Language shift or maintenance within three generations: examples from three Turkish–Arabic-speaking families

Abstract

Where there are two or more languages in contact, language shift is inevitable. Shift or maintenance happens at individual or societal levels due to social and psychological conditions in which community members are in. Pattern of language use in a family and the attitudes of family members towards heritage language or the language of the wider community are also important determining factors. For that reason, language patterns in three Arabic–Turkish bilingual families have been investigated through deep interviews held with third-generation representatives of each families. The results show that shift or maintenance take different directions within three generations because of, mostly, outside factors shaping the attitude of bilingual speakers.

Keywords:

• bilingualism
• language attitudes
• language contact
• multilingualism
• Arabic–Turkish