A Brief Survey on the Sociolinguistic Pattern of Khelma (Sakachep) in Relation to the Mediating Role of Multilingualism among the Native Speakers

Abstract

Languages play a vital role in the formation of identity of a speech community with its unique features. The degree of usage of a language in various domains and the positive attitudes of the native speakers towards the language help to strengthen up and maintain the status, power and solidarity of the speech community. Very often the native speakers of the smaller known languages remain unaware of the risk of losing their language or about the process of language shifting. Today in the world of science and technology each and every speech community is practising multilingualism either directly or indirectly according to the demands of the basic needs in their daily lives. This paper is a result of an attempt to present a sociolinguistic survey on the language use, attitude and identity of native speakers of Khelma (Sakachep) in the district of Dima Hasao, Assam in North-East India towards their mother tongue as well as towards other languages spoken and used in different domains in the Khelma community according to their needs. The research work is carried out under CFEL, Tezpur University, Assam. Native speakers based on different age groups, gender, educational qualifications, occupational patterns, family types and as rural and urban dwellers were interviewed. The methods used for interview were personal interviews, group discussions, telephonic conversations and silent observations. The participants were asked a series of questions concerning their language, culture, traditions and also their feelings regarding other languages used in and around them.