Ethnolinguistic vitality under a new political dispensation in South Africa

The dimensions and group expectations of ethnolinguistic vitality in the new South Africa were investigated in random samples of 460 Whites (347 Afrikaans-speaking; 113 English-speaking) and 466 Blacks. By means of a factor analysis, 5 factors were distinguished: Institutional Support, Group Status and Power, Maintenance of Identity, Maintenance of Symbols, and Threat to Identity. The expectations of groups differed significantly in regard to the dimensions of ethnolinguistic vitality. Relationships between these dimensions and other variables and the implications of the findings were discussed against the background of sociopolitical and economic changes in South Africa.