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The founder principle and Namibian English
Author(s) -
Stell Gerald
Publication year - 2021
Publication title -
world englishes
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.6
H-Index - 49
eISSN - 1467-971X
pISSN - 0883-2919
DOI - 10.1111/weng.12493
Subject(s) - ethnography , lingua franca , ethnic group , ideology , white (mutation) , variety (cybernetics) , independence (probability theory) , sociology , neuroscience of multilingualism , population , identity (music) , linguistics , gender studies , black african , anthropology , ethnology , political science , politics , art , demography , aesthetics , philosophy , biochemistry , chemistry , statistics , mathematics , artificial intelligence , gene , computer science , law
It is not clear which population group most qualifies as the ‘founders’ of Namibian English. While Namibia's historical Afrikaans‐speaking settler population has a tradition of Afrikaans‐English bilingualism, English as a lingua franca was first introduced after independence by returning Black Namibian exiles with mostly Oshiwambo as a first language. This study seeks to determine which ethnolinguistic group plays the largest part in shaping contemporary Namibian English. Based on phonetic and ethnographic data, the findings suggest a loosening continuum between a White variety aligned with South African models and more locally rooted varieties. This partly reflects local language ideologies, which among the Blacks involve the pursuit of a Namibian urban identity set against both Namibian Whiteness and traditional Namibian ethnicities.