##issue.issue##

##issue.vol## 10 ##issue.no## 1 (2021)

Swahili and English Sell, But What About Iraqw and Sukuma? Tanzanian Native Languages and Ethnic Affiliations In Bottom-Up Commercial Signage

https://doi.org/10.56279/jhss.v10i1.75
Amani Lusekelo
Adventina Buberwa
Institute of Kiswahili Studies University of Dar es Salaam

Corresponding Author(s) : Amani Lusekelo

amani.lusekelo@duce.ac.tz

Journal of Humanities & Social Science (JHSS), ##issue.vol## 10 ##issue.no## 1 (2021)

##article.abstract##

Policy statements in Tanzania forbid the use of ethnic community languages but permits
Swahili and English in the public space. In this paper, we question the total absence of ethnic
community languages in signposts in which previous studies of linguistic landscape attested
the presence of unpermitted languages of Arabic, Chinese and Hindi. Under the auspices of
the social identity theory, we envisaged the investigation and analysis of personal and placenames on privately-owned commercial signposts. It has come out clearly that owners of the
businesses represented would no doubt hope that the names they include in their signage
would appeal to potential customers because of a shared home area or ethnic affiliation.
This is in line with the principle of self-identification in the social identity theory that helps
substantiate that Tanzanians recognize and cherish names from their ethnic groups.
Irrespective of the choice of names affiliated to ethnic groups and homes of origin, the
abundance of both English and Swahili names cannot be ignored. Both Swahili and English
hold a prestigious position in Tanzania.

##journal.references##
  1. Abdulaziz, M. H. M. 1972. Triglossia and Swahili-English Bilingualism in Tanzania. Languagein Society
  2. (2): 197–213.
  3. Agnihotri, R. K. & K. Mccormick. 2010. Language in the Material World: Multilinguality in Signage.
  4. International Multilingual Research Journal, 4: 55–81.
  5. Asheli, N. 2017. The Semantics of Personal Names Among the Kuria, Iraqw and Maasai. Doctoral
  6. Thesis, University of Dar es Salaam.
  7. Backhaus, P. 2007. Linguistic Landscapes: A Comparative Study of Urban Multilingualism in Tokyo.
  8. Clevedon: Multilingual Matters Ltd.
  9. Baker, C. 2001. Foundations of Bilingual Education and Bilingualism. Clevedon: Multilingual Matters.
  10. Banda, F. & H. Jimaima. 2015. The Semiotic Ecology of Linguistic Landscapes in Rural Zambia. Journal
  11. of Sociolinguistics. 19(5): 643–670.
  12. Batibo, H. 2005. Language Decline and Death in Africa: Causes, Consequences and Challenges. Clevedon:
  13. Multilingual Matters Ltd.
  14. Ben-Rafael, E., E. Shohamy, M. H. Amara & N. Trumper-Hecht. 2006. Linguistic Landscape as
  15. Symbolic Construction of the Public Space: The Case of Israel. In Linguistic Landscape: A New
  16. Approach to Multilingualism, Ed. D. Goeter, pp. 7–30. Clevedon: Multilingual Matters Ltd.
  17. Bosch, S. E. & I. M. Kosch. 2019. African Linguistics in Southern Africa. In a History of African
  18. Linguistics, Ed. H. Ekkehard Wolff, pp. 115–132. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
  19. Brennan, J. R. & A. Burton. 2007. The Emerging Metropolis: A History of Dar es Salaam, Circa 1862–
  20. In Dar es Salaam: Histories from an Emerging African Metropolis, Ed. James R. Brennan,
  21. Andrew Burton & Yusuf Lawi, pp. 13–76. Dar es Salaam: Mkuki Na Nyota Publishers.
  22. Buberwa, A. 2012. Sociolinguistic Meaning of Bantu Place-names: The Case of Ruhaya in NorthWestern Tanzania. Journal of Studies in Humanities and Social Sciences, 1(2): 111–120.
  23. —. 2017. Kiswahili Personal Names Selection in Tanzania: A Sociolinguistic Analysis. Kiswahili, 80:
  24. –25.
  25. Burton, A. 2005. African Underclass: Urbanisation, Crime and Colonial Order in Dar es Salaam. Dar es
  26. Salaam: Mkuki Na Nyota Publishers Ltd.
  27. Bwenge, C. 2009. Language Choice in Dar es Salaam’s Billboards. In the Languages of Urban Africa,
  28. Ed. Mclaughlin, F., pp. 152–177. London: Continuum International Publishing Group.
  29. —. 2012. English in Tanzania: A Linguistic Cultural Perspective. International Journal of Language,
  30. Translation and Intercultural Communication, 1(1): 167–182.
  31. Cenoz, J. & G. Gorter. 2006. Linguistic Landscape and Minority Languages. In Linguistic Landscape: A
  32. New Approach to Multilingualism, Ed. Durk Goeter, 67–82. Clevedon: Multilingual Matters Ltd.
  33. Dowling, T. 2010. ‘Akuchanywa Apha Please’ No Peeing Here Please: The Language of Signage in Cape
  34. Town. South African Journal of African Languages, 30(2): 192–208.
  35. —. 2012. Translated For the Dogs: Language Use in Cape Town Signage. Language Matters, 43(2):
  36. –262.
  37. Edelman, L. 2009. What’s in a Name? Classification of Proper Names By Language. In Linguistic
  38. Landscape: Expanding the Scenery, Ed. Elena Shohamy & Durk Gorter, pp. 141–154. New York:
  39. Routledge.
  40. —. 2010. Linguistic Landscapes in the Netherlands: A Study of Multilingualism in Amsterdam and Friesland.
  41. Leiden: LOT.
  42. Essegbey, J. 2009. on Assessing the Ethnolinguistic Accra. In the Languages of Urban Africa, Ed. F.
  43. Mclaughlin, pp. 115–151. London: Continuum.
  44. Finzel, A. M. 2012. English in the Linguistic Landscape of Hong Kong: A Case Study of Shop Signs
  45. and Linguistic Competence. MA Dissertation, University of Potsdam.
  46. Higgins, C. 2009. English as a Local Language: Post-Colonial Identities and Multilingual Practices. Bristol:
  47. Multilingual Matters.
  48. Hogg, M. A. & D. Abrams. 1998. Social Identifications: A Social Psychology of Intergroup Relations
  49. and Group Processes. London: Routledge.
  50. Huebner, T. 2006. Bangkok’s Linguistic Landscapes: Environmental Print, Codemixing and Language
  51. Change. In Linguistic Landscape: A New Approach to Multilingualism, Ed. Durk Goeter, pp. 31–51.
  52. Clevedon: Multilingual Matters.
  53. Juffermans, K. 2012. Multimodality and Audiences: Local Languaging in the Gambian Linguistic
  54. Landscape. Sociolinguistic Studies, 6(2): 295–284.
  55. Kotze, C. & T. Du Plessis. 2010. Language Visibility in the Xhariep: A Comparison of the Linguistic
  56. Landscape of Three Neighbouring Towns. Language Matters: Studies in the Languages of Africa,
  57. (1): 72–96.
  58. Kweka, J., O. Morrissey & A. Blake. 2003. The Economic Potential of Tourism in Tanzania. Journal of
  59. International Development, 15: 335–351.
  60. Lanza, E. & H. Woldermariam. 2009. Language e Ideology and Linguistic Landscape: Language Policy
  61. and Globalisation in a Regional Capital of Ethiopia. In Linguistic Landscape: Expanding the Scenery,
  62. Ed. Elena Shohamy and Durk Gorter, pp. 189–205. New York: Routledge.
  63. —. 2014. Indexing Modernity: English and Branding in LL of Addis Ababa. International Journal of
  64. Bilingualism 18(5): 23–49.
  65. Leeman, J. & G. Modan. 2009. Commodified Language in Chinatown: A Contextualized Approach to
  66. Linguistic Landscape. Journal of Sociolinguistics, 13(3): 332–262.
  67. Legère, K. 2006. Language Endangerment in Tanzania: Identifying and Maintaining Endangered
  68. Languages. South African Journal of African Languages, 26(3): 99–112.
  69. Legère, K. & T. Rosendal. 2019. Linguistic Landscapes and the African Perspective. In Expanding the
  70. Linguistic Landscape: Linguistic Diversity, Multimodality and the Use of Space as a Semiotic Resource,
  71. Ed. Martin Pütz and Neele Mundt, pp. 153–179. Clevedon: Multilingual Matters.
  72. Language of Tanzania Project (LOT). 2009. Atlasi ya Lugha Za Tanzania. Dar es Salaam: University of
  73. Dar es Salaam.
  74. Lusekelo, A. 2014. The Encroachment of the Personal Names and Naming System of the Hadzabe.
  75. In FEL XVIII Okinawa: Indigenous Languages – Value to the Community, Ed. Nicholas Ostler & Patrick
  76. Heinrich, pp. 88–92. Bath: Foundation For Endangered Languages.
  77. —. 2015. The Hadzabe Society of Tanzania: Contacts, Sociolinguistics and Onomastics. Ibadan: John
  78. Archers.
  79. —. 2019. The Linguistic Situation in Orkesumet, an Urban Area in Simanjiro District of Tanzania.
  80. Uzinik Journal of Arts and Humanities. 20(1): 30–60.
  81. —. 2021. Linguistic aspects of the forms of address in Nyakyusa. Language in Africa, 2(1). doi:
  82. 37892/2686-8946-2021-2-1-62-90.
  83. Lusekelo, A. & C. Alphonce. 2018. The Linguistic Landscape in Urban Tanzania: An Account of the
  84. Language of Billboards and Shop-Signs in District Headquarters. Journal of Language, Technology
  85. and Entrepreneurship in Africa, 9(1): 1–32.
  86. Lusekelo, A. & L. P. Muro. 2018. Naming Practices in Contemporary Machame-Chagga Culture.
  87. International Journal of Modern Anthropology, 2(11): 64–83.
  88. Lusekelo, A. & M. Mgeja. 2020. Linguistic and Social Outcomes of Interactions of Hadzabe and
  89. Sukuma in North-Western Tanzania. Utafiti Journal of African Perspectives Vol. 15(2): 348–373.
  90. Lusekelo, A. & V. Mtenga. 2020. Historicity of Personal Names in Tanzania: The Case of the Names
  91. of the Rombo-Chagga Community in Kilimanjaro. International Journal of Modern Anthropology,
  92. (13): 100–121.
  93. Lusekelo, A. & P. C. Mdukula. 2021. The Linguistic Landscape of Urban Tanzania in Dodoma City.
  94. Utafiti Journal of African Perspectives, 16(1): 63-94.
  95. Lupala, J. & P. Chiwanga. 2014. Urban Expansion and Compulsory Land Acquisition in Dodoma
  96. National Capital, Tanzania. Journal of Land Administration in Eastern Africa, 2(2): 206–223.
  97. Manyasa, J. 2008. Investigating the Basis of Naming People in Kisukuma. MA Dissertation, University
  98. of Dar es Salaam.
  99. Mclaughlin, F. 2012. The Languages of Urban Africa. London: Continuum International Publishing
  100. Group.
  101. Mccormick, K. & R. K. Agnihotri. 2009. Forms and Functions of English in Multilingual Signage: A
  102. Characterisation of Language Choice and Word Play in Multilingual Signs in Two Cities. English
  103. Today, 99(3): 11–17.
  104. Mdukula, P. C. 2018. Linguistic Landscape of Public Health Institutions in Tanzania: The Case of
  105. Muhimbili National Hospital. Doctoral Dissertation, University of Dar es Salaam.
  106. Mnyampala, M. E. 1954. Historia, Mila Na Desturi za Wagogo. Dar es Salaam: East African Literature Bureau.
  107. Moyo, T. 2012. Naming Practices in Colonial and Post-Colonial Malawi. Inkanyiso Journal of Humanities
  108. and Social Sciences, 4(1): 10–16.
  109. Myhre, K. C. 2006. Divination and Experience: Exploration of a Chagga Epistemology. Journal of the
  110. Royal Anthropological Institute, 12, 313–330.
  111. Myhre, K. C. 2007. Family Resemblances, Practical Interrelations and Material Extensions:
  112. Understanding Sexual Prohibitions, Production and Consumption in Kilimanjaro. Journal of the
  113. International African Institute, 77(3): 307–330.
  114. Muzale, H. R. T. 1998. Linguistic and Socio-Cultural Aspects in Interlacustrine Bantu Names.
  115. Kiswahili, 61: 28– 49.
  116. Muzale, H. R.T. & J. M. Rugemalira. 2008. Researching and Documenting the Languages of Tanzania.
  117. Language Documentation & Conservation, 2(1): 68–108.
  118. Mwembezi, G. P. M. 2014. Assessment of Environmental Interventions By Local Government
  119. Authorities on the Quality of Environment Conservation in Three Councils of Dodoma Region,
  120. Tanzania. Doctoral Dissertation, the Open University of Tanzania.
  121. Nurse, D. 1979. Classification of the Chaga Dialects. Hamburg: Buske.
  122. Peck, A. & F. Banda. 2009. Observatory’s Linguistic Landscape: Semiotic Appropriation and the
  123. Reinvention of Space. Social Semiotics, 24(3): 302–323.
  124. Peterson, R. 2014. Matumizi na Dhima za Lugha Katika Mandhari - Lugha ya Jiji la Dar es Salaam.
  125. Doctoral Thesis, University of Dar es Salaam.
  126. Petzell, M. 2012a. The Linguistic Situation in Tanzania. Moderna Språk, 1: 136–144.
  127. —. 2012b. The Under-Described Languages of Morogoro: A Sociolinguistic Survey. South African
  128. Journal of African Languages, 32(1): 17–26.
  129. Polomé, E. & C. P. Hill. 1980. Language in Tanzania. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
  130. Posel, D. & J. Zeller. 2016. Language Shift or Increased Bilingualism in South Africa: Evidence from
  131. Census Data. Journal of Multilingual and Multicultural Development, 37(4): 357–370.
  132. Raper, P. E. 2014. Khoisan Indigenous Toponymic Identity in South Africa. In Indigenous and Minority
  133. Place-names: Australian and International Perspectives, Ed. Ian D. Clark, Luise Hercus & Laura
  134. Kostanski, pp. 381–398. Canberra: ANU Press.
  135. Rigby, P.1967. Time and Structure in Gogo Kinship. Cahiers D’études Africaines, 7(28): 637–658.
  136. Rosendal, T. 2009. Linguistic Markets in Rwanda: Language Use in Advertisement and on Signs.
  137. Journal of Multilingual and Multicultural Development, 30(1): 19–39.
  138. —. 2011. Linguistic Landscapes: A Comparison of Official and Non-Official Language Management in Rwanda and
  139. Uganda, Focusing on the Position of African Languages. Cologne: Ruediger Koeppe Verlag.
  140. Schotsman, P. & D. F. Bryceson. 2006. Dar es Salaam Place-Names: Mapping Urban Physical Growth and
  141. Moral Value Transformation. Tanzania Journal of Population Studies and Development, 13(2): 29–68.
  142. Shohamy, E. 2006. Language Policy: Hidden Agendas and New Approaches. New York: Routledge.
  143. Stroud, C. & S. Mpendukana. 2009. Towards a Material Ethnography of Linguistic Landscape:
  144. Multilingualism, Mobility and Space in South African Township. Journal of Sociolinguistics, 13(3):
  145. –386.Swilla, I. N. 2000. Names in Chindali. Afrikanistische Arbeitspapiere, 63: 35–62.
  146. Tajfel, H. & J. C. Turner. 1979. An Integrative Theory of Inter-Group Conflict. In the Social Psychology
  147. of Inter-Group Relations, Ed. Austin, W. G. & Worchel, S., pp. 33–47. Monterey, CA: Brooks.
  148. Trepte, S. 2006. Social Identity Theory. In Psychology of Entertainment, Ed. Jeckings Bryant & Peter
  149. Vorderer, pp. 255–271. Mahwah: Erlbaum.
  150. Turner, J. C. 1987. Rediscovering the Social Group: A Self-Categorization Theory. New York: Basil
  151. Blackwell.
  152. United Republic of Tanzania (URT). 1997. Cultural Policy. Dar es Salaam: Ministry of Education and
  153. Culture.
  154. —. 2003. Sera ya Habari na Utangazaji. Dar es Salaam: Ministry of Information and Broadcasting.
  155. —. 2013. The 2012 Population and Housing Census: Population Distribution by Administrative Areas. Dar
  156. es Salaam: National Bureau of Statistics.
  157. —. 2014. Sera ya Elimu na Mafunzo. Dar es Salaam: Ministry of Education and Vocational Training.
  158. Yang, C. Y. 2014. Shifting Agency in Shaping Linguistic Landscape: Evidence from Dar es Salaam,
  159. Tanzania. The Sociolinguistic Journal of Korea, 22(2): 45–64.
Read More

##submission.authorBiography##

##submission.authorWithAffiliation##



##submission.howToCite##

Swahili and English Sell, But What About Iraqw and Sukuma? Tanzanian Native Languages and Ethnic Affiliations In Bottom-Up Commercial Signage . (2021). Journal of Humanities & Social Science (JHSS), 10(1). https://doi.org/10.56279/jhss.v10i1.75
##article.download##

##plugins.generic.recommendBySimilarity.heading##

##plugins.generic.recommendBySimilarity.advancedSearchIntro##