differences in income per capita or to distinct ethnolinguistic identities. We explore this question in a quantitative political economy model where people’s willingness to finance a public good depends on their income and identity. Using high-resolution economic and linguistic data for the entire globe, we predict the propensity to secede of 3,153 subnational regions in 177 countries. We validate the model-based predictions with data on secessionist movements, state fragility, regional autonomy, and conflict, as well as with an application to the dissolution of the Soviet Union. Counterfactual analysis shows that removing ethnolinguistic identity differences reduces the average support for secession from 10.1% to 0.2% of the population, while removing income differences has no major quantitative impact. Although both forces affect secessionism, identity trumps income in determining a region’s propensity to secede.

Public opinion toward Russia’s war against Ukraine: investigating wartime attitudes in Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan

ABSTRACT How have Central Asian publics reacted to Russia’s war against Ukraine? This study assesses overall attitudes toward the war in Kazakhstan and the Kyrgyz Republic using survey data from the early days of the war. We find that respondents in Kyrgyzstan are more likely to hold pro-Russian attitudes regarding the war than their counterparts in Kazakhstan. We then examine the relationship between political attitudes and correlates commonly linked to geopolitical preferences generally and pro-Russian attitudes specifically: ethnolinguistic identity, remittances, and media use. Results suggest that ethnic identity holds the strongest and most consistent link to wartime sentiments, with ethnic Kyrgyz and Kazakhs showing less pro-Russian attitudes compared to ethnic Russians. Further results indicate that language and media use are somewhat associated with pro-Russian wartime attitudes, though this relationship varies by context and issue area. Finally, we find limited support for the argument that receiving remittances is associated with political preferences.

Russian-speaking (but not Russian) mothers in Finland: positioning ethnolinguistic identities in family language policy talk

ABSTRACT Anti-Russian sentiment or ‘Russophobia’ has been on the rise around the world since the 2022 invasion of Ukraine (Washington Post, 2022). Negative attitudes towards Russians and the Russian language can potentially influence the desires and practices of Russian-speaking parents in using the language with their children in contexts outside of Russia. This article examines the language ideologies and family language policies of a diverse group of Russian-s peaking mothers in Finland before the Ukraine war. Most of the mothers noted in interviews that some form of Russophobia (e.g. perceived negative attitudes, cutting off funding for Russian programmes, and/or their own stereotypes about Russians) influenced their own use of Russian in certain contexts, their perceptions of their Russian-speaking children, and/or their language education decisions. This article explores an understudied area of family language policy, that is how xenophobia and/or racism in the context of conflict (in this case after the annexation of Crimea in 2014) influence a minority migrant group's use of their home language abroad. By situating mothers’ family language planning and ideologies in the larger sociohistorical context, this paper contributes to an expanded view of family external or non-linguistic factors in family language policy.

Problem with Russian Speakers: How the Soviet Nationality Policies Created and Reinforced Contradicting Views on Linguistic Identities

This article discusses how Soviet nationality policies have continued to influence nation-building efforts in post-Soviet states in relation to the region’s sociolinguistic situation and the question of language use. Despite the Soviet Union's dissolution, the region remains shaped by its legacies, particularly by the tension between ethnolinguistic nationalism and multilingual social reality. This tension also manifests in the political narratives of the ongoing Russian-Ukrainian conflict. The article argues that the tension stems from Soviet policies that promoted immutable ethnolinguistic identities as the basis of nation-building while simultaneously fostering freedom of language choices and welcoming linguistic assimilation. This contradiction continues to complicate post-Soviet efforts to reconcile national identity with linguistic diversity. The article provides a historical account of Soviet policies, emphasizing their linguocentric nature and contradictory character. It concludes by discussing the challenges that post-Soviet states face in balancing national language policies with the sociolinguistic realities inherited from the Soviet era.

A Compromise Doomed to Failure: The Soviet Practice of Greek ‘Language Construction’ in the 1920s–1930s

ABSTRACT The ‘Greek language problem’ in the USSR represented a special ‘case of complex ethno-linguistic identification,’ because in the Soviet Union, in addition to Katharevousa and Dimotiki, several dialects (languages) were used as a spoken language. In May 1926, at the first All-Union Meeting on Cultural Building among the Greeks of the USSR it was decided to abandon the use of Katharevousa. However, the reform of 1926 created the ground for a very broad interpretation. In 1932–1934, several more meetings on the ‘Greek issue’ were organized in the USSR, as well as a linguistic expedition to the places of residence of the Greeks. But the final decision on the ‘language problem’ has never been made.

Constructing Ethnolinguistic Identities: A Critical Examination of Language and Power Dynamics in Diasporic Communities

This research investigates the complex interplay between language and power in the formation of ethnolinguistic identities within diasporic communities. As globalization accelerates, diasporic groups navigate a complex landscape where traditional linguistic practices intersect with new socio-political realities. This study aims to critically examine how language functions as a tool for negotiating identity and power within these communities, emphasizing the role of language ideologies and practices in shaping social dynamics. The primary objectives are to explore how language serves as a medium for the construction and negotiation of ethnolinguistic identities and to understand the influence of power relations on these processes. Specifically, the study seeks to identify the ways in which language practices reflect and challenge power structures within diasporic contexts and how these practices contribute to the formation of collective and individual identities. This research is a multi-sited ethnographic approach,and integrates discourse analysis across several diasporic communities. Findings reveal that language serves as a strategic resource for negotiating social status and ethnic belonging. Diasporic individuals employ code-switching, language reclamation, and multilingualism to assert identity and resist assimilation pressures. The study highlights how language ideologies both reinforce and contest existing power structures, demonstrating the dynamic role of language in shaping ethnolinguistic identities amidst shifting socio-political landscapes.

Gender and ethnolinguistic lawfare

This article treats the concept of lawfare in relation to gender and ethnolinguistic identities, examining how legal systems are employed to perpetuate power imbalances and suppress marginalized communities. By focusing on various case studies and theoretical frameworks, the study explores the role of ideologies and how moral panic and moral injury manifest in legal responses to gender nonconforming individuals, women, and ethnolinguistic minorities. The article critiques how the law is weaponized as a tool of oppression, particularizing in areas such as language rights, gender equality, and access to justice. Through an interdisciplinary approach, the authors demonstrate how legal frameworks and institutional actions often reinforce societal norms that exclude vulnerable groups, rather than protecting them. As a framework to the special issue Gender and Ethnolinguistic Lawfare, this article offers a critical perspective on the relationship between law, identity, and power, contributing to a deeper understanding of how the rule of law perpetuates or challenges social hierarchies.

“For my daughter is not the same, for sure”: learners’ and parents’ attitudes towards home language maintenance and development

ABSTRACT Heritage languages (HL) require special pedagogical resources, and from a sociolinguistic perspective, their status may vary, influencing learners’ and educators’ attitudes. In the case of Portuguese as an HL (PHL) in the German educational context, due to a limited institutionalised offer, non-formal settings prevail as a means of language development. In this ethnographic case study, we present the attitudes of parents and PHL learners in a socio-educational project that promotes bilingual education in Munich, Germany. Semi-structured interviews were carried out with parents, whereas with children, a focus group was set up using visual narratives. This study addressed two questions: How do parents’ and learners’ linguistic attitudes in this specific context differ? How do their beliefs concerning linguistic identity influence the home language maintenance? The results pointed to the convergent affective dimension of PHL. Concerning identity influence in home language maintenance, language attitudes result from different statuses assigned to PHL. While parents see PHL as a means of transmitting their ethnolinguistic identity, children's representations revealed different perceptions prevailing ‘home and family language’ status and a sense of fluid belonging, thus showing an emergent multilingual identity characterised by cultural hybridity.

Political protest landscapes in Catalonia: language choice, utopian/dystopian discourse and “Catalans”-“Spaniards” identities

ABSTRACT Catalonia has become a rich site to investigate minorised-language identity, with the reemergence of a movement calling for independence. Our case study analyses how pro-/anti-secessionist protests are (counter)-fought in urban Linguistic Landscapes. We approach LLs as identity-markers and place-makers delivering messages of political subversion/dominance where majority/minorised-language choice and utopian/dystopian discourse become crucial for understanding their meanings during social upheaval, with renewed nationalist protests linked to an independence Referendum. We employed a content analysis based on a semiotic/semantic interpretation and thematic categorisation of the data. We show that two antithetical “Catalans”/“Spaniards” identities reemerge which mobilise either utopian projects written in Catalan or dystopian visions in Spanish, through intertextuality. The former, categorised as pro-independence “political resistance LLs,” project a hopeful impossible to extend a liberating possible. The latter, pro-unionist “threats to Catalan protesters LLs,” reinstate order, enforcing the suppression of dissent. This reveals that ethnolinguistic identities are newly reconfigured/resignified, unpacking how a social-semiotics focus on language choice and utopia/dystopia can prefigure social conflict development.

Family linguistic ecology in Chinese American diasporas: migrants’ heritage language planning and discursive ethnolinguistic identity in-between

ABSTRACT Heritage language maintenance is a challenge faced by many immigrant parents. Previous studies on Chinese immigrant families and inheritance of the mother tongue privileged a pedagogical perspective focusing on second-language acquisition and literacy developments. Little attention has been paid to the nuanced understanding of how Chinese immigrant parents help their children construct language resilience of (un)belongingness across home and host contexts and how children negotiate fluid hybrid identity construction. Through questionnaires, semi-constructed interviews, and home visits with four Chinese immigrant families in the United States, this linguistic ethnography study probes the linguistic ecology, (in)visible language planning, and discursive identity construction in Chinese American diaspora families. The findings suggest migrant parents’ congruence and conflict in explicit and implicit family language ideology, management, and practice. Children negotiate fluid discursive identity construction and mediate hybrid culture characterised by the diversity of pathways of language learning as a (dis)continuum. The findings highlight the significance of a linguistic ecological niche in emergent bilingual immigrants’ heritage language maintenance and development. This research illuminates how parents can foster a greater sense of possibility for transitional children’s journeys of being and becoming bilinguals or multilinguals.

Language revitalization as a postponed aspiration: anti-essentialist ethnolinguistic identity among Aymaras in Bolivia

Abstract Twenty-first century Bolivia witnessed indigenous resurgence and state promotion of indigenous languages. This article ethnographically examines the impact of these processes on indigenous language revitalization and ethnolinguistic identities in urban spaces. It reveals that language attrition continues because indigenous resurgence occurred at a time when language shift from Aymara to Spanish had already occurred in most households and schools were considered the spaces for learning Aymara. Moreover, although indigenous identity continues to be linked to language, linguistic proficiency no longer determines Aymara identity in a reductionist sense. Most contemporary Aymaras deploy a rhetoric that historically contextualizes the process of language attrition, thereby, asserting an anti-essentialist ethnolinguistic identity. This enables learning Aymara to be an aspiration that is highly valued but can be endlessly postponed. The article points out the limitations of state-led language revitalization policies and calls for creating synergies between state planning from above and communitarian initiatives from below.

Out of Many, One? Exploring Ethnolinguistic Identity Appeals in the Brussels Capital Region

Abstract Consociationalism promises to resolve tensions among groups in deeply divided societies by constructing shared identity that transcends ethnic divisions. Yet there is no guarantee that this will happen, and empirical studies testing this claim yield inconsistent results. We examine the extent to which political parties appeal to shared identities within a consociation, focusing on the Brussels Capital Region (BCR) in Belgium. The BCR constitutes a regional consociation aimed at addressing divisions between Dutch and French speakers. Based on a quantitative analysis of party programs, and a qualitative analysis of thirty interviews with Brussels MPs, our findings indicate that parties do indeed appeal to a common sense of belonging, often on issues that have a low ethnolinguistic salience. When addressing contentious community matters, however, we observe that Dutch-speaking parties (especially ethnic outbidders) prioritize their own linguistic group identity more than Francophone parties.

Discrimination and social identity: interrogating the impact of local lingua francas on inclusion politics in public institutions in Nigeria

AbstractThis study is concerned with addressing discrimination in public spaces and interrogates the extent to which the social identity function of a local lingua franca impacted inclusion politics in leadership selections for public institutions in Africa. Guided by social identity and ethnolinguistic identity theories, selecting Ahmadu Bello University in Northern Nigeria as a case study, and using the qualitative research technique, this study found a three-level ethno-religious discriminatory categorization – Core Northerners, Peripheral Northerners and Non-Northerners – accommodated within the institution’s power hierarchy. Fluency in Hausa, the local lingua franca in Northern Nigeria, was the common factor. Although the language was not a requirement for appointment, it turned out to be the marker of social identity that positively impacted inclusion politics. With extensive linguistic acculturation, African nation states are better off investing in the propagation of the local lingua franca to address negative discrimination in public spaces.

Theorizing ethnolinguistic diversity under globalization: beyond biocultural analogies

ABSTRACT This paper seeks to advance our theoretical understanding of diversifying and homogenizing processes in human societies by exploring the sources of and threats to ethnolinguistic or cultural diversity. Invoking concepts such as ethnogenesis, schismogenesis, and structural transformations, it discusses the parallels as well as the divergences between biological and cultural theory. Models in historical linguistics risk importing unwarranted assumptions about diversification from biological models of speciation. A more pertinent theorization of ethnolinguistic diversity might build on anthropological perspectives such as those of Fredrik Barth, Gregory Bateson, and Claude Lévi-Strauss, all of whom recognized that such diversity reflects interaction rather than isolation. The empirical test of these considerations is the ethnography and history of language use among Indigenous peoples in Amazonia and the Andes. The conclusion is that premodern expansions of language families, in tolerating local cultural autonomy, multilingualism, and diglossia, did not threaten ethnolinguistic identities as has modern globalization.

Enrichment, empowerment, and emancipation: Chinese and Latinx immigrant parental investment in U.S. bilingual education

ABSTRACT Immigrant parents have varied yet comparable language ideologies, perspectives, and experiences. In this qualitative case study, 67 immigrant parents were interviewed, 37 Chinese and 30 Latinx, whose children were enrolled in Mandarin–English and Spanish–English bilingual after-school programs at two urban public elementary schools in the U.S. Northeast megalopolis. Critical discourse analysis of the interview transcripts revealed parents’ encompassing beliefs in bilingual education as a sociocultural investment in learning Chinese and Spanish. The study identifies three types of sociocultural investment: enrichment, empowerment, and emancipation. Enrichment is premised on the immigrant parents’ expectations of additive bilingual development in their child’s education. Empowerment is rooted in the immigrant parents’ agentic motivations to instrumentalize their child’s non-English language and provide cultural capital for immediate and transnational contexts. Emancipation emerges from immigrant parents’ experiences of liberation from subtractive bilingualism, limited educational experiences, and negative associations of ethnolinguistic identity institutionalized by the dominant (White) English-speaking society. These findings indicate that the cultures and languages transmitted through immigrant parents’ sociocultural investment in bilingualism are equally transmissible through investment in bilingual education. (176 words)

A semantic analysis of bilingual compound verbs in two contact Spanish communities

Although previous work has contributed to our knowledge of bilingual compound verbs (BCVs) in different code-switching varieties, there is scant research on the semantic nature of these innovative constructions. To fill this gap, the present study examines semantic aspects of BCVs in Northern Belize and the Yucatan Peninsula in Mexico, two sociohistorically connected communities where Spanish hacer ‘do’ BCVs have been attested. Drawing on two datasets, we analyzed the semantic domains that are most open to other-language lexical verbs as well as the potential use of these structures as identity markers. The analysis of 1,140 BCVs (903 in Northern Belize and 237 in Yucatan) revealed that whereas ‘education’ particularly favored English lexical verbs in Northern Belize, ‘nourishment’ was the semantic sub-category most open to Yucatec Maya lexical verbs in the Yucatan Peninsula. Notably, only hacer BCVs from Yucatan evince the incorporation of cultural elements and linguistic practices such as albur ‘word play’ to index a Yucatec Maya ethnolinguistic identity. Our findings highlight the importance that the nature of bilingualism and community linguistic norms have on the semantic use of BCVs.

Does it Matter Who Directs the Story? Comparing Québec’s Immigrant Cinema and the Cinema of Immigration Through Case Studies of Karaman and Deraspe, Villeneuve and Bensaddek

If it is true that “[c]inema has from its inception been transnational, circulating more or less freely across borders and utilizing international personnel” (Ezra and Rowden 2006, 2), it is equally indisputable that cinematic traditions have historically reflected and reinforced national, regional, or ethnolinguistic identities. The cinema of Québec is a case in point, such that Bill Marshall’s choice of title for his 2001 landmark study,Quebec National Cinema, generally went unremarked upon. Since the turn of the millennium, however, “other” or immigrant stories are receiving increased interest and representation on screen. The crux of the current terminological dilemma is that while theorists of accented, diaspora, exilic, or transnational cinema tend to privilege films made by immigrant directors, a significant number of Québec films about immigrant experiences have been made by non-immigrant directors. Drawing on films released since 2010 by Onur Karaman, Sophie Deraspe, Denis Villeneuve, and Bachir Bensaddek, I discuss how they defy or destabilize the terminological landscape and propose the distinction between immigrant cinema and the cinema of immigration, the latter of which, I argue, embraces films made about immigration by non-immigrant directors. By bringing together examples of the cinema of immigration and immigrant cinema, this article examines the issues raised by the expanding inclusivity and popularity of stories of and by Québec’s ethnocultural “others.”

Societal transitions, ethnolinguistic identities, and marital conservatism in Central Asia

AbstractObjectiveThe study deploys an ethnolinguistic conceptual framework to examine variations in different dimensions of marital conservatism in the Kyrgyz Republic, a post‐Soviet nation in Central Asia, focusing on enduring, yet evolving, Russian linguo‐cultural influence.BackgroundThe global transformation of family and marriage systems has produced diverse local normative patterns that are historically rooted but are also reflective of context‐specific contemporary socio‐cultural, political, and economic transitions. The study investigates these patterns in a multi‐ethnic setting where Soviet‐era legacies, culturally pivoted on the use of the Russian language, have combined with post‐Soviet exposure to both Western influences and rising neo‐traditionalism.MethodThe study uses data from two rounds of a nationally representative cross‐sectional household‐based survey, with each round including standardized interviews with over 2000 men and women aged 18–49. Multi‐level regression models are fitted to predict ethnolinguistic variations in attitudes toward premarital chastity, optimal marriage age, support for parental preeminence in marital decisions, support for ethnic endogamy, and opposition to divorce, while accounting for universal correlates of marital conservatism, such as education, religiosity, and urbanicity. For most outcomes, the analyses examine separately how these attitudes apply to women versus men.ResultsThe results demonstrate the persistent normative imprints of the Russian linguistic and cultural influence but also instructive variations in them across the specific outcomes. They also suggest an overall rise in some aspects of marital conservatism.ConclusionThe findings elucidate the unique multidimensional complexities of family and marital change in transitional Eurasia, yet also its similarities with other post‐colonial contexts.

Exploring Socio-Political Dimensions of Heritage Language Maintenance: The Case of Vietnamese Speakers in Montréal

Research on heritage language (HL) development often focuses on immigrants’ identity and social network as predictors of HL maintenance. However, an important and overlooked factor is the socio-political circumstances that trigger emigration, such as whether immigrants relocate due to economic hardship or political turmoil. This study examines if the pattern of HL maintenance and its association with immigrants’ ethnolinguistic identity and social engagement differ for families of political versus economic immigrants. Participants were 38 parent–child pairs from Montreal’s Vietnamese diaspora. The parents identified their reason for immigration and completed an ethnolinguistic questionnaire, their children provided a HL communication profile, and all participated in interviews. To determine participants’ Vietnamese speaking skills, short interview excerpts were rated for accentedness, comprehensibility, fluency, and global knowledge. Participants were generally successful at maintaining their HL, but there was a decline in the children’s Vietnamese, especially for the economic immigrants. Several ethnolinguistic variables (desire to preserve a HL, pride in heritage culture) and social network properties (network size, intimacy, communication-related stress) appeared to contribute to HL maintenance. However, these relationships were different (and sometimes opposite) in the groups of political versus economic immigrants, suggesting that HL development and maintenance are subject to various contextual influences.