Torsello, Davide - Pappová, Melinda: Social Networks in Movement. Time, interaction and interethnic spaces in Central Eastern Europe - Nostra Tempora 8. (Somorja-Dunaszerdahely, 2003)
Interethnic spaces
126 Károly Tóth ty may occur. These tendencies are already measurable in the present if we consider official declarations of nationality. Age structure The proportion of Hungarians in the village at the time of our survey compared to the data from 1991 fell from 78,44% to 74,37%, while the overall population increased from 844 to 883. The proportion of Slovaks grew from 20,50% to 24,83% and the proportion of other nationalities practically did not change. It has to be added that we deducted the person’s nationality from his/her use of language and this can differ from what he/she declares as his/her nationality in the census. It has to be said, as well, that in some cases the committee was unsure in deciding the nationality of the person in question. This happened particularly in cases of ethnically mixed marriages and of young people. In their opinion, marriage or the family’s network of friends are decisive factors in determining which direction a family or its branch will move towards regarding its nationality in the future. The answers in these cases sounded like: "...it depends on whether he marries a Slovak or a Hungarian girl”, ’’who knows where he will end up later...” etc. From Table 4 it is evident that the population of the village is divided between those whose first language is Hungarian and those whose first language is Slovak (75%: 25%). No child in the category “Other” (other than Hungarian or Slovak first language) is carrying on his/her parents’ first language. The age structure of the Hungarian-speaking population and of the Slovak-speaking population is completely different and it indicates that the Hungarian-speaking group makes up an ageing population (see Grandparents). The proportion of Slovak-speaking parents is significant, and the proportion of Slovak-speaking young people (school age) is rather high.
