Sociolinguistic Survey of the Bongo of South Sudan

DigitalResources Electronic Survey Report 2020-010 Sociolinguistic Survey of the Bongo of South Sudan Kathryn Crystal, Matthew Armand, and Breanna Armand Sociolinguistic Survey of the Bongo of South Sudan Kathryn Crystal, Matthew Armand, and Breanna Armand SIL International® 2020 SIL Electronic Survey Report 2020-010, August 2020 © 2020 SIL International® All rights reserved Data and materials collected by researchers in an era before documentation of permission was standardized may be included in this publication. SIL makes diligent efforts to identify and acknowledge sources and to obtain appropriate permissions wherever possible, acting in good faith and on the best information available at the time of publication. Abstract The purpose of this survey was to assess the potential for continuing language development in the Bongo language of South Sudan. One researcher traveled to the Tonj area for 14 days to administer questionnaires and observe the community in an effort to determine the patterns of language use, ethnolinguistic vitality, and attitudes toward Bongo and other languages spoken in the area. From our quantitative and qualitative analysis of the data collected from this fieldwork, we propose that the Bongo language is currently at level 5 (Written) on the EGIDS scale. Contents 1 Introduction 1.1 Geography 1.2 Peoples 1.3 Languages 1.4 Previous research 1.5 Other background information 1.5.1 Languages of wider communication 1.5.2 Education 1.5.3 War and displacement 2 Goals of the Research 3 Methodology 3.1 Overview 3.2 Procedures 3.2.1 Schedule 3.2.2 Sampling 3.3 Data collection 3.3.1 Interviews 3.3.2 Observations 3.4 Data analysis 3.4.1 Quantitative 3.4.2 Qualitative 3.5 Limitations 4 Results 4.1 Quantitative 4.2 Qualitative 5 Conclusion Appendix A: Bongo Clan Names Appendix B: Bongo-Related Studies Appendix C: Bongo Literature Appendix D: Sociolinguistic Interview Appendix E: Observation Notes Outline Appendix F: EGIDS Scale References iii 1 Introduction For the last nearly 100 years, researchers have been concerned with the endurance of the Bongo people. To introduce his 1929 study on the Bongo, anthropologist E. E. Evans-Pritchard wrote, It should still be possible for anyone so minded to collect a fair amount of knowledge about Bongo culture before it finally disappears, and this report will enable anyone in a Bongo area to see exactly how much and how little we know about these people. It is to be hoped that someone will make further enquiries about Bongo customs and that this account will not be a final winding-up of their affairs from an ethnological point of view. (1929:1–2) Yet, in 2013, the Bongo are still here. SIL International, a non-profit organization working in language development, has been working with the Bongo community in developing a writing system as well as facilitating development of religious materials and literacy materials. SIL is interested in assessing the ethnolinguistic vitality of the Bongo community in order to help determine what their desire is for language development in the future. One researcher spent 14 days traveling to and surveying around Tonj in Warrap State, South Sudan. He conducted 72 structured individual interviews and recorded observations and unstructured interviews as field notes. Most of the structured interview data was analyzed using descriptive statistics. The more qualitative data was analyzed using a three-pass coding system to identify patterns in the data to inform measurement of ethnolinguistic vitality. Landweer’s “Indicators of Ethnolinguistic Vitality” (Landweer 2000) was used in developing data collection tools and in post-field coding to help measure Bongo ethnolinguistic vitality and to help place the Bongo on Lewis and Simons’ “Expanded Graded Intergenerational Disruption Scale” (EGIDS) (Lewis and Simon 2010). The researchers would like to thank the Bongo people for their great generosity in hosting their visitors and making this survey possible. First and foremost, we would like to thank Daniel Rabbi, who acted as our liaison to the rest of the Bongo community and helped organize most of our interviews. He also shared a great deal of information throughout the survey preparation and analysis on the current Bongo sociolinguistic situation and the history of Bongo language development. We would also like to thank a Bongo leader who graciously allowed us to interact with the Bongo people; our hosts who provided a place to stay during the survey including delicious meals. Two men deserve much thanks for their help as guides and translators. The survey team would also like to thank Onesmas Muchesia, whose experience in traveling in South Sudan made his presence and planning in this survey invaluable. A special thanks to those through whom we were able to book flights with World Food Programme. Also, thanks go to Marcus Love, a colleague in West Africa who helped us think through some of our survey planning and shared with us a number of useful resources. 1.1 Geography The Bongo language area is located in the northwest portion of South Sudan. South Sudan is comprised of 10 states; each state is divided into counties and subsequently payams, with local governing officials at each level (United States Aid for International Development [USAID] 2005). Most Bongo speakers are found in the states of Western Bahr el Ghazal and Warrap (Clarke 2010). In the past, the Bongo were spread sparsely over a wide swath of terrain in the historical region of Bahr el Ghazal; however, they were eventually displaced, and their numbers were decimated by slave trade (Evans-Pritchard 1929). By the 1920s, the majority of the population could be found in what was then known as Tonj District (currently Tonj County in Warrap State); once scattered widely, the population had gathered and settled mainly along state roads (Evans-Pritchard 1929). Daniel Rabbi, himself Bongo, reported that the majority of Bongo speakers currently live in one of four locations (personal communication, August 2012). A portion of the population lives in the city of Wau, in the state of Western Bahr el Ghazal (coordinates 7.7ºN, 28ºE; iTouchMap.com, n.d.). Another portion lives in Busere, a village mainly comprised of the Bongo people on the outskirts of Wau. The rest of the Bongo live primarily in Warrap State, just east of the Western Bahr el Ghazal border. There is a 1 2 small population of Bongo speakers living in the town of Tonj (coordinates 7.27ºN, 28.68ºE; iTouchMap.com); but the greatest number live in the smaller town of Aguka located about 26 miles south of Tonj. The Bongo region is west of the Sudd, the vast swampland area created by the White Nile. The green area in map 1 shows an estimation of where the Bongo are located. Map. Estimated Bongo locations Source: Joshua Project / Global Mapping International. Bongo of South Sudan. Accessed 16 March 2020. Used by permission. 1.2 Peoples The Bongo are an ethnolinguistic group of approximately 40 clans (see Appendix A for a list of clan names), numbering around 10,000 altogether (Lewis, Simons, and Fennig 2013; Daniel Rabbi, personal communication, December 2012). They are a minority people group surrounded by a variety of larger ethnic groups; this situation has presented many challenges (Daniel Rabbi, personal communication, August 2012). A movement of Arab slave traders came in the late 1800s, and it is estimated that during this time tens of thousands of Bongo had either been taken by the slave traders, moved near the traders’ corrals, or fled to neighboring areas, mostly Zande, Dinka, or Luo lands. Later, there was a great deal of conflict with the neighboring Zande (Evans-Pritchard 1929). During British occupation, many Bongo were moved to districts near Tonj along government roads (Evans-Pritchard 1929). More recently, during the last civil war, many Bongo fled their homeland; people from a neighboring ethnic group moved onto their land and have remained there to this day, much to the consternation of the Bongo (Daniel Rabbi, personal communication, August 2012). Some Bongo still live in a settlement in Zande land, others in Khartoum or Juba (Daniel Rabbi 2012). In terms of social organization, the Bongo traditionally organized into a number of tribes, geographically isolated from one another and in conflict with each other often (Evans-Pritchard 1929). Within the tribes would be clans, and clans were historically divided into villages (separated by wide expanses of open land), each village with a relatively powerless clan chief (Evans-Pritchard 1929). 3 Marriage was most often outside the clan but inside the tribe; men could have up to three wives and would traditionally pay a bride price in installments (Evans-Pritchard 1929). Historically, the main economic pursuits during the dry season were hunting (using various traps, encircling with fire, or spearing and today, shooting with guns) and fishing (damming streams at the beginning and end of the rainy season) (Evans-Pritchard 1929). Entire settlements were moved for these purposes. Livestock consisted of dogs, hens, goats, and sheep. Primarily, though, subsistence agriculture is the core economy. Sorghum is the main crop, and two types are usually grown: one is harvested in September and October and the other in January. Sesame is another main crop (Daniel Rabbi, personal communication, August 2012). There have been a number of significant anthropological studies of the Bongo. Georg Schweinfurth wrote prolifically during the 1870s on the Bongo (and other South Sudanese ethnic groups), and E. E. Evans-Pritchard, who was very influential in the development of the field of social anthropology, spent a short time with the Bongo in 1929. Charles Seligmann also studied the Bongo around that time. Stefano Santandrea wrote a number of essays during the middle of the 20th century.

Load more