A language island (a calque of German ''Sprachinsel''; also language enclave, language pocket) is an

enclave An enclave is a territory that is entirely surrounded by the territory of only one other state or entity. An enclave can be an independent territory or part of a larger one. Enclaves may also exist within territorial waters. ''Enclave'' is so ...

of a

language Language is a structured system of communication that consists of grammar and vocabulary. It is the primary means by which humans convey meaning, both in spoken and signed language, signed forms, and may also be conveyed through writing syste ...

that is surrounded by one or more different languages. The term was introduced in 1847. Many speakers of these languages also have their own distinct

culture Culture ( ) is a concept that encompasses the social behavior, institutions, and Social norm, norms found in human societies, as well as the knowledge, beliefs, arts, laws, Social norm, customs, capabilities, Attitude (psychology), attitudes ...

. Language islands often form as a result of

migration Migration, migratory, or migrate may refer to: Human migration * Human migration, physical movement by humans from one region to another ** International migration, when peoples cross state boundaries and stay in the host state for some minimum le ...

colonization 475px, Map of the year each country achieved List of sovereign states by date of formation, independence. Colonization (British English: colonisation) is a process of establishing occupation of or control over foreign territories or peoples f ...

imperialism Imperialism is the maintaining and extending of Power (international relations), power over foreign nations, particularly through expansionism, employing both hard power (military and economic power) and soft power (diplomatic power and cultura ...

, or

trade Trade involves the transfer of goods and services from one person or entity to another, often in exchange for money. Economists refer to a system or network that allows trade as a market. Traders generally negotiate through a medium of cr ...

without a common tongue. Language islands are common of indigenous peoples, especially in the

Americas The Americas, sometimes collectively called America, are a landmass comprising the totality of North America and South America.''Webster's New World College Dictionary'', 2010 by Wiley Publishing, Inc., Cleveland, Ohio. When viewed as a sing ...

, where colonization has led them to isolate themselves greatly. Language islands often overlap others. For example, in

Brussels Brussels, officially the Brussels-Capital Region, (All text and all but one graphic show the English name as Brussels-Capital Region.) is a Communities, regions and language areas of Belgium#Regions, region of Belgium comprising #Municipalit ...

, a Belgian language island, most of the population is fluent in both Flemish and French, and is still considered a language island or enclave; yet, some consider Brussels' Flemish and Brussels' French to be of separate islands, despite them generally being the same people.

Examples of language islands

Alguerese

Alguerese is a variety of Catalan spoken in Alghero,

Sardinia Sardinia ( ; ; ) is the Mediterranean islands#By area, second-largest island in the Mediterranean Sea, after Sicily, and one of the Regions of Italy, twenty regions of Italy. It is located west of the Italian Peninsula, north of Tunisia an ...

Italy Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italian Peninsula, a peninsula that extends into the Mediterranean Sea, with the Alps on its northern land b ...

, with around 45,000 speakers. It is mutually intelligible with Catalan, and although both Standard Catalan and Alguerese have been influenced by Italian and Spanish, Alguerese has experienced a much closer relationship between the two. Initially, Alguerese held sway as the dominant language in the region until Spanish took over. However, in the mid-eighteenth century, Italian supplanted Spanish, becoming the new official language. Notwithstanding, and with the Alguerese influence persevered, and today the language enjoys a form of semi-official status alongside Italian.

Arbëresh

Arbëresh is the language of the

Arbëreshë people The Arbëreshë (; ; ), also known as Albanians of Italy or Italo-Albanians, are an Albanians, Albanian ethnolinguistic group minority historically settled in Southern Italy, Southern and Insular Italy (in the regions of Abruzzo, Apulia, Basili ...

, an originally Albanian

ethnolinguistic group An ethnolinguistic group (or ethno-linguistic group) is a group that is unified by both a common ethnicity and language. Most ethnic groups share a first language. However, "ethnolinguistic" is often used to emphasise that language is a major bas ...

, mainly concentrated in

with around 100,000 speakers. Many Arbëreshë people also speak Italian, and thus Arbëresh has been affected greatly by it. The first Arbëreshë who settled in Italy did so mainly because of their severe mistreatment in what was then the Ottoman Balkans, but even so they had been subjugated further in Italy; Pier Paolo Pasolini called their continued and prospering existence there an "anthropological miracle." It took very long for them to be granted equal rights, and longer yet for the general public to accept them as one of their own.

Betawi

Betawi is the native language of the Betawi people, with an uncertain population, with certain estimates saying 600,000—5,000,000. Due to

social stratification Social stratification refers to a society's categorization of its people into groups based on socioeconomic factors like wealth, income, race, education, ethnicity, gender, occupation, social status, or derived power (social and political ...

, Betawi is often imitated by celebrities and youth, making it a core part of popular culture in the area and across indonesia.

Khalaj

Khalaj is the language of the Khalaj people in Iran. Despite having disputed Turkic origins, it also has much in common with Persian and sometimes

Arabic Arabic (, , or , ) is a Central Semitic languages, Central Semitic language of the Afroasiatic languages, Afroasiatic language family spoken primarily in the Arab world. The International Organization for Standardization (ISO) assigns lang ...

. It has been described as an extremely endangered language, and is not often passed down to younger generations. Its current population is ambiguous, but it is widely understood that it is rapidly decreasing, due to the greater practicality of using Persian.

Italiot Greek

Italiot Greek is a variety of

Modern Greek Modern Greek (, or , ), generally referred to by speakers simply as Greek (, ), refers collectively to the dialects of the Greek language spoken in the modern era, including the official standardized form of the language sometimes referred to ...

spoken in southern Italy. It is split into two dialects, Calabrian Greek

Griko Griko (endonym: /), sometimes spelled Grico, is one of the two dialects of Italiot Greek (the other being Calabrian Greek or ), spoken by Griko people in Salento, province of Lecce, Italy. Some Greek linguists consider it to be a Modern Greek ...

, with a total of around 2000 speakers. Almost all of its speakers are bilingual in both Italian and Griko.

Sorbian

Sorbian is a dialect continuum spoken in two

provinces A province is an administrative division within a country or state. The term derives from the ancient Roman , which was the major territorial and administrative unit of the Roman Empire's territorial possessions outside Italy. The term ''provi ...

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

, namely

Saxony Saxony, officially the Free State of Saxony, is a landlocked state of Germany, bordering the states of Brandenburg, Saxony-Anhalt, Thuringia, and Bavaria, as well as the countries of Poland and the Czech Republic. Its capital is Dresden, and ...

(Upper Lusatia) and

Brandenburg Brandenburg, officially the State of Brandenburg, is a States of Germany, state in northeastern Germany. Brandenburg borders Poland and the states of Berlin, Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Lower Saxony, Saxony-Anhalt, and Saxony. It is the List of Ger ...

(Lower Lusatia). The Sorbs of Germany have had a similar history to the Jews of Germany, in that they were both oppressed by the federal and state governments (particularly by federal), they were both dismissed minorities in favor of the German population, and were unfairly categorized and separated by region, age, generation. A notable difference between the two however, was that Jews had often fought to be represented with little prevail at the time, whereas although several programmes had been implemented to preserve the Sorbian languages and cultures, Sorbs often and still do reject West Slavic culture to blend in with the German surrounding. Granata, C. A. (n.d.). Celebration and suspicion: The

Sorbian languages The Sorbian languages (, ) are the Upper Sorbian language and Lower Sorbian language, two closely related and partially mutually intelligible languages spoken by the Sorbs, a West Slavs, West Slavic ethno-cultural minority in the Lusatia region ...

are a

language family A language family is a group of languages related through descent from a common ancestor, called the proto-language of that family. The term ''family'' is a metaphor borrowed from biology, with the tree model used in historical linguistics ...

West Slavic languages The West Slavic languages are a subdivision of the Slavic language group. They include Polish, Czech, Slovak, Kashubian, Silesian, Upper Sorbian and Lower Sorbian. The languages have traditionally been spoken across a mostly continuous re ...

spoken in

and

, by the Sorbs.

Patagonian Welsh

Patagonian Welsh Patagonian Welsh () is a variety of the Welsh language spoken in Y Wladfa, the Welsh settlement in Patagonia, Chubut Province, Argentina. Patagonian Welsh has developed to be a distinct dialect of Welsh, different from the several dialects u ...

is the dialect of the Welsh language spoken by Welsh Argentinians in Patagonia, a region of southern Argentina. Despite it maintaining most mutually intelligible with European Welsh, it has been heavily influenced by Spanish, the national language of Argentina. Many Welsh Argentinians are

bilingual Multilingualism is the use of more than one language, either by an individual speaker or by a group of speakers. When the languages are just two, it is usually called bilingualism. It is believed that multilingual speakers outnumber monolin ...

or sometimes trilingual in Spanish, Welsh, and English. In 1780, reports by English officials fabricated racist propaganda to raise suspicions against the Welsh people; this led to laws prohibiting the Welsh language and parts of its culture. Later, after Argentina had firmly established itself in the area, the Argentinian government was pressured into organizing higher promotion of the Welsh language. Today, although it has been suppressed in the past, Patagonian Welsh is regularly used in public media and taught in various educational institutions.

Talian

Talian is a dialect of Venetian spoken in several

Brazil Brazil, officially the Federative Republic of Brazil, is the largest country in South America. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by area, fifth-largest country by area and the List of countries and dependencies by population ...

. It is the result of an influx of nineteenth century Italian settlers arriving along the southern Brazilian coast. Talian is still mutually intelligible with Venetian, and somewhat so with Italian. It has been influenced heavily by Portuguese, but it has also been influenced by German, another language island in the Brazilian coast. Most Talian speakers are at least bilingual in Talian and Portuguese, and tend to cluster around the south. Talian has an estimated population of 500,000 speakers. Examples of language islands: * Alghero * Arbëresh * Betawi *

Belgian French Belgian French () is the variety of French spoken mainly among the French Community of Belgium, alongside related Oïl languages of the region such as Walloon, Picard, Champenois, and Lorrain (Gaumais). The French language spoken in Belgi ...

* Chipilo and Chipilo Venetian dialect * Faetar * Gorani * Griko & Grecanico * Khalaj *

Lusatia Lusatia (; ; ; ; ; ), otherwise known as Sorbia, is a region in Central Europe, formerly entirely in Germany and today territorially split between Germany and modern-day Poland. Lusatia stretches from the Bóbr and Kwisa rivers in the eas ...

* Monégasque *

Narada Narada (, ), or Narada Muni, is a sage-divinity, famous in Hinduism, Hindu traditions as a travelling musician and storyteller, who carries news and enlightening wisdom. He is one of the Manasputra, mind-created children of Brahma, the creator ...

* Okuyoshino * Palenquero *

* Pennsylvania German * Saterland * Szeklerland * Swabian Turkey * Talian * Tamanic languages (culturally

Dayaks The Dayak (; Van Ophuijsen Spelling System, older spelling: Dajak) or Dyak or Dayuh are the Indigenous groups, native groups of Borneo. It is a loose term for over 200 riverine and hill-dwelling ethnic groups, located principally in the central ...

) *

Upper Harz The Upper Harz (, ) is the northwestern and higher part of the Harz mountain range in Germany. The exact boundaries of this geographical region may be defined differently depending on the context. In its traditional sense, the term Upper Harz cover ...

* Yola * And within Sinitic: :* Tianjinnese, a Central Mandarin variety surrounded by Northern varieties :* Ganzhounese, a Southwestern Mandarin variety surrounded by

Hakka The Hakka (), sometimes also referred to as Hakka-speaking Chinese, or Hakka Chinese, or Hakkas, are a southern Han Chinese subgroup whose principal settlements and ancestral homes are dispersed widely across the provinces of southern China ...

in southern

Jiangxi ; Gan: ) , translit_lang1_type2 = , translit_lang1_info2 = , translit_lang1_type3 = , translit_lang1_info3 = , image_map = Jiangxi in China (+all claims hatched).svg , mapsize = 275px , map_caption = Location ...

, being one of the many Junhua :* Cantonese spoken in Sichuan Province :* Hangzhounese, a Mandarinic variety surrounded by Northern Wu lects, caused by the change of capital during the Southern Song dynasty :* Zhongshan Min, a group of Eastern Min and

Southern Min Southern Min (), Minnan ( Mandarin pronunciation: ) or Banlam (), is a group of linguistically similar and historically related Chinese languages that form a branch of Min Chinese spoken in Fujian (especially the Minnan region), most of Taiwa ...

varieties surrounded by Yue varieties, caused by migrants seeking shelter during the

Song A song is a musical composition performed by the human voice. The voice often carries the melody (a series of distinct and fixed pitches) using patterns of sound and silence. Songs have a structure, such as the common ABA form, and are usu ...

and Yuan dynasties.

Gallery

File:BelgieGemeenschappenkaart.svg, The predominantly French-speaking enclave of

surrounded by Dutch-speaking area File:Romania harta etnica 2011.PNG, Language islands in

Romania Romania is a country located at the crossroads of Central Europe, Central, Eastern Europe, Eastern and Southeast Europe. It borders Ukraine to the north and east, Hungary to the west, Serbia to the southwest, Bulgaria to the south, Moldova to ...

File:Лужицкие сербы на карте Германии.svg, Sorbian language area in

File:Map of Southern Min en.svg, Sanxiang of Zhongshan Min can be seen in the west coast of the

Pearl River Delta The Pearl River Delta Metropolitan Region is the low-lying area surrounding the Pearl River estuary, where the Pearl River flows into the South China Sea. Referred to as the Guangdong–Hong Kong–Macao Greater Bay Area in official documents, ...

, far from the rest of

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Language-Island Language geography Enclaves and exclaves