The Language Question in Cameroon

Source:Linguistik online 18, 1/04

The Language Question in Cameroon

George Echu (Yaounde/Bloomington)

Abstract

In multilingual Cameroon, 247 indigenous languages live side by side with English and French (the two official languages) and Cameroon Pidgin English (the main lingua franca). While the two official languages of colonial heritage dominate public life in the areas of education, administration, politics, mass media, publicity and literature, both the indigenous languages and Cameroon Pidgin English are relegated to the background.

This paper is a critique of language policy in Cameroon revealing that mother tongue education in the early years of primary education remains a distant cry, as the possible introduction of an indigenous language in the school system is not only considered unwanted by educational authorities but equally combated against by parents who believe that the future of their children lies in the mastery of the official languages. This persistent disregard of indigenous languages does not only alienate the Cameroonian child culturally, but further alienates the vast majority of Cameroonians who are illiterate (in English and French) since important State business is carried out in the official languages. As regards the implementation of the policy of official language bilingualism, there is clear imbalance in the use of the two official languages as French continues to be the dominant official language while English is relegated to a second place within the State. The frustration that ensues within the Anglophone community has led in recent years to the birth of Anglophone nationalism, a situation that seems to be widening the rift between the two main components of the society (Anglophones and Francophones), thereby compromising national unity.

The paper is divided into five major parts. After a brief presentation of the country, the author dwells on multilingualism and language policy since the colonial period. The third, fourth and last parts of the paper focus on the critique of language policy in Cameroon with emphasis first on the policy of official language bilingualism and bilingual education, then on the place of indigenous languages, and finally on the national language debate.

---

full text

Cameroon: Orthography and Identity

Posted by sociolingo on January 2, 2008

Source: Cogprints

Orthography and Identity in Cameroon

Bird, Steven (2001) Orthography and Identity in Cameroon. [Journal (Paginated)] (In Press)

Full text available as:

Preview	PDF - Requires a PDF viewer such as GSview, Xpdf or Adobe Acrobat Reader 168Kb
Preview	Postscript - Requires a viewer, such as GSview 1145Kb

Abstract

The tone languages of sub-Saharan Africa raise challenging questions for the design of new writing systems. Marking too much or too little tone can have grave consequences for the usability of an orthography. Orthography development, past and present, rests on a raft of sociolinguistic issues having little to do with the technical phonological concerns that usually preoccupy orthographers. Some of these issues are familiar from the spelling reforms which have taken place in European languages. However, many of the issues faced in sub-Saharan Africa are different, being concerned with the creation of new writing systems in a multi-ethnic context: residual colonial influences, the construction of new nation-states, detribalization versus culture preservation and language reclamation, and so on. Language development projects which crucially rely on creating or revising orthographies may founder if they do not attend to the various layers of identity that are indexed by orthography: whether colonial, national, ethnic, local or individual identity. In this study, I review the history and politics of orthography in Cameroon, with a focus on tone marking. The paper concludes by calling present-day orthographers to a deeper and broader understanding of orthographic issues.

Niger-Kordofan: Fulbe (Cameroon/Nigeria)

Seen on Mandaras

The Fulbe (Cameroon/Nigeria)                   Name:

The ethnic name ‘Fulbe’ is the plural of ‘Pullo’, and the autonym for the Fulbe people as an ethnic group. ‘Pullo’ (Peul in French) is singular referring to ‘one Fulbe’ person (Barreteau 1984:172). The Fulbe often choose their clan names in relation to the name of an ethnic group or a place name close to them (Boulet at al 1984:126ff). For example the ‘Badaway’, which is the Kanuri word ‘nomade’, or ‘Sawa’ for the river Sava. The most frequent Fulbe clans in the area are the Yllaga, Wollarbe, Fereoobe, Ngara, Tara, Maoudi, Sava, Djenne and Djafoun. There are other Fulbe clans, but the largest ones are the Yllaga, Wollarbe, and Fereoobe. For the Northern Mandaras the Yllaga and the Fereoobe are the most important Fulbe clans (ibid). The montagnards of the Gwoza Hills refer to the Fulbe of Madagali as ‘Plata/Pelata’.

More 

Cameroon: who Cares About Mother Tongues?

From OCPA NEWS
who Cares About Mother Tongues?
http://allafrica.com/stories/200702220127.html
Can you speak your mother tongue? Well, if you can, then count yourself lucky. In a world which is fast becoming a global village, with interracial and intertribal marriages being the major trend, most mother tongues have no place in homes.