@phdthesis{121564,
  address          = {Austin},
  author           = {Yanga, Tshimpaka},
  pages            = {267},
  publisher        = {Univ. of Texas},
  school           = {Austin: University of Texas at Austin},
  title            = {A Sociolinguistic Identification of Lingala (Republic of Zaire)},
  year             = {1980},
  abstract         = {This project calls for a reversal of emphasis on, and a revision of, the descriptive works seeking to identify the nature of Lingala, one of the four national languages in Zaire. It presents a sociolinguistic perspective to the critical understanding of the nature of this language, and the processes involved in its past and ongoing changes. This perspective is understood in the wider sense suggested by Hymes (1971: 5), 'namely, explanation of the origin, maintenance, change and loss of specific means of speech.' The discussion postulates Lingala as a creole language which started out as a pidgin, and owes its origins to the contacts between speakers of the so-called Bantu and Sudanic languages who migrated from Southern Sudan, independently of the Western colonial enterprise. Two major issues are analyzed: the internal linguistic variation and the code-switching. Both are situated in the sociocultural context. The first is used to explain the pidginization, creolization and decreolization processes, while the second helps to indicate the direction of current sociolinguistic change. The results of the study suggest that: (1) the widespread idea of the Bobangi origin of Lingala is inadequate. The ethnographic accounts indicate that the Bobangi influence is a later development due to a long historical process of change in the local traditional pattern of power and prestige; (2) the current variation, especially in the concord system, reflects the history of Lingala; (3) the present overwhelming code-switching involving French, is an indication of the sociolinguistic change which may lead to the creation of a contemporary creole-like variety of the language; (4) the so-called 'literary' Lingala and other related varieties are 'Bantuized' forms which are now stigmatized in the modern urban settings. The current stigma attached to the Bantuized forms is due to their ethnic and rural orientations; and (5) the self-maintenance and dynamism of Lingala depends basically on its creolized form as it is represented by the common reduced system of grammatical agreement. The study has practical implications for language planning with regard to the improvement of educational primers in Lingala and the use of this language in formal education. It also brings to light the possibility of using linguistic resources for the promotion of social cohesion and sense of nationalism in the multilingual, multi-ethnic and multi-cultural Zairian context.},
  bestfn           = {africa\yanga_lingala1980_o.pdf},
  besttxt          = {ptxt\africa\yanga_identification1980.txt},
  cfn              = {africa\yanga_lingala1980_o.pdf},
  class_loc        = {PL8456.2},
  degree           = {PhD},
  delivered        = {africa\yanga_lingala1980_o.pdf},
  digital_formats  = {PDF 7.75Mb image-only PDF},
  document_type    = {CF},
  fn               = {africa\yanga_identification1980_o.pdf, africa\yanga_identification1980.pdf, africa\yanga_lingala1980_o.pdf, africa/yanga_lingala1980_o.pdf},
  fnnote           = {pdf, 6,95 MB},
  hhtype           = {socling},
  inlg             = {English [eng]},
  keywords         = {;caf;drc;lng;scl;bnt;z.c.30b;ths;},
  lgcode           = {Spoken Lingala [lin], Literary Lingala = Northwestern Lingala [NOCODE_Northwestern-Lingala]},
  macro_area       = {Africa},
  mpifn            = {lingala_yanga1980_o.pdf},
  oclc             = {64334936},
  source           = {DAI-A 41/07, p. 3091, Jan 1981},
  src              = {eballiso2009, hh, mpieva, weball},
  subject          = {LANGUAGE, LINGUISTICS (0290)},
  subject_headings = {Lingala language, Sociolinguistics, Lingala language – Sociolinguistics},
  umi_id           = {8100986}
}