Abstract
This paper examines the language practices among speakers of Hakka in Hong Kong, a minority Chinese variety still found in the territory. These speakers were largely monolingual a few decades ago but are now primarily bilingual in Hakka and Cantonese as the community shifts towards the latter, the dominant societal language. To explore the process and dynamics of this language shift, the present study adopted an ethnographic approach for observing the actual bilingual behaviours of individuals and families in the community. The informant sample comprised 32 speakers aged between 9 and 82 from nine separate families across Hong Kong. Data was collected through a combination of participant observation, informal interviews and conversational exchanges in the informants’ homes. Examination of their patterns of language choice and language use shows that most of the speakers use Cantonese-dominant patterns, and are ‘shifters’ rather than ‘maintainers’ of the Hakka language; the shift is clearly generation and age-related. The paper also illustrates how bilingual speakers make use of code-switching between Hakka and Cantonese to achieve various discourse purposes in their everyday conversations, suggesting that even among the ‘language shifters’, Hakka remains an important linguistic resource.
摘要
這份文章旨在研究香港一個漢語方言少數族群──操客家話者的語用習慣。幾十年前的香港,大部分的客家人都只操單一語言,但隨著社會逐漸傾向廣東話主導,他們現在基本上已同時操客家和廣東話。本研究以民族誌研究方法為導向,透過探索這種語言轉變的過程和動態,深入觀察香港的客家話社區內確實的客廣雙語行為。參加這項研究的合共 32 人,年齡由 9 至 82 歲,來自 9 個家庭。數據來自研究者親身到他們的家庭進行語言交流、觀察和非正式訪問。分析他們的語言選擇和使用方式之後,顯示大部分操客家話者採用以廣東話為主導的模式溝通,屬於客家話的「轉移者」而非「維持者」,而這種變化與年齡和不同輩份有明顯關係。本文亦展示部分雙語者在日常生活中,為了滿足不同言談功能或目的,如何利用語碼轉換交替使用客家話和廣東話。這顯示對於即使是那些被視為「轉移者」的人,客家話仍然是重要的語言資源。
About the authors
Sherman Lee is an Assistant Professor in the Department of English at Hong Kong Shue Yan University. She obtained her Ph.D. in Hong Kong for research examining language shift among the Hakka population, and her B.A. (Manchester) and M.Phil (Cambridge) from the UK in the fields of linguistics and computer speech. Her current research and teaching interests include sociolinguistics, bilingualism, discourse analysis, English for academic purposes, and research methodology.
李雪曼現為香港樹仁大學英文系助理教授。她分別在英國曼徹斯特大學和劍橋大學獲得語言學學士學位與計算語音學哲學碩士學位,並於香港城市大學以研究客家人的語言轉用獲得社會語言學博士學位。她目前的研究與教學項目包括:社會語言學、雙語現象、話語分析、學術英語及研究方法論。
Acknowledgement
I am very grateful to David Li Chor Shing for his invaluable assistance with editing the Chinese synopsis for this paper.
References
Alfonzetti, Giovanna.1998. The conversational dimension in code-switching between Italian and dialect in Sicily. In P.Auer (ed.), Code-switching in conversation: Language, interaction and identity, 180–214. London: Routledge.Search in Google Scholar
Auer, Peter.1984. Bilingual conversation. Amsterdam: J. Benjamins.10.1075/pb.v.8Search in Google Scholar
Auer, Peter.1995. The pragmatics of code-switching: A sequential approach. In L.Milroy & P.Muysken (eds.), One speaker, two languages: Cross-disciplinary perspectives on code-switching, 115–135. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.10.1017/CBO9780511620867.006Search in Google Scholar
Bacon-Shone, John, & Bolton, Kingsley.1998. Charting multilingualism: Language censuses and language surveys in Hong Kong. In M. C.Pennington (ed.), Language in Hong Kong at century’s end, 43–90. Hong Kong: Hong Kong University Press.Search in Google Scholar
Bradley, David.2005. Introduction: Language policy and language endangerment in China . International Journal of the Sociology of Language173. 1–21.10.1515/ijsl.2005.2005.173.1Search in Google Scholar
Chow, Pak Sing, & Lau, Chun Fat.2001. Xianggang Kejiaren de yuyan taidu yu Keyu xiang Yueyu zhuanyi de yinsu he qushi香港客家人的語言態度與客語向粵語轉移的因素和趨勢 [Language attitude among the Hakka in Hong Kong and the cause of shift from Hakka to Cantonese]. In C. F.Lau (ed.), Xianggang Ke Yue fangyan bijiao yanjiu香港客粵方言比較研究 [Comparative research on the Hakka and Yue dialects of Hong Kong], 25–38. Guangzhou: Jinan University Press.Search in Google Scholar
Constable, Nicole.1996. Introduction: What does it mean to be Hakka?In N.Constable (ed.), Guest people: Hakka identity in China and abroad, 3–35. Seattle, WA: University of Washington Press.Search in Google Scholar
Coulmas, Florian.2005. Sociolinguistics: The study of speakers’ choices. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.10.1017/CBO9780511815522Search in Google Scholar
DeFrancis, John.1990. The Chinese language: Fact and fantasy. Honolulu, JI: University of Hawaii Press.Search in Google Scholar
Deng, Xiaohua.1998. Kejiahua yu Ganyu ji Minyu de bijiao客家話與贛語及閩語的比較 [A comparison of Hakka speech with Gan and Min dialects] . Yuwen Yanjiu語文研究 [Linguistic Researches] 3. 47–51.Search in Google Scholar
Dorian, Nancy C.1981. Language death: The life cycle of a Scottish Gaelic dialect. Philadelphia, PA: University of Pennsylvania Press.10.9783/9781512815580Search in Google Scholar
Gal, Susan.1979. Language shift: Social determinants of linguistic change in bilingual Austria. New York: Academic Press.Search in Google Scholar
Groves, Julie, M.2008. Language or dialect – or topolect? A comparison of the attitudes of Hong Kongers and Mainland Chinese towards the status of Cantonese. Sino-Platonic Papers, 179.Search in Google Scholar
Gumperz, John J.1982. Discourse strategies. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.10.1017/CBO9780511611834Search in Google Scholar
Hong Kong Government. 2001. 2001 population census: Main report – volume I. Hong Kong: Census and Statistics Department.Search in Google Scholar
Hong Kong Government. 2011. 2011 population census: Main report: volume I. Retrieved from http://www.census2011.gov.hk/pdf/main-report-volume-I.pdfSearch in Google Scholar
Hong Kong SAR Government. 2001. Press release: Access control of ChungYing Street. Retrieved December 2014, from http://www.info.gov.hk/gia/general/200102/14/0214245.htmSearch in Google Scholar
Johnson, Elizabeth.2000. Recording a rich heritage: Research on Hong Kong’s New Territories. Hong Kong: Leisure and Cultural Services Dept.Search in Google Scholar
Lau, Chun Fat.1997. Keyu pinyin zihui客語拼音字彙 [Hakka Pinyin Dictionary]. Hong Kong: The Chinese University Press.Search in Google Scholar
Lau, Chun Fat.2000. The decline of the general Hakka accent in Hong Kong: A comparison of “Old-Style” and “New-Style” as spoken by the indigenous inhabitants. Muenchen: Lincom Europa2000.Search in Google Scholar
Lau, Chun Fat.2001a. Xianggang de Kejiaren he Kejiahua香港的客家人和客家話 [The Hakka people and the Hakka language in Hong Kong]. In C. F.Lau (ed.), Xianggang Ke Yue fangyan bijiao yanjiu香港客粵方言比較研究 [Comparative research on the Hakka and Yue dialects of Hong Kong], 1–15. Guangzhou: Jinan University Press.Search in Google Scholar
Lau, Chun Fat.2001b. Xianggang Ke Yue fangyan bijiao yanjiu香港客粵方言比較研究 [Comparative research on the Hakka and Yue dialects of Hong Kong]. Guangzhou: Jinan University Press.Search in Google Scholar
Lau, Chun Fat.2002. The criteria for Chinese dialect classification and the problem of the position of the “Hakka dialect” in Chinese dialect grouping . Journal of Chinese Linguistics30(1). 82–96.Search in Google Scholar
Lau, Chun Fat.2004. Xianggang yuanzhumin Keyu: Yi ge xiaoshi zhong de shengyin香港原居民客語: 一個消失中的聲音 [Hong Kong aboriginal Hakka: A vanishing voice]. Hong Kong: The Chinese Language Society of Hong Kong.Search in Google Scholar
Lau, Chun Fat.2005. A dialect murders another dialect: The case of Hakka in Hong Kong . International Journal of the Sociology of Language173. 23–35.10.1515/ijsl.2005.2005.173.23Search in Google Scholar
Lau, Chun Fat, & So, Daniel W.C.2005. Cong fangyan zachu dao Guangfuhua weizhu: 1949–1971 nianjian Xianggang shehui yuyan zhuanxing de chubu tantao從方言雜處到廣府話為主: 1949–1971 年間香港社會語言轉型的初步探討 [From multi-dialectal society to Cantonese dominant: A survey of language shift in Hong Kong 1949–1971] . The Journal of Chinese Sociolinguistics2005 (1). 89–104.Search in Google Scholar
Li, Wei. 1994. Three generations, two languages, one family: Language choice and language shift in a Chinese community in Britain. Clevedon: Multilingual Matters Ltd.Search in Google Scholar
Li, Wei. 2002. “What do you want me to say?” On the Conversation Analysis approach to bilingual interaction . Language in Society31. 159–180.10.1017/S0047404501020140Search in Google Scholar
Liu, Jiahong.1998. Chuangdang Xianggang de Kejiaren闖蕩香港的客家人 [The Hakkas making a living in Hong Kong] . Zhongnan Minzu Xueyuan Xuebao-Zhexue Shehui Kexue Ban中南民族學院學報 - 哲學社會科學版 [Journal of South-Central College for Ethnic Communities - Philosophy and Social Science] 18(3). 40–44.Search in Google Scholar
LSHK. 1997. Yueyu pinyin zibiao粤語拼音字表 [Guide to Linguistic Society of Hong Kong Cantonese Romanization of Chinese Characters]. Hong Kong: Linguistic Society of Hong Kong.Search in Google Scholar
Luo, Xianglin.1933, reprinted in 1992. Kejia yanjiu daolun客家研究導輪 [An introduction to Hakka research]. (Orig. Kuangtung: Shi-Shan Library); Taipei: Nantian Shuju.Search in Google Scholar
Mair, Victor H.1991. What is a Chinese “dialect/topolect”? Reflections on some key Sino-English linguistic terms . Sino-Platonic Papers, 29,. 1–31.Search in Google Scholar
Milroy, Lesley.1987. Language and social networks. Oxford: Blackwell.Search in Google Scholar
Norman, Jerry.1988. Chinese. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.Search in Google Scholar
Ramsey, S.Robert. 1987. The languages of China. Princeton: Princeton University Press.Search in Google Scholar
Sagart, Laurent.1998. On distinguishing Hakka and non-Hakka dialects . Journal of Chinese Linguistics26(2). 281–301.Search in Google Scholar
Shin, Sarah J.2005. Developing in two languages: Korean children in America. Clevedon: Multilingual Matters Ltd.10.21832/9781853597480Search in Google Scholar
So, Daniel W.C. & Lau ChunFat. 2013. Rapid large scale intra-nationality language shift in Hong Kong 1949–1971 . Journal of Chinese Linguistics41(1). 21–51.Search in Google Scholar
T’sou, Benjamin K.1997a. Aspects of the two language system and three language problem in the changing society of Hong Kong. In S.Wright & H.Kelly-Holmes (eds.), One country, two systems, three languages, 22–33. Clevedon: Multilingual Matters Ltd.Search in Google Scholar
T’sou, Benjamin K.1997b. “Sanyan”, “liangyu” shuo Xianggang“三言”,“兩語”說香港 [“Three types of speech” and “two languages” in Hong Kong] . Journal of Chinese Linguistics25. 290–307.Search in Google Scholar
Weinreich, Uriel.1953. Languages in contact: Findings and problems. London: Mouton.Search in Google Scholar
Yang, Yaolin.1997. An inquiry into the origin and development of the Hakka in Shenzhen and Hong Kong. In Z.Wu (ed.), Kejiaxue Yanjiu客家學研究 [Studies in Hakkaology], 56–65. Shanghai: Shanghai Renmin Chubanshe.Search in Google Scholar
Chinese Synopsis (中文簡介)
香港客家人的語言選擇和語碼轉換
這份文章旨在研究香港一個漢語方言少數族群──操客家話者的語用習慣。根據歷史文獻,客家人約於 300 年前到香港落地生根 (Johnson, 2000; Lau, 2001a; Liu, 1998; Yang, 1997),並成為本地原居民 (Constable, 1996)。他們由中國大陸移居香港後,於新界地區建立村落群居。19 世紀中葉之後的客家移民,也會在九龍半島和香港島居住。
雖然客家族群現已淪為香港的少數族群,但他們一度是新界部分地區的最大族群,而客家話亦一度是全香港最多人說的少數族裔方言。1911年的人口普查數據顯示,在新界北區,客家人的人數大幅多於廣東話族群,客家話佔全香港比例的 15.1%,屬全港少數方言中最高 (Bacon-Shone & Bolton, 1998)。當時大部分客家家庭住在新界約 400 座村落中,主要以務農為生 (Lau, 2001a)。這情況相信一直維持至上世紀中葉。到 1961 年,鶴佬話已取代客家話成為最普遍少數族群語言,分別有 6.3% 和 4.9% 的民眾使用。到 1991 年,全港只有 1.6% 人以客家話為主要語言;到 2011 年,比例更跌至 0.9%。相比之下,身為最多人使用少數族群語言的福建話,也只有 1.1% (Hong Kong Government, 2001, 2011)。到現在,香港只餘下少數客家人聚居點,並且散居各處,但仍主要集中在新界居住。在經過長時間異族通婚和同化後,很多客家人後裔甚至已經不知道自己是客家祖先後人的身份。
現時香港境內的客家方言分支大致相同,亦與鄰近地區(深圳和寶安縣)居民所說的客家話接近。不過,香港的客家話與香港的其他中國方言(包括廣東話)之間無法互通。然而,年輕一代客家原居民的客家話,在詞彙和音韻上明顯受到廣東話不同程度的影響 (Lau, 2000, 2005)。
由一種語言習慣轉移至另一種語言,這種語言轉移在一個擁有少數和多數語言的社區中,屬於自然現象 (Weinreich, 1953)。從文獻和歷史數據上得知,香港境內包括客家話等少數族群語言快速轉移至廣東話的情況,特別是操廣東話人口和操少數方言人口的此消彼長,在 1961 至 1971 年間的普查中就反映出來 (Lau & So, 2005; So & Lau, 2013; T’sou, 1997a, 1997b)。幾十年前的香港,大部分的客家人都只操單一語言,但隨著社會逐漸傾向廣東話主導,他們現在基本上已同時操客家和廣東話。這種轉變,反映出社區層面出現持續的語言轉移。
使用少數方言者大幅減少的原因,最主要的是社會機制欠缺對這些語言的支援,其次是媒體和教育都以主導語言即廣東話為主,另外還包括操少數方言者與操廣東話者通婚,以及居住模式改變等 (Chow & Lau, 2001).。另一個因素可能是 1970 年代香港社會出現的本土意識認同感 (So & Lau, 2013),令說少數方言者受無形壓力改說廣東話 (Bacon-Shone & Bolton, 1998)。現行教育制度鼓吹兩文(中文和英文)三語(廣東話、英語和普通話),窒礙了其他少數方言的使用和發展空間。
在欠缺支援下,客家話與其他少數方言正面臨沒落。隨著客家話瀕臨被廣東話淹沒的危機加深,實在有需要研究這種少數方言在不斷萎縮的客家族群之間如何運用。本研究以民族誌研究方法為導向 (Gal, 1979),透過探索這種語言轉變的過程和動態,深入觀察香港的客家話社區內的客廣雙語行為。本研究旨在分析言語社區內人們的言語模式轉變,目標是研究本地客家話社區成員的個人和家庭之語言習慣。
研究於香港新界最北端、接壤深圳的邊境小鎮沙頭角進行。沙頭角起初是一個客家農村,因此相比起香港其他地區,一直擁有較高比例的客家人口。它屬於禁區,人口出入受到限制,或許因此當地人口變化較境內其他地方少。沙頭角的研究對象最初是透過研究者的個人網絡取得,然後透過他們找到其他親友加入,藉此增加研究對象數目。這種透過社會網絡找尋研究對象的做法,與Milroy (1987) 研究貝爾法斯特言語的研究中使用的「朋友的朋友」方式相似。利用這種「雪球」技巧,就能夠接觸到香港不同地區的客家家庭。研究將沙頭角的接受研究人數限制在少於一半,以便與境內其他地區的數據作有系統的比較。
參加這項研究的合共 32 人,年齡由 9 至 82 歲,來自 9 個家庭,當中 13 人屬於祖父母輩,10人屬父母輩,9 人屬兒孫輩。數據來自研究者親身到他們的家庭進行語言交流、觀察和非正式訪問。
分析操客家話者的語言選擇和使用方式之後,數據顯示香港客家家庭和個人採用客家話的方式有很大分別。有些人明顯傾向說客家話,並會將客家話傳承給後代。不過,大部分操客家話者採用以廣東話為主導的模式溝通,屬於客家話的「轉移者」而非「維持者」。在新一代中,只有在與祖父母或年長父母溝通時才會採用客家話或以客家話為主。統計數據亦顯示,這種變化與年齡與不同輩份有直接關係。換言之,客家社區正持續出現由客家話過渡至廣東話的跨世代語言轉移情況。
為了顯示研究對象如何在對話中使用雙語模式溝通,本文同時以談話分析方法 (Auer, 1984, 1995; Li, 2002),分析了對話人的語碼轉換 (Gumperz, 1982) 方面的數據,藉此了解他們如何在日常對話中採用廣客兩種方言來達到具體之溝通目的。語碼轉換的定義是在同一段談話中,採用兩種或以上的語言或語言變體 (Auer, 1984),是雙語者之間甚為突出的行為。
研究結果顯示,部分雙語者會在日常生活中,為了滿足不同言談功能或目的,不時交替使用客家話和廣東話。即使是那些被視為中度或強烈「轉移者」的人,也會基於不同的溝通目的,由廣東話轉用客家話。因此,雖然客家話在香港前景暗淡,但就目前而言,客家話在某程度上仍然是這些雙語者的重要語言資源。
©2015 by De Gruyter Mouton