Language In Sub-Saharan Africa Research Articles

Exploring the relationships between genetic, linguistic and geographic distances in Bantu‐speaking populations

ObjectivesThe predominance of Bantu languages in sub‐Saharan Africa has sparked a large debate over the processes through which they came to disperse over time and space—the “Bantu expansion.” The overall genetic similarity shown by Bantu‐speaking populations indicates that movement of people occurred too, but the extent of the correlation between genetics, linguistics and geography has been a matter of debate among scholars of different disciplines. In this work, we aim to investigate how genetic, linguistic and geographic distances relate to each other in Bantu‐speaking populations.MethodsWe analyzed genome‐wide SNP array data from a set of 37 Bantu and non‐Bantu‐speaking populations together with related linguistic and geographic data. Due to the complex demographic relationships resulting from events of admixture in the history of these populations, we develop and implement a method for controlling the signatures of admixture.ResultsGenetic distances were only minimally correlated with linguistic and geographic distances, possibly as the result of gene flow from neighboring groups into Bantu‐speaking populations. When signatures of admixture are controlled for, the correlation of genetic data with linguistic and geographic distances significantly increases.DiscussionThe increase of the correlation between linguistic and genetic distances after the signatures of admixture are taken into account is in agreement with a scenario of spatial co‐dispersal of languages and people. Additional specific cultural and demographic dynamics have probably further affected the relationship between language and genetics, which will be necessary to take into account when integrating multidisciplinary data to reconstruct the history of populations.

Translation and validation of an epilepsy-screening questionnaire in three Nigerian languages

ObjectiveWe describe the development, translation and validation of epilepsy-screening questionnaires in the three most popular Nigerian languages: Hausa, Igbo and Yoruba. MethodsA 9-item epilepsy-screening questionnaire was developed by modifying previously validated English language questionnaires. Separate multilingual experts forward- and back-translated them to the three target languages. Translations were discussed with fieldworkers and community members for ethnolinguistic acceptability and comprehension. We used an unmatched affected-case versus unaffected-control design for the pilot study. Cases were people with epilepsy attending the tertiary hospitals where these languages are spoken. The controls were relatives of cases or people attending for other medical conditions. An affirmative response to any of the nine questions amounted to a positive screen for epilepsy. ResultsWe recruited 153 (75 cases and 78 controls) people for the Hausa version, 106 (45 cases and 61 controls) for Igbo and 153 (66 cases and 87 controls) for the Yoruba. The sensitivity and specificity of the questionnaire were: Hausa (97.3% and 88.5%), Igbo (91.1% and 88.5%) and Yoruba (93.9% and 86.7%). The three versions reliably indicated epilepsy with positive predictive values of 85.9% (Hausa), 85.4% (Igbo) and 87.3% (Yoruba) and reliably excluded epilepsy with negative predictive values of 97.1% (Hausa), 93.1% (Igbo) and 95.1% (Yoruba). Positive likelihood ratios were all greater than one. ConclusionsValidated epilepsy screening questionnaires are now available for the three languages to be used for community-based epilepsy survey in Nigeria. The translation and validation process are discussed to facilitate usage and development for other languages in sub-Saharan Africa.

Issues bordering the French language in Sub-Saharan Africa: Nigeria as a case study

Aim: Nigeria is a country in South Saharan Africa, and this study looked into questions concerning the French language used there. Some of the reasons why the French language may or may not have become widely spoken in certain African countries, particularly Nigeria, are discussed.Method: To accomplish this, a qualitative method was employed.Findings: The findings suggest that, alongside other issues, focusing on psycho-pedagogical issues is the most effective way to address the issues highlighted in this paper. Making French mandatory in all levels of education, especially in public schools in Nigeria, is the best way to ensure the survival of French in Sub-Saharan Africa, especially in Anglophone Africa. In light of the arguments made in this paper, the French language across all disciplines should be reconsidered, with special attention paid to its role in Nigeria’s public school system.Implications/Novel Contribution: The purpose of this paper is to examine Nigeria as a case study of a borderland language in Sub-Saharan Africa, specifically in West Africa. This demonstrated that one of the major factors working against the survival of the English language in Sub-Saharan Africa is the widespread lack of recognition and appreciation for it, especially in the English-speaking countries of the region.

The French Language in sub-Saharan Africa: Revisited

The French Language in sub-Saharan Africa: Revisited

Linguistic Situation in Twenty sub-Saharan African Countries: A Survey-based Approach

ABSTRACTData on second languages in sub-Saharan Africa are hard to come by. Consequently, any source that contributes to our knowledge beyond the level of primary languages should be appreciated and exploited. This article utilises Round 4 of the Afrobarometer Survey that collects information on ethnicity, home, and additional languages in 20 sub-Saharan African countries. The study has three main contributions. First, it overviews and compares some widely used sources that contain linguistic data and investigates why they show such a diverse picture on language use patterns. Second, it applies the ICP which, according to the author’s knowledge, is the first linguistic measure that takes multilingualism into account. Third, it shows how a simple graphic representation of the ICP can be used to visualise the most important dimensions of a country’s linguistic situation including the order of languages according to their size, the presence of monolingual speakers, and the relation between vernaculars and the former colonisers’ languages. The study findings are expected to be of interest to scholars engaged in language policy and planning and language-related development issues.

Environmental ethics and future oriented transformation to sustainability in Sub-Saharan Africa

The current study underscores the importance of environmental ethics as a vehicle for engaging society, businesses, and policy-makers towards mainstreaming transformation to sustainability. This reflects an innovative trend towards using narratives in social and management sciences, which needs to be replicated by other disciplines, organisations, agencies, and social groupings. In this paper, focus is on identifying storylines, phrases, myths, and local and indigenous knowledge systems of ethical and ecological significance. Using examples from written and unwritten narratives of Hausa – one of the widely spoken languages in sub-Saharan Africa, this study shines light on some key narratives relevant to present day critical environmental issues such as management of agricultural landscapes, municipal waste, ecosystem services, integrated natural resource management, and biodiversity loss. Environmental ethics drawn from the narratives provide an integrated platform where formal and informal institutions of sustainability can be strengthened, supporting transformation towards sustainability through enhancing ecological consciousness, skills, and attitudes.

Language, gender and sexuality in South Africa

This special issue on the theme of language, and sexuality in South Africa does not emerge in an academic vacuum. It is the continuation of a long-standing academic dialogue which has played out, inter alia, in two issues of the journal Southern African Linguistics and Applied Language Studies dedicated to and (de Kadt 2002), and and gender (Reddy and de Kadt 2006), respectively1, as well as in a recent edited collection entitled Gender and Language in Sub-Saharan Africa: Tradition, Struggle and Change (Atanga, Ellece, Litosseliti and Sunderland 2013). In contrast, this special issue seeks explicitly to foreground sexuality as a category of investigation in its own right alongside gender. Of course, this is not to say that previous scholarship has ignored sexuality - quite the contrary (see e.g. Reddy (2002) onhomophobia in Southern Africa, and Reddy and Potgieter (2006) on the Zuma rape trial). Yet it is striking how analyses of language and sexuality have generally been framed under the umbrella titles of and gender/gender and language.

Gender and Language in Sub-Saharan Africa: Tradition, Struggle and Change Edited by Lilian Lem Atanga, Sibonile Edith Ellece, Lia Litosseliti and Jane Sunderland (2013) Amsterdam: John Benjamins, 331pp.

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Book review: Lilian Lem Atanga, Sibonile Edith Ellece, Lia Litosseliti and Jane Sunderland (eds), Gender and Language in Sub-Saharan Africa: Tradition, Struggle and Change

Book review: Lilian Lem Atanga, Sibonile Edith Ellece, Lia Litosseliti and Jane Sunderland (eds), <i>Gender and Language in Sub-Saharan Africa: Tradition, Struggle and Change</i>

Tone-to-text applications for sub-Saharan African tone languages

Based on experimental findings, this paper proposes a framework for computer recognition of speech tones in Niger-Congo languages. This language family includes over 1000 languages in Sub-Saharan Africa and approximately one billion speakers. Many of these languages use pitch contrast to differentiate words in a system of two or more pitch levels (e.g., high, mid, and low). The results of two new studies conducted in Nigeria from 2013-14 indicate speech-tone is perceived as tonemic intervals (e.g., high-high, high-mid, and high-low). An experimental study (n = 1448) identified ranges of pitch difference that form perceptual categories for these tonemic intervals. An initial application of these findings is adding tone diacritics to text by interpreting fundamental frequency. Representing tone in text has been a persistent problem for Niger-Congo languages and smartphones are ill-equipped for marking tone diacritics. A signal processing application that recognizes speech tones and marks them on computer text would be more efficient than manually highlighting and marking each syllable. Frequency distribution of tones is dynamic between speakers. Thus, there are potential benefits of using machine learning to create speaker-dependent software. Because the proposed method relies on existing algorithms for fundamental frequency, the problem of estimation errors will also be addressed.

Languages, communication potential and generalized trust in Sub-Saharan Africa: Evidence based on the Afrobarometer Survey

The goal of this study is to investigate whether speaking other than home languages in Sub-Saharan Africa promotes generalized trust. Based on various psychological and economic theories, a simple model is provided to illustrate how languages might shape trust through various channels. Relying on data from the Afrobarometer Project, which provides information on home and additional languages, the Index of Communication Potential (ICP) is introduced to capture the linguistic situation in the 20 sample countries. The ICP, which can be computed at any desired level of aggregation, refers to the probability that an individual can communicate with a randomly selected person in the society based on common languages. The estimated two-level hierarchical models show that, however, individual level communication potential does not seem to impact trust formation, but living in an area with higher average communication potential increases the chance of exhibiting higher trust toward unknown people.

Languages in Sub-Saharan Africa in a broader socio-political perspective

Charles University This study deals with language policies in Africa with a special focus on multi-ethnic and multi-lingual states including Sudan, Ethiopia, Nigeria, Cameroon, and Democratic Republic of Congo. The study will thus examine relations between state and minorities, the status of major and marginalized languages, the roles of European languages in politics as well as theoretical frameworks. Sub-Saharan Africa has undergone a remarkable process from linguistic imperialism to linguistic pluralism and revivalism. Until the 1960s the superior position of the European languages (English, French, and Portuguese) was evident, but after the Africanization of politics and society in many African countries, a strong accent on linguistic emancipation was initiated. Nowadays, many African countries follow the principle of linguistic pluralism where several languages enjoy the same rights and space in the media, administrative, education, etc. This study will discuss some important case studies and their specific language policies.

MtDNA variability in two Bantu‐speaking populations (Shona and Hutu) from Eastern Africa: Implications for peopling and migration patterns in sub‐Saharan Africa

In this study, we report novel data on mitochondrial DNA in two of the largest eastern Bantu-speaking populations, the Shona from Zimbabwe and the Hutu from Rwanda. The goal is to evaluate the genetic relationships of these two ethnic groups with other Bantu-speaking populations. Moreover, by comparing our data with those from other Niger-Congo speaking populations, we aim to clarify some aspects of evolutionary and demographic processes accompanying the spread of Bantu languages in sub-Saharan Africa and to test if patterns of genetic variation fit with models of population expansion based on linguistic and archeological data. The results indicate that the Shona and Hutu are closely related to the other Bantu-speaking populations. However, there are some differences in haplogroup composition between the two populations, mainly due to different genetic contributions from neighboring populations. This result is confirmed by estimates of migration rates which show high levels of gene flow not only between pairs of Bantu-speaking populations, but also between Bantu and non-Bantu speakers. The observed pattern of genetic variability (high genetic homogeneity and high levels of gene flow) supports a linguistic model suggesting a gradual spread of Bantu-speakers, with strong interactions between the different lines of Bantu-speaker descent, and is also in agreement with recent archeological findings. In conclusion, our data emphasize the role that population admixture has played at different times and to varying degrees in the dispersal of Bantu languages.

Review: English for Life?-Teaching English as a second language in Sub-Saharan Africa with special reference to Uganda

1Independent education consultant and a visiting fellow at The London Institute of Education Email: TomJupp@aol.com English for Life?-Teaching English as a second language in Sub-Saharan Africa with special reference to Uganda G. P. McGregor Fountain Publishers, PO Box 488, Kampala 2002 208 £14.95 (from www.africanbookscollective.com); £4 in Uganda 9970 02 289 X

The Renaissance of African Languages: An Inevitable Enterprise?

After the demise of colonialism and apartheid which led to the emergence of a totally ‘liberated’ Africa and the birth of The African Union, one hoped for a radical shift in African Consciousness giving impetus to a resurgence of African languages so that they may carry philosophical and scientific discourse to unprecedented heights. Maintaining the primordial language policies that are dominated by European languages in sub-Saharan Africa is like putting new wine into old skins. In this regard, the question is ‘Can African languages take their rightful place?’ The aim of this article is to highlight some of the strategies that could be implemented to ensure the revitalisation and rejuvenation of African languages in sub-Saharan Africa.

The status of European languages in sub-Saharan Africa

The status of European languages in sub-Saharan Africa