Mother tongue

Another important question regarding language is that of mother tongue.

When asked about their mother tongue, the respondents could choose between Hungarian, English, or something else. Most Hungarians claimed that Hungarian was their mother tongue. However, some differences across the generations can be noticed. While all 1^st-generation speakers declared Hungarian to be their mother tongue, less 2^nd- and 3^rd-generation speakers claimed the same. Moreover, more 3^rd-generation speakers than 2^nd-generation speakers regarded English as their mother tongue.

An interesting matter concerning the answers to this question is the definition of a mother tongue. Harrison (2001) defines mother tongue as the language that one learns as the first language during childhood and still understands at the time of data collection. Based on the fact that some of the respondents pointed out that even though their mother tongue was Hungarian, English was the preferred language, one can assume that mother tongue for 2^nd- and 3^rd-generation speakers is not necessarily the first language learnt but also the language they use most confidently.

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Figure 2. Choice of mother tongue across the three generations of Hungarian speakers in the GTA 5.3. Locus of acquisition of Hungarian

The question of where they learnt Hungarian is mainly important from the point of view of 2^nd- and 3^rd-generation speakers. Here the respondents could give multiple answers (from parents, grandparents, at school, church, scouting, elsewhere, or any combination of these). As shown in Figure 3, the most important loci of acquisition of Hungarian are the family (parents) and the school (named in total by 98% and 46% of the respondents respectively). These two sources seem to play the most important role in the transmission of Hungarian as a heritage language from one generation to the other. This coincides with Campbell Christian’s suggestion (2003. 17.) that the family and the school are the most essential sources of heritage language input in the case of immigrant children.

It is important to mention that school as a source of learning Hungarian in this context is to be understood as a Hungarian heritage-language school.

Understandably, for first-generation speakers (i.e. immigrants), learning Hungarian at school meant doing so back in their old country. Besides the family and the heritage-language school, other sources of learning Hungarian worth mentioning are the church and scouting, both of which play an important role in preserving the Hungarian culture and language.

In this case, no major differences across the generations could be noticed.

This is mainly due to the fact that both 2^nd- and 3^rd-generation speakers learn Hungarian primarily at home and later at school, and, even though other institutions may also provide an opportunity for learning or preserving the language, they do not have such a predominant role in passing down the heritage language.

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Figure 3. Cross-generational data regarding the main sources of learning Hungarian 5.4. Language choice based on interlocutors

In the following section, the respondents’ language choice based on interlocutors will be analysed. They were asked what language(s) they used in their interpersonal communication, more specifically when talking to their parents, grandparents, siblings, children, spouse, friends, and neighbours.

Again, multiple responses were possible.

The overall results show that the respondents use Hungarian most often when talking to their parents or grandparents. This is understandable since grandparents are less likely to speak English and even if they do, they are more comfortable speaking Hungarian. This also proves that the parents and grandparents are not only a source for learning the heritage language, but they play an important role in preserving it through communicating in Hungarian.

Both English and Hungarian are mainly used in communication with friends. The explanation for this is that the respondents either have both English- and Hungarian-speaking friend or that they use both languages during communication with Hungarian-speaking friends.

Within the family, some interesting trends can be noticed. The choice of language for communicating with the spouse depends on the nationality of the spouse; therefore, the choice of only English appears. However, that Hungarian is mainly the home language is shown by the fact that the spouses speak to each other mostly in Hungarian or in both languages. Furthermore, none of the respondents seem to speak only English to their children, but they did admit using both languages rather than only Hungarian. However, use of only English appears in the case of communicating with siblings, even though the overall results show that most of the respondents claim to speak either only Hungarian or both English and Hungarian to their siblings.

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It seems that the respondents mainly use Hungarian or both languages in communicating with members of older generations (parents, grandparents) or those of younger generations (children), but a preference for English or both languages arises in the case of communication with members of the same age-group (friends, siblings).

The language of communication with the neighbours seems to be only English with the few exceptions who might have Hungarian neighbours and therefore use both languages.

Figure 4. The overall responses to language choice based on interlocutors

Figure 5. Cross-generational data on choice of language when talking to parents

In the following section, the most important cross-generational differences in language choice based on interlocutors will be presented. A clear shift from Hungarian to English can be noticed in the language choice for communicating with parents. First-generation speakers solely communicate in Hungarian to their parents, which is understandable since they do not speak English. However,

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second-generation speakers who can choose from two languages to communicate with their parents already use both English and Hungarian even though Hungarian is still the main language of communication for them. On the other hand, most third-generation speakers use both languages for communication with their parents, and some of them only use English.

As already mentioned, use of either languages, or only English for communication with same age-groups, seems to be the norm. In fact, only 1^st -generation speakers claimed to speak only Hungarian to their siblings or friends, but none of the 2^nd- or 3^rd-generation speakers did, except for one 3^rd-generation respondent whose younger sibling only knew Hungarian, therefore being the only option for communication. The most visible differences across the generations can be noticed regarding the choice of language of communication with friends. A clear shift towards English can be noticed in this case. 1^st -generation speakers predominantly use both languages to communicate with their friends; however, a considerable number of them still use only Hungarian for this purpose. On the other hand, none of the 2^nd- or 3^rd-generation speakers use only Hungarian to communicate with their friends even if they are speakers of Hungarian as well. Furthermore, 3^rd-generation speakers are more likely to talk to their friends only in English than the 2^nd-generation speakers. This could be either because their friends are less likely to speak Hungarian or because they feel more comfortable talking in English rather than in Hungarian. Either way, Hungarian seems to lose ground over time.

Figure 6. Cross-generational data on choice of language when talking to siblings and friends

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Another loss of domain can be noticed in the case of communication with the spouse or the children. Although due to the age factor here only the first two generations can be compared, it can be noticed that less 2^nd-generation speakers choose to speak only Hungarian to their spouse or children than their 1^st-generation counterparts do. Moreover, the preferred language of communication with the spouse in the case of 2^nd-generation speakers is only English (29%), while both languages (18%) and only Hungarian is the least preferred (6%) language choice.