Re: hakka: Re: your comments please

["Dylan W.H. Sung" <mabr12@dial.pipex.com>]

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: From: "Dixie" <Dixie@singnet.com.sg> 
: To: <fhakka@asiawind.com> 
: Subject: Re: hakka: Re: your comments please
: Date: Fri, 18 Sep 1998 02:50:36 +0800 
:
: > There is still a large indigenous farming community across 
: > the Shenzhen region. It is the indigenous populous which 
: > should be surveyed, not the present mixed population. Now, 
: > it is more common to see speakers of guangdonghua and 
: > beifanghua there than in the past which used to be almost 
: > entirely Hakka in this area.  
: 
: Just an observation.
: There seem to be nothing much that we can do to preserve the 
: Hakka dialect in this area.
: 
: - Dixie

Dixie,

There is a grain of truth there, however, as with most things, people
are quite unpredictable. It is less likely for a dialect to
deteriorate if there is a significant population which continue to
use it in unison. These rural communities provide enough cohesion to
maintain Hakka dialect integrity, IMHO. Though there is education and
media in Guangdonghua and Putonghua, at home people will communicate
in the dialect of their elders. Whilst this influence persists, the
young are still exposed to the dialect.

I am impressed that the Hakka group has warranted enough attention in
recent years that series about Hakka life and social customs are made
and shown. Last year around this time of year, there was just a
series shown in the Chinese satellite broadcasts over Europe. It
showed all manner of house types - the round houses, some horseshoe
shaped and others obling or square like fortresses. There was a
program on agriculture, another on marriage customs, and also others
including the Hakka San1 Go1 (mountain/hill songs).

To return to your point, it can also be applied to all Hakka families
under the influence of a language in their locale that is of more
social currency than Hakka. For instance Malayam in Malaysia,
Japanese in Japan, Mandarin in China, English in America and England,
Cantonese in HongKong etc...

Dylan.