Variation, contact, and change in language varieties in Yul shul (northern Khams)

In: International journal of the sociology of language: IJSL, Volume 2017, Issue 245

Abstract

AbstractThis article describes Tibetan dialect standardization due to rural-urban migration and participation in formal schooling in Yul shul Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture. As socio-economic development of China's Tibetan regions accelerates in the twenty-first century, rural people travel and relocate to regional urban centers more frequently, and are thus exposed to a variety of dialects. Meanwhile, participation in formal state-sponsored schooling is also increasing. Both these phenomena create new sociolinguistic environments in which regiolect standardization is occurring. To investigate this situation, I conducted a survey of one middle school class and one associate diploma class at two different educational institutions in Khams, in order to investigate how students' accents shift to standard regional regiolects, such as Sga ba regiolect in Yul shul.