Paper short abstract:

Though the early development of African languages was steeped within colonial ethos, the methodology was often decolonial and inclusive. The multiglossic praxis of Samuel Ajayi Crowther, 19thC Nigerian linguist, priest and translator, provides a future decolonial model for African language studies.

Paper long abstract:

Some of the earliest contributions to African language studies occurred ironically within complex colonial formations. For example, the study of Yoruba and Igbo (two of Nigeria’s major languages) began with the work of Samuel Ajayi Crowther, a freed Yoruba slave (1807-1891), who was to become a linguist and a priest. Despite working within an evangelical and arguably colonial ethos, Ajayi Crowther’s work was foundational to African indigenous language and knowledge development. Ajayi not only wrote the first grammars for Yoruba and Igbo, but also translated the English Bible into Yoruba, which helped to standardise the language across its numerous dialects. Not much has however been written about Ajayi’s linguistic/translation practice or methodologies. This paper argues that though Ajayi’s work was steeped in colonial/evangelical work, his praxis was both decolonial and inclusive in orientation. He attempted to approximate the Yoruba/African indigenous grammar, rhetoric, and semiotic ways of knowing, while also giving allowance for colonial linguistic realities. It is also fascinating that Ajayi Crowther derived his early practice from a multilingual setting, being the hetero-glottal camp (in Sierra Leone) for freed slaves from different African ethnicities. How did this setting impact Crowther’s decolonial/inclusive methodology and what lessons does this hold for the future of African language studies? I argue that subsequent colonial and neocolonial policies imposed a “recolonisation” regime on African languages and rhetoric, which is evident in contemporary religious and secular texts. I juxtapose some of these with Ajayi Crowther’s praxis, in order to advance the argument of decolonisation and inclusivity.