Overview

This book operates from the premise that linguistic identities are important because they make sense to people, are meaningful, and have an impact on the thinking and behaviour of individuals and groups, both overtly and covertly. The framework outlined here synthesises key works on linguistic identity and draws together insights from a range of disciplines, such as sociolinguistics, linguistic anthropology, discourse analysis, cognitive sciences, and social psychology. It investigates linguistic assertions of community identity in the multilingual context of the Kashmir region in India, by studying the dimensions of changing language roles and linguistic practices in relation to the process of creating and maintaining new linguistic identities under different circumstances. It examines the nature of changing language roles as a combination of several linguistic and extra-linguistic factors, which include script uncertainty, interlingual diglossia, language attrition, language policies of the state, collective attitudes towards language(s), corresponding speech communities, intergenerational transmission, and instrumental orientation, among others. It demonstrates that changes in role are principally motivated by various factors, which may lead to the demise of the distinct symbol and roots of the Kashmiri linguistic-cultural identity in favour of the non-native code, Urdu, which could emerge as the primary linguistic identity in the near future.

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9781443879620

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This book is a must-read for sociolinguists interested in language as it relates to identity. It is also useful for those studying language planning and policy, politics of language, minority languages and dialects, and language loss and attrition. It provides a comprehensive overview of the existing body of literature on language and identity and can be valuable as a reference for any work that examines identity within speech communities. The unique context of this study, attrition in a language within its own homeland, makes it an essential reference for any linguist researching language loss in a non-immigrant speech community. Kelsey HarperTexas A&M UniversityLINGUIST List 29.581

Author Information

Dr. M. Ashraf Bhat received his doctorate (PhD) and post-doctorate (PDF) from the Departments of Humanities and Social Sciences at IIT Kanpur and IIT Delhi, India, respectively. He is a member of various international linguistic organisations, including the editorial board of the American Journal of Linguistics and the American Journal of Educational Research, and is a member of the International Pragmatics Association (IPrA), Belgium. Dr. Bhat has presented and published many research papers at various national and international platforms, including several articles on Kashmir. His current focus of research includes issues pertaining to linguistic theory, cognitive linguistics, language attrition, linguistic identity and conflict discourses, and cyber-linguistics.

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