Language Use Among The Hakkas in The Netherlands

Abstract

Abstract
Background. Chinese migration to Europe brought speakers of various Sinitic languages from various multilingual to predominantly monolingual countries with well established standard languages. Cultural and linguistic variation inside the Chinese community forms different intersecting Chinese identities among first-generation migrants and presents a showcase of a new urban linguistic diversity, as well as global connectedness. The Hakkas constitute an important Sinitic migrant group in this context.

Material & method. With the help of the Benelux Tsung Tsin Hakka Association, 115 questionnaires and 21 qualitative interviews with Hakkas in the Netherlands have been collected. This study focuses on language competence, language use and everyday communicative practices, both quantitatively and qualitatively, followed by a study on language attitudes.

Analysis. The Hakkas of the Netherlands are all well-versed in Dutch and well integrated into society. They immigrated from different cultural and linguistic backgrounds but connect with each other at the level of a shared Hakka identity. One group of Hakkas has ties to Hong-Kong and Guangdong, they have a strong tendency to use the Cantonese language as their first language; old speakers reflect earlier linguistic variation and often speak smaller sub-varieties of Cantonese and Hakka. Contrary to second-generation Hakkas, even young migrants and students from Suriname speak Hakka as their family language. The Hakka migrants are often also able to use Mandarin Chinese. Community members value Hakka but are generally aware that it is unlikely to be maintained in the future.

Conclusions. Language shift appears to be the likely outcome for small minority languages in superdiverse societies with a strong preference for school-mediated standard languages (Dutch, English), even the superordinate language(s) of the migrant community
become the new ingroup language – in this case Cantonese, but also Putonghua.

Keywords: Hakka, language and migration, multilingualism, language shift,
superdiversity.