Analysis of the urban sociolinguistic landscape of Ziguinchor: interbreeding, creoleness and cosmopolitanism
Cambar lalinu làkk si askanu Sigicoor : jaxasoo ci wàllu xeet, kerewolite ak xeet yu bari te wute
Keywords:
Ziguinchor, Sociolinguistique, Créolité, Cosmopolitisme, Paysage UrbainAbstract
In Senegal, there are about nineteen ethnic groups for about forty languages spread over the whole country, with, however, majority locations for each group. In Casamance, in the south of Senegal, more precisely in Ziguinchor, the language group known as the forest peoples is mainly found. Data from the 2013 general population and housing census in Senegal indicate that the main ethnic groups are: the Joolas (57.8%), the majority group, the Mandinkas (11.10%), the Pulaar (10.5%), the Wolofs (3.9%), the Manjacks (3.5%), the Balantes (2.9%), the Sereers (2.70%) and the Mancagnes (2.4%). It may seem odd that the Baïnounk are not mentioned in this list of Ziguinchor's "main ethnic groups" since, as we know, they founded Ziguinchor. This is because many Baïnounks now call themselves Joolas. A phenomenon that goes back, it seems, to the propagation of the myth of the Baïnounk curse. The Baïnounks are said to have been cursed by their king, Gana Sira Bana, whom they murdered by burying him alive after setting a trap for him at Birkama. Before his death, the king is said to have predicted an unhappy future and the gradual disappearance of the ethnic group. According to the myth, anyone who marries a Bainunk will never be rich. As a result, the Baïnounks took refuge in the Joola ethnic group. Ziguinchor, by virtue of its geographical position and its historical past, is at the confluence of several languages and cultures. This position gives it beyond the status of a socio-cultural and linguistic crossroads, and makes it one of the most cosmopolitan regions in Senegal. According to M. Dreyfus & C. Juillard (2004), the Ziguinchor region is much more multilingual than other regions in the north of the country. It is characterised by an 'ethnic-linguistic' diversity, a cosmopolitanism and a creolity that are the results of its historical process. However, it should be noted that not all the languages present in this urban area enjoy the same status. Thus, according to M. Dreyfus and C. Juillard, Casamance Creole with a Portuguese lexical base, forms a separate linguistic group. In any case, the sociolinguistic configuration of the urban space reveals that the people of Ziguinchor are multilingual and that they speak at least two of the country's national languages.
The aim of this paper is to give an account of the linguistic and cultural diversity of the city of Ziguinchor, based on a sociolinguistic analysis.
Key words: Ziguinchor, sociolinguistics, creolity, cosmopolitanism, urban landscape.
Downloads
References
ANSD/SRSD, 2013, Situation Economique et Sociale régionale de Ziguinchor, Dakar, Agence Nationale de la Statistique et du Développement.
Beye, O. (2019). La politique linguistique du Sénégal, d’hier à aujourd’hui. Journal Seneplus du 06/10/2019., vol. 39 nº 2081, p. 3-4. Consulté le 15 Mars 2023 à 16h 32mn dans https://www.seneplus.com/.
Biagui, N. B. et Quint, N. (2013). Casamancese Creole. The Survey of Pidgin and Creole Languages. Atlas of Pidgin and Creole Languages Structures (APICS). Oxford : Oxford University Press, (2), p. 40 49.
Cissé, M. (2011). Langues et glottopolitique au Sénégal. Sudlangues, no 5, p. 99 -113.
Creissels, D. et Jatta, S. (1981). La composition verbale en mandinka. Mandenkan, no 2 p. 31 48.
Daff, M. (1998). L’aménagement linguistique et didactique de la coexistence du français et des langues nationales au Sénégal. DiversCité Langues, Vol. III. Repéré sur dans : http://www.uquebec.ca/diverscite.
Diatta, M. L. (2015). Ziguinchor au fil de l’histoire. Journal Le soleil du 08/09/2015, vol 106 no 2829, p. 5-6. Consulté le 10 Janvier 2023 à 10h 27mn dans https://www.soleil.sn.
Dreyfus, M. et Juillard, C. (2004). Le plurilinguisme au Sénégal : langues et identités en devenir. Paris, Karthala.
Grégoire, H.-B. (1991). De la littérature des nègres. Introduction et notes de Jean Lassay, Perrin, Paris : Hachette [reprod.] (ed.1808).
Leclerc, J. (2013). L’aménagement linguistique dans le monde, Québec : Université de Laval, Repéré dans http://axl.cefan.ulaval.ca.
Mané, M. 2(013). Brassages culturels. Ziguinchor, une ville créole. Sud Quotidien du 30 juillet.
Nunez, J. J. F. (2015). L’alternance entre créole afro-portugais de Casamance, français et wolof au Sénégal. Une contribution trilingue à l'étude du contact de langues. p.10. (Thèse de doctorat en cotutelle Université Cheikh Anta Diop et Institut National des Langues et Civilisations Orientales), Dakar.
Robert, S. (2008). Documentation, description et typologie des langues du Sénégal (langues en danger). Dakar: Senelangues projet ANR.
Sarr, B. (2017). Plurilinguisme et traduction au Sénégal : le rôle de la traduction pour la reconnaissance des langues nationales et la promotion d’une politique des échanges linguistiques. p.52-53. (Thèse de doctorat, Université Toulouse le Mirail - Toulouse II, 2017).
Sow, N. (2016). « Le code mixte chez les jeunes scolarisés à Ziguinchor, un signe d’urbanité », Les sciences sociales au Sénégal : Mise à l’épreuve et nouvelles perspectives ?, Dakar, CODESRIA, p. 248 - 272.
Tavares E. (2009). Littératures lusophones des archipels atlantiques. Açores, Madeire, Cap-Vert, São Tomé e Príncipe. Paris, les Editions l’Harmattan.
Unesco. (1951). L’emploi des langues vernaculaires dans l’enseignement, Paris: Presses de l’Imprimerie C.-J. Bucher S. A., Lucerne, du 15 Novembre au 5 décembre 1951.
Vanhove, M. (2011). Les langues afro-asiatiques. Dictionnaire des langues, édité par Emilio Bonvini, J Bussutil & A Peyraube. Paris: PUF, p. 225 230.
Williamson, K. et Blench, R. (2004). Niger-Congo. Les langues africaines, édité par Bernd Heine & Derek Nurse. Paris: Karthala. p. 21 41.
Downloads
Published
How to Cite
Issue
Section
License
Copyright (c) 2023 NJINGA&SEPÉ: Revista Internacional de Culturas, Línguas Africanas e Brasileiras
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.
Authors who publish in this journal agree to the following terms:
Authors maintain copyright and grant the journal the right to first publication, the work being simultaneously licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution License, which allows the sharing of the work with recognition of the authorship of the work and initial publication in this magazine.
Authors are authorized to assume additional contracts separately, for non-exclusive distribution of the version of the work published in this journal (eg, publishing in institutional repository or as a book chapter), with acknowledgment of authorship and initial publication in this journal.
Authors are permitted and encouraged to publish and distribute their work online (eg in institutional repositories or on their personal page) at any point before or during the editorial process, as this can generate productive changes, as well as increase impact and citation of the published work (See The Effect of Open Access).
