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Title: Areal Analysis of Language Attitudes and Practices: A Case Study from Nepal
This paper has two aims. One aim is to consider non-structural (language attitude and use) variables as valid in the field of dialect and linguistic geography in an inner Himalayan valley of Nepal, where four languages have traditionally co- existed asymmetrically and which demonstrate different degrees of vitality vs. endangerment. The other aim is an application of modified spatiality as it aligns with speaker attitudes and practices amidst recent and ongoing socio-economic and population changes. We demonstrate that variation in self-reported attitudes and practices across languages in this region can be explained as much with adjusted spatial factors (labeled ‘social space’) as with traditional social factors (e.g. gender, age, formal education, occupation, etc.). As such, our study contributes to a dis- course on the role and potential of spatiality in sociolinguistic analyses of smaller language communities.  more » « less
Award ID(s):
1149639
NSF-PAR ID:
10057924
Author(s) / Creator(s):
;
Date Published:
Journal Name:
Language documentation and conservation
Volume:
13
ISSN:
1934-5275
Page Range / eLocation ID:
152-179
Format(s):
Medium: X
Sponsoring Org:
National Science Foundation
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