제주 사회 통합과 제주어

Abstract

This paper empirically explores the functions of the Jeju dialect to unify Jeju’s society. The argument starts from the premises that ‟language is a social contract,” “language is energeia”, and the linguistic relativity hypothesis that “differences in language lead to differences in experience and thought.”Attitudes towards the dialect, generation differences, and regional differences are taken as linguistic variables regarding the social unity, and the phenomena with respect to the variables are examined. Negative attitudes towards the dialect tend to alleviate, and males are more favorable to the dialect than females. Compared to this, generation differences show serious aspects. The result from exploring 22 words regarding Jeju’s culture found that overall ecological index of all 22 words was below 50 percent. There were big differences in the frequency of vocabulary use among generations, which has to be overcome in the future. Regional differences were also found, but they were less serious than generation differences. In order to integrate Jeju’s society, paradigm shifts in the perception of the dialect are needed. The Jeju dialect can be a living language when the Jeju dialect education is strengthened and bilingualism (the Jeju dialect and standard language) is accepted in the social contexts.