Protestant Missions and the History of Lingala

Bibliographic Data

ID3129265
AuthorsWilliam J Samarin (1(University of Toronto, Canada, corresponding author)
Year1986
Volume16
Issue2
Pages138
Publication date1986-06-01
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessNo
TypeARTICLE
VenueJournal of Religion in Africa (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0022-4200 • E-ISSN: 1570-0666
PublisherJSTOR (PUBLISHER)
DOI10.2307/1581409
OpenAlexW4240747453
LanguageEN
Citations received9
References cited1

Of all the things that language can be at any time-for example, medium of communication, symbol of ethnicity, or means of exercising power-it was something in particular at the time when missionaries began their work in the Congo River basin at the end of the nineteenth century.' Language served the missionaries as a means to penetrate the heart of Africa. This function can be symbolized by the kinds of gross arrows that indicate the advance of troops in war maps. The relationship between language use and territorial 'occupation' is in fact not accidental. This paper reveals how they are related in mission policy-and how differences through time were reflected in changing linguistic policies.2 The story is that of Bangala, the lingua franca that emerged very soon after Europeans, led by H. M. Stanley, began to occupy equatorial Africa with the assistance of labor recruited in one way or another from among the peoples upriver from Stanley Pool. The language is known today as Lingala, although there is a form in the northeastern section of Zaire that is still known by its earlier name. How 'Bangala' became 'Lingala' is part of the story that will unfold

Accidental · Anthropology of religion · Archaeology · Ethnic group · History of religions · Lingua franca · Linguistics · Political science · Power (physics · Protestantism · Sociology · Symbol (formal · African history and culture studies · Anthropology · History · Law · Philosophy · Religious studies · Vietnamese History and Culture Studies