A Study of Language Maintenance and Language Shift among the

Hakka-speaking Population in – a case study of a Hakka-

speaking family in Sai Kung

Submitted by

LIAO Cui Ting

Dissertation submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirement for the degree of

MASTER OF ARTS

IN

ENGLISH STUDIES

Department of English City University of Hong Kong May 2013

I

Abstract

According to available statistics, it has been estimated that more than half of the world’s languages have vanished over the past 500 years and more than half of the

6,809 remaining languages which appeared in the latest printed edition of Ethnologue are believed to be in danger of disappearing in the present century. In fact, minority languages around the globe are dying at an alarming rate (Mark and Sijmen, 2000).

Hakka, as a minority language in Hong Kong now, is also experiencing the period of diminishing. The current study will take a closer examination on the historical and current situation of Hakka in Hong Kong by genuine feedback from the Hakka- speaking population. I attempt to investigate the extent of language shift and language maintenance among the Hakka-speaking population in Hong Kong by doing a pilot study about a representative aboriginal1 Hakka-speaking family from Sai Kung.

Key Words: Hakka; language maintenance; language shift; ethnolinguistic vitalities; social networks; language attitudes; social identity.

1 Aboriginals of Hong Kong, also known as indigenous inhabitants of Hong Kong, refer to residents in the of Hong Kong, whose ancestors have inhabited there before the commencement of British rule in 1898. In 1898, the British sought to extend Hong Kong for defense, and this granted a 99-year lease of the rest of Kowloon south of the Shenzhen River and 230 islands, which became known as the New Territories. The British formally took possession on 16 April 1899. Therefore, people who have inhabited in Hong Kong before 1898 have the privileges to preserve their lawful traditional rights and interests, which are protected by the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (Article 40 of the Basic Law of Hong Kong). Indigenous inhabitants in Hong Kong consist of people from Punti (the -speaking population of province in southern China who later migrated to Hong Kong), Hakka, (Hokkien people whose traditional ancestral homeland is in southern Fujian province of China) and the Tankas (previous water-dewlling inhabitants in Hong Kong who made a living by fishing and shipping) (Xiao, 1995).

II

Table of Contents

Abstract ...... II

Acknowledgements ...... III

Table of Contents ...... V

List of Tables ...... VII

Chapter 1 Introduction ...... 1

1.1 Research Background – the study of language maintenance and language shift ...... 1

1.2 Problem statements of the current research ...... 2

1.3 Research aims and objectives ...... 3

1.4 Organization of this thesis ...... 6

Chapter 2 Previous Research about Language Shift and Hakka ...... 7

2.1 Language shift and language maintenance research ...... 7

2.1.1 The phenomenon of language shift and language maintenance ...... 7

2.1.2 Causes of language shift and the indicators of ethnolinguistic vitality ...... 9

2.2 Research about Hakka ...... 10

2.3 Summary ...... 11

Chapter 3 The Research Context of the Current Study...... 12

3.1 Defining Hakka ...... 12

3.1.1 The people ...... 12

3.1.2 The language ...... 16

3.2 The Hakka-speaking context of Hong Kong ...... 17

3.2.1 Historical review of Hakka in Hong Kong ...... 18

3.2.2 Analysis of factors contributing to the Language Shift among the Hakka-speaking population in Hong Kong under the framework of Ethnolinguistic Vitality ...... 24

3.2.2.1 Relative position on the urban-rural continuum ...... 25

3.2.2.2 Domains in which the language is used ...... 27

3.2.2.3 Population and group dynamics ...... 28

V

3.2.2.4 Distribution of speakers within the speech community ...... 29

3.2.2.5 Language prestige ...... 30

3.3 Chapter summary ...... 31

Chapter 4 Methodology ...... 32

4.1 Methodological and theoretical frameworks ...... 32

4.1.2 Social networks approach ...... 32

4.2 Data collection ...... 33

4.2.1 Sociolinguistic background of the researcher and preparatory work for the research ...... 33

4.2.2 Questionnaires, fieldnotes and interviews for content analysis ...... 34

4.2.3 Introduction of the informant sample ...... 35

Chapter 5 Findings ...... 39

5.1 Language history, language use and language choice of the informants ...... 40

5.2 Attitudes and social networks of the informants ...... 46

5.2.1 First generation Hakka: aboriginal Hakka speakers versus Hakka speakers as new immigrants ...... 46

5.2.2 Second generation Hakka: passive attitudes versus positive attitudes ...... 51

5.3 The socioeconomic value of Cantonese, English and Mandarin ...... 53

5.5 Chapter summary ...... 55

Chapter 6 Summary of the Dissertation...... 56

6.1 Summary of the research and findings ...... 56

6.2 Limitations and contributions ...... 58

References ...... 60

Appendices ...... 64

Appendix I: Questionnaire ...... 64

Appendix II: Interview Questions ...... 66

Appendix III: Transcriptions translated from Chinese audio-taping records into English ...... 70

The First Sample Family ...... 70

VI

The Second Sample Family ...... 73

The Third Sample Family ...... 80

List of Tables

Figure 1: Census and Statistics Department, 1911 Census – “Dialect Spoken at

Home” ……………………………………………………………………………….19

Figure 2: Usage of Dialects (Non-Cantonese) in Hong Kong during 1966 and

1996………………………………………………………………………………….20

Figure 3: Reported “Mother Tongue”...... 22

Figure 4: Census Report of “Usual Language” during 1911-2006.………………….23

Figure 5: The family ties of the target sample family in the current study…………..39

Table 1: Languages/Dialects used among family members………………………….40

Table 2: Language proficiency of informants...... …………………….42

VII