18. The Bilingual and Multilingual Community
- Tej K. Bhatia,
- William C. Ritchie
Published Online: 3 OCT 2012
DOI: 10.1002/9781118332382.ch18
Copyright © 2013 Blackwell Publishing, Ltd
Book Title
The Handbook of Bilingualism and Multilingualism, Second Edition
Additional Information
How to Cite
Romaine, S. (2012) The Bilingual and Multilingual Community, in The Handbook of Bilingualism and Multilingualism, Second Edition (eds T. K. Bhatia and W. C. Ritchie), John Wiley & Sons, Ltd, Chichester, UK. doi: 10.1002/9781118332382.ch18
Editor Information
Syracuse University, USA
Publication History
- Published Online: 3 OCT 2012
- Published Print: 7 NOV 2012
Book Series:
ISBN Information
Print ISBN: 9781444334906
Online ISBN: 9781118332382
- Summary
- Chapter
- References
Keywords:
- bilingual communities;
- diglossia;
- language use;
- multilingual communities;
- multilingual nation-states;
- societal bilingualism
Summary
This chapter is concerned primarily with multilingualism as a societal rather than individual phenomenon. The relevance of nation-state with respect to the connection between individual and societal bilingualism is apparent when considering reasons why certain individuals are or become bilingual. The ways in which language resources are organized and allocated in bilingual societies and language communities have implications for a wide range of activities. Many bilingual communities are characterized by diglossia, a term used to refer to a kind of functional specialization between languages so that the language used within the home and in other personal domains of interaction between community members, is different from the one used in higher functions, such as government, media, and education.