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How do language attitudes affect language variation in multilingual communities?

Celeste Lenz

Language attitudes play a significant role in language variation in multilingual communities. These attitudes are formed by societal norms, cultural values, and personal beliefs and can affect how individuals perceive and use languages. Multilingual communities are characterized by the presence of multiple languages, each with its unique features and linguistic rules. Language variation occurs when individuals use different forms of a language based on factors such as age, gender, education, and ethnicity. In this context, language attitudes can influence the choice of language variants individuals use, contributing to linguistic variation.

One major way in which language attitudes affect language variation in multilingual communities is through the process of language maintenance or shift. Language maintenance refers to the extent to which a language is preserved within a community, while language shift refers to the gradual replacement of one language for another. Language attitudes towards a particular language can affect its status in a community, determine the extent to which it is used, and influence language shift. Attitudes towards certain languages can reinforce or weaken existing linguistic hierarchies and influence the development of language policies.

Language attitudes can also affect the way in which language variants are perceived and used within a community. Negative attitudes towards certain variants can stigmatize them, leading to reduced use and, in some cases, change. Linguistic changes can also occur when certain language variants are associated with prestige or higher social status. For example, in some multilingual communities, individuals may adopt features of dominant languages to signify higher social and economic status.

Moreover, language attitudes can influence the acquisition of different languages by multilingual individuals and the extent to which they use and maintain them. Attitudes towards one's mother tongue, for instance, can affect language maintenance among migrant populations. In some cases, the positive attitudes towards the majority language result in the suppression of other languages. While in some other cases, negative attitudes towards the community's languages may discourage individuals from using their mother tongue.

In conclusion, language attitudes play a critical role in language variation in multilingual communities. These attitudes can influence language maintenance and shift, affect the use of language variants and influence the development of linguistic hierarchies. To promote linguistic diversity and inclusion, it is crucial to cultivate positive attitudes towards all languages and their variants within a community. This can be achieved through education, language policy, and raising awareness about the cultural and social significance of multilingualism. Positive language attitudes can foster a sense of unity within a multilingual community and promote mutual understanding and respect, which are essential for building a more cohesive society.