| Abstract |
Guided by sociolinguistic theories—including indexical order (Silverstein, 2003), folk linguistics (Niedzielski & Preston, 2000, 2009), and enregisterment (Agha, 2003, 2007), this article reviews research on Taiwan Mandarin and explores the indigenization and enregisterment of Taiwan Mandarin since the KMT government introduced Mandarin Chinese, or Guoyu into Taiwan in the 1940s. Two main research questions that guide the literature review are: Is Taiwan Mandarin linguistically unique from other Mandarin varieties? If so, how aware are speakers of Taiwan Mandarin (and speakers of other Mandarin varieties) of Taiwan Mandarin’s linguistic uniqueness? In other words, is Taiwan Mandarin perceived as a socially recognizable variety? A review of the past thirty years of research on Taiwan Mandarin indicates that Taiwan Mandarin is indeed indigenized in a variety of linguistic dimensions and has enregistered into a socially identifiable variety that marks a Taiwanese identity. |
