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Chinese pressure fuels unlikely language renaissance in Taiwan
TAIPEI — Aversion to the Chinese Communist government has caused many people in Taiwan to stop seeing themselves as Chinese. Now, the increased pressure from Beijing is helping fuel a movement on the Autonomous Island to Speak Differently as well.
An enthusiastic participant is Lala Sin, a 35-year-old mother of three, who has largely avoided speaking Mandarin Chinese, the most widely used language in Taiwan and China, since last winter, instead of talking with her children. exclusively in Taiwanese Hokkien, or Taigi (pronounced "dye-ghee").
"Speaking our mother tongue is the most effective vaccine" against a more assertive China, said Ms. Sin, one of a growing group of Taiwanese parents trying to imbue their children with the island's local languages ​​- all by perfecting themselves – in what they see as a form of resistance against the authoritarian influence of China.
The Chinese Communist Party, which regards Taiwan as part of China and has pledged to take control by force if necessary, has steadily increased diplomatic and military pressure on the island by 23 million. 'residents, in part in response to the tightening of relations between Taiwanese and American governments under Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-wen.
Tan Kim-choa, a veteran Taigi instructor, teaches in November.
Joyu Wang / The Wall Street Journal
Amidst the tensions, more and more Taiwanese are disclaiming their connection with China. About 63% of those polled on the island identify themselves exclusively as Taiwanese, according to a survey by Taiwan's National Chengchi University in June, up from 54% in 2018, when Beijing stepped up efforts to attract allies from the island. 'island and increased military exercises. near.
According to the poll, 2.7% of Taiwanese consider themselves exclusively Chinese.
Beijing's muscle flexing, which recently included sending hundreds of military planes on regular sorties near the island, naturally encourages Taiwanese to reconsider which language they prioritize, Ho Sin-han said. , associate professor of linguistics and literature at the National Taichung University of Education.
"A slavish language is often seen as a weapon against an assertive culture or even an authoritarian regime," Mr. Ho said.
Taigi is sometimes written in Chinese characters but seems unintelligible to Mandarin speakers. It is one of the many local languages ​​spoken in Taiwan, alongside another branch of Chinese called Hakka and several indigenous languages ​​with Austronesian roots.
Mandarin was strictly imposed on Taiwan by Chiang Kai-shek, whose Kuomintang, or nationalist party, fled to the island after losing the Chinese civil war to the communist forces of Mao Zedong in 1949. Expanding relations trade with China in recent decades has helped secure its dominance. More than 95% of the island's 23 million people speak Mandarin, according to Taiwan census data.
In recent years, however, local languages ​​have started to make an unlikely comeback.
Taigi teachers have seen an increase in enrollment. The number of people signing up to take Taiga and Indigenous language proficiency tests nearly tripled to nearly 45,000 in 2020, from less than 16,000 in 2012, according to government data.
Tan Kim-choa, a former teacher in Taigi and an alumnus of a Presbyterian church in Taipei, said he was overwhelmed by the increase in enrollment. This summer, he taught classes at his church, three community colleges, a nursing school and several elementary schools, reaching more than 1,000 students in total, he estimated.
"When people feel a sense of crisis, they hurry to learn," Mr. Tan said.
The trend has left its mark on pop culture as well. A song in Taiwan by a Taiwanese indie rock band was the most-viewed YouTube music video in Taiwan in 2021, receiving more than 34 million views in the past nine months. A melodrama with predominantly Taigi dialogue was Taiwan's best local box office film of 2020, grossing the equivalent of around $ 7 million nationally.
Although efforts to revive local languages ​​in Taiwan go back many years, the recent increase in tensions with Beijing has helped give it significant momentum, according to linguists and language activists.
"This language is to fight against China," Taiwanese writer Tenn Sun-tshong said, adding that the Chinese factor was one of the reasons for the increased demand for Taiga speakers, especially in the editing. Mr Tenn, who previously hosted a weekly radio show on language use, is working on his fifth book in Taigi.
Linguists estimate that up to 50% of the world's roughly 6,000 languages ​​are at risk of disappearing by the turn of the century, as the practical appeal of dominant languages ​​like English and Mandarin continues to increase. Taiwan is set to join Ireland, Catalonia and Macedonia on the list of places to push back against the grain, according to Ann Heylen, professor of linguistics at National Taiwan Normal University.
Writer Tenn Sun-tshong signed autographs for his readers earlier this month after a puppet performance of an adaptation of one of his taigi books in Taipei.
Language disputes in Taiwan date back to the 17th century, when Dutch and Spanish colonizers arrived alongside herds of Hokkien-speaking migrants from China's Fujian province, whose languages ​​began to crowd out those spoken by the dozen indigenous tribes of the island. The Hakkas, members of another Chinese ethnic group, also crossed the Taiwan Strait, adding their own language to the mix.
After the island first came under Chinese control in 1662, Taiwanese Hokkien, which became what is now known as Taigi, became the dominant language. It absorbed new words through half a century of Japanese occupation that ended in 1945, then came under constant attack with the arrival of Chiang Kai-shek, whose songs the Kuomintang banned. in local languages ​​and demanded that only Mandarin be spoken in schools until waiver. of martial law in 1987.
""Speaking our mother tongue is a way for our generation to resist oppression and authoritarianism."
– Chen Shu-ting, a mother of two who adopted a Taigi rule only at home
In 2018, the Taiwanese government passed the National Languages ​​Development Law, which aims to repair the damage. It requires all schools below the college level to teach local languages ​​as compulsory subjects in the curricula.
Preserving Taigi won't be easy, even with government backing, given how dominant Mandarin has become and how important it is to doing business with mainland China, some linguists warn.
More than half of native Taigi speakers no longer use their mother tongue at home, according to a survey of more than 70,000 people by Mr. Ho of the Taichung National University of Education.
Yet more than 80% of those polled by Mr. Ho also said they wanted to learn their mother tongue from their parents.
Taiwanese filmmaker A-yo Chiu spoke in Taigi during a demonstration in September outside the Taiwanese legislative buildings in Taipei.
Chen Shu-ting, a 39-year-old stay-at-home mom and mother of two, decided to adopt a Taigi rule only at home following student protests against a trade deal with China in 2014. Before she could do it, however. , she had to relearn the language she had not spoken since her childhood.
After studying at home for one hour a day for over six months, Ms. Chen passed the Intermediate Level Taigi Proficiency Test last year. "It was really tough," she said, but it was worth it. "Speaking our mother tongue is a way for our generation to resist oppression and authoritarianism.
China's effect on the language debate was seen during a protest in Taipei that erupted in September after Taiwan's defense minister argued with a lawmaker over the use of Taigi in the past. 'a legislative hearing. At least three protesters had reused signs from a previous protest, scribbling anti-Mandarin messages on the backs of posters that originally read "No China."
"Speaking our mother tongue is a basic human right," filmmaker A-yo Chiu told Taigi at the rally. "Taiwan is a treasure island with multiple languages ​​and cultures, this is where our value lies."
As tensions between China and Taiwan escalate, WSJ's Gerald F. Seib examines the debate over whether the time is right for the United States to change its long-held strategic approach to ambiguity and to openly declare that they would defend the island. Photo illustration: Nikki Walker
Write to Joyu Wang at [email protected]
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