Paper short abstract:

In this paper I advocate for a sociolinguistic approach to African migrations within the continent. I argue that a South-to-South focus prompts us to highlight the role of economic practices in the spread of languages in contact settings.

Paper long abstract:

This paper takes as its point of departure the following observations: 1) Research on South-to-North migrations has been over-represented in migration studies in comparison to that of its South-to-South counterpart; 2) the linguistic dimension of population movements has hardly been considered by Africanists working on migrations within the continent; 3) there is a scarcity of sociolinguistic descriptions about the ways in which African speakers manage their language repertoires in different settings and, broadly, in different socio-cultural ecologies; 4) our knowledge on the linguistic diversity of the continent is still spotty; and 5) the inaccuracy of the early descriptions and codification of African languages that created arbitrary linguistic and socio-cultural boundaries complicates our task as analysts of language dynamics.

Based on different first-hand and second-hand fieldwork data, I show how a sociolinguistic approach can contribute to a better understanding of migrations within the continent. For instance, it highlights the fact that mobility is linked to a world of practices and ideologies; therefore it cannot be reduced to spatial trajectories, as refined as our description of them may be. I argue that examining migrants' language repertoires gives us access to this world of practices in which the repertoires reflect speakers' histories of social encounters. Finally I argue that a South-to-South focus prompts us to examine the role of economic practices in the spread of languages in contact settings.