Cover not available

Article published In: Language Problems and Language Planning
Vol. 45:1 (2021) ► pp.56–79

Get fulltext from our e-platform
JBE logo with link
PDF logo with download linkDownload PDF
authorization required

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

Linguistic suicide or linguicide?

ORCiD logo with link | Razi University
Published online: 12 July 2021
DOI logo with link
https://doi.org/10.1075/lplp.20010.wei
Abstract
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.
پوختـــــــــــــە
ئێستاشی لەگەڵدا بێ، زۆر وڵات لە داڕشتنی پلان و مامڵەکردن لەگەڵ زماندا، هێشتا هەر بە ربەی گەڵ-دەوڵەت ئەیپیون و پێیانوایە “گەلێک دەبێ تاقە یەک زمانی فەرمی هەبێت و بڕاوە. بیرۆکەی وەها دیاردەی زۆری لێدەکەوێتەوە و لەوانەش، دەستە و تاقم و خێڵ و خەڵکی جیاجیا زمانەکەی خۆیانیان لەبەرچاو ئەکەوێت و تەنانەت بەلاوەی دەنێن و لەباتی زمانەکەی خۆیان، زمانە فەرمیەکە لە ئامێز دەگرن.ئێرانیش وڵاتێکە لەو وڵاتانە و فارسی کردۆتە تاقە زمانی فەرمی خۆی و لەگەڵ ئەو زمانەکاندا بەنیوە و ناچاری هەڵدەکات بەڵام ئاوڕیان لێناداتەوە. ئامانجی سەرەکی ئەم نامیلکە لەبەر دەستاندایە ئەوەیە بزانێ بۆچی کوردی کەڵهوڕ زمانەکەی خۆیان بەلاوە دەنێن و لەگەڵ منداڵەکانیاندا بە فارسی دەپەیڤن. ئەمەش لێکەوتەی خۆکوژی زمانە یان کوشتنی زمانەکەیە لە لایەن خەڵکەکە خۆیانەوە. بۆ دۆزینەوەی وڵامی ئەو پرسیارە، پرسیارنامەیەکی گەڵاڵەکراوی باوڕپێکراومان لەبەردەستی 384 دایک و باوکی منداڵداری کوردی کەڵهوڕ دانا و وڵامەکانمان وه رگرت.
لە ئاکامدا دەرکەوت مامەڵەی ئێران لەگەڵ زماندا پاڵی بە کوردە کەڵهوڕەکانەوە ناوە زمانەکەی خۆیان لەدەست بەربدەن و لەگەڵ منداڵەکانیاندا بە فارسی بئاخڤن.
لێکەوتە زمانی-کۆمەڵایەتیەکانیشمان لەبەر تیشکی دەسکەوتەی لێکۆڵینەوەکەدا روونکردۆتەوە.
Resumo
La aktualaj politiko kaj planado en multaj landoj ankoraŭ fiksiĝas al la naciŝtata ideologio de “unu nacio egalas al unu oficiala lingvo”. Tiu vidpunkto emas motivigi lingvominoritatajn grupojn senvalorigi aŭ eĉ forlasi sian propran gepatran lingvon kaj identigi sin kun la oficiala lingvo de la lando. Ekzempla kazo estas tiu de Irano, kie la persa estas la sola oficiala lingvo dum aliaj lingvoj estas nur tolerataj, sed ne subtenataj. La ĉefa celo de la nuna studo estas trovi faktorojn kiuj igas kalhuriajn kurdojn elekti paroli perse al la infanoj, tiel riskante perdon de la gepatra lingvo – fenomeno kiu povus okazi rezulte de lingvistika/lingva suicido aŭ pro lingva mortigo. Pro tio, oni prezentis demandaron, verkitan kaj validigitan de esploranto, al 384 kalhuriaj gepatroj. La rezultoj indikis, ke en Irano la lingvopolitiko kaj lingvoplanado igas gepatrojn uzi la persan en interagoj kun siaj infanoj, anstataŭ la propran gepatran lingvon, la kalhurian. Oni pridiskutas la socilingvistikajn implicojn de la studo surbaze de la esploraj konstatoj.
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
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 logo with link to 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 logo with link to Google Scholar
Batibo, M. (2005). Language decline and death in Africa: Causes, consequences, and challenges. Multilingual Matters. Google Scholar logo with link to Google 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 logo with link to Google Scholar
Bhatia, T. and Ritchie, W. (2012). The Handbook of Bilingualism. 2nd ed. Multilingual Matters. Google Scholar logo with link to Google 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 logo with link to Google Scholar
Bradley, D. (2019). Language policy and language planning in mainland Southeast Asia: Myanmar and Lisu. Linguistics Vanguard, 5(1), 1–8. Google Scholar logo with link to Google 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 logo with link to 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 logo with link to Google Scholar
Crystal, D. (2014). Language Death. Cambridge University Press. Google Scholar logo with link to Google 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. Google Scholar logo with link to Google 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. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Comanaru & Dewaele (2015). A bright future for interdisciplinary multilingualism research. International Journal of Multilingualism. Vol, 12(4). Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Denison, N. (1977). Language death or language suicide? International Journal of the Sociology of Language 121, 13–22.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Fishman, J. A. (2001a). Can Threatened Languages Be Saved? Multilingual Matters. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
(2006). Do Not Leave Your Language Alone: The Hidden Status Agendas Within Corpus Planning in Language Policy. Lawrence Erlbaum Associates. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Fuller, J. M. (2013). Spanish Speakers in the USA. Multilingual Matters.Google Scholar logo with link to 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. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Genesee, F. (2012). Simultaneous language acquisition. Encyclopedia of language and literacy development. Retrieved from [URL].Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Goodfellow, A. M. (Ed.). (2009). Speaking of Endangered Languages: Issues in Revitalization. Cambridge Scholars Publishing.Google Scholar logo with link to 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. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
(2006). Saving languages: An Introduction to language revitalization. Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Hassanpour, A. (1992). Nationalism and language in Kurdistan. Mellon Research University Press.Google Scholar logo with link to 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. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Hornberger, N. H. (2002). Multilingual language policies and the continua of biliteracy: An ecological approach. Language Policy, 1(1), 27–51. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
(Ed.). (2003). Continua of Biliteracy: An Ecological Framework for Educational Policy, Research and Practice in Multilingual Settings. Multilingual Matters. Google Scholar logo with link to Google 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. Google Scholar logo with link to Google 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. Google Scholar logo with link to Google 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. Google Scholar logo with link to Google 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 logo with link to Google Scholar
Illman, V., & Pietilä, P. (2018). Multilingualism as a resource in the foreign language classroom. ELT Journal,72(3), 237-248. Google Scholar logo with link to Google 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. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Jones, M. C. (1998). Language obsolescence and revitalization: linguistic change in two sociolinguistically contrasting Welsh communities. Clarendon.Google Scholar logo with link to 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 logo with link to 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. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Krauss, Michael. (1992). The world’s languages in crisis. Language 681, 4–10. Google Scholar logo with link to Google 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 logo with link to Google Scholar
Krejcie, R.V. & Morgan, D.W. (1970). Determining sample size for research activities. Educational & Psychological Measurement, 301, 607-610. Google Scholar logo with link to Google 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. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Mansour, G. (1993). Multilingualism and national building. Multilingual Matters.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
May, S. (2012). Language and minority rights: Ethnicity, Nationalism and the Politics of Language. 2nd Edition. Routledge.Google Scholar logo with link to 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 logo with link to 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. Google Scholar logo with link to Google 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. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Moseley, C. (2009). Atlas of the World’s Languages in Danger. Routledge.Google Scholar logo with link to 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. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Rudnyckyj, J. B. (1976). Linguicide. Ukrainian Technological University.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Sadeghi, A. A. (2001). Language planning in Iran: a historical overview. International Journal of the Sociology of Language 1481, 19–30. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Sheyholislami, J. (2010). Identity, language, and new media: the Kurdish case. Language Policy, 9(4), 289–312. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
(2011). Kurdish identity, discourse, and new media. Palgrave Macmillan. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
(2012). Kurdish in Iran: A case of restricted and controlled tolerance. International Journal of the Sociology of Language, 2012(217), 19–47. Google Scholar logo with link to Google 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 logo with link to Google Scholar
(2019). Language as a problem: Language policy and rights in Kurdistan-Iran. Institude Kurde de Paris.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Skutnabb-Kangas, T. (2012). Linguistic Genocide in Education or Worldwide Diversity and Human Right? Routledge Publication.Google Scholar logo with link to 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 logo with link to 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 logo with link to 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 logo with link to 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. Google Scholar logo with link to Google 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 logo with link to 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. Google Scholar logo with link to Google 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 logo with link to 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 logo with link to 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 logo with link to Google Scholar
(2015). Language Endangerment among Kurdish Speakers in Iran. Lambert Publication.Google Scholar logo with link to 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. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Wilford, J. N. (2007, September 19). Languages Die, but Not Their Last Words. New York Times.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Cited by (1)

Cited by one other publication

Aliyar, Mahnaz
2025. Lived language and mobility: a case of young Iranians in Italy. Journal of Multilingual and Multicultural Development ► pp. 1 ff. DOI logo

This list is based on CrossRef data as of 27 november 2025. Please note that it may not be complete. Sources presented here have been supplied by the respective publishers. Any errors therein should be reported to them.

Mobile Menu Logo with link to supplementary files background Layer 1 prag Twitter_Logo_Blue