Abstract
This chapter gives an overview of language diversity in Hong Kong and Macao. Both places enjoy a high level of sociopolitical autonomy, including the continued use of the former colonial languages-English and Portuguese, respectively-as co-official languages alongside Chinese, which is understood to refer to spoken Cantonese and Mandarinbased Standard Written Chinese (SWC). The language policies in both places aim at achieving biliteracy and trilingualism: the ability to read and write Chinese and English, and to speak and understand Cantonese, English, and Mandarin. Unlike elsewhere in the sinophone world, Cantonese as a regional Sinitic variety continues to be used as the medium of instruction (MoI) from kindergarten to secondary-level schools. Language contact phenomena, such as lexical borrowing from English and code-switching, are commonplace. With cross-border visits to and from mainland China becoming more and more frequent, the use of Mandarin is increasingly frequent in both communities.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Title of host publication | Language Diversity in the Sinophone World |
| Subtitle of host publication | Historical Trajectories, Language Planning, and Multilingual Practices |
| Publisher | Taylor and Francis |
| Pages | 142-163 |
| Number of pages | 22 |
| ISBN (Electronic) | 9781003049890 |
| ISBN (Print) | 9780367504519 |
| Publication status | Published - 7 Oct 2020 |