Mali linguistics: Perceptions of languages in the Mandingo Region of Mali

Posted by sociolingo on May 6, 2008

Canut C, (2002). Perceptions of languages in the Mandingo Region of Mali: Where Does One Language Begin and the Other End? in Long, Daniel and Dennis Preston, ed. (2002) Handbook of Perceptual Dialectology, Volume 2, John Benjamins Publishing Company. ISBN:9027221855

Read the chapter on Google Scholar

Available from Amazon UK

Review of book:

LINGUIST List 14.1383: Dialectology: Long and Preston (2002)

(2002) Handbook of Perceptual Dialectology, Volume 2, John Benjamins … The first volume of the Handbook of Perceptual Dialectology (Preston 1999) …

linguistlist.org

Mali: “Bambara” vs “Bamana” in English nomenclature

Please respond directly to Don (dzo(at)bisharat(dot)net

Cross-posted from H-West-Africa list

From: “Don Osborn”
Date: Sat, 3 May 2008 11:10:39 -0400

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A recent proposal on the Wikipedia article for “Bambara language” propts me to turn to this list for some feedback. It relates to the issue of where we are in the fashion of using “endonyms” for peoples and languages that was discussed on H-Africa & H-West-Africa in Dec. 2007 (”Names for African peoples & language”). The author of the request below makes a reasonable suggestion to consider changing the article name to “Bamana,” but makes the use of “Bambara” sound like an unqualified insult. My response follows. Any comments on the background, claims, or appropriate course of action would be appreciated.

From http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Talk:Bambara_language#language_name :

The name of this article needs to be changed, please. The term ‘Bambara’ floating around in other articles as an alternative name can still link to the new correctly titled article. The name of the ethnic group is the BAMANA and the language is BAMANA (English, German) or BAMANANKAN (lit. ‘Bamana sound’) in the native language. The term BAMBARA is pejorative on several levels. It’s a mispronunciation by the Colonial French (and therefore smacks of colonialism) and has stuck in much of French literature as well as art circles. However, this article is English wiki, and Americans and British anthropologists, sociologists and LINGUISTS call the language BAMANA. The term BAMBARA meant ‘riverworking / hardworking *slave*’ during the slave trade in Senegal, used by the whites and the Wolof to refer to the Bamana, Boso, Kagoro, etc. And, BAMBARA literally means in Fula (and has connotations in other West African languages) ‘pagan, infidel’ as the Fula converted many other ethnic groups to Islam. Many Fula still consider the Bamana as ‘bad muslims.’ The term BAMBARA is tinted with racsim, colonialism, ethnic hatred/distrust and religious tension. Professionals call the language and its speakers the same term that those speakers do. The article’s name needs to be changes. Using BAMBARA in Wiki is like titling a page Beaner or Yank or Lapp or Polack or Limey. Change it. 71.210.91.4 (talk) 02:34, 3 May 2008 (UTC)

I’ll post this issue to the MANSA-L list (of the Mande Studies Association), because I think the issue may not be as clear cut as you imply. I think the case for endonyms - as you put it “Professionals call the language and its speakers the same term that those speakers do” - is sometimes overstretched and many now recognize that it is not always appropriate and sometimes even awkward. Where a pejorative association is clear, I think we’d all agree that the change should have no question - we say “Soninke” and have long before Wikipedia dropped “Saracolle” for this reason. I’m not arguing against the change so much as asking for more clarity before it be considered. My understanding is that “Bambara” came into the European languages via Fula <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fula_language>  pronunciation (Bammbaraajo/Bambaraa?e), but that it does not “literally mean in Fula (and has connotations in other West African languages) ‘pagan, infidel’” (although it sounds a bit like a derivative of the root for carrying on the back - wammb-). The history of the term is no doubt complex and I’d suggest more discussion before any attempt to move the articles.–A12n (talk) 14:56, 3 May 2008 (UTC)

Languages of Mali

According to the Ethnologue:Languages of the World (2005) entry for Mali there are 50 languages. Of these 13 have been recognised for education and 11 are being used.

Mali: The quest for a literate environment in Mali

The Malian newspaper Les Echos reports on the workshop held in Bamako, 5-8th September on the development of a literate environment in Mali.

In order to mark International Literacy Day (September 8th), the Ministry of Education and its partners is holding a major 4 day workshop in Bamako with 102 participants from governmental departments and non-governmental organisations. The aim of the workshop is to identify and debate how to develop a literate environment in Mali and to develop integrated strategies to achieve this. The development of a literate environment is actually the second part of the 10 year plan for the development of Education in Mali (PRODEC), and is allied to the Literacy for LIFE movement of UNESCO.

I think that the problem with these sorts of initiative is that it is all very well to talk, and a lot of talking will have gone on in the workshop, but all too often that is all there is. This initiative needs to be backed by action and perhaps changes in legislation in order to really change things. The workshop raises the questions of ‘what is a literate society and what are the criteria for judging the success of becoming a literate society? These are questions that will be well-debated in the workshop.

One of the biggest problems is the lack of reading materials in Malian languages. In previous workshops and for many years materials/texts have been written, but they are still not published. This is a major area that needs to be addressed if there is going to be any real change.

Mali has gone a long way in recent years to develop education in Malian languages alongside French in the Primary sector (for the first 6 years). These young people will grow up with a different attitude to language than their parents. But if there is nothing for them to read as they are growing up they will lose the incentive to read for pleasure in their own languages. It really is imperative to address this reading desert.