Linguistic Minorities in Hong Kong 

We are Henry, Chester and Joson; undergraduate students from the University of Hong Kong. In the course CCGL9024: The Life and Death of Languages: Diversity, Identity, and Globalization, we were required to either conduct interviews, plan a language revitalization program or draw up a language sketch and present it in either video, poster, or website format. We have come to a consensus that we are interested in assessing the current situation of linguistic minorities in Hong Kong and how language shift/death occurs in the context of Hong Kong.

 

This website is the fruit of our efforts. In interviewing some of the linguistic minorities of Hong Kong. we want to investigate how they perceive their own mother tongue and what language(s) they use in Hong Kong after having stayed in hong Kong for at least more than 2 years and when they use it .

 

Through interviewing linguistic minorities, we wish to analyse the situation in Hong Kong based on three main aspects:

 

1) Language shift/death

2) Language appreciation (by the speakers of minority languages themselves)

3) Sense of identity of linguistic minorities

 

It is hoped that theories about linguistics learned during lectures and tutorials may be applied in the analysis of the interview results. Furthermore, it is also hoped that this study will shed light on why individuals choose to keep their languages under the pressure of a foreign dominant language. 

 

Firstly, this would conceivably raise awareness about linguistic phenomena in the context of Hong Kong. Moreover, we expect that other linguistic minorities would be able to find their own reasons as to why they should keep their native tongues and pass it down to their children, through learning from the example of others.

 

After reading through the interviews and the analyses, you are invited to share your own experiences with your native tongue or leave a comment to show your support for linguistic minorities in Hong Kong in the COMMENT section!