Language Sociological Trends in South African Ndebele Communities: A Pilot Survey

Authors

• Riho Grünthal
• Sami Honkasalo
• Markus Juutinen

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.23993/store.177983

Abstract

This article presents the results of a 2016 language sociological survey focusing on the language choices and practices of two different Ndebele-speaking communities in Limpopo and Mpumalanga, the two north-eastern provinces of South Africa. The survey shows the prevailing dynamics in these multilingual environments, in both the private and public spheres. One of the main differences between the investigated groups is that in Mpumalanga, Ndebele is the dominating language in its surroundings, whereas in Limpopo, the local Ndebele variety is in the position of a minority language. From the perspective of daily practices and attitudes, Northern Sotho often dominates in this particular case. The different perceptions of the implementation of language policies, and the attitudes of individual speakers with respect to private and public use of the two Ndebele variants, suggest that further research is needed in order to shed more light on the language sociological status of Limpopo Ndebele in particular. The survey consisted of a pilot sample of three different groups: 1) speakers of the Mpumalanga Ndebele variety, which corresponds to isiNdebele and has official status in South Africa; 2) the significantly divergent Limpopo Ndebele, which does not have any official status; and 3) a control group sample from Mokopane town.