A multiethnolect is a
language variety
In sociolinguistics, a variety, also called an isolect or lect, is a specific form of a language or Dialect continuum, language cluster. This may include languages, dialects, register (sociolinguistics), registers, style (sociolinguistics), style ...
, typically formed in youth communities in
working class
The working class (or labouring class) comprises those engaged in manual-labour occupations or industrial work, who are remunerated via waged or salaried contracts. Working-class occupations (see also " Designation of workers by collar colo ...
,
immigrant neighborhoods of urban areas, that contains influences from a variety of different languages. Unlike an
ethnolect
An ethnolect is generally defined as a language variety that mark speakers as members of ethnic groups who originally used another language or distinctive variety. According to another definition, an ethnolect is any speech variety (language, diale ...
, which associates one language variety with one particular
ethnic group, speakers of a multiethnolect often come from varied ethnic backgrounds, and their language usage can be more closely attributed to the
neighborhood in which they live than their
nationality
Nationality is a legal identification of a person in international law, establishing the person as a subject, a ''national'', of a sovereign state. It affords the state jurisdiction over the person and affords the person the protection of the ...
or that of their parents. The term "multiethnolect" was first coined by Clyne (2000) and Quist (2000). Research of multiethnolects has thus far focused primarily on urban areas in northwestern
Europe
Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a subcontinent of Eurasia and it is located entirel ...
, such as
Scandinavia
Scandinavia; Sámi languages: /. ( ) is a subregion in Northern Europe, with strong historical, cultural, and linguistic ties between its constituent peoples. In English usage, ''Scandinavia'' most commonly refers to Denmark, Norway, and Swe ...
, the
Netherlands
)
, anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau")
, image_map =
, map_caption =
, subdivision_type = Sovereign state
, subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands
, established_title = Before independence
, established_date = Spanish Netherl ...
,
Belgium
Belgium, ; french: Belgique ; german: Belgien officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. The country is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeast, France to th ...
,
Germany
Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...
, and
Great Britain
Great Britain is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean off the northwest coast of continental Europe. With an area of , it is the largest of the British Isles, the largest European island and the ninth-largest island in the world. It i ...
, but the phenomenon is far more universal than that.
Researchers Nortier and Dorleijn call multiethnolects “a phenomenon of all times, that was only waiting for linguists to give it a name." In recent research, multiethnolects are often explored as a form of contact language, meaning a language that is used for communication between two speakers who don’t share a
native tongue.
Multiethnolects appear to be less homogeneous than either
dialect
The term dialect (from Latin , , from the Ancient Greek word , 'discourse', from , 'through' and , 'I speak') can refer to either of two distinctly different types of linguistic phenomena:
One usage refers to a variety of a language that is a ...
s or
sociolect
In sociolinguistics, a sociolect is a form of language ( non-standard dialect, restricted register) or a set of lexical items used by a socioeconomic class, profession, an age group, or other social group.
Sociolects involve both passive acqui ...
s and are assumed to be context-bound and transient, to the extent that they are ‘youth languages'.
Aasheim (1995) first coined the term kebabnorsk, referring to the Norwegian multiethnolect spoken primarily by immigrant youth in neighborhoods of eastern Oslo. Wiese (2006) uses the term
German Kiezdeutsch, meaning ‘neighbourhood German’, to refer to
multiethnic youth language in Germany. Cheshire et al. (2011) claim that the term ''
Jafaican'', which refers to youth language in multiethnic parts of
London
London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...
, a name that has close associations with
hip-hop, is a type of multiethnolect; many older people claim that young people in London today sound as if they are "talking black".
Kotsinas (1988) uses the term ''
rinkebysvenska
Rinkeby Swedish () is any of a number of varieties of Swedish spoken mainly in urban districts with a high proportion of immigrant residents which emerged as a linguistic phenomenon in the 1980s. Rinkeby in Stockholm is one such suburb, but the te ...
'' (named after one such district,
Rinkeby) to refer to the Swedish characteristics of multiethnolects that are spoken in districts of
Stockholm. Multiethnolects are considered to be a type of
Labovian "
vernacular
A vernacular or vernacular language is in contrast with a "standard language". It refers to the language or dialect that is spoken by people that are inhabiting a particular country or region. The vernacular is typically the native language, n ...
".
''The reasons for the emergence of European multiethnolects at this point in history is presumably linked to specific types of community formation in urban areas which have seen very large-scale immigration from developing countries. People of different language backgrounds have settled in already quite underprivileged neighbourhoods, and economic deprivation has led to the maintenance of close kin and neighbourhood ties. Castells (2000) writes of prosperous metropolises containing communities such as these: ‘It is this distinctive feature of being globally connected and locally disconnected, physically and socially, that makes mega-cities a new urban form’.''
Cheshire, Nortier, and Adger state that 'a defining characteristic is that
ultiethnolectsare used by (usually monolingual) young people from non-immigrant backgrounds as well as by their bilingual peers'.
Examples of multiethnolects
Citétaal
In
Belgium
Belgium, ; french: Belgique ; german: Belgien officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. The country is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeast, France to th ...
, the multiethnolect that has emerged among young immigrant populations is called Citétaal, or “City language.” It flourishes and is most documented in mining areas of Belgium that were formerly
ghettoized
A ghetto, often called ''the'' ghetto, is a part of a city in which members of a minority group live, especially as a result of political, social, legal, environmental or economic pressure. Ghettos are often known for being more impoverished t ...
, and incorporates influences from the older immigrant populations, such as
Italians
, flag =
, flag_caption = The national flag of Italy
, population =
, regions = Italy 55,551,000
, region1 = Brazil
, pop1 = 25–33 million
, ref1 =
, region2 ...
, and more recent populations, such as
Moroccans
Moroccans (, ) are the citizens and nationals of the Kingdom of Morocco. The country's population is predominantly composed of Arabs and Berbers (Amazigh). The term also applies more broadly to any people who are of Moroccan nationality, s ...
. The native language in the eastern Belgian regions where Citétaal is most spoken is
Flemish
Flemish (''Vlaams'') is a Low Franconian dialect cluster of the Dutch language. It is sometimes referred to as Flemish Dutch (), Belgian Dutch ( ), or Southern Dutch (). Flemish is native to Flanders, a historical region in northern Belgium; ...
, and as a
Germanic language
The Germanic languages are a branch of the Indo-European language family spoken natively by a population of about 515 million people mainly in Europe, North America, Oceania and Southern Africa. The most widely spoken Germanic language, E ...
, this multiethnolect shares common patterns with other multiethnolects in other Germanic languages. For example, similar to
Scandinavian and
Dutch
Dutch commonly refers to:
* Something of, from, or related to the Netherlands
* Dutch people ()
* Dutch language ()
Dutch may also refer to:
Places
* Dutch, West Virginia, a community in the United States
* Pennsylvania Dutch Country
People E ...
multiethnolects, Citétaal speakers are likely to overuse the
common gender, rather than the
neuter gender
In linguistics, grammatical gender system is a specific form of noun class system, where nouns are assigned with gender categories that are often not related to their real-world qualities. In languages with grammatical gender, most or all nou ...
. This is one of many instances of morphological overgeneralization that characterizes this multiethnolect, along with others like it. Speakers of Citétaal are primarily young Flemish speakers with an immigrant background, and they share that: “Citétaal is not used in order to be tough and cool but just for fun and to create a sense of togetherness." Once again, this demonstrates the role of communities and social groups rather than individual families in creating a multiethnolect.
German multiethnolect
In
Germany
Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...
, several different recently emerging multiethnolects have been documented, each with slight variation in their main demographic of speakers, and with the primary linguistic influences involved in each ethnolect varying slightly. However, in each of these multiethnolects, the
Turkish language has played the most significant role in the language variant’s formation. One name for the multiethnolect which is based primarily upon Turkish influences is
Türkendeutsch, although this term proves far less popular than the somewhat controversial
Kanaksprak. The very name of Kanaksprak reclaims a derogatory slur, kanak, which Germans used towards immigrants, especially those of Turkish descent. Another term used by researchers is
Kiezdeutsch, meaning neighborhood German. A unique phenomenon which researchers have noted in regard to the German multiethnolect is that young male speakers use it far more than their female counterparts. This led to the movement called the “power girls,” which was spoken by “young female immigrants with a Turkish background who revolted against both traditional Turkish and German norms”.
[Cheshire, Jenny (February 2015). "Emerging multiethnolects in Europe" (PDF). ''Queen Mary's Occasional Papers Advancing Linguistics''. 33.] In the attempts of young women to celebrate their ethnic and linguistic backgrounds in the face of
sexist cultural norms, the sociological elements of multiethnolect formation once again reveal their importance.
Kebabnorsk
Kebabnorsk (from
Kebab, a popular Middle Eastern dish) is one of the most famous examples of a multiethnolect, spoken in urban regions of
Oslo
Oslo ( , , or ; sma, Oslove) is the capital and most populous city of Norway. It constitutes both a county and a municipality. The municipality of Oslo had a population of in 2022, while the city's greater urban area had a population ...
with a large immigrant population. The languages most influential on Kebabnorsk are
Kurdish
Kurdish may refer to:
*Kurds or Kurdish people
*Kurdish languages
*Kurdish alphabets
*Kurdistan, the land of the Kurdish people which includes:
**Southern Kurdistan
**Eastern Kurdistan
**Northern Kurdistan
**Western Kurdistan
See also
* Kurd (dis ...
,
Turkish,
Arabic
Arabic (, ' ; , ' or ) is a Semitic language spoken primarily across the Arab world.Semitic languages: an international handbook / edited by Stefan Weninger; in collaboration with Geoffrey Khan, Michael P. Streck, Janet C. E.Watson; Walter ...
,
Persian
Persian may refer to:
* People and things from Iran, historically called ''Persia'' in the English language
** Persians, the majority ethnic group in Iran, not to be conflated with the Iranic peoples
** Persian language, an Iranian language of the ...
,
Pashto
Pashto (,; , ) is an Eastern Iranian language in the Indo-European language family. It is known in historical Persian literature as Afghani ().
Spoken as a native language mostly by ethnic Pashtuns, it is one of the two official langua ...
,
Punjabi,
,
Tamil,
Polish, and
Chilean Spanish
Chilean Spanish ( es, español chileno) is any of several varieties of the Spanish language spoken in most of Chile. Chilean Spanish dialects have distinctive pronunciation, grammar, vocabulary, and slang usages that differ from those of Stand ...
, as well as numerous other languages. The dialect began to develop in the 1970s when immigrants from
Turkey
Turkey ( tr, Türkiye ), officially the Republic of Türkiye ( tr, Türkiye Cumhuriyeti, links=no ), is a transcontinental country located mainly on the Anatolian Peninsula in Western Asia, with a small portion on the Balkan Peninsula in ...
,
Morocco
Morocco (),, ) officially the Kingdom of Morocco, is the westernmost country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It overlooks the Mediterranean Sea to the north and the Atlantic Ocean to the west, and has land borders with Algeria t ...
, and
Pakistan
Pakistan ( ur, ), officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan ( ur, , label=none), is a country in South Asia. It is the world's fifth-most populous country, with a population of almost 243 million people, and has the world's second-lar ...
started moving to Oslo, followed in the 1980s by refugees from countries including
Iran
Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran, and also called Persia, is a country located in Western Asia. It is bordered by Iraq and Turkey to the west, by Azerbaijan and Armenia to the northwest, by the Caspian Sea and Turkmeni ...
,
Chile
Chile, officially the Republic of Chile, is a country in the western part of South America. It is the southernmost country in the world, and the closest to Antarctica, occupying a long and narrow strip of land between the Andes to the east a ...
,
Sri Lanka, and
Yugoslavia
Yugoslavia (; sh-Latn-Cyrl, separator=" / ", Jugoslavija, Југославија ; sl, Jugoslavija ; mk, Југославија ;; rup, Iugoslavia; hu, Jugoszlávia; rue, label=Pannonian Rusyn, Югославия, translit=Juhoslavija ...
. Kebabnorsk may also be considered a sociolect, and is spoken more than ever now in Oslo.
See also
*
Kanaksprak
*
Rinkebysvenska
Rinkeby Swedish () is any of a number of varieties of Swedish spoken mainly in urban districts with a high proportion of immigrant residents which emerged as a linguistic phenomenon in the 1980s. Rinkeby in Stockholm is one such suburb, but the te ...
*
Perkerdansk
*
Multicultural London English
Multicultural London English (abbreviated MLE) is a sociolect of English that emerged in the late 20th century. It is spoken mainly by young, working-class people in multicultural parts of London.
As the label suggests, speakers of MLE come f ...
*
Multicultural Toronto English
*
Madras Bashai
*
Creole language
A creole language, or simply creole, is a stable natural language that develops from the simplifying and mixing of different languages into a new one within a fairly brief period of time: often, a pidgin evolved into a full-fledged language. ...
*
Ethnolect
An ethnolect is generally defined as a language variety that mark speakers as members of ethnic groups who originally used another language or distinctive variety. According to another definition, an ethnolect is any speech variety (language, diale ...
*
Sociolinguistics
Sociolinguistics is the descriptive study of the effect of any or all aspects of society, including cultural Norm (sociology), norms, expectations, and context (language use), context, on the way language is used, and society's effect on languag ...
Sources
*Cheshire, Jenny, Nortier, Jacomine, and
Adger, David. 2015
Emerging Multiethnolects in Europe Queen Mary's Occasional Papers in Advancing Linguistics. 33: 1-27.
*Cheshire, Jenny, Kerswill, Paul, Fox, Sue, and Torgersen, Eivind. 2011
Contact, the feature pool and the speech community: The emergence of Multicultural London English Journal of Sociolinguistics 15: 151-196.
*Clyne, Michael. 2000
Lingua franca and ethnolects in Europe and beyond ''Sociolinguistica'' 14: 83–89.
*Freywald, Ulrike, Mayr, Katharina, Özçelik, Tiner, Wiese, Heike
Kiezdeutsch as a multiethnolect In Kern, Friederike & Selting, Margret (eds.). ''Panethnic Styles of Speaking in European Metropolitan Cities''.
*Quist, Pia (2000). Ny københavnsk 'multietnolekt'. Om sprogbrug blandt unge i sprogligt og kulturelt heterogene miljøer.
ew Copenhagen Multiethnolect. Language Use among Young Young Speakers in linguistically and culturally heterogeneous neighborhoods Danske Talesprog, (1), 143-211.
*Quist, Pia (2008). Sociolinguistic approaches to multiethnolect: language variety and stylistic practice. International Journal of Bilingualism, 12(1-2), 43-61.
*Wiese, Heike. 2006. “Ich mach dich Messer”: Grammatische Produktivität in Kiez-Sprache. Linguistische Berichte 207. 245-273.
*Wiese, Heike. 2009
Grammatical innovation in multiethnic urban Europe: New linguistic practices among adolescents ''Lingua'' 119: 782–806.
References
{{Reflist
Language
German dialects
Dialects of English
Swedish dialects