The prevalence of cultural diversity in a multilingual situation
The case of age and gender dimensions in the Shisukuma and Kiswahili greeting rituals
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 12890308 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Herman M Batibo (University of Botswana, corresponding author) |
| Year | 2015 |
| Volume | 10 |
| Issue | 1 |
| Pages | 100-111 |
| Publication date | 2015-01-02 |
| Open Access | No |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Journal of Multicultural Discourses (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 1744-7143 • E-ISSN: 1747-6615 |
| Publisher | Taylor & Francis (PUBLISHER • GB) |
| DOI | 10.1080/17447143.2014.993398 |
| OpenAlex | W2074719843 |
| Language | EN |
| Citations received | 5 |
| References cited | 13 |
The prevalence of cultural diversity in a situation of multilingualism is common in Africa, where each language is tied up with distinct cultural values and world view. Hence, the semantic and cultural dimensions of one language do not always correspond with another. Such a situation has caused cultural conflict when, in a marked bilingual situation, one language group undertakes to use its cultural norms in speaking another language. This problem has become common in situations where speakers of minority languages use major languages as lingua franca in various forms of discourse, including phatic expressions, like calling attention, greeting, bidding farewell or establishing contacts. This paper examines the conflict situation which has emerged when the speakers of Shisukuma, a Bantu language spoken in north-western part of Tanzania, transfer their linguistic and cultural norms into Kiswahili, a dominant lingua franca in eastern and central Africa. The paper investigates the way the two languages consider age and gender in their greeting rituals. The main argument in this paper is that Shisukuma speakers have maintained their cognitive-lexical and cultural dimensions when speaking Kiswahili, as a primary language. This cultural resistance follows Lamy and Pool's contention that cultural shift is slower than linguistic change
Argument (complex analysis · Bantu languages · Cultural diversity · First language · Language shift · Lingua franca · Linguistics · Multilingualism · Sociology · Anthropology · Language, Discourse, Communication Strategies · Multilingual Education and Policy · Psychology · Swearing, Euphemism, Multilingualism
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The Cambridge Handbook of African Linguistics
African Linguistics in North-Eastern and So-Called Anglophone Africa
The kinship greetings of blood and marital ties in the Minangkabau community
Adaptation of Sukuma Loanwords in the Western Dialects of Datooga ( Taturu ) and its Dialectological Implications
Gender and Politeness
A Cultural Approach to Discourse
Language Decline and Death in Africa
Cultural Discourse Analysis
A sociolinguistic analysis of Yoruba greetings
The inter-cultural dimension in the use of languages of wider communication by minority language speakers
Language Shift, Cultural Change and Identity Retention
Commentary
Politeness
Language and Ethnolinguistic Identity
Language Planning and Identity Planning
| Citations per year | 0.71 |
|---|---|
| Citation span | 2019 - 2024 (6) |
| Highly cited | No |