The prevalence of cultural diversity in a multilingual situation: the case of age and gender dimensions in the Shisukuma and Kiswahili greeting rituals

Abstract

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.

Keywords:

• cultural diversity
• multilingualism
• gender
• age
• family hierarchy
• primary language
• language shift
• cultural shift

Notes on contributor

Herman M. Batibo is Professor of African Linguistics at the University of Botswana (Southern Africa). He was born in Mwanza, Tanzania, and obtained his PhD at La Sorbonne University, Paris. His main interest is in language policy and planning, language marginalization, endangerment and empowerment.