This book presents multilingualism as a social phenomenon, which arises when speakers of a different language move to a new society and learn to speak the dominant language of the society. It offers case studies of Hokkien migrating families when they encounter new languages in Burma, Macao and San Francisco, showing how a family changes across generations from monolingual to bilingual/multilingual and back to monolingual. In the process language shift occurs as a result of transitional bilingualism. The dynamic status of Hokkien is also attested at the societal level in Singapore, Taiwan and south Fujian, the homeland of Hokkien.

This book presents multilingualism as a social phenomenon, which arises when speakers of a different language move to a new society and learn to speak the dominant language of the society. It offers case studies of Hokkien migrating families when they encounter new languages in Burma, Macao and San Francisco, showing how a family changes across generations from monolingual to bilingual/multilingual and back to monolingual. In the process language shift occurs as a result of transitional bilingualism. The dynamic status of Hokkien is also attested at the societal level in Singapore, Taiwan and south Fujian, the homeland of Hokkien.

This new major reference work provides a comprehensive overview of linguistic phenomena in a variety of Sinitic languages in a global context, highlighting the dynamic interaction between these languages and English. This “living reference work” offers a window into the linguistic sphere in China and beyond, and showcases the latest research into diverse and evolving linguistic phenomena that have resulted from intensified interactions between the Sinophone world and other lingua-spheres. The Handbook is divided into five sections. The chapters in Section I (New Research Trends in Chinese Linguistic Research) present fast-growing research areas in Chinese linguistics, particularly those undertaken by scholars based in China. Section II (Interactions of Sinitic Languages) focuses on language-contact situations inside and outside China. The chapters in Section III (Meaning, Culture, Translation) explore the meanings of key cultural concepts, and how ideas move between Chinese and English through translation across various genres. Section IV (New Trends in Teaching Chinese as a Foreign Language) covers new ideas and practices relating to teaching the Chinese language and culture. The final section, Section V (Transference from Chinese to English), explores dynamic interactions between varieties of Chinese and varieties of English, as they play out in multilingual sites and settings

This volume explores the diverse linguistic landscape of Southeast Asia’s Chinese communities. Based on archival research and previously unpublished linguistic fieldwork, it unearths a wide variety of language histories, linguistic practices, and trajectories of words. The localized and often marginalized voices we bring to the spotlight are quickly disappearing in the wake of standardization and homogenization, yet they tell a story that is uniquely Southeast Asian in its rich hybridity. Our comparative scope and focus on language, analysed in tandem with history and culture, adds a refreshing dimension to the broader field of Sino-Southeast Asian Studies.

Far from being a melting pot, multi-racial Singapore prides itself on the richness of its ethnic communities and cultures. This volume provides an updated account of the heterogeneity within each of the main communities — the Chinese, Malay, Indian, Eurasian and Others. It also documents the ethnic cultures of these communities by discussing their histories, celebrations, cultural symbols, life cycle rituals, cultural icons and attempts to preserve culture. While chapters are written by scholars drawing insight from a variety of sources ranging from academic publications to discussions with community experts, it is written in an accessible way. This volume seeks to increase intercultural understanding through presenting ample insights into the cultural beliefs and practices of the different ethnic communities. While this book is about diversity, a closer examination of the peoples and cultures of Singapore demonstrates the many similarities communities share in this Singaporean space.

This book offers a stimulating introduction to the Hokkien music drama known as liyuanxi ('pear garden theatre'), heir and current expression of one of China's oldest unbroken xiqu ('Chinese opera') traditions. It considers the genre's history prior to the 20th century, its signal successes before and after the Cultural Revolution, and its national prominence today. Beginning with an analysis of the form's aesthetics and techniques, it proceeds to an overview of its rich and distinctive narrative repertoire, including several dramas unique to the genre. Josh Stenberg illustrates liyuanxi's distinctive musical and narrative qualities and presents the performance art's place, not only in Chinese drama and theatre history, but also in the culture of the historic port city of Quanzhou and the broader Hokkien region and diaspora. This study focuses on the work of the only professional theatre troupe in the genre, the Fujian Province Liyuanxi Experimental Theatre (FPLET), and examines the practice of director and leading actor Zeng Jingping, whose performances have focused attention on the genre's expression of women's desires and ambitions, and on her colleague, playwright Wang Renjie. It argues that new scripts engage with the issues of contemporary China while respecting the genre's traditions and conventions, and have led to rewritings of traditional repertoire by younger female authors. Stenberg's book skilfully demonstrates how a traditional theatre can adapt and thrive in a contemporary society, providing an indispensable introduction while whetting the appetite for the genre's exhilarating live performances.

This volume provides a broad coverage of the intersection of sociolinguistic variation and language acquisition. Favoured by the current scientific context where interdisciplinarity is particularly encouraged, the chapters bring to light the complementarity between the social and cognitive approaches to language acquisition. The book integrates sociolinguistic and psycholinguistic issues by bringing together scholars who have been developing conceptions of language acquisition across the lifespan that take into account language-internal and cross-linguistic variation in contexts of both first and second language acquisition as well as of first and second dialect acquisition. The volume brings together theoretical and empirical research and provides an excellent basis for scholars and students wanting to delve into the social and cognitive dimensions of both the production and perception of sociolinguistic variation. The book enables the reader to understand, on the one hand, how variation is acquired in childhood or at a later stage and, on the other, how perception and production feed into one another, thus building up our understanding of the social meanings underpinning language variation.