Language and ethnicity interface in Arunachal Pradesh
Authors : M.C. BeheraAbstract
In contemporary academics, the topic of identity has emerged as an interesting area of engagement. Identity however, takes different expressions, such as linguistic, ethnic, political, religious, and so on. Are these constructs of identity different forms of expression or they correspond one another in some ways? The present paper is an attempt to address the query. In view of this it explores the interfacing between language and ethnicity with tribes of Arunachal Pradesh as case study. The paper presents language and ethnic profiles of the state and examines interface between the two. It concludes that linguistic identity constructed on the basis of linguistic principles and ethnicity evolved in historical process may not have one to one correspondence.
Keywords: North East Frontier Agency (NEFA), The Frontier Tracts, Creole, Linguistic affiliation, Ethnicity, Identity, Phylum, Contact linguistics
