The introductory chapter presents the central themes and framework of the book. It presents the motivations for the study, the main theoretical underpinnings, and the cultural context in which the ethnographic fieldwork took place. The chapter discusses social belonging, prestige and material practices as central in shaping language ideologies and the construction of languages.This is linked to sociological theories of modernity, which have examined the role of social categories in late modern contexts. The latter use the metaphor of ’liquidity’ to emphasise the shifting, context-dependent nature of social categories, while recognising the conditions that temporarily stabilise them. In suggesting the study of how language practices and categories emerge, the chapter situates these processes within broader social structures and power dynamics. This sets the stage for a book that contributes to the decolonisation of linguistics by challenging Eurocentric assumptions and studies language as a socially constructed phenomenon with implications for understanding diversity and social order.