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Some challenges of language documentation in African multilingual settings

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This paper questions mainstream theoretical and methodological frameworks which underlie the work of language documentation (LD) in Africa. It further seeks to ask the question what is/should be the ultimate aim of LD, especially in inherently multilingual settings where language use is conceived more in terms of repertoires than clear cut language codes, and where each repertoire may trigger a different sense of belonging? Drawing from personal documentation experience in two multilingual communities of Cameroon, this research shows that, if not informed sociolinguistically, LD efforts may fail to address that which truly is at stake in the life of a multilingual speech community. The paper ends by suggesting that, in addition to being a reactive undertaking, LD should also encompass a pro-active component, one which does not only aim at rescuing an allegedly dying language, but also seeks to understand the power dynamics of language repertoires in critical multilingual settings of Arica.

References

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    1965 Proto-histoire du groupe beti-bulu-fang: Essai de synthèse provisoire. Cahiers d’Études Africaines5(20): 503–560 doi: 10.3406/cea.1965.3049
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  7. Breton, Roland & Fohtung, Bikia
    1991 Atlas administratif des langues nationales du Cameroun. Yaoundé: Cerdotola, ACCT, Mesires.
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  9. Dieu, Michel & Renaud, Patrick
    1983 Situation linguistique en Afrique centrale. Inventaire préliminaire: Le Cameroun. Yaoundé: ACCT, Cerdotola, DGRST ( Atlas linguistique d’Afrique centrale: Atlas linguistique du Cameroun ).
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    1949 Inventaire ethnique du Cameroun [Mémoires de l’Institut Français d’Afrique Noire 1]. Centre du Cameroun.
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    1968 Bantu expansion: The evidence from physical anthropology confronted with linguistic and archaeological. The Journal of African History9(4): 505–515. doi: 10.1017/S0021853700009014
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    2013 Repertoires and Choices in African Languages. Berlin: De Gruyter. doi: 10.1515/9781614511946
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    2008 The ascent of Wolof as an urban vernacular and national lingua franca in Senegal. InGlobalization and Language Vitality: Perspectives from Africa, Cécile B. Vigouroux & Salikoko S. Mufwene (eds), 142–170. London: Continuum.
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    2001 The relationship between the Bakola and the Bantu people of the coastal region of Cameroon and their perception of commercial forest exploitation. African Study Monographs Suppl. 26: 209–235.
     [Google Scholar]
  22. Ngué Um, Emmanuel & Duke, Daniel Joseph
    . Forthcoming. When the wrong language is being documented. Language documentation and language dynamics among the Bakola of Cameroon. In Proceedings of the 7 th World Congress of African Linguistics .
     [Google Scholar]
  23. Renaud, Patrick
    1976 Le bajɛle: Phonologie, morphologie nominale [Les dossiers de l’ALCAM 1–2]. Yaoundé.
     [Google Scholar]
  24. de Saussure, Ferdinand
    1972[1916] Cours de linguistique générale. Lausanne: Payot.
     [Google Scholar]
  25. UNESCO Ad Hoc Expert Group on Endangered Languages
    2003 Language vitality and endangerment. Document adopted by the International Expert Meeting on UNESCO Programme Safeguarding of Endangered Languages.

References

  1. Alexandre, Pierre
    1965 Proto-histoire du groupe beti-bulu-fang: Essai de synthèse provisoire. Cahiers d’Études Africaines5(20): 503–560 doi: 10.3406/cea.1965.3049
     https://doi.org/10.3406/cea.1965.3049 [Google Scholar]
  2. Bahuchet, Serge
    1993 L’invention des Pygmées. Cahiers d’Études Africaines33. www.jstor.org/
stable/4392434 doi: 10.3406/cea.1993.2078
     https://doi.org/10.3406/cea.1993.2078 [Google Scholar]
  3. BBC Today
    . 19October 2009 <news.bbc.co.uk/today/hi/today/newsid_8311000/8311069.stm
  4. Biloa, Edmond
    1990 Resumptive pronouns in Tuki. Studies in African Linguistics2, 33–51.
     [Google Scholar]
  5. Binam Bikoi, Charles , Ndongo Semengue , Anne Marie & Bong, C
    2012 Atlas Linguistique du Cameroun. Yaoundé: Cerdotola.
     [Google Scholar]
  6. Bitjaa Kody, Zachée Denis
    2003 Annuaire des langues du Cameroun. Yaoundé: Cerdotola.
     [Google Scholar]
  7. Breton, Roland & Fohtung, Bikia
    1991 Atlas administratif des langues nationales du Cameroun. Yaoundé: Cerdotola, ACCT, Mesires.
     [Google Scholar]
  8. Bowern, Claire
    2008 Linguistic Fieldwork. A Practical Guide. Houndmills: Palgrave Macmillan.
     [Google Scholar]
  9. Dieu, Michel & Renaud, Patrick
    1983 Situation linguistique en Afrique centrale. Inventaire préliminaire: Le Cameroun. Yaoundé: ACCT, Cerdotola, DGRST ( Atlas linguistique d’Afrique centrale: Atlas linguistique du Cameroun ).
     [Google Scholar]
  10. Dugast, Idelette
    1949 Inventaire ethnique du Cameroun [Mémoires de l’Institut Français d’Afrique Noire 1]. Centre du Cameroun.
     [Google Scholar]
  11. Cysouw, Michael & Good, Jeff
    2013 Languoid, doculect and glossonym. Formalizing the notion ‘Language’. In Language Documentation and Conservation7, 331–359. nflrc.hawaii.edu/ldc; <hdl.handle.net/10125/4606
     [Google Scholar]
  12. Ehret, Christopher
    2001 Bantu expansion: Re-envisioning a central problem of early African history. The International Journal of African Historical Studies34(1): 5–41. doi: 10.2307/3097285
     https://doi.org/10.2307/3097285 [Google Scholar]
  13. Ethnologue, Languages of the World. www.ethnologue.com/country/CM/languages
     [Google Scholar]
  14. Essono, Jean Jacques Marie
    1974 Description phonologique du tuki (ati), langue Sanaga. University of Yaoundé.
     [Google Scholar]
  15. Guthrie, Malcolm
    1948 The classification of the Bantu languages. London: Oxford University Press for the International African Institute.
     [Google Scholar]
  16. Hiernaux, Jean
    1968 Bantu expansion: The evidence from physical anthropology confronted with linguistic and archaeological. The Journal of African History9(4): 505–515. doi: 10.1017/S0021853700009014
     https://doi.org/10.1017/S0021853700009014 [Google Scholar]
  17. Kogne Welaze, Jacquis
    2004 Morphologie verbale du Tuki. Maîtrise thesis, University ot Yaoundé I.
     [Google Scholar]
  18. Lüpke, Friederike & Storch, Anne
    2013 Repertoires and Choices in African Languages. Berlin: De Gruyter. doi: 10.1515/9781614511946
     https://doi.org/10.1515/9781614511946 [Google Scholar]
  19. Mc Laughlin, Fiona
    2008 The ascent of Wolof as an urban vernacular and national lingua franca in Senegal. InGlobalization and Language Vitality: Perspectives from Africa, Cécile B. Vigouroux & Salikoko S. Mufwene (eds), 142–170. London: Continuum.
     [Google Scholar]
  20. Mufwene, Salikoko S
    2001 The Ecology of Language Evolution. Cambridge: CUP. doi: 10.1017/CBO9780511612862
     https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9780511612862 [Google Scholar]
  21. Ngima Mawoung, Godefroy
    2001 The relationship between the Bakola and the Bantu people of the coastal region of Cameroon and their perception of commercial forest exploitation. African Study Monographs Suppl. 26: 209–235.
     [Google Scholar]
  22. Ngué Um, Emmanuel & Duke, Daniel Joseph
    . Forthcoming. When the wrong language is being documented. Language documentation and language dynamics among the Bakola of Cameroon. In Proceedings of the 7 th World Congress of African Linguistics .
     [Google Scholar]
  23. Renaud, Patrick
    1976 Le bajɛle: Phonologie, morphologie nominale [Les dossiers de l’ALCAM 1–2]. Yaoundé.
     [Google Scholar]
  24. de Saussure, Ferdinand
    1972[1916] Cours de linguistique générale. Lausanne: Payot.
     [Google Scholar]
  25. UNESCO Ad Hoc Expert Group on Endangered Languages
    2003 Language vitality and endangerment. Document adopted by the International Expert Meeting on UNESCO Programme Safeguarding of Endangered Languages.

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