Language use by children Language use across generations

5.3.1 Language use by children

Figure 15 displays what languages parents reported that their children speak. The data is displayed by village. It is helpful to look at the percentage of respondents who reported that their children speak Yamphu. Figure 15. Language proficiency of children. Because respondents could list multiple languages for their children and answers were not mutually exclusive, the percentages in Figure 15 represent respondents whose children speak each language in each village. Only in two villages Hedangna and Devitar did 100 of respondents report that their children speak Yamphu. Only one subject in Hedangna in any of the villages said that their children do not at least speak some Nepali. Another question we asked to help address intergenerational transfer was, “Do young people in your village speak Yamphu well?” While this is an attitudinal question, it also gives input into perceptions of respondents toward language use among young people. Figure 16 shows the results. Figure 16. “Do young people in your village speak your mother tongue well, the way it ought to be spoken?” In two villages Hedangna and Seduwa a higher percentage of respondents said that young people speak Yamphu as well as they should. In Hedangna, all respondents said “Yes” and in Seduwa, 64 said “Yes.” In Rajarani, Devitar, and Khoktak, more people 62–83 felt that children in their village do not speak their mother tongue as well as they should.

5.3.2 Language use across generations

We also asked parents, “What language do most parents in this village usually speak with their children?” The results by village can be seen in Figure 17. Figure 17. “What language do most parents in this village usually speak with their children?” It was reported that most parents in Hedangna, Seduwa, and Devitar usually speak Yamphu with their children. In Khoktak 75 of respondents reported that parents usually use Nepali with their children. An additional quest ion we asked regarding language use among children was, “What language do your children speak while talking with neighbors?” Figure 18 shows the responses by village. Figure 18. “What language do your children speak while talking with neighbors?” Respondents in Hedangna overwhelmingly said that their children speak Yamphu with neighbors 910. In the other four villages, more respondents reported that their children use Nepali or a combination of Yamphu and Nepali to speak with neighbors Seduwa: 58 Nepali; Devitar: 37 Nepali and Yamphu; Rajarani: 46 Nepali; Khoktak: 89 Nepali. Figure 19 displays what language respondents report their children use while playing with other children. It is stratified by village. Figure 19. “What language do your children speak when playing with other children?” In Hedangna, eight out of 10 respondents who have children reported that their children usually speak Yamphu while playing. In Devitar two out of seven respondents said their children speak either Nepali or Yamphu, while three out of seven respondents replied both Nepali and Yamphu. In Rajarani, Seduwa, and Khoktak, more respondents reported that their children use Nepali while at play Rajarani: 36; Seduwa: 79; Khoktak 99.

5.4 Vitality in Yamphu speech communities