Multilingualism in Nations and Individuals Kullko jezikou clovig zna, tali'ko clovig vaja. many languages a person how (‘However knows, that’s much a person is - Croatian folk saying) worth’ school teacher in the provincial capital of Surin in northeast ‘A high Thailand speaks the Northern Khmer language of the area to her neighbors and in many other informal situations around town. She learned it by living and working in the city for several years. On the other hand, she speaks Lao with her husband, a government official, because that is his mother tongue. She learned it (and met him) when she was in training as a teacher in the Lao-speaking area of the northeast. She teaches in Standard Thai, which she herself learned in school. She talks to her children in Lao or Northern Khmer or Standard Thai, as seems appropriate at the time. When she returns to her home village, an by bus to the east of Surin, she speaks hour’s ride Kuy, her own native language, the language of her parents, the language in which she grew Diversity and National up.’ (Linguistic Unity: Language Ecology in Thailand, by William Smalley, 1994, p. 1) speaker impressed me particularly when, within ‘One female B-Mlabri one hour of Smalltalk, she switched between four different languages depending on the addressee: (1) Mlabri (spoken to her father), (2) Tin Mai (spoken to her husband, who was bom a Tin), (3) Hmong (spoken to Hmong villagers entering the hut), and (4) Northern Thai, the lingua franca of the whole area (spoken in a subsequent conversation involving both her father and some Hmong Mlabri: A people).’ (Minor Hunter-Gatherer Language of Northern Indochina, by Jorgen Rischel, 1995, pp. 54—5; northern Thailand) this period [1750-1858] most of the communication ‘Throughout between Whites and Indians was in the trade language known as
Multilingualism in Nations and Individuals Kullko jezikou clovig zna, tali'ko clovig vaja. (‘However many languages a person knows, that’s how much a person is worth’ - Croatian folk saying) ‘A high school teacher in the provincial capital of Surin in northeast Thailand speaks the Northern Khmer language of the area to her neighbors and in many other informal situations around town. She learned it by living and working in the city for several years. On the other hand, she speaks Lao with her husband, a government official, because that is his mother tongue. She learned it (and met him) when she was in training as a teacher in the Lao-speaking area of the northeast. She teaches in Standard Thai, which she herself learned in school. She talks to her children in Lao or Northern Khmer or Standard Thai, as seems appropriate at the time. When she returns to her home village, an hour’s ride by bus to the east of Surin, she speaks Kuy, her own native language, the language of her parents, the language in which she grew up.’ (Linguistic Diversity and National Unity: Language Ecology in Thailand, by William Smalley, 1994, p. 1) ‘One female B-Mlabri speaker impressed me particularly when, within one hour of Smalltalk, she switched between four different languages depending on the addressee: (1) Mlabri (spoken to her father), (2) Tin Mai (spoken to her husband, who was bom a Tin), (3) Hmong (spoken to Hmong villagers entering the hut), and (4) Northern Thai, the lingua franca of the whole area (spoken in a subsequent conversation involving both her father and some Hmong people).’ (Minor Mlabri: A Hunter-Gatherer Language of Northern Indochina, by Jorgen Rischel, 1995, pp. 54—5; northern Thailand) ‘Throughout this period [1750-1858] most of the communication between Whites and Indians was in the trade language known as