Cover not available
Article published In:
Language Problems and Language Planning
Vol. 45:1 (2021) ► pp.56–79

Language dominance and shift among Kalhuri Kurdish speakers in the multilingual context of Iran

Linguistic suicide or linguicide?

ORCID logo | Razi University
The current language policy and planning of many countries still adhere to the nation-state ideology of “one nation equals one official language”. This issue is likely to cause the linguistic minority groups to devalue or even abandon their own mother tongue and identify with the official language of the country. A case in point is Iran where Persian is the only official language and other languages are merely tolerated, but not promoted. The principal aim of this study is to find factors that lead Kalhuri Kurdish people to choose to speak with their children in Persian at the risk of losing their native language, a phenomenon which may happen as a result of linguistic/language suicide or because of linguicide. Therefore, a researcher-designed and validated questionnaire was administered to 384 Kalhuri Kurdish parents. The results indicated that the language policy and planning in Iran has made Kalhuri parents use Persian in interactions with their children instead of using their own vernacular, Kalhuri. The sociolinguistic implications of the study are discussed in the light of the research findings.
Keywords: language planning, linguistic suicide, linguicide, language dominance, Kalhuri Kurdish speakers
Article outline
  • Introduction
  • Language endangerment
    • Language shift and choice among speakers
    • Language policy and planning in Iran
    • Iranian linguistic landscape and the country’s monolingual policies
  • Linguistic/Language suicide and linguicide: A bone of contention
  • Method
    • Participants
    • Instruments
    • Procedure
  • Findings and discussion
  • Concluding remarks
  • References
Published online: 12 July 2021
DOI logo
https://doi.org/10.1075/lplp.20010.wei
References (75)
References
Aronin, L. (2015). Current multilingualism and new developments in multilingualism research. In P. Safont Jordà & L. Portolés Falomir (Eds.), Learning and using multiple languages. Current findings from research on multilingualism (pp. 1–28). Cambridge: Cambridge Scholars Publishing.Google Scholar
Bani-Shoraka, Helena. (2002). The Iranian language policy of the twentieth century: the case of Azerbaijani in Tehran. In Annika Rabo & Bo Utas. (Eds.), the role of the state in west Asia, 141–150. Swedish Research Institute in Istanbul.Google Scholar
Batibo, M. (2005). Language decline and death in Africa: Causes, consequences, and challenges. Multilingual Matters. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Beck, D. and Lam, Y. (2011). Language loss and linguistic suicide: A case study from the Sierra Norte de Puebla, Mexico. In Sarah Cummins, Brigit Janoski, and Patricia A. Shaw. (Eds.), All the Things You Are: A Festschrift for Jack Chambers, 5–16. Toronto Working Papers in Linguistics.Google Scholar
Bhatia, T. and Ritchie, W. (2012). The Handbook of Bilingualism. 2nd ed. Multilingual Matters. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Cenoz, J., & Gorter, D. (2015). Towards a Holistic approach in the study of multilingual education. In J. Cenoz & D. Gorter. (Eds.), Multilingual education: Between language learning and translanguaging (pp. 1–15). Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
Bradley, D. (2019). Language policy and language planning in mainland Southeast Asia: Myanmar and Lisu. Linguistics Vanguard, 5(1), 1–8. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Cahill, M. (1999). From endangered to less endangered: Case histories from Brazil and Papua New Guinea. Notes on sociolinguistics, 51, 23–34.Google Scholar
Clingingsmith, D. (2006). Bilingualism, Language Shift, and Economic Development in India, 1931–1961. Department of Economics Harvard University, Retrieved from [URL]
(2008). Industrialization, Bilingualism, and Linguistic Heterogeneity in the Mid-20 Century in India. Department of Economics Case Western Reserve University. Retrieved from [URL]
(2007). Bilingualism, Language Shift and Industrialization The in Mid-20 Century in India Department of Economics Case Western Reserve University Retrieved from [URL]
Coulmas, F. (2009). Linguistic landscaping and the seed of the public sphere. In E. Shohamy & D. Gorter. (Eds.), Linguistic landscape: Expanding the scenery, 13–24. Routledge.Google Scholar
Crystal, D. (2014). Language Death. Cambridge University Press. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Crawford, J. (2000). Endangered Native American languages: What is to be done, and why? In Ricento and Burnaby. (Eds.), Language and politics in the U.S. and Canada: Myths and realities. Lawrence Erlbaum Associates. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
(1995a). Seven hypotheses on language loss: Causes and cures. Paper adapted from a speech at the second symposium on stabilizing indigenous languages. Northern Arizona University.
(1995b). Endangered Native American languages: What is to be done and why? The Bilingual Research Journal, 19(1), 17–38. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Comanaru & Dewaele (2015). A bright future for interdisciplinary multilingualism research. International Journal of Multilingualism. Vol, 12(4). DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Denison, N. (1977). Language death or language suicide? International Journal of the Sociology of Language 121, 13–22.Google Scholar
Fishman, J. A. (2001a). Can Threatened Languages Be Saved? Multilingual Matters. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
(2006). Do Not Leave Your Language Alone: The Hidden Status Agendas Within Corpus Planning in Language Policy. Lawrence Erlbaum Associates. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Fuller, J. M. (2013). Spanish Speakers in the USA. Multilingual Matters.Google Scholar
Garzon, S. (1992). The process of language death in a Mayan community in Southern Mexico. International Journal of the Sociology of Language 91, 53–66. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Genesee, F. (2012). Simultaneous language acquisition. Encyclopedia of language and literacy development. Retrieved from [URL].Google Scholar
Goodfellow, A. M. (Ed.). (2009). Speaking of Endangered Languages: Issues in Revitalization. Cambridge Scholars Publishing.Google Scholar
Grenoble, L. A. and Whaley, L. J. (1998b). Toward a typology of language endangerment. In L. A. Grenoble and L. J. Whaley. (Eds.), endangered languages: language loss and community response. Cambridge University Press. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
(2006). Saving languages: An Introduction to language revitalization. Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
Hassanpour, A. (1992). Nationalism and language in Kurdistan. Mellon Research University Press.Google Scholar
Hassanpour, A., Sheyholislami, J. & Skutnabb-Kangas, T. (2012). Introduction. Kurdish: Linguicide, resistance and hope. International Journal of the Sociology of Language, (217), 1–18. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Hornberger, N. H. (2002). Multilingual language policies and the continua of biliteracy: An ecological approach. Language Policy, 1(1), 27–51. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
(Ed.). (2003). Continua of Biliteracy: An Ecological Framework for Educational Policy, Research and Practice in Multilingual Settings. Multilingual Matters. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Hornberger, N. H., & Skilton-Sylvester, E. (2000). Revisiting the continua of biliteracy: International and critical perspectives. Language and Education: An International Journal, 14(2), 96–122. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Hough, D. A. & Skutnabb-Kangas, T. (2005). Beyond Good Intentions: Combating, Linguistic Genocide in Education. Alternative: An International Journal of Indigenous Peoples, 1(1), 106–127. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Huang, B. H. and Kuo, L. J. (2020). The role of input in bilingual children’s language and literacy development: Introduction to the Special Issue. International Journal of Bilingualism Vol. 24(1), 3–7. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Huebner, T. (1987). A socio-historical approach to literacy development: A comparative case study from the Pacific. In J. A. Langer. (Ed.), Language, literacy, and culture: Issues of society and schooling. (pp. 178–196). Ablex Publishing.Google Scholar
Illman, V., & Pietilä, P. (2018). Multilingualism as a resource in the foreign language classroom. ELT Journal,72(3), 237-248. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Jahani C. (2014) The Baloch as an Ethnic Group in the Persian Gulf Region. In: Potter L.G. (eds) The Persian Gulf in Modern Times. Palgrave Macmillan, New York. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Jones, M. C. (1998). Language obsolescence and revitalization: linguistic change in two sociolinguistically contrasting Welsh communities. Clarendon.Google Scholar
Kalan, A. (2016). Who is Afraid of Multilingual Education in Iran? Conversation with Tove Skutnab-Kangas, Jim Cummins, Ajit Mohanty and Stephen Bahry about the Iranian Context and Beyond. Multilingual Matters.Google Scholar
Kazzazi, K. (2011). Ich brauche mix-cough: cross-linguistic influence involving German, English and Farsi. International Journal of Multilingualism, 8(1), 63-79. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Krauss, Michael. (1992). The world’s languages in crisis. Language 681, 4–10. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Kragujevac, F. (2006). Questioning macrosociological accounts of language maintenance: peasants, rock and roll, and church lunches. Linguistics and Literature, 4(1), 33–46.Google Scholar
Krejcie, R.V. & Morgan, D.W. (1970). Determining sample size for research activities. Educational & Psychological Measurement, 301, 607-610. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Kulick, D. (1994). Language shift and cultural change. Paper presented at La Trobe University, Australian Linguistic Institute on language maintenance and shift. Victoria, Australia.
Mackay. W. F. (1989). Determining the status and function of languages in multinational societies. In U. Ammon (Ed.), Status and function of languages and language varieties. (pp. 3-20) New York: Walter deGruyter. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Mansour, G. (1993). Multilingualism and national building. Multilingual Matters.Google Scholar
May, S. (2012). Language and minority rights: Ethnicity, Nationalism and the Politics of Language. 2nd Edition. Routledge.Google Scholar
Mcnulty, S. J. (2018). Linguicide or Linguistic Suicide? A Case Study of Indigenous Minority Languages in France [MA Thesis, University of Edinburgh]. Edinburgh Research Achieve. [URL]
Mehrifar, M. J. (2020). Linguistic Landscape and Attitudes towards Kurdish and Persian Languages among Kurdish Speakers in the Cities of Kermashan, Sanandaj and Ilam [Unpublished MA Thesis, Razi University].Google Scholar
Mirvahedi, S. H. (2016). Linguistic landscaping in Tabriz, Iran: A discursive transformation of a bilingual space into a monolingual place. International Journal of the Sociology of Language 2421, 195–216. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Mori, J., & Sanuth, K. J. (2018). Navigating between a monolingual utopia and translingual realities: Experiences of American learners of Yorùbá as an additional language. Applied Linguistics, 391, 78–98. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Moseley, C. (2009). Atlas of the World’s Languages in Danger. Routledge.Google Scholar
Rezaei, S. and Tadayyon, M. (2018). Linguistic landscape in the city of Isfahan in Iran: The representation of languages and identities in Julfa. Multilingual, 37(6), 701–720. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Rudnyckyj, J. B. (1976). Linguicide. Ukrainian Technological University.Google Scholar
Sadeghi, A. A. (2001). Language planning in Iran: a historical overview. International Journal of the Sociology of Language 1481, 19–30. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Sheyholislami, J. (2010). Identity, language, and new media: the Kurdish case. Language Policy, 9(4), 289–312. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
(2011). Kurdish identity, discourse, and new media. Palgrave Macmillan. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
(2012). Kurdish in Iran: A case of restricted and controlled tolerance. International Journal of the Sociology of Language, 2012(217), 19–47. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
(2015). Language varieties of the Kurds. In W. Taucher, M. Vogl, & P. Webinger. (Eds.), The Kurds: History, religion, language, politics (pp. 30–51). Austrian Federal Ministry of the Interior.Google Scholar
(2019). Language as a problem: Language policy and rights in Kurdistan-Iran. Institude Kurde de Paris.Google Scholar
Skutnabb-Kangas, T. (2012). Linguistic Genocide in Education or Worldwide Diversity and Human Right? Routledge Publication.Google Scholar
Skutnabb-Kangas, T., Nicholas, A. B. & Reyhner, J. (2016). Linguistic Human Rights and Language Revitalisation in the USA and Canada. In: Colonol-Molina, S. M. & McCarty, T. L. (Eds.) The Handbook of Indigenous Language Revitalisation in the Americas (pp. 181–200). Routledge.Google Scholar
Skutnabb-Kangas, T. & Phillipson, R. (1995). Linguicide and Linguicism. In Skutnabb-Kangas, T. & Phillipson, R. (Eds.) Papers in European language Policy (pp. 83–91). Roskilde Universitetscenter, Lingvistgruppen.Google Scholar
Stanford, J. N. (2007, October 9). The Road Less Traveled: Indigenous Minority Languages and Variationism Sociolinguistics [Poster presentation] at NWAV 36, Philadelphia, PA.Google Scholar
Stanford, J. and Dennis, P. (2009). The lure of a distant horizon: Variation in indigenous minority languages. In J. Stanford and D. Preston. (Eds.), Variation in indigenous minority languages (pp. 1–20). John Benjamins. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Stein-Smith, K. (2017). The Multilingual Advantage: Foreign Language as a Social Skill in a Globalized World. International Journal of Humanities and Social Science, 7(3), 48–56.Google Scholar
Stoessel, S. (2002). Investigating the role of social networks in language maintenance and shift. International Journal of the Sociology of Language 1531, 93–131. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
UNESCO Ad Hoc Expert Group on Endangered Languages (2011). Language Vitality and Endangerment. Document submitted to the International Expert Meeting on UNESCO Programmed Safeguarding of Endangered Languages. Available at [URL]
Wardough, R. and Fuller, J. (2015). An Introduction to Sociolinguistics. Blackwell Publishing.Google Scholar
Wei, L. (1994). Three Generations Two Languages One Family: Language choice and language shift in a Chinese community in Britain. Multilingual Matters.Google Scholar
Weisi, H. (2013). L2 Acquisition and L1 endangerment and their impact on learning English: A case study of Kurdish Speakers in Iran [PhD Dissertation, Shiraz University].Google Scholar
(2015). Language Endangerment among Kurdish Speakers in Iran. Lambert Publication.Google Scholar
Weiss, D. J. Schwob, N. and Lebkuecher, A. L. (2019). Bilingualism and statistical learning: Lessons from studies using artificial languages. Bilingualism: Language and Cognition, 23(1), 1–6. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Wilford, J. N. (2007, September 19). Languages Die, but Not Their Last Words. New York Times.Google Scholar