Review article

Why Shift? Focus on Sabah and Sawarak

Maya Khemlani David ; University of Malaya, Kuala Lumpur
Caesar Dealwis ; University of Malaya, Kuala Lumpur

Abstract

In West Malaysia, three racial groups namely Malay, Chinese and Indian form the bulk of
the Malaysian population and their languages are widely used. However, in East Malaysia,
there also exist many other ethnic groups. Their languages and dialects are being threatened
by dominant languages which have become the lingua franca in the urban communities
of Sabah and Sarawak. This paper reviews studies conducted by both local and foreign researchers
on language shift and maintenance in East Malaysia and discusses the reasons for
language shift in minority communities.

Keywords

Sabah; Sarawak; Malaysia; language assimilation; language death

Hrčak ID:

30556

URI

https://hrcak.srce.hr/30556

Publication date:

17.12.2008.

Article data in other languages: croatian

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