This article is aimed at discussing the relations between
language,
ethnicity and
identity through a study in the ethnic identifications in the 1950’s and 1960’s. A fruit of
ethnic identification marked the formation of the final pattern of the Chinese nation: 1 (ethnic Han as
majority) + 55 (ethnic minorities). It is a central issue in the relationship between language and ethnicity whether the majority of one ethnic group is able to use their native language or not. There are three models of the language-ethnicity correspondence; the model of “one ethnicity, one language” is a basic, stable and major model. 70% of all ethnic
groups belong to this one. The two other models of ‘one ethnicity,
plural languages’ and ‘plural ethnicities, one language’ reflect the variability and/ or the non-conformity of language, ethnicity and ethnic identity. Those correspondences are secondary, changing and non-mainstream. Ethnic groups belonging to the latter two models make up about 30% of all ethnic groups in China.
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