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

A village on the ethnic periphery 129

Table 5: Indicators of language use

Use of language

Grandparents

Parents

Pre-school

age

Element.

school

age

Secondary school age

Alone living adults

Total

%

Within house

22c%

328

%

47

%

66

%

44

%

163

%

871

100,00

Hungarian

20c91,03

217

66,16

2961.7C

4365,15

3477,27

11168,10

637

73,13

Slovak

18

8,07

9930,18

31,91

2233,33

920,45

5131,29

214

24,57

Mixed

20,90

12

3,66

36,38

1

1.52

12,27

10,61

20

2,30

Public

221%

328

%

46

%

66

%

45

%

163

%

869

100,00

Hungarian

20c91,86

231

70,43

3167,39

4568,18

36

80,00

11671,17|

662

76,18

Slovak

14

6,33

7d23,78

1226,09

1928,79

920,00

4326,38

175

20,14

Mixed

4

1,81

19

5,79

36,52

2

3,03

00,00

4

2,45

32

3,68

As the above data demonstrate the community has still a strong Hungarian character. This is proved also by the fact that approximately the same number of people use the Hungarian language both at home and in public (the same thing cannot be said in the case of towns). This relates to the fact that the social life of the village still requires knowledge of the Hungarian language. However, it can also be explained by the fact that the Hungarian speakers are relatively old, i.e. there is no other possibility to communicate with them or the Hungarian language is the easier communication form.

It is very difficult to define the assimilation process on the basis of language use. The use of language presumably serves solely as a means for social contact both in the domestic and public sphere, and at this level it bears no character of identity expression.

Therefore, the interpretation of these data has to be done very cautiously. A precise evaluation of these data would only be possible if similar surveys would have been done previously.

However, with regard to language use it has to be mentioned that significant differences can be observed today compared to the situation twenty years ago. According to the interviewed persons, once (before the 1980s) it was unthinkable that a Slovak-speaking bride, or a person of another nationality who settled down in the village, would not immediately learn Hungarian. This is even more evident in the case of mixed marriages. Today the situation has radically changed: even in the case of a Slovak-speaking bride marry-