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Dominant Language–Ethnicity Notions of the Malaysian Chinese in Sarawak: Paternity or Patrimony?

This study examines the relationship between language and ethnicity in the identities of Malaysian Chinese, using Fishman’s (1977) dimensions of paternity, patrimony and phenomenology. The data for the study were taken from language attitude questionnaires completed by 300 Chinese (150 Foochow, 150...

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Main Authors: Puah, Yann Yann, Ting, Su Hie
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Routledge 2017
Subjects:
H Social Sciences (General)
Online Access:http://ir.unimas.my/id/eprint/15333/2/Dominant%20Language%20-%20Copy.pdf
http://ir.unimas.my/id/eprint/15333/
https://www.scopus.com/inward/record.uri?eid=2-s2.0-84996602569&doi=10.1080%2f10357823.2016.1249340&partnerID=40&md5=1b65fe2b6134543b92027e9a60b60442
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spelling my.unimas.ir.153332023-10-31T07:50:25Z http://ir.unimas.my/id/eprint/15333/ Dominant Language–Ethnicity Notions of the Malaysian Chinese in Sarawak: Paternity or Patrimony? Puah, Yann Yann Ting, Su Hie H Social Sciences (General) This study examines the relationship between language and ethnicity in the identities of Malaysian Chinese, using Fishman’s (1977) dimensions of paternity, patrimony and phenomenology. The data for the study were taken from language attitude questionnaires completed by 300 Chinese (150 Foochow, 150 Hokkien) and interviews with 18 participants (nine Foochow, nine Hokkien) living in Kuching, the capital city of the Malaysian state of Sarawak. The questionnaire results suggest that Chinese from the Foochow and Hokkien participant groups believe in both the paternity and patrimony dimensions of ethnicity, but the interview results also revealed a tendency towards viewing ethnicity as an inherited characteristic. Some are of the view that those who are of Foochow/Hokkien descent but cannot speak the ethnic language are “half Foochow/Hokkien”. The interview results also suggest that comparatively more Hokkien participants than Foochow participants may be inclined towards the patrimonial view of ethnicity. This finding is further supported by questionnaire results showing more frequent use of the ethnic language (Foochow/Hokkien) by the Hokkien than by the Foochow. Both sources of data provide evidence that Foochow and Hokkien in Malaysia use Mandarin for daily communication to a greater extent than their ethnic language. The findings indicate that ethnic language use is linked to conceptualisation of ethnicity Routledge 2017 Article PeerReviewed text en http://ir.unimas.my/id/eprint/15333/2/Dominant%20Language%20-%20Copy.pdf Puah, Yann Yann and Ting, Su Hie (2017) Dominant Language–Ethnicity Notions of the Malaysian Chinese in Sarawak: Paternity or Patrimony? Asian Studies Review, 41 (1). pp. 79-98. ISSN 10357823 https://www.scopus.com/inward/record.uri?eid=2-s2.0-84996602569&doi=10.1080%2f10357823.2016.1249340&partnerID=40&md5=1b65fe2b6134543b92027e9a60b60442 DOI: 10.1080/10357823.2016.1249340
institution Universiti Malaysia Sarawak
building Centre for Academic Information Services (CAIS)
collection Institutional Repository
continent Asia
country Malaysia
content_provider Universiti Malaysia Sarawak
content_source UNIMAS Institutional Repository
url_provider http://ir.unimas.my/
language English
topic H Social Sciences (General)
spellingShingle H Social Sciences (General)
Puah, Yann Yann
Ting, Su Hie
Dominant Language–Ethnicity Notions of the Malaysian Chinese in Sarawak: Paternity or Patrimony?
description This study examines the relationship between language and ethnicity in the identities of Malaysian Chinese, using Fishman’s (1977) dimensions of paternity, patrimony and phenomenology. The data for the study were taken from language attitude questionnaires completed by 300 Chinese (150 Foochow, 150 Hokkien) and interviews with 18 participants (nine Foochow, nine Hokkien) living in Kuching, the capital city of the Malaysian state of Sarawak. The questionnaire results suggest that Chinese from the Foochow and Hokkien participant groups believe in both the paternity and patrimony dimensions of ethnicity, but the interview results also revealed a tendency towards viewing ethnicity as an inherited characteristic. Some are of the view that those who are of Foochow/Hokkien descent but cannot speak the ethnic language are “half Foochow/Hokkien”. The interview results also suggest that comparatively more Hokkien participants than Foochow participants may be inclined towards the patrimonial view of ethnicity. This finding is further supported by questionnaire results showing more frequent use of the ethnic language (Foochow/Hokkien) by the Hokkien than by the Foochow. Both sources of data provide evidence that Foochow and Hokkien in Malaysia use Mandarin for daily communication to a greater extent than their ethnic language. The findings indicate that ethnic language use is linked to conceptualisation of ethnicity
format Article
author Puah, Yann Yann
Ting, Su Hie
author_facet Puah, Yann Yann
Ting, Su Hie
author_sort Puah, Yann Yann
title Dominant Language–Ethnicity Notions of the Malaysian Chinese in Sarawak: Paternity or Patrimony?
title_short Dominant Language–Ethnicity Notions of the Malaysian Chinese in Sarawak: Paternity or Patrimony?
title_full Dominant Language–Ethnicity Notions of the Malaysian Chinese in Sarawak: Paternity or Patrimony?
title_fullStr Dominant Language–Ethnicity Notions of the Malaysian Chinese in Sarawak: Paternity or Patrimony?
title_full_unstemmed Dominant Language–Ethnicity Notions of the Malaysian Chinese in Sarawak: Paternity or Patrimony?
title_sort dominant language–ethnicity notions of the malaysian chinese in sarawak: paternity or patrimony?
publisher Routledge
publishDate 2017
url http://ir.unimas.my/id/eprint/15333/2/Dominant%20Language%20-%20Copy.pdf
http://ir.unimas.my/id/eprint/15333/
https://www.scopus.com/inward/record.uri?eid=2-s2.0-84996602569&doi=10.1080%2f10357823.2016.1249340&partnerID=40&md5=1b65fe2b6134543b92027e9a60b60442
_version_ 1781710370721759232
score 13.211869

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