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CHAPTER 5 BACKGROUND INFORMATION it is more likely to be maintained in an immigrant setting. Ihe role of the Hungarian language in expressing Hungarian ethnic affiliation has undergone some significant changes. With regards to the value associated with Hungarian language, a significant difference can be observed in first- and second- (and third-)generation speakers. Fejös observed that second- and third-generation Hungarian-Americans can express their ethnicity the most easily by the means of English”. Now, in the majority of Hungarian-American communities, Hungarian no longer plays a central role in expressing Hungarian ethnic identity”. For the American-born generations, language has become less important than the traditions regarded as authentically Hungarian symbols of Hungarian identity’. The Hungarian language, though it remains to be regarded an important Hungarian asset, in the history of Hungarian-American immigrant communities, has become of secondary importance in comparison with some vestigial ethnic traditions commonly supposed as symbolizing authentic Hungarian culture and identity. THE HUNGARIAN-AMERICAN COMMUNITY IN NORTH CAROLINA: SOCIOLINGUISTIC BACKGROUND As there are no published studies regarding the sociolinguistic characteristics of the Hungarian-American community in North Carolina, I will partly rely on the US Census Bureau’s figures as well as on Bolonyai’s unpublished survey conducted in 2007 among 78 subjects in the Hungarian-American community in North Carolina, more precisely, in the Research Triangle, that is, in the area surrounded by the cities of Raleigh, Durham, and Cary, which for its good economic and job opportunities have attracted recently many HungarianAmericans. This survey, for its fairly small-scale of data, cannot be regarded representative of the entire Hungarian-American community of North Carolina. However, it can be regarded representative of that particular segment of the Hungarian-American immigration community — which usually is made up by at most 10% of the entire Hungarian-American population’ — who regularly attend the Hungarian-American community’s events and organizations, the most active members of the NC Hungarian Club, the particular target of my survey. 51 Fejös, Diaszpöra, 77-78 252 Bartha, Nyelvhasználat, nyelvmegtartás, nyelvcsere, 132 253 Bartha, Social and linguistic characteristics of immigrant language shift, Acta Linguistica Hungarica, 415 254 Papp, Beszédből világ, 448 + 92 +
