This book focuses on language, culture, and identity in nineteen countries in Africa. Leading specialists, mainly from Africa, describe national linguistic and political histories, assess the status of majority and minority languages, and consider the role of language in ethnic conflict.

Andrew Simpson is Professor of Linguistics in the Department of Linguistics, University of Southern California. He has studied and travelled extensively in Africa, and is particularly interested in the dynamics of post-colonial language development in West Africa. He is the editor of the Language and National Identity in Asia (OUP 2007).

• Notes on Contributors


• 1: Andrew Simpson: Introduction


• 2: Yasir Suleiman: Egypt: From Egyptian to Pan-Arab Nationalism


• 3: Moha Ennaji and Fatima Sadiqi: Morocco: Language, Nationalism, and Gender


• 4: Wendy James: Sudan: Majorities, Minorities, and Language Interactions


• 5: Fiona McLaughlin: Senegal: The Emergence of a National Lingua Franca


• 6: Ingse Skattum: Mali: in Defence of Cultural and Linguistic Pluralism


• 7: B. Akíntúndé Oyètádé and Victor Fashole Luke: Sierra Leone: Krio and the Quest for National Integration


• 8: Akosua Anyidoho and M.E. Kropp Dakubu: Ghana: Indigenous Languages, English, and an Emergine National Identity


• 9: Anne Moseng Knutsen: Ivory Coast: the Supremacy of French


• 10: Andrew Simpson and B. Akíntúndé Oyètádé: Nigeria: Ethno-Linguistic Competition in the Giant of Africa


• 11: Edmond Biloa and George Echu: Cameroon: Official Bilingualism in a Multilingual State


• 12: Eyamba Bokamba: D.R. Congo: Language and 'Authentic Nationalism'


• 13: Chege Githiora: Kenya: Language and the Search for a Coherent National Identity


• 14: Farouk Topan: Tanzania: the Successful Development of Swahili as a National and Official Language


• 15: David Appleyard and Martin Orwin: The Horn of Africa: Ethiopia, Eritrea, Djibouti, and Somalia


• 16: Lutz Marten and Nancy C. Kula: Zambia: 'One Zambia, One Nation, Many Languages'


• 17: Rajend Mesthrie: South Africa: the Rocky Road to Nation Building


• References