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Title: | Sociolinguistic theories: some implications from Malawian data |
Author: | Kayambazinthu, Edrinnie Lora![]() |
Year: | 2000 |
Periodical: | Journal of Humanities (ISSN 1016-0728) |
Issue: | 14 |
Pages: | 9-47 |
Language: | English |
Notes: | biblio. refs. |
Geographic terms: | Malawi Central Africa |
Subjects: | language usage multilingualism sociolinguistics language Language and languages linguistics dialects |
External link: | https://www.ajol.info/index.php/jh/article/view/6290 |
Abstract: | Some useful theoretical notions employed in discussing language use patterns in multilingual countries include diglossia, bilingualism, domain of language use, conflict or dominance, linguistic capital and markets, accommodation, network, role relations, language shift and language maintenance, and codeswitching and codemixing. The author examines the relevance and limitations of these frameworks in explaining language use patterns in Malawi, using data collected in Malawi in 1992 on four major languages - Chichewa, Lomwe, Yao and Tumbuka - and the official language, English. It is argued that only a dynamic and integrated model, that emphasizes the ecological, institutional and individual strategies that have created the urban language differentials observed in Malawi, can adequately explain patterns of language choice and use in Malawi. Bibliogr., notes. |