The position of Tibetan linguistic rights in China : Lhasa and Lanzhou research

Abstract

Language, as a very important medium in social activities, is always been paying a great attention by human beings. While “language is for most ethnic groups one of the most important cultural core values.” “Lack of linguistic rights often prevents a group from achieving educational, economic and political equality with other groups” (Skutnabb-Kangas & Philiopson 1995:7) Linguistic right has been widely considered as one of the most significant human rights for human society. As a basic human right, it is also considered as the one of the most important identities for every ethnicity, nation and person in human society. As a major ethnicity in China, Tibetan and its culture have been regarded as one of the most prosperous civilisations through the whole Asian historical time. Its traditional culture and linguistic system closely related with the Tibetan society and the neighbouring ethnicities in China as well. Moreover, Tibetan language has also been the foundation of Tibetan religion, politics and economic development nowadays. It is worthwhile taking efforts to research and study. The fieldwork has processed in both Lhasa city in Tibet Autonomous Region and Lanzhou city in Gansu Province. In particular, the thesis discusses the current situation of linguistic rights in different social domains in different cities with different characteristics in multi-ethnic regions in western China. The conclusion demonstrates the respect for the linguistic rights of Tibetan people is the basic method of protecting Tibetan language and culture; it is also the foundation for respecting linguistic human rights. The violation of linguistic rights of Tibetan people still exists The analysis suggests paying more attention and giving a higher level of priority could be the most efficient ways of developing Tibetan culture and also the key methods for the protection of Tibetan linguistic human rights.