Multilingualism of the societies of former Portuguese colonies in Africa Cover Image

Wielojęzyczność społeczności dawnych portugalskich kolonii w Afryce
Multilingualism of the societies of former Portuguese colonies in Africa

Author(s): Barbara Hlibowicka-Węglarz
Subject(s): Language and Literature Studies, Theoretical Linguistics, Applied Linguistics, Comparative Linguistics, Sociolinguistics
Published by: KSIĘGARNIA AKADEMICKA Sp. z o.o.
Keywords: Portuguese; African languages; creole languages; bilingualism; multilingualism

Summary/Abstract: The goal of the article is to present the multilingualism in the countries emerged from former Portuguese colonies in Africa where, alongside the official Portuguese, more or less numerous native African languages are to be found together with various mixed languages. All of the analysed countries are bi- or multilingual, in each the status of Portuguese is different, and so are the number and the status of national languages. In some, creole languages have developed while in others such mixed languages do not exist. One might ponder the reasons for this linguistic diversification, and as a result, observe both the differences and the shared characteristics of the analysed countries, and identify the factors that might have created this sharp contrast. It is the goal of the present paper to attempt to answer these questions.

  • Issue Year: 2016
  • Issue No: 21
  • Page Range: 165-176
  • Page Count: 12
  • Language: Polish