International Journal of Language & Linguistics

Ethnic Identity, Language Use and Language Attitude of the Pumi in Yunnan, China
Jing An, Peter John Wanner, Jeongsoo Yu, Naoyuki Ono

Abstract
Language endangerment is a severe problem for the ethnic minorities including the Pumi people in Yunnan, China. To explicate the reasons why the Pumi language endangered, we investigate the relationship between language attitudes and ethnic identity of the Pumi. We have undertaken a data collection from 40 subjects from Lanping County. The results show that the Pumi people have an objective and positive attitude towards their native language and their ethnic identity. A Spearman correlation analysis shows that ethnic identity positively correlated with language attitudes, and the euphonic and cordial degree of language is also positively related to the proficiency of the native language. However, the proficiency has the scarce correlation with ethnic identity. An analysis of the interviews indicated that the local government of Pumi had promoted the publicity of language preservation which played an important role in awakening the passion of the Pumi people to learn their language.

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