This work argues for the adoption of a new socio-linguistic concept, the ‘border-straddling speech community’ in place of the more commonly used ‘cross-border’ or ‘trans-border languages’. The Border-Straddling concept refers to socially-defined speech communities divided by Speech Communities: political borders. The text examines some European and Linguistic and Educational Challenges some African examples of border- straddling speech communities facing the Nyanja-Chewa-Mang’anja and identifies some of their typical characteristics. The Cluster of Southeastern Africa fractured Nyanja-Chewa- Mang’anja speech community of Malawi, Zambia and Mozambique Agnes Georgina che-Jika Nkhoma-Darch is examined in detail, in terms of its history and its present educational potential. The total number of speakers would justify the wider use of the language in education if meaningful inter- state co-operation could be achieved. Finally, the work discusses the possible application in Africa of an educational policy favouring mother-tongue education across state borders. UNIVERSITY OF CAPE TOWN PRAESA Occasional Papers No. 23 u u Acknowledgements This is a slightly amended version of a dissertation PRAESA’s series of occasional papers submitted to the University of Cape Town in partial is meant to provide an opportunity for fulfilment of the requirements of an M.Ed. degree in the research done by staff members Applied Language Studies, 2003. and associated researchers working in Our thanks go to the Ford Foundation for financial the domains of language, education, support towards the publication of this paper. and language policy in education to Thanks also to the following publishers and individuals obtain initial exposure to an interested for permission to reproduce maps: peer audience. All views expressed are Blackwell/Department of Environmental Affairs and those of the author, and do not neces- Tourism, South Africa/Ethnologue sarily reflect those of PRAESA. It is Heinemann/International African Institute hoped that feedback will improve the Linguasphere/M. Diriye final version in which this research is eventually published or distributed. u u Published by PRAESA Agnes Che-Jika Nkhoma-Darch grew up in south-western Tanzania and was (Project for the Study of Alternative educated in Dar es Salaam, Harare, Education in South Africa) Lisbon and Cape Town. She has a University of Cape Town B.Tech. in Tourism Management from Private Bag Rondebosch 7701 the former Cape Technikon, and B.Ed. Cape Town, South Africa and M.Ed. degrees from UCT, as well as a diploma from the Universidade Tel: (021) 650-4013/Fax: (021) 650-3027 Clássica de Lisboa. Fluent in Portu- Email: [email protected] guese, Kiswahili and Cinyanja as well Website: http://www.uct.ac.za/depts/praesa/ as English, she worked as a language teacher at the national ‘Instituto de ISBN: 1-919948-39-2 Línguas’ in Maputo, Mozambique, Copyright © 2005 throughout the early and mid-1980s. Agnes Georgina che-Jika Nkhoma-Darch She has also lived in Zimbabwe and and PRAESA Brazil, where she worked as a freelance interpreter, translator and language u teacher in Portuguese and Kiswahili. She is married with three children and Series Editor: Peter Plüddemann has lived in Cape Town since 1992. DTP conversion: Andy Thesen Printing: Salty Print u u Border-Straddling Speech Communities: Linguistic and Educational Challenges facing the Nyanja-Chewa-Mang’anja Cluster of Southeastern Africa Agnes Georgina che-Jika Nkhoma-Darch Dedication Contents To the memory of my late mother Abbreviations and acronyms ............................................................. 6 Sawiche Binti Abdullah Nkhoma, Abstract ......................................................................................... 7 whose story has never been told Resumo ......................................................................................... 8 Ikisiri ............................................................................................ 9 Sommaire ..................................................................................... 10 Acknowledgments Chapter 1 ................................................................11 I owe intellectual and emotional debts to many people who have supported The Statement of the Problem ................................................. 11 me in various ways during the time it has taken to complete this disserta- The Core Question ............................................................... 11 tion. My most heartfelt thanks go to my supervisor, Mr. Jan Esterhuyse, for Border-Straddling Speech Communities: his guidance, his wisdom, his patience and his generosity. His commitment Clarifying the Concept .......................................................... 11 to the project and his interest as it progressed have been an invaluable BSSCs and Language Codification in Africa ............................ 14 source of support and inspiration. Concepts of Territoriality in Africa ........................................... 16 I want to thank my husband, Colin Darch, who helped me to track BSSCs, Education and Language ........................................... 16 down a range of sources, to prepare and digitise the maps, and who criti- cally read my text several times. Chapter 2 ................................................................ 18 My gratitude also to my older sister, Dr. Alice Nkhoma-Wamunza, Towards a Typology of the BSSC: affectionately known in our family as ‘Mama Degree’, for all her help, for Some Partially and Fully Codified European Languages ...............18 introducing me to the academic lifestyle, for facilitating contacts with Introduction .............................................................................. 18 Tanzanian intellectuals and fundis to talk to about African language devel- The Elusive Idea of the ‘Speech Community’ .......................... 19 opment in Tanzania, as well as her knowledge of our family traditions as The European Case-Studies .................................................. 21 proud Wanyanja from Tanzania. Karelian in Decline: a History of War and Emigration ................ 22 I owe a huge debt of gratitude to my father, Mr. Wilfred Nkhoma Irish and Irish English: a Patchwork Linguistic Borderland ........ 25 Kambonapani, whose rich store of memories of colonial times in south-east Flemish in France: Gradual Elimination of an Anomaly ............. 28 Africa has scarcely yet been tapped by his children. Are These Cases Studies of Genuine BSSCs? ........................ 31 To my close friends, Dr. Barbara Nurse and Ms. Rosie Campbell, my thanks for their unflinching moral support and encouragement. Chapter 3 ................................................................ 33 Last, but not least, to my children Makanjila Macdaniel Ngoma, Ajira The Case for African Exceptionalism: Eugénia Rosemary, Emma Julliet Tayamikila and Nicholas Amani Major, Colonial Borders and African Ethnicity ....................................... 33 who remained true to themselves throughout this long journey. Introduction: Border Studies in Africa ..................................... 33 This research was undertaken with generous financial assistance from The Bemba-Lamba cluster: Splitting the Difference .................. 35 the Centre for Applied Language and Literacy Studies and Services in The Kongo Speech Community: Strong on Tradition ................. 38 Africa at the University of Cape Town, to whom I am very grateful. Somali: the Five-Pointed Star ................................................ 41 Conclusion .......................................................................... 43 – Agnes Nkhoma-Darch Chapter 4 ................................................................ 45 The NCM Cluster: a Divided Speech Community ........................ 45 Introduction ......................................................................... 45 My Childhood Experience of Linguistic Identity ........................ 46 The NCM Cluster: a Divided Speech Community ...................... 48 The Origins of the Maravi People ........................................... 49 2 PRAESA – Occasional Papers No. 23 Border-Straddling Speech Communities 3 Varieties within the NCM Cluster ........................................... 51 List of Maps Chewa in Southern Malawi: a Variety Imposed ........................ 54 Nyanja in Zambia: the Eastern Lingua Franca .......................... 59 Map: Karelian BSSC in the Russian Federation and Finland ........ 24 Nyanja in Tete and Niassa: Belated Recognition ...................... 61 Map: Irish-Speaking Communities ............................................. 27 Nyanja in Southwest Tanzania: a Peripheral Minority ................ 63 Map: Flemish in the Westhoek Area of Northern France ............. 29 The Diaspora: the Malawian ulendo in Zimbabwe .................... 64 Map: Languages of Zambia, showing Bemba (area 2) Conclusion .......................................................................... 66 and Lamba (area 8) ......................................................... 36 Map: Angola ............................................................................ 39 Chapter 5 ................................................................ 69 Map: The Somali-Speaking Area of the Horn of Africa ................. 42 Language Planning, Education and Publishing Map: The NCM Cluster as a BSSC ............................................ 46 for the BSSCs in Africa ...........................................................