Language in Hong Kong at Century's End

1. Introduction: Perspectives on Language in Hong Kong at Century's End

INTRODUCTION฀ 1 Perspectives฀on฀Language฀in฀Hong฀Kong฀at฀ Century's฀End1฀ Martha C . Pennington ABSTRACT฀ This introductor y chapte r offer s a rang e o f differen t way s o f characterizing an d explainin g bilingualis m (broadl y define d t o include the existence of any number of languages in one community) in the Hong Kong case. From these multiple perspectives it is possible to gain rich and complex insights into the nature of bilingualism that offer new understandings of the phenomenon. INTRODUCTION฀ Such a comple x an d changin g aspec t o f lif e a s languag e i n Hon g Kong , representing a mix of not only English and the majority dialect of Cantonese but other Chinese dialects, or varieties, as well, can best be understood an d described by examining it from multiple perspectives. In this introductor y chapter, a numbe r o f differen t framework s tha t hav e previousl y bee n applied t o th e stud y o f bilingualism , multilingualism , o r languag e mor e generally ar e reviewe d i n term s o f thei r applicabilit y t o th e Hon g Kon g case, wit h referenc e t o th e chapter s o f thi s book . Thes e ar e the n supplemented by several new forms of description in an attempt to account in an enlightening o r interesting way for the evolution and curren t profil e of language in Hong Kong. The discussion is to a large extent cumulative , grafting and weaving the various conceptual strands together to create what it i s hope d wil l b e hard y ne w hybri d breed s o f explanatio n tha t ma y stimulate futur e researc h and theorizin g on Hong Kong language . 4฀Marth a฀C.฀Pennington฀ CURRENT฀PERSPECTIVES฀ Functional฀Complementarity฀of฀Languages฀ According to a well-known mode l of bilingualism/multilingualism, tha t of diglossia (Ferguson, 1959; Fishman, 1967,1980), two or more language s will survive in a community only when their functions and domains of use are different an d complementary Th e basic, or classic, diglossic situatio n is one in which one of two community languages is used in 'outer7 ('high') domains or functions suc h as education and government and the other in 'inner' (Tow' ) domain s o r function s suc h a s family an d neighbourhoo d affairs. In general , th e 'high'/Tow ' languag e spli t i s a manifestatio n o f distinctions i n powe r an d socio-economi c statu s between a governing , educated class and a governed, lesser educated class. In consequence, the diglossic style of explanation for language use patterns has over the years come to be associated with the politics of colonialism and conquest, with a history of the attempted or actual domination of one group, and its language and culture, over another, and with the themes of ethnicity and minorit y rights. The relationship betwee n Englis h an d Cantones e i n Hong Kon g ha s been described in diglossic terms, with English characterized as an 'auxiliary language' (Luk e and Richards, 1982) having limited 'high ' functions an d status fo r speaker s o f Cantones e (an d fo r nativ e speaker s o f othe r non English varietie s i n th e community) . Th e usage profil e o f Englis h the n appears a s one which i s complementary t o the much mor e widesprea d alternative of Cantonese. At on e tim e i n th e histor y o f Hon g Kong , i t migh t hav e seeme d appropriate to speak of it in diglossic terms, when English was indisputably the main language of power and prestige. However, at least since the 1960s, English has been losing ground to Chinese, including Cantonese, in many domains that would traditionally be labelled 'high'. English is still dominant in written business communication (Poon , 1992) and perhaps in the legal domain as well, as enshrined in the Basic Law, though courts hear cases in Chinese. However, it no longer appears to be the dominant medium in the political domain, where Cantones e is a more convenient an...