Le lingala (RD Congo), mode de communication plurilingue : défi à l’essentialisme linguistique
- Author
- Michael Meeuwis (UGent)
- Organization
- Abstract
- Translanguaging, a phenomenon where multiple languages are used within the same conversation or even within a single clause or phrase,204 La sociolinguistique en Afrique : pistes pour des perspectives alternatives although widespread, continues to be perceived unfavourably. Linguistic ideologies inherited from colonialism favour monolingualism, viewing multilingual practices as abnormal and to be combated. Based on a specific analysis of the case of Lingala in the Democratic Republic of Congo, an inherently plurilingual mode of communication due to its pervasive use of alternation with French, this contribution highlights that rigid distinctions between Lingala and French obscure the reality of daily language practices in the Congo. A proper analysis of these practices requires a questioning of essentialist concepts confined within conventional inventories of names languages. An “emic” approach is therefore advocated, attributing importance to the perspective of the speakers themselves, and highlighting that modes of multilingual communication form a complete linguistic system in their own right, with its own socially distinct and meaningful varieties. Moreover, the analysis of speakers’ metalinguistic awareness also reveals that for them, Lingala is inherently multilingual. It is concluded that it is imperative, both for a better understanding of the phenomenon and for strengthening initiatives in the field of language planning, to abandon essentialist conceptions limited to traditionally identified and categorized languages.
- Keywords
- LINGALA, DRCONGO, CODESWITCHING, TRANSLANGUAGING, FRENCH
Downloads
-
(...).pdf
- full text (Published version)
- |
- UGent only
- |
- |
- 533.69 KB
Citation
Please use this url to cite or link to this publication: http://hdl.handle.net/1854/LU-01KMQD7MFE6TMFE1AQ3ZB7X1AD
- MLA
- Meeuwis, Michael. “Le Lingala (RD Congo), Mode de Communication Plurilingue : Défi à l’essentialisme Linguistique.” La Sociolinguistique En Afrique : Pistes Pour Des Perspectives Alternatives, edited by Mouss Diène and Babacar Faye, Presses Universitaires de Dakar, 2026, pp. 203–20.
- APA
- Meeuwis, M. (2026). Le lingala (RD Congo), mode de communication plurilingue : défi à l’essentialisme linguistique. In M. Diène & B. Faye (Eds.), La sociolinguistique en Afrique : Pistes pour des perspectives alternatives (pp. 203–220). Dakar: Presses Universitaires de Dakar.
- Chicago author-date
- Meeuwis, Michael. 2026. “Le Lingala (RD Congo), Mode de Communication Plurilingue : Défi à l’essentialisme Linguistique.” In La Sociolinguistique En Afrique : Pistes Pour Des Perspectives Alternatives, edited by Mouss Diène and Babacar Faye, 203–20. Dakar: Presses Universitaires de Dakar.
- Chicago author-date (all authors)
- Meeuwis, Michael. 2026. “Le Lingala (RD Congo), Mode de Communication Plurilingue : Défi à l’essentialisme Linguistique.” In La Sociolinguistique En Afrique : Pistes Pour Des Perspectives Alternatives, ed by. Mouss Diène and Babacar Faye, 203–220. Dakar: Presses Universitaires de Dakar.
- Vancouver
- 1.Meeuwis M. Le lingala (RD Congo), mode de communication plurilingue : défi à l’essentialisme linguistique. In: Diène M, Faye B, editors. La sociolinguistique en Afrique : Pistes pour des perspectives alternatives. Dakar: Presses Universitaires de Dakar; 2026. p. 203–20.
- IEEE
- [1]M. Meeuwis, “Le lingala (RD Congo), mode de communication plurilingue : défi à l’essentialisme linguistique,” in La sociolinguistique en Afrique : Pistes pour des perspectives alternatives, M. Diène and B. Faye, Eds. Dakar: Presses Universitaires de Dakar, 2026, pp. 203–220.
@incollection{01KMQD7MFE6TMFE1AQ3ZB7X1AD,
abstract = {{Translanguaging, a phenomenon where multiple languages are
used within the same conversation or even within a single clause or phrase,204 La sociolinguistique en Afrique : pistes pour des perspectives alternatives
although widespread, continues to be perceived unfavourably. Linguistic
ideologies inherited from colonialism favour monolingualism, viewing
multilingual practices as abnormal and to be combated. Based on a
specific analysis of the case of Lingala in the Democratic Republic of
Congo, an inherently plurilingual mode of communication due to its
pervasive use of alternation with French, this contribution highlights that
rigid distinctions between Lingala and French obscure the reality of daily
language practices in the Congo. A proper analysis of these practices
requires a questioning of essentialist concepts confined within conventional inventories of names languages. An “emic” approach is therefore
advocated, attributing importance to the perspective of the speakers
themselves, and highlighting that modes of multilingual communication
form a complete linguistic system in their own right, with its own socially
distinct and meaningful varieties. Moreover, the analysis of speakers’
metalinguistic awareness also reveals that for them, Lingala is inherently
multilingual. It is concluded that it is imperative, both for a better understanding of the phenomenon and for strengthening initiatives in the field
of language planning, to abandon essentialist conceptions limited to
traditionally identified and categorized languages.}},
author = {{Meeuwis, Michael}},
booktitle = {{La sociolinguistique en Afrique : Pistes pour des perspectives alternatives}},
editor = {{Diène, Mouss and Faye, Babacar}},
isbn = {{978-2-494601-78-9}},
keywords = {{LINGALA,DRCONGO,CODESWITCHING,TRANSLANGUAGING,FRENCH}},
language = {{fre}},
pages = {{203--220}},
publisher = {{Presses Universitaires de Dakar}},
title = {{Le lingala (RD Congo), mode de communication plurilingue : défi à l’essentialisme linguistique}},
year = {{2026}},
}