Stefanie SiebenhütterMehrsprachigkeit und Identität

About this book deutschenglish

Currently, questions of identity are very present, if not of growing importance. The concept of “linguistic identity” is dealt with in this monograph in a very fundamental way, taking into account the state of knowledge and research in other basic disciplines such as sociology, psychology, and philosophy, not least because the majority of the literature originates from these disciplines. In linguistic studies, the terminologies of these disciplines are usually simply adopted without reflecting on their actual fit.

The author approaches the identity development of multilingual Kui from a socio-psychological perspective. In particular, the role of language in the process of identity construction is discussed. The study sheds light on the so-called linguistic identity of multilingual speakers to deduce the resulting developments in multilingual societies. Starting from the subjective perception of the individual (micro-level), possible effects on the societal macro-level are considered.

Usually referred to as “linguistic identity(ies)” in linguistic works, the term “identity” is generally used without examining its usefulness for the linguistic context. It is true that the terms “identity” and “linguistic identity” are increasingly used in publications of recent years; however, a closer examination of the underlying definitions and a review of the fundamental fit of the combination “identity” and “language” is only found in rudimentary form. This book seeks to fill this gap using the example of the Kui minority, who live in the border region of Thailand, Laos, and Cambodia.

With a comprehensive examination of the concept of a “linguistic identity”, the volume makes a contribution to the further development of typological linguistics that goes beyond a mere adoption of terminologies from other disciplines. This book thus contributes not only to research on multilingualism and minority languages, but also to research on multilingual contact phenomena and questions of identity in typological linguistics.

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