SPRINGER BRIEFS IN LINGUISTICS Picus Sizhi Ding Southern Min (Hokkien) as a Migrating Language A Comparative Study of Language Shift and Maintenance Across National Borders 123 SpringerBriefs in Linguistics Series editor Helen Aristar-Dry, Linguist List, Ypsilanti, MI, USA and Dripping Springs, TX, USA More information about this series at http://www.springer.com/series/11940 Picus Sizhi Ding Southern Min (Hokkien) as a Migrating Language A Comparative Study of Language Shift and Maintenance Across National Borders 123 Picus Sizhi Ding Pokfulam Hong Kong ISSN 2197-0009 ISSN 2197-0017 (electronic) SpringerBriefs in Linguistics ISBN 978-981-287-593-8 ISBN 978-981-287-594-5 (eBook) DOI 10.1007/978-981-287-594-5 Library of Congress Control Number: 2015949453 Springer Singapore Heidelberg New York Dordrecht London © The Author(s) 2016 This work is subject to copyright. All rights are reserved by the Publisher, whether the whole or part of the material is concerned, specifically the rights of translation, reprinting, reuse of illustrations, recitation, broadcasting, reproduction on microfilms or in any other physical way, and transmission or information storage and retrieval, electronic adaptation, computer software, or by similar or dissimilar methodology now known or hereafter developed. The use of general descriptive names, registered names, trademarks, service marks, etc. in this publication does not imply, even in the absence of a specific statement, that such names are exempt from the relevant protective laws and regulations and therefore free for general use. The publisher, the authors and the editors are safe to assume that the advice and information in this book are believed to be true and accurate at the date of publication. Neither the publisher nor the authors or the editors give a warranty, express or implied, with respect to the material contained herein or for any errors or omissions that may have been made. Printed on acid-free paper Springer Science+Business Media Singapore Pte Ltd. is part of Springer Science+Business Media (www.springer.com) This book is dedicated to my mother, Tan Phay Eng, a woman short in stature but brave in heart, from whom I have learned and appreciated the beauty of Hokkien. Preface My path to linguistics is inspired by my own rich linguistic experiences, having been born to a Hokkien-speaking family in Burma and raised in Cantonese-speaking Macao. Since my early days of majoring in linguistics, I have always been thinking of doing some research on, or related to, languages that formed part of my growing up experience. When I first applied to graduate school for my M.A. study, I tried to come up with such a proposal, but failed. Later on my field trips to Yunnan around the mid-1990s, when I observed language shift from Prinmi (a Tibeto–Burman language of southwestern China) to Mandarin, I had a déjà vu feeling. I have witnessed language shift in my own family that happened years ago. The shift from a minority language, either an ethnic or an immigrant language, to the dominant language of society hence caught more of my attention. Sociolinguistically speaking, an immigrant language is much like an ethnic minority language when it is relocated to a new land, where the majority speaks a different language; it does not matter how many native speakers the immigrant language has back in the homeland. For more on this view and relevant issues, the reader is referred to Education in Languages of Lesser Power: Asia-Pacific Perspectives, edited by Craig Volker and Fred Anderson. I am very glad that I finally have this opportunity to achieve the goal of con- ducting research related to my personal experiences. The kind of ethnolinguistic data presented in this book, especially that involving language use in the family history, does not come by easily. It is accessible to me mainly because it concerns me personally, an argument I advanced to convince some elderly families to recount decades-long ‘trivial’ details. I am grateful to them for sharing with me the early history of the family and my life. Through the writing of this book, which took me back to the Hokkien community in Rangoon more than half a century ago, I have understood much more the hardship endured by my grandparents’ and parents’ generations. As this book looks beyond the Hokkien community in Rangoon, a journey is made to Singapore, Taiwan, and eventually southern Fujian, the homeland of Hokkien. These are the places that I have some direct knowledge about the use of vii viii Preface Hokkien via my observation in the past three decades. This span of time, aided by recent field trips to Singapore, Kaohsiung, Taichung, Xiamen, and Zhangzhou, enables me to examine the gradually proceeding language shift from Hokkien to other languages in these places. The Youngest Child Model, originally proposed for language shift within the immigrant family, has turned out to hold a wider scope of application beyond the family domain. It is employed in discussing various situa- tions of language shift in Singapore, Taiwan, and southern Fujian. I must express my special thanks to Mrs. Lam, the mother of my best Singaporean friend. This septuagenarian speaks perfect Hokkien, even though she has no familial connection to southern Fujian. The vivid memory of her childhood life has substantially informed me about sociolinguistic settings of overseas Chinese in colonial Singapore. I would also like to thank Roselle Dobbs for her careful proofreading of an early draft of the first three chapters. Her comments have significantly improved the readability of these chapters. Likewise, Jamin Pelkey has offered his kind assistance to polish up the English style in Chap. 4. Moreover, my gratitude goes to two anonymous reviewers; their insightful and critical comments and suggestions on the manuscript have helped me to clarify those points made vaguely in the earlier draft. Of course, I alone take responsibility for any residual errors and problems that may exist in this book. Finally, I thank the editorial team of Springer for their patience and colleagues who have generously granted me permissions to reproduce illustrations adapted from their publications. Hong Kong Picus Sizhi Ding Contents 1 Introduction ......................................... 1 1.1 Motivation for the Present Study. 1 1.2 Brief Description of Southern Min (Hokkien) . 2 1.3 Southeast Asian Hokkien . 8 1.4 The Scale of Language Functionality. 11 1.5 Methodology: A Direct Approach . 12 1.6 Limitations of This Study. 14 1.7 Structure of the Book . 15 1.8 Notes on Basic Terminology . 16 References . 17 2 Multilingualism in a Drifting Family ....................... 19 2.1 Ethnic Chinese in Burma . 19 2.2 The Overall Migration History of a Hokkien Family . 22 2.3 Source of Data and Scale of Language Competence . 23 2.4 From Fujian to Burma: The First Emigration . 24 2.5 From Rangoon to Macao: Emigration of the Eldest Daughter’s Family . 28 2.6 From Rangoon to San Francisco: Emigration of the Eldest Son’s Family . 31 2.7 Multilingualism as a Result of Immigration . 33 2.8 The Youngest Child Model: Hokkien as a Legacy of Drifting Families. 35 References . 37 3 The Rise and Fall of Hokkien in Singapore................... 39 3.1 The Glorious Days of Hokkien in Singapore . 39 3.2 Effects of Language Policy: The Speak Mandarin Campaign . 43 3.3 Bilingualism in the New Generations of Hokkien Singaporeans . 45 3.4 The Current Status of Hokkien in Singapore. 47 ix x Contents 3.5 The Youngest Child Model for Understanding Language Shift from Hokkien to Mandarin . 50 References . 52 4 Taiwan: The Haven for Southern Min? ..................... 55 4.1 The Spread of Southern Min from Fujian to Taiwan . 55 4.2 Loss of Dominant Status to Japanese (1895–1945) . 58 4.3 Loss of Dominant Status to Mandarin . 62 4.4 Southern Min in Modern Taiwan Society . 66 4.5 Decline of Southern Min in the Younger Generation . 70 4.6 Explaining the Regional Decline of Southern Min with the Youngest Child Model . 72 References . 74 5 The Fate of Hokkien in Its Homeland....................... 77 5.1 Use of Hokkien in Southern Fujian Prior to the 20th Century . 77 5.2 The Status of Hokkien After the Launch of National Language Movement . 79 5.3 From Amoy to Xiamen: A Case of Language Shift . 82 5.4 Hokkien as an Endangered Topolect Under Transitional Bilingualism . 86 5.5 The Future of Hokkien in Its Homeland in Light of the Youngest Child Model . 91 References . 93 6 Conclusion .......................................... 95 6.1 The Changing Ecology of Southern Min . 95 6.2 Understanding Language Shift Using the Youngest Child Model. 100 Index to Proper Names and Languages ...................... 103 Index to General Subjects ................................ 107 List of Figures Figure 1.1 Distribution of Southern Min in the seaboards of southeast China . 3 Figure 1.2 A classification of major varieties of Southern Min . 4 Figure 1.3 Major seaports in southern Fujian since the mid 16th century . 9 Figure 2.1 The Chinatown in Rangoon, Burma . 21 Figure 2.2 A simplified presentation of an extended four-generation Hokkien family . 22 Figure 2.3 A scale of language competence for indication of linguistic knowledge. 24 Figure 2.4 Significant factors that affect linguistic profiles of the four HT siblings. 36 Figure 2.5 Significant factors that affect linguistic profiles of the three TN siblings . 37 Figure 3.1 The settlement of ethnic groups and Chinese bāng in downtown Singapore, 1952 . 42 Figure 3.2 Two opposite approaches for promoting Mandarin among speakers of major Chinese DIALECTS ............. 46 Figure 3.3 An idealistic view of English-based multiple bilingualism in Singapore . 46 Figure 3.4 Applying the Youngest Child Model to the language shift to Mandarin in Singapore .