Community Displacement and Language Shift (In Reference to the Khamyang Community of Assam)

Abstract

Language extinction has become a global crisis at the present time. Linguists and sociologists across the world have shown concern about this matter. A report says that every fourteen days, a language vanishes. However, language extinction does not always mean that native speakers of the languages are dead. Language Shifting is another cause of language extinction. The root cause of language shift is mainly discussed from a social perspective. Language endangerment may result from external forces, such as military, economic, religious, cultural, or educational subjugation. Thus, negative attitudes towards one’s own language may be an internal cause of a community. Sociolinguists have found that various factors seem to correlate with language shifting and diminishing in size. Voluntary or forced migration to a location outside their traditional territory has been a major cause for a community to change their language. Generally, minority people who migrate to other places sooner or later shift to the new dominant language. The present paper is a study on a small minority group, named Khamyang, living in Upper Assam, to discuss how the displacement compelled them to shift their language.