International Journal of Research and Innovation in Social Science (IJRISS) | Volume IV, Issue VII, July 2020 | ISSN 2454–6186

Markers of Ethnic Identity and Factors that Contributed to the Death of the Ngoni Language of Zambia

Elliot Machinyise¹, Martin Chabu², Kasebula Francis³
MED Applied Linguistics¹, MA in History², MED Special Education³
David Livingstone College of Education, Livingstone, Zambia

Abstract: This paper examines some factors that contributed to the death of Ngoni language of Eastern province of Zambia. The study was carried out in Chipata town, the home district of Ngoni people. The paper also attempts to establish factors behind the vitality the Ngoni ethnic identity. A case study was conducted in a multi-ethnic community in which Ngonis were identified through their names and clans. A total of 25 participants were interviewed to elicit the participants’ ability to speak Ngoni language and knowledge of their clan background. The data collection method was complimented by information from written sources about Ngoni language. It has been revealed that factors such as intermarriage between Ngoni people and Nsenga speakers coupled with migration and Christianity led to the gradual extinction of Ngoni language. Despite the language shift of ngonis to Nsenga and Tumbuka languages, Ngonis have maintained the vitality of Ngoni ethnic identity due to their strong cultural values and practices.

Key words: ethnic identity, Ngoni, language death, intermarriage, assimilation.

I. INTRODUCTION

In Africa in general and Zambia in particular, ethnicity or tribe is synonymous to language. Just like any other speech community in the world, one’s mother tongue is the major marker of one’s ethnic affiliation in the Zambian society. It is evident that a Zambian cannot claim to belong to a particular ethnic group whose language one cannot speak or understand. In this vein, Schmidt (2008) points out that it is clear that language is a crucial element of group identity and if a language does not give a social identity to the group, that language is at risk of dying out. According to Wolfgang (1988), language death occurs in unstable bilingual or multilingual speech communities as a result of language shift from a regressive minority language to a dominant majority language.