Alanguage island (a calque of GermanSprachinsel), also known as alanguage enclave orlanguage pocket, is anenclave of alanguage that is surrounded by one or more different languages.[1] The term was introduced in 1847.[2] Many speakers of these languages also have their own distinctculture.
Language islands often form as a result ofmigration,colonization,imperialism, ortrade without a common tongue. Language islands are common of indigenous peoples, especially in theAmericas, where colonization has led them to isolate themselves greatly.
Language islands often overlap others.[3][4] For example, inBrussels, aBelgian language island, most of the population is fluent in bothFlemish andFrench, and is still considered a language island or enclave; yet, some consider Brussels' Flemish and Brussels' French to be of separate islands, despite them generally being the same people.
Alguerese is a variety ofCatalan spoken inAlghero,Sardinia,Italy, with around 45,000 speakers. It is mutually intelligible with Catalan, and although both Standard Catalan and Alguerese have been influenced by Italian and Spanish, Alguerese has experienced a much closer relationship between the two.[5]
Initially, Alguerese held sway as the dominant language in the region untilSpanish took over. However, in the mid-eighteenth century,Italian supplanted Spanish, becoming the new official language. Notwithstanding, and with the Alguerese influence persevered, and today the language enjoys a form of semi-official status alongside Italian.
Arbëresh is the language of theArbëreshë people, an originallyAlbanianethnolinguistic group ofItaly, mainly concentrated in Southern Italy with around 100,000 speakers. Many Arbëreshë people also speakItalian, and thus Arbëresh has been affected greatly by it.
The first Arbëreshë who settled in Italy did so mainly because of their severe mistreatment in what was then the Ottoman Balkans, but even so they had been subjugated further in Italy; Pier Paolo Pasolini called their continued and prospering existence there an "anthropological miracle." It took very long for them to be granted equal rights, and longer yet for the general public to accept them as one of their own.[6]
Betawi is the native language of the Betawi people, which are concentrated inGreater Jakarta, with an uncertain population, with certain estimates saying 600,000—5,000,000.[7]
Due tosocial stratification, Betawi is often imitated by celebrities and youth, making it a core part of popular culture in the area and across indonesia.[8]
Khalaj is the language of the Khalaj people in Iran. Despite having disputed Turkic origins, it also has much in common withPersian and sometimesArabic.
It has been described as an extremely endangered language, and is not often passed down to younger generations. Its current population is ambiguous, but it is widely understood that it is rapidly decreasing, due to the greater practicality of using Persian.[9]
Italiot Greek is a variety ofModern Greek spoken in southern Italy. It is split into two dialects,Calabrian Greek andGriko, with a total of around 2000 speakers.[10] Almost all of its speakers are bilingual in both Italian and Griko.
Sorbian is a dialect continuum spoken in twoprovinces ofGermany, namelySaxony (Upper Lusatia) andBrandenburg (Lower Lusatia).[11]
The Sorbs of Germany have had a similar history to the Jews of Germany, in that they were both oppressed by the federal and state governments (particularly by federal), they were both dismissed minorities in favor of the German population, and were unfairly categorized and separated by region, age, generation. A notable difference between the two however, was that Jews had often fought to be represented with little prevail at the time, whereas although several programmes had been implemented to preserve the Sorbian languages and cultures, Sorbs often and still do reject West Slavic culture to blend in with the German surrounding. Granata, C. A. (n.d.). Celebration and suspicion:[12]
TheSorbian languages are alanguage family ofWest Slavic languages spoken inSaxony andBrandenburg,Germany, by the Sorbs.[13]
Patagonian Welsh is the dialect of the Welsh language spoken byWelsh Argentinians in Patagonia, a region of southern Argentina. Though mutually intelligible with European Welsh, it has been heavily influenced by Spanish, the national language of Argentina. Many Welsh Argentinians arebilingual or sometimestrilingual in Spanish, Welsh, andEnglish.[citation needed]
Later, after Argentina had firmly established itself in the area, the Argentinian government was pressured into organizing higher promotion of the Welsh language. Today, although it has been suppressed in the past, Patagonian Welsh is regularly used in public media and taught in various educational institutions.[14][15]
Talian is a dialect ofVenetian spoken in severalprovinces ofBrazil. It is the result of an influx of nineteenth century Italian settlers arriving along the southern Brazilian coast.[16]
Talian is still mutually intelligible with Venetian, and somewhat so with Italian. It has been influenced heavily byPortuguese, but it has also been influenced by German, another language island in the Brazilian coast. Most Talian speakers are at least bilingual in Talian and Portuguese, and tend to cluster around the south.[17]
Talian has an estimated population of 500,000 speakers.[citation needed]
| International | |
|---|---|
| National | |
