Abstract
This paper examines diverse trends, causes, and impacts of language shift drawing on the cases of language use and attitudes of Sherpa, Newar and Maithili speaking communities in the Kathmandu valley. The data were gathered from a survey with 135 participants, interview with 21 and focus group discussion with 12 individuals. The survey data were analyzed by using simple Excel tools and the qualitative data were analyzed thematically. The findings indicate that there is an increasing trend of language shift among Sherpa, Newar, and Maithili speakers towards the dominant languages such as Nepali, English, and Hindi, influenced by the positive socialization experiences associated with these languages in the evolving multilingual milieu of the Kathmandu valley. The research outlines the myriad patterns of language usage and attitudes within the cosmopolitan context impacted by factors such as migration, intermarriage, media discourse, and the social, cultural and educational dimensions associated with these languages. These findings imply systemic support is needed to revitalize the minority languages so that the unplanned language shift can be reversed to contribute to the promotion and protection of the linguistic diversity of multilingual urban contexts.
Literaturhinweise
Annamalai, Elay. 2001. Managing Multilingualism in India: Political and Linguistic Manifestations. Sage Publications.
Bhatt, Rakesh & Agnes Bolonyai. 2022. Multilingualism as an Object of Sociolinguistic Description. Languages 7: 277. https://doi.org/10.3390/
Braun, Virginia, & Clarke, Victoria. 2006. Using thematic analysis in psychology. Qualitative
Research in Psychology, 3(2), 77–101. https://doi.org/10.1191/1478088706qp063oa.
Central Bureau of Statistics. 2001. Population Census, National Planning Commission (NPC),
Kathmandu, Nepal.
Central Bureau of Statistics. 2011. Population Census, National Planning Commission (NPC), Kathmandu, Nepal.
Choi, Tae Hee, & Poudel, Prem Prasad. 2024. Enactment of English medium instruction in
under-resourced educational contexts: A case of multilingual public secondary schools in Nepal. System, 121, 103223.
Dahal, Ram Kumar. 2000. Language Politics in Nepal. Contributions to Nepalese Studies, 27.2
(155-190). CNAS.
Evans, Nicholas. 2013. Language diversity as a resource for understanding cultural evolution. In Richerson, P. and Morten Christiansen (Eds.) Cultural Evolution: Society, technology language, and religion. Cambridge: MIT Press. (233-268).
Fishman, Joshua. 1991. Reversing Language Shift Theoretical and Empirical Foundations of Assistance to Threatened Languages Multilingual Matters.
.
Garrett, Peter. 2010. Attitudes to language. Cambridge, Cambridge University Press.
Gautam, Bhim Lal. 2012. Contact Nepali in Kathmandu valley: Convergence between TB & IA languages. Nepalese Linguistics, 27, (38-42).
Gautam, Bhim Lal. 2018. Language shift in Newar: A case study in the Kathmandu Valley. Nepalese Linguistics, 33(1), 2018, (33-42).
Gautam, Bhim Lal. 2019. Sociolinguistic survey of Nepalese Languages: A critical evaluation. Language Ecology 3:2, 190 -208. https://doi.org/10.1075/le.19004.gau
Gautam, Bhim Lal. 2020. Language contact in Kathmandu Valley, an unpublished Ph.D. Dissertation, Kathmandu, Tribhuvan University.
Gautam, Bhim Lal. 2021. Language contact in Nepal: A study on language use and attitudes. Switzerland AG: Palgrave Macmilan Publications.
Gautam, Bhim Lal. 2022a. Language politics in Nepal: a socio-historical overview. Journal of World Languages. Mouton de Gruyter. https://doi.org/10.1515/jwl-2021-0010
Gautam, Bhim Lal. 2022b. Aspects of language contact in Newar. International Journal of Multilingualism. DOI: 10.1080/14790718.2022.2069248.
Gautam, Bhim Lal & Giri, Madhu. 2024. Trajectories of Language and Culture of Gopali Community in Chitlang Valley, Glottodidactica, 51(1), pp. 7–26. doi: 10.14746/gl.2024.51.1.1.
Gautam, Bhim Lal & Paudel, Prem. 2022a . Diversity, multilingualism and democratic practices in Nepal. Bandung Journal of Global South, 9, (80-102). Brill.
Gautam, Bhim Lal & Poudel, Prem. 2022b. Language contact in Maithili: Trends, Traits and Impact on Multilingual Sociolinguistic Spaces (2022). Gipan.Vol.5.1 (1-16). DOI/10.3126/gipan. v5i1.49537.
Gautam, Bhim Lal & Poudel, Prem. 2024. Language conflict in multilingual classroom: A case study in a public school in the Kathmandu Valley. In Language Conflict in Educational Settings (pp. 29-45). Routledge.
Horner, Kristine & Dailey-O’Cain. Jennifer. 2020. Multilingualism, (Im) mobilities and spaces of belongings (eds.). Multilingual Matters.
Johnson, David Cassels, Eric J. Johnson & Darrin Hetrick .2020. Normalization of language
deficit ideology for a new generation of minoritized U.S. youth, Social Semiotics, 30:4, 591-606, DOI: 10.1080/10350330.2020.1766210
Joseph, John. 2006. Language and Politics. Edinburgh University Press.
Johnson, Sally & Tommaso Miami. 2010. Language Ideologies and Media discourse: Text, Practice & Policies (Eds.) Continuum International Publishing Group.
Liebscher, Grit & Dailey-O’Cain, Jennifer. 2013. Language, space, and identity in migration. Palgrave Macmillan.
Makihara, Miki & Schieffelin, Bambi.2007. Consequences of Contact: Language Ideologies and Sociocultural Transformations in Pacific Societies (Eds.). Oxford.
Malla, Kamal Prakash. 2015. From Literature to Culture: Selected writings on Nepalese Studies,
1980-2010 Kathmandu, Social Science Baha.
Matras, Yaron. 2009. Language contact. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Milroy, Lesley & Gordon, Matthew. 2003. Sociolinguistics: Method and Interpretation. Wiley.
Mühlhaüsler, Peter. 2015. Linguistic Ecology: Language Change and Linguistic Imperialism in the Pacific Region. Routledge.
National Statistics Office [NSO]. 2023. National population and housing census-2021.
https://censusnepal.cbs.gov.np/Home/Details?tpid=5&tfsid=17
Pelinka, Anton. 2018. Identity politics, populism and the far right. In Ruth Wodak & Bernhard Forchtner (Eds.). The Rutledge handbook of language and politics, (618–629). London: Rutledge.
Phillipson, Robert. 1992. Linguistic Imperialism. Oxford University Press, Oxford.
Phipps, Alison. 2007. Learning the arts of linguistic survival: languaging, tourism, life. London, Multilingual matters.
Pillar, Ingrid. 2016. Linguistic Diversity and Social Justice: An Introduction to Applied Sociolinguistics. Oxford.
Ricento, Thomas. 2015. Language policy and political economy: English in a global
Context (Ed.). Oxford & New York: Oxford University Press.
Sharma, Devyani. 2023. From Deficit to Dialect: An Evolution of English in India & Singapore. Oxford University Press.
Silverstein, Michael. 1979. Language structure and linguistic ideology. In The elements: A parasession on linguistic units and levels, (eds.) P.R. Clyne, W.F. Hanks, and C.L. Hofbauer, (193-247). Chicago, IL: Chicago Linguistic Society.
Trudgill, Peter. 2020. Millennia of Language Change: Sociolinguistic studies in Deep Historical linguistics. Cambridge University Press.
Turin, Mark. 2019. Concluding thoughts on language shift and linguistic diversity in the
Himalaya: The case of Nepal. In Selma Sonntag and Mark Turin (eds.), The Politics of Language contact in the Himalaya Open Book Publishers, UK. (163-176).
Lizenz
Copyright (c) 2026 Bhim Lal Gautam, Prem Prasad Poudel
Dieses Werk steht unter der Lizenz Creative Commons Namensnennung - Keine Bearbeitungen 4.0 International.
Authors
Authors of texts accepted for publication in Glottodidactica are required to complete, sign and return to the editor's office the Agreement for granting a royalty-free license to works with a commitment to grant a CC sub-license.
Under the agreement, the authors of texts published in Glottodidactica grant the Adam Mickiewicz University in Poznań a non-exclusive, royalty-free license and authorize the use of Attribution-NoDerivatives 4.0 International (CC BY-ND 4.0) Creative Commons sub-license.
The authors retain the right to continue the free disposal of the work.
Users
Interested Internet users are entitled to use works published in Glottodidactica since 2016, under the following conditions:
- attribution - obligation to provide, together with the distributed work, information about the authorship, title, source (link to the original work, DOI) and the license itself.
- no derivatives - the work must be preserved in its original form, without the author's consent it is not possible to distribute the modified work, such as translations, publications, etc.
Copyrights are reserved for all texts published before 2016.
Miscellaneous
Adam Mickiewicz University in Poznań retains the right to magazines as a whole (layout, graphic form, title, cover design, logo etc.).