Basque-language interaction on TikTok: convergence, divergence and platform-mediated participation

Abstract

Abstract This article examines how Basque is maintained, shifted and interactionally negotiated on TikTok, an audiovisual platform where language choice is shaped by topic, visual staging, imagined audiences and algorithmic visibility. Drawing on Communication Accommodation Theory and research on minoritised-language maintenance, the study analyses 14,610 Basque-language video-comment dyads through a hybrid workflow combining manually validated speech transcripts, comment-language identification, thematic and visual-genre classification, engagement metrics, and full-corpus linguistic-attitude and code-switching audits with targeted author validation. Overall, 50.23 % of comments converged to Basque and 49.77 % diverged into other codes. Code-switching occurred in 7.75 % of comments, predominantly between Basque and Spanish and in the form of lexical insertion. Hostile responses were uncommon (3.16 %) but more frequent among divergent than convergent comments (5.78 % versus 0.57 %); most divergent comments expressed no hostile stance. Basque-language and territory-oriented content tends to produce temporary digital “language breathing spaces”, whereas lifestyle, relationship and public-event content more often trigger majority-language participation. Visual staging remains central to dominant-language accommodation, while code-switching varies little across visual communities. The article argues that minoritised-language vitality on TikTok must be understood as platform-mediated languaging in which behavioural accommodation, multilingual practice and evaluative stance are related but analytically distinct.

The authors' abstract, as published at the source. Sociolinguistica - International Yearbook of European Sociolinguistics / Internationales Jahrbuch für europäische Soziolinguistik, 2026 · DOI ↗