Patterns of Identity Loss in Trans-Cultural Contact Situations Between Bantu and Khoesan Groups in Western Botswana

According to Lamy (1979) and Pool (1979), ethnic identity comprises four distinctive features, namely linguistic identity, cultural identity, autonymic identity and ethnonymic identity. When an ethnic group is losing its identity because of pressure or attraction from a major or dominant ethnic group in a marked bilingualism situation (Batibo, 1992, 2005), the loss is usually progressive, starting from linguistic identity and ending with ethnonymic identity. Although this pattern has been attested in a number of cases, particularly in trans-cultural situations, there have been several exceptions.This paper is based on a study which investigated the patterns of ethnic identity loss in western Botswana, Southern Africa, which is both linguistically and culturally complex, due to the co-existence of Bantu and Khoesan groups. The study showed that the ethnic identity loss model can be distorted, where there are factors that have strong impact on people’s lives in terms of fundamental human needs. Also, strong external socio-political pressure, such as restrictions and group domination may contribute to this situation

Preserving and transmitting indigenous knowledge in diminishing bio-cultural environment: Case studies from Botswana and Tanzania

The rapid bio-diversity loss due to the effects of urbanization, socio-economic demands, change in life style, technological advancement and globalization has resulted in the depletion of the ecosystem. At the same time, the younger generations are no longer acquiring knowledge in their indigenous environment, partly because of the new lifestyle of going to school instead of going hunting or herding, and partly because the fauna and flora is being destroyed and therefore no longer available for the children who are born and raised in villages. This has resulted in them not being able to acquire the relevant knowledge and skills when they become adults. This paper highlights the problem of indigenous knowledge transmission and preservation by describing case studies from Tanzania and Botswana. It then reflects on the known patterns of identity loss in societies. Finally it discusses the several measures that are being carried out to deal with the problems of bio-diversity loss in Africa

The classical laws and rules in Bantu languages: How plausible are they?

This article examines some of the common rules found in Bantu languages. Some of these rules are general and have been termed ‘Laws’, because of their regularity of occurrence or geographical spread, as synchronic and/or diachronic processes. In fact, most  of them could be justified by one of the universal phonological  mechanisms, such as assimilation, dissimilation, segment deletion and segment insertion. This study uses mainly secondary data, from comparative Bantu studies, to describe each of these  processes, so as to determine their phonetic plausibility and geographical extent in the Bantu speaking area. The article points  out cases which appear to be ‘lawless’, that is cases in which the respective changes are not supported by plausible phonetic  explanation. Such apparent ‘lawless’ cases have been termed ‘crazy’. However, it is argued in this study that rules may look crazy, but are not born crazy. Some solutions are therefore proposed based on evolutionary trends, affecting some of the sounds in specific phonic environments

Hessel Visser. Naro Dictionary: Naro?English, English?Naro

Although this dictionary was not published by a well-established publishing house, its quality and usefulness rival those of seasoned publishers in the field of Khoesan studies, such as the dictionaries by Dickens (1994), Traill (1994) and Haacke (2002). This fourth edition of Visser's Naro Dictionary is a medium-sized dictionary of 240 pages, including 16 pages of appendices. The work is the result of more than 10 years of lexical compilation which resulted in several editions of the dictionary, each of which was an expanded version of the earlier one. Thus, from a miniature version, it has grown into a sizeable high-quality work, in spite of the compiler's modest observation in his introduction that it is a mere "working document" and that it is still a "preliminary publication"

Ambivalence Regarding Linguistic and Cultural Choices among Minority Language Speakers: A Case Study of the Khoesan Youth of Botswana

Due to their small numbers and historical domination by others, the Khoesan groups in the southern African region are among the most marginalized and endangered communities in Africa (Batibo, 1998; Chebanne & Nthapelelang, 2000; Smieja, 2003). This situation has also led to their linguistic and cultural domination and an associated dilemma: on the one hand, the speakers of these minority languages wish to use and safeguard their linguistic and cultural heritage and identity; on the other hand, they desire to use other languages to enable wider communication and socioeconomic advancement. This study examined this dilemma among Khoesan youth in three villages in the Central Kalahari and Ghanzi areas of western Botswana. The primary aim of the study was to determine the extent to which ambivalence regarding linguistic and cultural options has affected the use of, attitudes toward, and attachment to languages and identities. The study focused on two Khoesan languages: Naro, a Central Khoesan language spoken in the Ghanzi sub-district, and !X坦探, a Southern Khoesan language spoken in south Central Kalahari. This study found that, in general, the youth in these communities preferred to use other languages and even altered their cultural and autonymic identity for socioeconomic reasons

The two-directional tone melody spread in Sukuma

n/

Les intraduisibles du patrimoine en Afrique subsaharienne

Ouvrage collectifInternational audienceLe patrimoine se décline en objets, en monuments, en forêts, en traditions et récits, mais il se dit toujours en « mots ». C’est en mots que se définissent les critères (exceptionnel, universel, symbolique, immatériel, intégrité, authenticité, identité, nature, culture,…) qui conditionnent, en particulier, la reconnaissance internationale d’un bien patrimonial par l’Unesco. Comment s’opère donc le passage des langues « internationales » aux langues d’Afrique ? À travers la constellation des mots « musée » et « patrimoine » et leurs « équivalents » travaillés en sept langues – ici : en français, anglais, fulfulde et bamanakan, bientôt en swahili, sukuma et tsonga pour la seconde livraison – Les intraduisibles du patrimoine proposent quelques pistes pour alimenter la réflexion sur les enjeux, y compris politiques, du patrimoine dans un contexte mondialisé

Les intraduisibles du patrimoine en Afrique subsaharienne

Ouvrage issu des ateliers « Les intraduisibles du patrimoine », Paris, Dakar, Gaborne (2011-2013) puis à la Fondation des Treilles. - Textes en français avec traduction en anglais, fulfulde et bamanakanOuvrage disponible au format électronique. eISBN : 978-2-354-57103-0. URL : https://books.openedition.org/demopolis/558. DOI : 10.4000/books.demopolis.515International audienceLe patrimoine se décline en objets, en monuments, en forêts, en traditions et récits, mais il se dit toujours en « mots ». C’est en mots que se définissent les critères (exceptionnel, universel, symbolique, immatériel, intégrité, authenticité, identité, nature, culture,…) qui conditionnent, en particulier, la reconnaissance internationale d’un bien patrimonial par l’Unesco. Comment s’opère donc le passage des langues « internationales » aux langues d’Afrique ? À travers la constellation des mots « musée » et « patrimoine » et leurs « équivalents » travaillés en sept langues – ici : en français, anglais, fulfulde et bamanakan, bientôt en swahili, sukuma et tsonga pour la seconde livraison – Les intraduisibles du patrimoine proposent quelques pistes pour alimenter la réflexion sur les enjeux, y compris politiques, du patrimoine dans un contexte mondialisé