LanguageEcologyMaggieNazer

SierraLeone:linguisticdiversityandthecaseofkrio

KrioisthelinguafrancaofSierraLeone.Acolonialremain,itholdsaunique

positionalityasalanguage:althoughitisthemothertongueofarathersmallgroupof

freedslaves,namedkrios,itisspokenbythemajorityofSierraLeonespopulationasa

secondtongue.Despitemanynegativeclaimsagainstthelanguagesomeofwhich

perpetuatedbykriosthemselvesthelanguagehasproveditsutilityinfacilitating

communicationbetweenrepresentativesofthediverseethnicgroupswithinthecountry.

InthefollowingpaperIwillgiveabriefbackgroundofthehistoryofkrioandanalyze

thecomplexrelationshipbetweenkrio,collonialismandglobalization.

LocatedinWesternAfrica,SierraLeoneisasmallcountrywithapopulationof

sixmillion.AlthoughtheofficiallanguageofSierraLeoneisEnglish,Krioisthe

languageknownby95%ofthepopulation(Oytd,2008,p.122).Still,asignificant

linguisticdiversityexist.Mostofthepopulationisbilingualormultilingual,withatleast

sixteenlanguagesregularlyusedbytheirL1(mothertongue)speakers(Oytd,2008,

p.125).Fourofthese,namelyMende,Temne,Limba,andKrio,aremostprominent and

areusedinmedia,aswellasintheeducationalinstitutions(excludinguniversities)

withoutanyofthemcarryingthetitleofanationallanguage.

Frombeingviewedasalanguageofsubordinationtobeingreappropriatedby

nonkriocommunitiestohelpthemnavigatethemultiethnicandmultilinguisticdiversity

inSierraLeone,kriohasacontroversialandturbulenthistory(Oytd,2008).Three
distincttheoriesoutlinedbyOytdattempttoexplainhowthelanguagedeveloped:the

firstoneclaimsthatkriooriginatedintheAmericasduringtheAmericanSlaveTradeand

wasconsequentlybroughttoSierraLeonebythefreedslaveswhoinhabitedFreetown;

anotherpositsthatkriodevelopedfromanEnglishbasedpidginalreadypresentonthe

WesternCoast,wasbroughttotheAmericasandreimportedafterwards.Thethirdmost

dominanttheorysuggeststhatkrioemergedasasurvivalcommunicationstrategyand

wasinfluencedbythemanylanguagesspokenbytheNovaScotians,thesurvivorsofthe

BlackPoor,theMaroons,thetensofthousandsofLiberatedAfricans,theBritish

colonists,andtheSierraLeoneanindigenousinhabitantsoftheFreetownpeninsulaatthe

timeoftheslaveresettlementsinFreetown(Oytd,2008).

AsacasestudykrioisanexcellentillustrationofmanyofNettleandRomaines

claimsabouttheenvironmentalimpactonlanguage.InchaptersixofVanishingVoices

thescholarsclarifythatthemetropolitan/peripheraldistinctionpositedbythemis

relationalratherthanfixed(NettleandRomaine,2002).Inthecaseofkriothisassertion

isconfirmed:whereas,historicallykrioestablishesitselfasametropolitanlanguagevis

avistheindigenouslanguagesinthecountry,itisperipheraltoEnglish.Theperception

thatkrioisimpure,offoreignorigin,areducedvarietyofEnglishandthus

unworthyofrespecthavedominatedpublicopinionforlongbeforethelanguagebecomes

widelyadopted(NettleandRomaine,2002).Affluentandeducatedkriosthemselves

haveattemptedtodistancethemselvesfromitbyteachingtheirchildrensolelyEnglish.

Still,membersofotherethnicgroupshaveadoptedkrioduetotheassociationofthe

languagewiththespecialstatusofkriosinthesociety.
 ThroughoutandaftertheperiodofBritishcolonialismmanykriostookadvantage

ofeducationalopportunitiesprovidedbythecolonialists,seizedavarietyofpositionsof

powerandgainedsignificanteconomicadvantageswhichbroughtthemboththedisdain

andenvyofotherethnicgroups.Ironically,despiteresistanceonbehalfofthekrioelite

tohavekriotaughtatschoolandusedinmedia,thelanguagetookoffandbecamethe

mostwidelyspokenoneinthecountry.

ThereasonforthataccordingtoOytd(2008)isnotonlytheassociation

betweenthehighstatusofthekrioethnicgroupandthelanguage,butalsokrios

proximitytoEnglish,wherebylearningkrioisperceivedasasteppingstonetolearning

standardEnglishandensuringoneselfmoredesirablelifeprospects.Clearly,theexpected

byNettleandRomainesymbolicassociationofdominantlanguageswitheconomic

possibilitiesisevidentinthecaseofSierraLeone,wherebytheindigenousgroupshave

adoptedkrioasasecondlanguage,whilethemoreaffluentkriossubscribetoEnglish.

InColonisation,Globalisationandthefutureoflanguagesinthetwentyfirst

CenturyMufweneanalyzesindetailtheimpactofcolonizationonlanguage,notingthe

differencesbetweentypesofcolonizationandtheirtypicalscopeofinterferencewiththe

ecologyandlinguisticdiversity.SpencerWalters(quotedbyOytd,2008,9)has

arguedthattheFreetownsettlementarrangedbytheBritishwasconceivedasa

civilizingproject,aimingtodemonstratethepossibilityofacivilizedAfrican

society.Tothatend,themixedpopulationofAfricansnewlyresettledinFreetown(the

krios)receivedWesterneducation,convertedtoChristianityandinthecaseofthemost

successfulandeducatedwassowellbroughtupaccordingtoWesternmorestothe
extentthatmanyproudlycalledthemselvesBlackEnglishmen(Oytd,2008,9).Not

onlywerethekriosincentivizedtodistancethemselvesfromtheirAfricanroots,butother

ethnicgroupsweresimultaneouslyencouragedtoimitatethem.

ThehistoryofkriosemergenceasthelinguafrancainSierraLeoneuncoversthe

powerimbalancesandcoercivelinguisticshiftsbroughtbycolonialism.Mufwenewarns

thatindividualscostandbenefitanalysesoftheutilityofalanguagehasledmany

Africanlanguagestocompetewithandbedefeatedbynotlanguagesofeconomicor

politicalpower(typicallytheEuropeanlanguagesofimperialism),butpeers

guaranteeingeconomicsurvival(Mufwene,4).AccordingtoOytd(2008)krioisan

exampleofametropolitanlanguagewhichhasnotledtothedisappearanceofthe

indigenouslanguagesinthecountry.Fromthisperspective,callingthediverseregional

languagesinSierraLeoneperipheralisnotcompletelyaccuratesincetheyhavehigher

numbersofL1speakersthankrioandarestillwidelyemployedacrosscircumstance.

Althoughkriohasemergedasthelanguageforcommerce,businessandinter

ethnicrelations,ithasbeenraisinginpowerandmaygraduallyleadtothereductionof

linguisticdiversityinthecountry.AsprescribedbyMufwene(2002),inthecaseofSierra

Leone,Englishcanbeseenasthelesserevilinregardstolanguagepreservationasitis

onlyspokenbyaneliteminorityofabout10%.TheimportanceofEnglish,however,

stemsfromthefactthatitbridgesthelocalpopulationwiththeglobalizedworldand

servesasatoolforpanAfricancollaboration,creative,culturalandeconomicexchange.

AlthoughcolonizationhashadstaggeringimpactoverSierraLeoneseconomy,

civicdevelopmentandsocialcohesion,theemergenceofkrioasalinguafrancahasbeen
showntohavepositivelycontributedtothecountryspeacebuildingandmaintanenance,

aswellasidentityformation(Oytd,2008).Thatsaid,inordertoprotectSierra

Leoneslinguisticdiversity,languagepreservationandmaintenanceshouldbeelevatedto

astakeholderspriority.Amongotherpotentialstrategiesthetaskoflanguage

preservationrequiresthatdevelopmentprojectsandeconomicopportunityarenotsolely

focusedinthebigurbancenterstocounteracttheassymetrybetweenthesetofroles

availabletokriospeakersversusspeakersoftheindigenouslanguagesinthecountry.

References:

MufweneS.S.(2002).Colonization,globalization,andthefutureoflanguagesinthetwentyfirstcentury.MOST

InternationalJournalonMulticulturalSocieties4,162193.Retrievedfrom

http://humanities.uchicago.edu/faculty/mufwene/vl4n2COLONIZATIONGLOBALIZATION.pdf.

Nettle,Daniel,andSuzanneRomaine.2002.Vanishingvoices:theextinctionoftheworld'slanguages.Oxford:Oxford

UniversityPress.

Oytd,B.AkntndandFasholeLuke,Victor(2008)'SierraLeone:KrioandtheQuestforNationalIntegration.'In:

Simpson,Andrew,(ed.),LanguageandNationalIdentityinAfrica.Oxford:OxfordUniversityPress,pp.122140.