Is the Hongkongese Language an Endangered Language?

Hongkongers have long considered the Hongkongese language to be their mother tongue. Although the language is now popularly used by Hongkongers in their daily living, its status started to be challenged after the handover of the sovereignty of Hong Kong from Britain to China. Some scholars believe that the Hongkongese language may eventually face the problem of language attrition and be replaced by Putonghua. As up until now the challenges for the Hongkongese language have had certain similarities to the challenges for Taigi, this paper aims to summarize the challenges for the Hongkongese language since the 1997 handover based on reviews of the Hong Kong education policy scheme, coverage on social media, and the first-hand experiences of the authors. Moreover, the similarities between the challenges for the two languages are also pointed out. As both Hongkongese language and Taigi have a common inhibitor (i.e. Putonghua/Mandarin), comparing the challenges for the two languages may inspire ideas about ways to prevent their attrition.

關鍵字

Cantonese ； Hongkongers ； Hongkongese language ； language attrition

並列摘要

咁耐以來，香港人都一直認為香港話係佢地嘅母語。雖然依家香港周街都講香港話，但係自從香港嘅主權由英國手上交到中國後，香港話嘅地位已經開始危危乎。有d學者認為，香港話可能最終避免唔倒要面對語言消失嘅問題，同埋俾普通話收佢皮。到依家為止，香港話面對嘅威脅、同台灣話面對緊嘅，唔多唔少都有一d相似嘅地方。呢篇文主要係想根據香港教育政策計劃嘅評論、社交傳媒嘅報導、同埋作者佢地作為香港人嘅第一手經驗，去總結1997年香港主權移交以來，香港話面對緊嘅挑戰，同埋講出香港話同台灣話面對緊嘅挑戰有d咩相似嘅地方。因為依家呢兩種語言都係俾同一樣野威脅緊（即係普通話／華語），所以比較下佢地同時面對緊嘅挑戰，話唔定會幫倒我地諗倒一d避免佢地俾普通話收皮嘅方法。｜Tng-kî í-lâi, Hiong-káng-lâng it-tit jīn-ûi Hiong-káng-oē sī in ê bó-gí. Sui-jiân chit-má Hiong-káng-oē sī Hiong-káng-lâng tī jit-siông seng-oah-tiong phó-phiàn sú-iōng ê gí-giân, iáu-m-koh tī Hiong-káng ê chú-koân iû Eng-kok î-kau khì Tiong-kok liáu-āu, Hiong-káng-oē ê tē-ūi í-keng khai-sí siū-tioh thiau-chiàn. Ū hak-chiá jīn-ûi, Hiong-kángoē ū khó-lêng chiong-kî-bóe put-tek-í ài bīn-tùi gí-giân siau-sit ê būn-tê, í-kip hō phó- thong-oē chhú-tāi. Kàu chit-má, Hiong-káng-oē tú-tioh ê thiau-chiàn kap Tâi-gí tú-tioh ê ū chit-kóa-á kāng-khoán ê só-chāi. Chit phiⁿ bûn-chiu^n sī siū^n-beh kin-kì Hiong-kángkàu- iok chèng-chhek kè-ōe ê phêng-lūn, siā-kau mûi-thé ê pò-tō, kap chok-chiá ê tē-itchhiú keng-giām, khì chóng-kiat 1997 nî Hiong-káng-oē chú-koân î-kau í-āu, Hiongkáng- oē tú-tioh ê thiau-chiàn, í-kip chí-chhut Hiong-káng-oē kap Tâi-gí hun-piat tú-tioh ê thiau-chiàn kāng-khoán ê só -chāi. In-uī chit nng-chióng gí-giân mā ū kāng-khoán ê ioksok- chiá (tō sī phó-thong-ōe/ Hôa-gí), só-í pí-kàu in só tú-tioh ê thiau-chiàn mā khó-lêng ē-sái khé-hoat chhut chit-sut-á hông-chí in siau-sit khì ê hong-hoat.

並列關鍵字

廣東話；香港人；香港話；語言消失｜Kńg-tang-ōe ； Hiong-káng-lâng ； Hiong-káng-ōe ； gí-giân siau-sit

參考文獻

Tiun, Hak-khiam,Su, Huang-lan(2017).Don't turn your back on Taiwanese: Language management and Taiwanese maintenance and loss.Journal of Taiwanese Venacular.9(2),4-31.

Audit Commission. 2017. The Language Fund. In: Director of Audit's report No. 68. < www.aud.gov.hk/pdf_e/e68ch08.pdf> (2018/10/30)