A case study of Memoni as a lesser-known language of Sri Lanka

Despite successive governments acknowledging and even celebrating the linguistic diversity of Sri Lanka, there is scant attention paid by the state to the preservation of the lesser-known languages of the country. This is hardly surprising, given the troubled history of negotiating the language rights of the two major communities – the Sinhalese and the Tamils – in the period following independence from the British in 1948. However, it is essential that the language situations of the lesser-known communities of the island be studied, so that, among other reasons, there is sufficient information when decisions about language preservation and language education are made. Therefore, using Spolsky’s (2004) view of the components of language policy, this study examines the language practices, language beliefs, and language interventions of one of the small but influential lesser-known language speaking communities of Sri Lanka: the Memons. This study employed a quantitative research methodology and administered a questionnaire on language usage and beliefs among 176 members of the Memon community of Sri Lanka. The findings reveal that the language use of the Memons of Sri Lanka reflects the language and language-in-education policies of post-independence Sri Lanka. The Memons have transitioned from being a largely bilingual (Memoni* and English speaking) community to a quadrilingual one. The data also reveal that the participants are committed to the notion of ‘mother tongue’ and considering Memoni as their own ‘mother tongue’. The article also discusses the various initiatives undertaken by the community members to preserve the Memoni language and concludes that, despite the concerns of the older members of the community, the Memoni language may not be as ‘endangered’ as they fear.