Resumen de Language change, language maintenance and ethnic identity: The case of Greek in Australia
European languages are undergoing intensive linguistic simplification and linguistic reduction. Depending on the extralinguistic tendencies, the geographical mobility and the low versus high‐contact situation, the linguistic changes in Greek and/or its dialects appear neither consistent in the rate and incidence of change nor of equal weight in the various levels of language. In Australia, Greek having a restricted function in a high‐contact situation and operating in a dynamic bilingual environment suffers inevitable changes which can be seen as an evolutionary process which leads to the Ethnolect or to a process which will lead Greek to simplification, creolisation, pidginisation and eventually language death. Greek is numerically the second strongest mother tongue language spoken in Australia (after Italian) and demonstrates the highest rate of language maintenance among the community languages other than English.
Religion is closely linked with ethnic language and often acts as a carrier of ethnicity or as a melting pot, where the ethnic group membership is subordinated. Lately in Australia certain powerful Church leaders, despite adverse community opposition, have promoted the idea of a Pan‐Orthodox congregation relieved from any ethnic group affiliation, in order to make its doctrines accessible to all Australians and ensure that second and consecutive generations do not miss out on linguistic grounds.
