Identifying and Analyzing the Dominant Languages in Small Island Developing States

Abstract

Despite their small size, in both area and population, many different languages are spoken by residents of the small island developing states (SIDS). Most of these languages are used by very few people. With one exception, the remaining forty-nine SIDS have one or more official languages. Slightly over 62 percent of the eighty official languages are those of former colonial rulers. Of the total of 1,500 languages, the Weaver’s minimum positive deviation method identified only 106 as dominant languages. These languages are spoken by more than 96 percent of the population in the SIDS. The data further show that twenty-eight of the fifty SIDS are monolingual and the remaining twenty-two are either bilingual or multilingual. Surprisingly, in many monolingual SIDS, the official language is not the dominant language. The dominant languages of these nations were first categorized as monolingual, bilingual, and multilingual and then were analyzed by their location, area, and population size. No statistically significant variation was found between them. Reasons for these conditions are explained, and future research direction is provided. Key Words: bilingual, dominant languages, monolingual, multilingual, small island developing countries.

小岛型发展中国家（SIDS）仅管领土面积狭小和人口数少, 但其居民却说着诸多不同的语言。这些语言大部分仅被少数人使用。但四十九个具有一种或更多官方语言的小岛型发展国家则是例外。八十种官方语言中, 有略多于百分之六十二是前殖民者的语言。总共一千五百种语言中, 韦弗的最小正向差方法指认出仅一百零六种为支配性语言。这些语言由小岛型发展中国家中超过百分之九十六的人口所使用。该数据进一步显示, 这五十个小岛型发展中国家中的二十八个是单一语言, 其他的二十二个则是双语或多语。令人惊讶的是, 在诸多单一语言的小岛型发展中国家中, 官方语言并非支配性语言。这些国家的支配性语言首先依照单一语言、双语和多语进行分类, 接着按其区位、面积和人口大小进行分析。这些因素之间并未发现显着的统计变异。本研究解释这些条件的原因, 并提供未来的研究方向。关键词：双语, 支配性语言, 单语, 多语, 小岛型发展中国家。

A pesar de su tamaño pequeño, tanto en área como en población, muchos idiomas diferentes son hablados por los residentes de estados insulares pequeños en desarrollo (SIDS). La mayoría de estos idiomas son usados por muy poca gente. Con una sola excepción, los cuarenta y nueve SIDS que subsisten tienen una o más lenguas oficiales. Un poco más del 62 por ciento de los ochenta idiomas oficiales son los que hablaban los antiguos gobernantes coloniales. Del total de 1.500 idiomas, el método del mínimo de desviación positiva de Weaver identificó tan solo a 106 como idiomas dominantes. Estos idiomas son hablados por más del 96 por ciento de la población en los SIDS. Los datos muestran además que veintiocho de los cincuenta SIDS son monolingües y los restantes veintidós son bilingües o multilingües. Sorprendentemente, en muchos SIDS monolingües el idioma oficial no es el idioma dominante. Los idiomas dominantes de estas naciones se categorizaron primero como monolingües, bilingües y multilingües y luego fueron analizados por su localización, área y tamaño de la población. No se halló ninguna variación estadísticamente significativa entre ellos. Se explican las razones de estas condiciones y se provee orientación para la investigación futura.

Palabras clave:

• bilingüe
• estados insulares pequeños en desarrollo
• idiomas dominantes
• monolingüe
• multilingüe

This article refers to:

Islands, Languages, and Development: A Commentary on Dominant Languages

This article responds to:

A Response to “Islands, Languages and Development: A Commentary on Dominant Languages”

Acknowledgments

I am grateful to two anonymous reviewers and the editor of The Professional Geographer, who offered exceptionally insightful comments. I also thank Avantika Ramekar and Subarna Chatterjee for drafting the graphs used in this article.

Notes

1 For example, the Weaver method does not work well where the first rank crop far exceeds the second crop acreage (Paul 1980).

2 As an illustration, take the case of Tonga, where three languages are spoken: Tangan (87 percent), English (11 percent), and other languages of the Bantu family (2 percent). The application of Weaver’s method yielded a deviation value for English of (100 − 87)²/1 = 69; for Tonga it yielded a deviation value of (50 − 11)²/2 = 760.5; and for the other languages it yielded a value of (33.3 − 2)²/3 = 326.56. Because English has the minimum deviation value, Tonga is considered a monolingual country.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Bimal Kanti Paul

BIMAL KANTI PAUL is a Professor in the Department of Geography, Kansas State University, Manhattan, KS 66506. E-mail: [email protected]. His research interests include extreme events–induced migration and the health impacts of environmental hazards and disasters.