Respect: On the one hand, it is clearly less (overtly) prestigious than EnglishĪnd French, but it is definitely more “African” than either of these twoĬolonial languages. Cameroon Pidgin English takes an intermediate position in every The country, which are positively evaluated as indicators of ethnic affiliationĪnd identity. The country is also determined by the numerous indigenous languages spoken in But Cameroon Pidgin English’s position in the linguistic make-up of In part determined by its relationship to the two official languages, FrenchĪnd English, which are clearly seen as languages of overt prestige andĮducation. (have to) learn English” ( Wolf 2001: 184).Ĭonsequently, the sociolinguistic status of Cameroon Pidgin English is Largely unidirectional: “Proportionally more Anglophones learn French, i.e. An example of such discrimination is that – despite the officialīilingualism of the state – French is still the exclusive language in Population, as the former feel disadvantaged and discriminated against by the There are tensions between the anglophone and francophone parts of the However, in 1984, the country’s name was changed back to “Republic of Cameroon”Īnd thus, to the anglophones’ dismay, it received the name of the independentįrancophone part before reunification in 1961. In 1972, a unitary, bilingual state wasĬreated and the country’s name was changed to “The United Republic of Cameroon”. Held in the British-administered part, was united with the southern part ofĪnglophone Cameroon as ‘”The Federal Republic of Cameroon/ La Républiqueįéderale du Cameroun” in October 1961. In 1960, the part of Cameroon mandated by the French gained independence In the British part, which was administered from Nigeria, Cameroon Pidgin English developed and spread rapidly, heavily influenced by English Part, a more conservative variety with occasional borrowings from French was However, Cameroon Pidgin English started toĭevelop two distinguishable, but mutually intelligible variants. Language as the language of administration and medium of education, but Cameroon Pidgin English seemed to have been “already so firmly implanted that itĬontinued to be used even in parts of the territory that had come under FrenchĬolonial rule” ( Menang 2008: 135). Mandated to France, one fifth to Britain. Versailles, the country was partitioned: Four fifths of the country were In 1919, as a consequence of the treaty of Germans and the indigenous population on the coastal plantations, forĪdministration and evangelization. Pidgin seems to have been so firmly established that it was used between When in July 1884 the region became part of the German Empire, an English-based Betweenġ8 coastal Cameroon was virtually under the control of the BritishĪnd the spread of an English-based Pidgin seems to have increased considerably. Jamaican slave built a school and a church near Douala ( Todd 1982: 6). On behalf of the English Baptist Missionary Society, this freed The first European settlement was established in 1843–4 by Trading purposes between Cameroon natives and European traders, but theīeginnings of the English-based Pidgin in the region remain obscure ( MenangĢ008: 133). There are reports on the use of a Portuguese-based language for Have visited the region without, however, establishing any permanent This, Portuguese, Spanish, Dutch, French and English traders are believed to The first contacts between the indigenous population and Europeans areĪttested for 1472, when Portuguese explorers visited the coastal region. To what Cameroon Pidgin English means to anglophone adolescents. This code is referredĪ language of solidarity and identity for urban francophone youths, comparable Most urban centres show a great multilingual and multiculturalĬomplexity, which has produced a highly mixed code, composed of French,Įnglish, Pidgin, and various local indigenous languages. Level, out of which 7 or 8 as well as Cameroon Pidgin English have attained the In addition to the two official languages, French andĮnglish, there are approximately 280 indigenous languages spoken at the local People with varying degrees of competence: These range from L1 speakers andįluent L2 speakers to people who use it only sporadically as a rudimentaryĬameroon is one of the most linguistically diverse countries on theĪfrican continent. Number of speakers is difficult to determine as it is spoken by different in France, the UK, Germany, the USA, and South Africa. Spoken in the Republic of Cameroon, West Africa, and in many diasporaĬommunities, e.g. Cameroon Pidgin English, by some linguists referred to as Kamtok (literally ‘Cam(eroon) talk’), is
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