Insights from the Heritage Language Variation and Change in Toronto Project (HLVC).

This article focuses on the Heritage Language Variation and Change in Toronto Project (HLVC), which investigates patterns of linguistic variation and change in minoritized heritage languages (HLs) spoken in Toronto, comparing them to their homeland varieties. The project analyzes sociolinguistic variables across ten HLs, including three Asian-Pacific languages (Cantonese, Korean, Tagalog) and seven Romance, Slavic, or Ugric languages, finding overall stability and similar mechanisms of variation in both heritage and homeland contexts. While English influence appears more prominent in Romance and Slavic HLs than in Asian-Pacific HLs, no clear linguistic or community-level factors explain this difference. Additionally, studies comparing Asian and non-Asian minoritized groups’ participation in Canadian English variation show that Asian groups participate less fully in majority-group sound changes than non-Asian groups, a contrast not observed within heritage languages themselves. [Extracted from the article]