Short Abstract

African extensive multilingualism has been used to advance the position that the dominance of colonial languages over indigenous African languages was inevitable and is unstoppable. The African linguistic prism thus refracts its own complexity, generating complex questions that this panel considers

Long Abstract

Two perspectives have shaped academic discussion on the linguistic reality of Africa; the homogeneity and heterogeneity perspectives. On the one hand, Africa, particularly the sub-Sahara region, is seen as being fairly homogenous in culture and language, with shared customs, shared vocabularies within language families, tonality, noun class systems, and intensity of pragmatic usage in everyday life – e.g., proverbs. This homogeneity or unity in diversity argument has been helpful to the position that Africans could unite on the linguistic plain (wa Thiongo, 2009). Africa’s linguistic diversity is, however, also palpable. Africa hosts a third of the world’s languages; 1000 and 2000 (Harvard, n.d.), or 2, 167 languages (Ethnologue, n.d.), with ‘innumerous’ dialects within four language families. This heterogeneity is commonly used to advance the position that the dominance of colonial languages over indigenous African languages was inevitable and is unstoppable (Tangwa, 1999). The African linguistic prism thus refracts its own complexity and generates complex questions: *Why was/is Africa so multilingual? *Is African multilingualism a blessing or a ‘curse’ vis-à-vis colonial exploitation? *Does African multilingualism justify colonial linguistic dominance over Africa? * In what ways does African multilingualism differ from Western, Asian or other multilingualisms? *In what ways does pre-colonial African multilingualism differ from multilingualism in the postcolony? *Are the consequences of multilingualism uniform in or for all African countries? *What is the role of policy in this process, and how can indigenous African languages be better positioned?Participants are invited to weigh in on these questions regarding the African multilingual prism.

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