語言與族群認同：從台灣外省族群的母語與台灣華語談起

Language and Group Identity: On Taiwan Mainlanders’ Mother Tongues and Taiwan Mandarin

本文焦點在於外省族群的語言背景、語言發展、與語言權利。本文從文獻及戶籍資料中論證，將國語或台灣華語視為外省族群的母語與事實不符。外省第一代母語涵蓋各種中國語言，北京話僅為其共通之第二語，因此類似涇濱語 (pidgin)。「國語政策」壓抑了本土語言，也導致外省母語在其族群中消失。「台灣華語」是第二代發展出的「第一語」，類似克里奧爾語 (creole)，成為第三代的新母語。無論是從語言、血緣或文化的角度，外省族群已難以界定，僅存有主觀的認定。其縱有「原罪」，在族群稀釋、母語及原生文化已在其族群中消失、以及融入台灣社會等因素下，應已得到洗滌。台灣在積極振興本土語言的同時，應接受「台灣華語」為新的本土語言。

This paper focuses on Taiwan Mainlanders’ language background, language development, and language rights. Evidence from previous studies and official family records shows that taking either Guoyu (Standard Mandarin) or Taiwan Mandarin as the Mainlander group’s mother tongue is inaccurate, if not incorrect, as the first generation’s mother tongues cover the entire range of Mainland languages, with Peking Mandarin merely as a common second language, thus resembling a pidgin. The earlier National Language Policy, while repressing the indigenous languages, also brought about the eventual eradication of Mainland mother tongues in Taiwan. Taiwan Mandarin is the second generation’s first language, a newborn language, thus resembling a creole, which in turn becomes the new mother tongue of the third generation. The existence of the Mainlander group can no longer be justified on the ground of language, ethnicity, or culture; the group thus remains as a collective but subjective conception. Whatever ‘original sin’ associated with the group, its redemption should now be allowed on the basis of the group’s continuous thinning of its ethnicity, total loss of its original mother tongues and cultures, and its integration with the Taiwanese society. Taiwan should embrace Taiwan Mandarin as a new indigenous language, while making every effort to revitalize its original indigenous languages.