Language, Social Networks, and the City
Keywords:
George Town, Penang, Language Maintenance, language shift, social network, urbanity
Abstract
Research in Malaysian sociolinguistics has seen much development pertaining to its concerns over language in its multilingual, multiracial, post-colonial community. The majority of existing literature however tends to lean towards traditional ideologies to explicate the language situation and linguistic patterns taking place within society. As influential as they are, there is a growing need for research to extend and move beyond traditional parameters so as to better explicate the roles and values of language in the increasingly mobile, transnational, diverse communities found in the city. This is certainly true in the historical city of George Town, Penang where exists an eclectic mix of heritage and urbanity – a contest for fluid and fixed notions of identity, culture, traditions, and language. One approach which has been used to contribute towards the study of linguistic patterns is Social Network Analysis. A notable application of analysis network structures is attributed to Milroy (1987), where the following has emerged: close-knit and dense networks are resistant to outside influences whereas loose-knit, weaker network links are embracing of change. This paper therefore aims to explain Social Network Analysis as a framework and method, how it has been applied in previous studies, and the potential it holds to analyse language in contemporary, urban communities as is found in cities like George Town, Penang.
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References
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Wang, X. (2017). Family language policy by Hakkas in Balik Pulau, Penang. International Journal of the Sociology of Language, 2017(244), 87–118. https://doi.org/10.1515/ijsl-2016-0058
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Wei, L. (2019). Social network analysis. In J. Darquennes, J. Salmons, & W. Vandenbussche (Eds.), Language Contact: An international handbook (edited volume) (Vol. 1, pp. 561–573). De Gruyter Mouton. https://doi.org/10.1515/9783110435351-046
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David, M. K. (1999). Language shift Amongst The Sindhis of Malaysia. South Pacific Journal of Psychology, 10(1), 61–67. https://doi.org/10.1017/s0257543400001012
David, M. K., & Faridah, N. (1999). Language Maintenance or Language Shift in the Portuguese Settlement of Malacca in Malaysia. Migracijske i Etničke Teme, 15(4), 465–481. https://hrcak.srce.hr/109484
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Eckert, P. (2012). Three Waves of Variation Study: The Emergence of Meaning in the Study of Sociolinguistic Variation. Annual Review of Anthropology, 41(1), 87–100. https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev-anthro-092611-145828
Edwards, W. F. (1992). Sociolinguistic Behavior in a Detroit Inner-City Black Neighborhood. Language in Society, 21(1), 93–115. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0047404500015050
Gin, O. K. (2015). Disparate Identities: Penang From A Historical Perspective, 1780–1941. Kajian Malaysia, 33(2), 27–52. http://web.usm.my/km/33(Supp.2)2015/km33s22015_03.pdf
Goh, D. P. (2014). Between History and Heritage: Post-Colonialism, Globalisation, and the Remaking of Malacca, Penang, and Singapore. TRaNS: Trans-Regional and -National Studies of Southeast Asia, 2(1), 79–101. https://doi.org/10.1017/trn.2013.17
Govindasamy, S., & Nambiar, M. (2003). Social networks: applicability to minority communities in multilingual settings. International Journal of the Sociology of Language, 2003(161), 25–45. https://doi.org/10.1515/ijsl.2003.027
Gumperz, J. J. (1958). Dialect Differences and Social Stratification in a North Indian Village. American Anthropologist, 60(4), 668–682. https://doi.org/10.1525/aa.1958.60.4.02a00050
Gumperz, J. J. (1982). Language and social Identity. Cambridge University Press.
Hevey, D. (2018). Network analysis: a brief overview and tutorial. Health Psychology and Behavioral Medicine, 6(1), 301–328. https://doi.org/10.1080/21642850.2018.1521283
Joan, A., & Ting, S. H. (2017). Influence of Social Network on Language Use of Kejaman Speakers in Sarawak, Malaysia. Oceanic Linguistics, 56(1), 22–41. https://doi.org/10.1353/ol.2017.0001
Labov, W. (1973). Sociolinguistic Patterns (1st ed.). University of Pennsylvania Press.
Lev-Ari, S. (2015). How the Size of Our Social Network Influences Our Semantic Skills. Cognitive Science, 40(8), 2050–2064. https://doi.org/10.1111/cogs.12317
Lippi-Green, R. L. (1989). Social network integration and language change in progress in a rural alpine village. Language in Society, 18(2), 213–234. https://doi.org/10.1017/s0047404500013476
Matsumoto, K., & Britain, D. (2009). The role of social networks in understanding language maintenance and shift in post-colonial multilingual communities – The case of the Republic of Palau in the Western Pacific. Essex Research Reports in Linguistics, 58(2). http://repository.essex.ac.uk/92/1/errl58-2.pdf
Meyerhoff, M. (2006). Introducing Sociolinguistics (1st ed.) [E-book]. Routledge. https://doi.org/10.4324/9780203966709
Milroy, L. (1987). Language and social networks (2nd ed.). Blackwell.
Milroy, L., & Gordon, M. (2003). Social Relationships and Social Practices. In Sociolinguistics: Method and Interpretation (pp. 116–135). Blackwell Publishers. https://doi.org/10.1002/9780470758359
Milroy, L., & Llamas, C. (2013). Social Networks [E-book]. In The Handbook of Language Variation and Change (2nd ed., pp. 407–427). John Wiley & Sons, Inc. https://doi.org/10.1002/9781118335598.ch19
Mukherjee, D. (2003). Role of women in language maintenance and language shift: focus on the Bengali community in Malaysia. International Journal of the Sociology of Language, 2003(161), 103–120. https://doi.org/10.1515/ijsl.2003.023
Ong, T. (2018). Language Maintenance in Malaysia: A Case Study of the Chinese Community in Penang [Doctoral Thesis, Griffith University, Australia]. Griffith Research Online. https://doi.org/10.25904/1912/1180
Ong, T. (2020a). Cast in Iron: Remembering the Past in Penang. In Multilingual Memories: Monuments, Museums and the Linguistic Landscape (pp. 213–236). Bloomsbury Academic. https://doi.org/10.5040/9781350071285.ch-010
Ong, T. (2020b). Contemporary Hakka Language Maintenance in Multilingual Penang, Malaysia. Revista Linguagem & Ensino, 23(4), 1349–1369. https://doi.org/10.15210/rle.v23i4.17267
Ong, T. W. S., & Said, S. B. (2021). Selective Language Maintenance in Multilingual Malaysia. Indigenous Language Acquisition, Maintenance, and Loss and Current Language Policies, 207–228. https://doi.org/10.4018/978-1-7998-2959-1.ch009
Penang Institute. (2018). Penang: Population and Demographics – Penang Institute. https://penanginstitute.org/resources/key-penang-statistics/visualisations-of-key-indicators/penang-population-and-demographics/
Ramachandran, P. A., Ramakrishna, R. A. R., & Lah, S. C. (2019). Language Choice Of The Eurasian Community In Penang: A Sociolinguistic Study. Future Academy, 626–636. https://doi.org/10.15405/epsbs.2019.09.69
Said, S. B., & Ong, T. (2019). Tracing Linguistic Changes on Shop Signs in Malaysia: A Diachronic Examination of George Town, Penang. Central European Journal of Social Sciences and Humanities, 33, 209–230. https://doi.org/10.17651/SOCJOLING.33.14
Scott, J. (2017). Social Network Analysis (4th ed.) [E-book]. SAGE Publications Ltd.
Smakman, D., & Heinrich, P. (2017). Urban Sociolinguistics (1st ed.) [E-book]. Taylor & Francis. https://doi.org/10.4324/9781315514659
Snider, N. L. (1968). What Happened in Penang? Asian Survey, 8(12), 960–975. https://doi.org/10.2307/2642150
Ting, S. H., & Teng, J. Z. M. (2021). Chinese teenagers’ perceptions of vitality of Hokkien Chinese in Penang, Malaysia. International Journal of the Sociology of Language, 0(0). https://doi.org/10.1515/ijsl-2020-0024
Tribur, Z. (2017). Social network structure and language change in Amdo Tibetan. International Journal of the Sociology of Language, 2017(245), 169–206. https://doi.org/10.1515/ijsl-2017-0007
Wang, X. (2016). Language Maintenance or Language Shift? The Role of Religion in a Hakka Catholic Community in Malaysia. International Multilingual Research Journal, 10(4), 273–288. https://doi.org/10.1080/19313152.2016.1192850
Wang, X. (2017). Family language policy by Hakkas in Balik Pulau, Penang. International Journal of the Sociology of Language, 2017(244), 87–118. https://doi.org/10.1515/ijsl-2016-0058
Wei, L. (1994). Three Generations, Two Languages, One Family: Language Choice and Language Shift in a Chinese Community in Britain. Multilingual Matters.
Wei, L. (2019). Social network analysis. In J. Darquennes, J. Salmons, & W. Vandenbussche (Eds.), Language Contact: An international handbook (edited volume) (Vol. 1, pp. 561–573). De Gruyter Mouton. https://doi.org/10.1515/9783110435351-046
Zhao, L., Wong, W. B., & Hanafi, Z. B. (2019). The evolution of George Town’s urban morphology in the Straits of Malacca, late 18th century-early 21st century. Frontiers of Architectural Research, 8(4), 513–534. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.foar.2019.09.001
