Ethnic Identity and Ethnic Language Attitude and Maintenance

Ethnic Identity and Ethnic Language Attitude and Maintenance　【Abstract】This paper mainly discussed t

Ethnic Identity and Ethnic Language Attitude and Maintenance 【Abstract】This paper mainly discussed the current situation of ethnic groups’ identity and their language attitude and maintenance by giving two case studies focus on Dai ethnic group in Xishuangbanna and Bai ethnic group in Dali respectively. Both groups maintain their ethnic identity generally and their language is also maintained at home. However， they consider Chinese as a useful communicative tool in society and younger generation give more preference to Chinese. 【Key words】Ethnic Identity； Language Attitude； Maintenance 1. Introduction 1.1 Ethnic groups and language background in Yunnan Located in the southwest China， Yunnan is a unique place in the sense that there are 25 officially recognized ethnic groups in Yunnan， and 24 among them have their own language（Yang， 2024）. Mixed ethnic residences are common in Yunnan， and small-scale villages of individuals with different ethnic backgrounds force individuals to use amutual intelligible language， which is