The Languages of Urban Africa

The Languages of Urban Africa consists of a series of case studies that address four main themes. The first is the history of African urban languages. The second set focus on theoretical issues in the study of African urban languages, exploring the outcomes of intense multilingualism and also the ways in which urban dwellers form their speech communities. The volume then moves on to explore the relationship between language and identity in the urban setting. The final two case studies in the volume address the evolution of urban languages in Africa. This rich set of chapters examine languages and speech communities in ten geographically diverse African urban centres, covering almost all regions of the continent. Half involve Francophone cities, the other half, Anglophone. This exciting volume shows us what the study of urban African languages can tell us about language and about African societies in general. It is essential reading for upper level undergraduates, postgraduates and researchers in sociolinguistics, especially those interested in the language of Africa. >

Acknowledgements \ Notes on Contributors \ 1. Introduction to the languages of urban Africa Fiona Mc Laughlin (University of Florida, USA)  \ 2. The historical dynamic of multilingualism in Accra M.E. Kropp Dakubu (University of Ghana-Legon, Ghana) \ 3. The Story of Old-Urban Vernaculars in North Africa Atiqa Hachimi (University of Florida, USA) \ 4. The spread of Lingala as a lingua franca in the Congo basin Eyamba G. Bokamba (University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, USA) \ 5. Senegal's Early Cities and the Making of an Urban Language, Fiona Mc Laughlin (University of Florida, USA) \ 6. Discourses, community, identity: Processes of linguistic homogenization in Bamako, Mali Cécile Canut (CNRS-Paris, France) \ 7. The Multiple Facets of the Urban Language Form, Nouchi Sabine Kube-Barth \ 8. On assessing the ethnolinguistic vitality of Ga in Accra James Essegbey (University of Florida, USA) \ 9. Multilingualism and language use in Porto Novo Wale Adeniran (Obafemi Awolowo University, Nigeria) \ 10. Language choice in Dar es Salaam's billboards Charles Bwenge (University of Florida, USA) \ 11. Innovations on the Fringes of the Kiswahili Speaking World Haig Der-Houssikian (University of Florida, USA) \ 12. Polarizing and blending: compatible practices in a bilingual urban community in Cape Town Kay McCormick (University of Cape Town, South Africa) \ References Index