Abstract

SCHNUCHEL, Sophia. Bilingualism and Language Loss among Indigenous People in León, Guanajuato. Relac. Estud. hist. soc. [online]. 2018, vol.39, n.155, pp.167-207. ISSN 2448-7554.  https://doi.org/10.24901/rehs.v39i155.395.

This article illustrates the contact between Spanish and six indigenous languages in the context of internal migration in the Mexican city of León, Guanajuato, by analyzing the language skills of 67 indigenous people, belonging to six ethnic groups, and their level of bilingualism. Results show that oral competence in the vernacular languages is far better than writing skills. Additionally, we observed that adults had a better command of indigenous languages than younger speakers, as well as greater difficulties in using Spanish. Most of the children, in contrast, were bilingual and used Spanish much better than their parents. Also assessed are the contexts in which the different languages are used. The study clearly shows that a situation of diglossia prevails among indigenous peoples living in León.

Keywords : indigenous peoples; language contact; language skills; bilingualism; diglossia.