Linguists concerned as regional languages dwindle amid push to strengthen uniform national identity
A class at a public boarding school for students from northern Tibet. Dialects and minority languages such as Tibetan, Mongolian and Uyghur now appear under greater threat.A class at a public boarding school for students from northern Tibet. Dialects and minority languages such as Tibetan, Mongolian and Uyghur now appear under greater threat.Last modified on Sun 16 Jan 2022 08.15 GMT. When he tried to speak to his cousin’s children in the local dialect, Qi was surprised.
The decline in local dialects among the younger generation has become more apparent in recent years as China’s president,, has sought to strengthen a uniform Chinese identity. Mandarin is now being spoken by more than 80% of China’s population, up from 70% a decade ago. Last month, China’s state council vowed to increase the figure to 85% within the next four years.
But the popularisation of a standard national language is often at the expense of regional languages, including dialects of the Han majority and ethnic languages such as Mongolian and Uyghur. In Inner Mongolia, for example, local regulations in 2016 allowed ethnic schools to use their own language for teaching. This policy was aimed at developing students’ linguistic skills and cultivating bilingualism.
In Shanghai, where Qi grew up, activists have campaigned to encourage use of their dialect for many years. In 2020, a local political representative urged the Shanghai government to invest in promoting the local dialect. The government responded by upgrading the local Huju opera annual festival to a municipality-level activity. This success encouraged Qi. But he is realistic about how much activists can accomplish.
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