declinesover successive generations to use the native tongue, due to a perceived
lower social standing of that language. Knowledge of the language may even be
taken as a sign of backwardness or of being uneducated and unsophisticated, and
the language is abandoned by its speakers. In other words, the tongue becomes
socially stigmatized, and its use shameful or embarrassing. An example of the social
morale model would be the fate of Manx, a Gaelic language unique to the Isle of
Man in the British Isles. Manx was spoken by thousands of people there until the
19th century, when its use dramatically declined and was replaced by English.
A second method of assimilation suggested by Withers is theclearance model,
which argues that changes in the economic structure of society lead to disruption
in the use of a language by causing the native speakers to migrate to areas offering
more economic advantages, where they may be linguistically assimilated. Or alter-
natively a process ofchangeovermay occur, in which speakers of the dominant lan-
guage settle in large numbers among indigenous speakers, diluting the use of the
native tongue and eventually resulting in assimilation. Assimilation is not the only
process that may transpire when language regions overlap. Languages may main-
tain their integrity, but may acquire linguistic elements from surrounding or over-
lapping speakers, resulting in asprachbund, or linguistic convergence area. When208 Linguistic Geography
These Indian children are celebrating Mother Language Day, commemorated by the United Nations
to celebrate linguistic diversity across the globe. (AP/Wide World Photos)