The issue of indigenous languages

Posted by BYELONGO ELISEE ISHELOKE on 19 July 2022, 11:50 SAST

Speech by Dr Byelongo Elisée Isheloke for the Heritage month commemoration on 28 September 2019 in Cape Town, South Africa.

Molweni, Sani bonani, Jambo Afrika, Mwabyo’e, Saluton gekaraj, Goeie more, Salam maleikhum, Shalom, fellow Africans, friends of Africa and distinguished guests, ladies and gentlemen,

Malaika, nakupenda Malaika x2 Nami nifanyeje, kijana mwenzio, (nashindwa na mali sina weee, ningekuowa malaika x2 (a song in memory of Mama Afrika Miriam Makeba)).

It is a privilege and honour to be invited to speak about a theme I hold dear in my heart. At a glance, I should say that the invitation was to tell a story that promotes indigenous languages – a monumental but not impossible task to accomplish, when we know that it talks to our African identity.

The event is organised to commemorate the Heritage Month. I thank the organisers for this.

Before I proceed, some ground clearing will be important. I am going to talk about:

•          What makes a language indigenous, why is it important that our indigenous languages be protected, loved and promoted?

•         How should we approach this in a world called to embrace multi-lingualism and to accept that we are diverse but equally valued linguistic communities?

•         How could our indigenous languages be effective in stopping any skid towards xenophobia, Afrophobia and any other discriminatory practice?

•         Is there any historical basis to support our abilities as Africans to use indigenous languages and the wisdom thereof as a vehicle to curb the threat of fratricide or epistemicide?

•         Is the Afrocentric approach to solving social or societal problems congruent with the complexity they pose and the element of international interference?

•         How do we remain relevant amid the fourth industrial revolution?

We all know that language is a vehicle of culture and the bond that glues people together. It is the beauty, the wealth and therefore the pride of us - the people. The indigenous language is also a pearl that both men and women ought to use, protect and promote in search of social cohesion, interaction and affirmation. Let this event serve that purpose across the borders.

An article written by Adriana Şerban (2019) states that:

“The first thing God created was the journey...Sometimes, the journey takes place through the medium of words or, on the contrary, in silence and contemplation. Wendy Everett (2004) takes the view that borders are always negative phenomena. Yet borders seem…a precondition for crossings which, in turn, are necessary if journeys are to take place in the first place” …

But this is a story for another day!

It is sad to see that, just as borders, languages have been used to discriminate against other people. I recall in the time of war, and in retaliation to the usurpation and the massacres of my people by invaders, certain members of the community used to ask fugitives twice to utter these words: “Mtetekele tatalakanakwa” x2. To identify and punish them. I heard during the xenophobic attacks in 2008 and 2015 “international citizens” were asked to say what is an elbow in IsiZulu or in another South African language as a trap to identify who is who. Never again shall these discriminatory practices be used against others. Let the spirit of Ubuntu prevail.

In a world where more than 6000 languages co-exist, more than half of which are found in Sub-Saharan Africa, amidst a situation where an important number of languages are deemed under-utilised, “endangered”, risking complete eradication, efforts to call for equal linguistic rights should be recognised.

In Africa, one way to preserve our culture, history and identity over the centuries has been the use of oral traditions. In the midst of the fourth industrial revolution, this oral tradition is however no longer enough. In addition to the oral tradition, we need to write, teach and publish more often in our indigenous languages to decolonise our mindset.

To tell a story in the Bembe community, from Fizi territory, in the Eastern DRC where I originate, our grandparents used proverbs “tolebe” in Ebembe language or Mithali in KiSwahili, folktales Misao in Ebembe or Hadisi in KiSwahili and provided advice or exhortation in times of need in a manner that was constructive, rebuking or corrective depending on the need. Storytelling just as proverbs were not only reserved for kids, they could also be addressed to both male or female adults by peers or senior family members, although in Africa our forebears realised education needed to start at early age to leave a mark in the lives of kids – this is why folktales were told to kids first and foremost. Where grand-parents were around, storytelling was one of their passions, which made grand children love and approach them in times of need and in search of wisdom.

Table 1: Some Ebembe Proverbs translated

Table 2: More comparisons of indigenous languages

Table 3: More comparisons continued

Table 4: More comparisons continued

What makes a language indigenous? And why it matters?

“An indigenous language or autochthonous language is a language that is native to a region and spoken by indigenous people. This language is from a linguistically distinct community that originated in the area” (google search). I should add with a possibility of migrating across borders.

For example, IsiXhosa is spoken by Xhosa people and therefore rooted in the provinces where they live, say the Eastern Cape. IsiZulu is for the Zulu people and rooted in the Zulu Kingdom. Tshwana, Swazi, Ndebele, Tsonga, etc. all have a people, a territory and a culture behind the language. And these languages often migrate to other regions. Let us bear this in mind.

Ebembe or Bembe language is for the Bembe people who live in Fizi-territory, in the South Kivu province, in the eastern DRC. The Kinyarwanda for example is not a language of the DRC but that of Rwanda and therefore it belongs to Rwanda and not to Minembwe or Mulenge, territories whose autochthones are Congolese people. The same can be said about other African languages. They all have people or a community behind it, a territory or territories where the speakers dwell, and a tradition exists.

Needless to say, however, that a language has an exceptional hospitality characteristic and welcomes other people regardless of their colour, origin, religion, sexual orientation, gender or any other differentiating factor for that matter. That spirit of “welcomeness” or Ubuntu is what we need to adopt going forward as sons and daughters of this soil called Africa - our mother land.

Let me tell you more about Ebembe or Bembe language. Spoken by +- 1 000 000 people living in Fizi-territory (out of the 80 000 000 Congolese). As a language, Ebembe is not taught in schools, its grammar is hardly developed in its written form, apart from the Bible (Bibiliya y’ Ebembe) and the “Nyembo ch’ihangya ” (Songs of Praise) translated from KiSwahili, Chants de Victoire…by Revd. Abekyamwale and his Free Methodist Church colleagues, only a very limited literature of Ebembe is currently available in Congo. The Ebembe has been promoted through an oral tradition, gospel and profane music such as that of Groupe Haleluya, Bikuwe-bikuwe and the famous Sikoromen. Suffice it to say that there is not even a single library of international standard to cater for the linguistic needs of Ebembe but we do know that various projects exist in that regard– aiming at publishing dictionaries and other literature. Languages such as the Khoi, San, Nama, Nluu and Sign language and Ebembe, just like many of our other indigenous languages need protection and promotion. “Despite the relatively long history, the shauna language is still very much like other African languages in lacking adequate terminology in specialised fields” (Dr Gift Mheta 2009).

The lack of adequate technology and the diaspora have made people use other international languages rather than to teach the mother tongue to their kids– maybe for socio-economic reasons such as the need to integrate into a new community or to secure a decent job, etc., all this exacerbates the risk of seeing indigenous languages in danger going forward.

Just as predators prey on weak targets, colonial languages attacked indigenous languages and continued to do so for centuries in such a way that all African countries are either francophone, anglophone or lusophone... – with the sole exception of Ethiopia which did not succumb to colonialism per se. Is it acceptable that we have none of our countries taking pride in using in our educational curriculum our languages as equal to the languages of Shakespeare or Moliere?  

As a civilised people who are known to be the cradle of humanity, how come our indigenous languages are second to an international language in our African continent?

This is not to suggest that we should not learn other languages or embrace multi-lingualism just because we promote our own - perish the thought! Our approach should be betwixt and between.

We should choose to learn another language on our own will and exercise our right to decide when and how or how much to learn about it. Just because certain languages have gotten the privilege to be used in schools or as official languages in our countries, it does not mean that they are more important than our indigenous languages.   I derive my shame in seeing that in a day where indigenous languages of Africa are to be promoted, we still talk to each other as Africans in English, Spanish, French or Portuguese... In fact, an educated African takes pride in speaking a non-African language to his or her fellow countrymen and women than his or her indigenous language.

We still have leaders who never addressed their fellow citizens in their indigenous languages around Africa. The African people await a hero or heroine who will not shy away from the responsibility to speak in an indigenous tongue to the people whenever the environment is conducive. We can always translate to fellow Africans from other parts of the continent about the essential meaning we are conveying in the message and encourage us to learn the language of the nation or place where we live.

How should we approach this in a world called to embrace multi-lingualism and to accept that we are diverse but equally valued communities?

•      Let us ensure indigenous languages are given a platform to be used and promoted where we live, online and through the media. While Tanzania is an excellent example with KiSwahili being the leading language of communication, the rest of Africa is lagging behind in many instances.

•         Let us allow the use of African indigenous languages in our Universities by putting in place support mechanisms, the much-needed infrastructure and accommodating of other minority linguistic groups as much as we can. I should say this can only be used step by step but we need to start somewhere to be successful. There has been research conducted in Universities that indicates how this could be tackled on a gradual basis.

What to do in order to reduce the risk associated with xenophobia, Afrophobia and any other discriminatory practices in our societies?

•         Let us allow other African indigenous languages from other countries to be heard in fora like these and with the help of interpreters, subtitles on TV and other media in South Africa. I’ve seen international channels such as TV5 viewing African soap operas in indigenous languages more often with subtitles in another language – French in this case. While it has happened a few times in South Africa, seldom is the case to see it on TV today. Promoting local content is good but it needs to be promoted with a spirit of Pan Africanism in mind and not limiting the potential of what Africanism can offer to short-sighted nationalistic perspectives.

•         The decision by the African Union Parliament to encourage African countries to introduce KiSwahili in educational curricula is commendable – as KiSwahili is spoken in 12 different African countries and has the potential to represent the continent internationally better than any of our other languages.

Is there any historical basis to support our abilities as Africans to use indigenous languages to curb the threat of fratricide or epistemicide conflicts, gender-based violence which are a complete disregard of the African philosophy of Ubuntu?

Gender-based violence and xenophobia are a complete disregard of the African philosophy of Ubuntu indeed.

In the past, Africa has proven to be accommodating. In fact, the migration and metamorphosis of indigenous languages has been a success story over the centuries. As Africans we are kind, hospitable, and can live ‘unity in diversity’. When as black Africans, we migrated from the north-west African region and moved in different directions to other regions of the continent and beyond – notwithstanding the fact that other socio-economic, political and geostrategic factors were at play, destiny allowed our indigenous languages to develop and evolve into what they are today. Migration therefore, apart from having economic benefits, has intrinsically socio-linguistic benefits attached to it – and that is its wealth. Thus, I argue here that the benefits of migration outweigh its disadvantages to us as Africans.

Table 5: African transparent words in a multilingual context

•         Our indigenous languages should help us fight fratricide conflicts and gender-based violence in our societies through “sisterly and brotherly” communication and acceptance of the other. What had happened to Uyinene should not have happened and must never happen to a girl child or any woman. The nationals from other sister countries condemn gender-based violence and join South Africans to say enough is enough. The cry of South Africans is our cry (and as we say in Kiswahili “kilio cha Afrika kusini ni chetu pia”).

Is the Afrocentric approach to solving social or societal problems congruent with the complexity they pose? 

While we accept in principle that we should find “African solutions to African problems”, we need to stress that the world has become like a village and the acts of solidarity by others in good faith should be viewed as a good thing rather than a problem. As Africans we need each other, and we need the world as well to thrive. Let us therefore use our indigenous languages, not to isolate ourselves but to promote tourism and reach out to others.

How do we remain relevant with our everydayness with indigenous languages?

The exposure of indigenous languages to more media including but not limited to social media is paramount in this era. The teaching of indigenous languages in schools as additional languages and in our homes as a preferred means of communication would be essential – and should be promoted. Linguistic rights being human rights, it is important that they are observed like any other right.

Indigenous languages need as well to occupy a place of choice as we use technology (we must have website pages, blogs, TV and radio channels, WhatsApp groups, Facebook pages, Instagram, Twitter accounts, and other media dedicated to the promotion and protection of our indigenous languages. Excellence in the use and exposure of indigenous languages must be celebrated by all and prizes in recognition should be awarded to deserving individuals or organisations.

The African Union in general, and individual African countries in particular, should investigate ways to put together practical language policies that promote the use of indigenous languages in their natural locations and protect against the abuse of wrongheaded approaches while catering for the tolerance and protection of minority rights.  Effective language planning and sound language policies is what the continent and our countries need going forward.

Public and private Institutions should invest in research with the aim, among other things, to preserve and promote indigenous languages especially those that run the risk of going extinct, say in the next 50 years. Translanguaging or the use of borrowed terminology through dynamic social interactions could be one way to do it.

Another way could be:

“to grant visibility to scholars from the Global South and break the current cycle of self-affirming western epistemic hegemony by actively encouraging authors to reference non-western and female sources in lieu of often-antiquate [sic] voices whose authority is partially rooted in their westernness” (Romina Istratii and Monika  Hirmer 2019).

Innovatively, there has been research that recommends the experiment of Esperanto – a relatively neutral language known to have the potential to create a space for multilingualism to develop as linguistic groups live side by side. Amidst criticism of its Eurocentric nature, I argue that the benefits of Esperanto language as a second, third or auxiliary language with proven propaedeutic abilities (that is the ability to help one to learn another language with ease) - outweigh its shortcomings. Hence, Esperanto should also be experimented in Africa, but experimented only as an auxiliary language, while KiSwahili is promoted side by side with other indigenous languages. If this would mean Africa perpetuates its hospitality vis-à-vis other cultures of the world, – so be it. There was a project I participated in which aimed at injecting African language roots into Esperanto (e.g. Vuvuzelo, ubunto, lubungo are just some of the examples). Whether this proposal does or does not address all the cultures is not germane to the current discourse. What is important is that it is one way of dealing with the language issue that we have.

Let me conclude by summarising what I said thus far, linguistic rights and human rights are inseparable bedfellows – preserving and promoting our indigenous languages should be our leitmotiv going forward. And no need to be apologetic about it. We just need to act to promote unity in diversity by speaking our indigenous languages whenever we have an opportunity.

According to Adriana Serban: “The first thing God created was the journey, then came doubt, and nostalgia…could the reasoning that led to this Genesis-like pronouncement be flawed”?

It may but it may not. The Bible teaches that in the beginning was the Word… (John 1:1).

It is better to light a candle of ubuntu than just to curse the darkness of Afrophobia (or xenophobia) and do nothing more about it. “Let there be light", says the Lord. “Go ye and subdue the world” is what the Bible commends.

Ahsante sana, Dankegon, Nakanya, Ngiyabonga, Ndiyabulela, Dankie.

Acknowledgement

I express my gratitude to the following people: Paul Desailly for proofreading; Dr Richard Mukoni for the words in Lingala, IsiZulu..., Dr Didi Makaula for IsiXhosa, Temitope Oladele for Yoruba; Taona Chagwedera for Shauna; Reuben Dlamini for SiSwati; Dr Gift Mheta for linguistic documentations; Elizabeth Byose Isheloke for Ebembe; Emo 'ya Baocu for proverbs and last but not least to those who chose to remain anonymous.

N.B: The speech was composed by Dr Byelongo Elisee Isheloke and pronounced on 28 September 2019 in Cape Town before being sent to different media including SABC News and social media.

For any further discussion on the theme contact: ebyelongo@gmail.com OR elisee.isheloke@uct.ac.za   OR +27 72 597 8754.