The Artificiality of Linguistic Boundaries: Evidence from Multilingual Urban Discourses in Lusaka, Zambia
Keywords:
Multilingual, Linguistic Boundary, Language Practice, Linguistic Features, Lusaka, Zambia
Abstract
The conventional understanding of languages has historically implied distinct demarcations between languages with predetermined contexts for usage. However, empirical evidence reveals that these linguistic boundaries are more fluid and malleable than previously assumed. Thus, this paper conducts a thorough analysis of linguistic data collected from various informal urban settings in Lusaka. The primary objective is to demonstrate how individuals amalgamate linguistic elements from diverse languages to establish a cohesive communication system that surpasses traditional linguistic constraints. Additionally, it emphasizes the unpredictable nature of language choices within specific domains, where conventional language forms are typically expected. This paper contends that the conventional concept of language domains inadequately captures the language practices of multilingual speakers across the varied social settings of Lusaka.References
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2. Banda, F., & Mambwe, K. (2024). Epistemic Reconstitution of Multilingualism: Disrupting and Levelling of Linguistic Hierarchies of Power. In Language and Decolonisation (pp. 35-54). Routledge.
3. Banda, F. & Bellonjengele, B.B. (2010). Style, repertoire and identities in Zambian multilingual discourses. Journal of multilingual discourses, 5 (2): 107-119.
4. Banda, F. (2005). Analyzing social identity in casual Zambian/English conversations: a systemic functional linguistic approach. Southern African linguistics and applied language studies, 23(3): 217-231.
5. Banda, F. (2009). Accounting for the notion of multilingualism in Africa. Stellenbosch papers in linguistics, 1-17.
6. Banda, F. (2011). Multilingualism and semiotic remediation as discourse practice in popular Zambian music. AILA Conference paper, 19-21 January, Vineyard conference Centre, Cape Town.
7. Banda, F. (2010). Defying monolingual education: alternative bilingual discourse practices in elected colored schools in Cape Town. Journal of multilingual and multicultural development, 31(3): 221-235.
8. Blackledge, A. & A. Creese. (2010). Multilingualism: A critical perspective. London: Continuum International Publishing Groupof nerd girls’, Language in Society, 28: 203–23.
9. Canagarajah, A.S. (2006). Negotiating the local in English as a lingua franca. Annual review of applied linguistics. Cambridge University Press: Cambridge, 26: 197-218.
10. Central Statistical Office. 2022. Zambia analytical report: Census of population, housing and agriculture. Lusaka: CSO.
11. Chen, X. (2008). Negotiation of multiple identities, languages and literacies: An Ethnographic Case Study of Chinese English as-a-New Language Students in US Elementary schools. Published PhD Thesis. Purdue University Graduate School.
12. Chisanga, T. (2002). Lusaka Chinyanja and Icibemba. In K.K. Prah, (ed.) Speaking in unison: the harmonization of Southern African languages. Cape Town: CASAS, 103-116.
13. Creese, A. & A. Blackledge. (2010). Translanguaging in the bilingual classroom.: a pedagogy for learning and teaching? Modern language Journal. 94 (1) 103-115.
14. Dyer, J. (2007). Language and identity. In C. Llamas, L. Mullany & P. Stockwell (eds.) The Routledge Companion of Sociolinguistics. London: Routledge, 101-108. In J.J. Gumperz and D. Hymes (eds.) Directions in Sociolinguistics. New York: Holt, Rinehart and Winston, 235–53.
15. Garc , O. (2009). Bilingual education in the 21st century: a global perspective. Chichester: Wiley-Blackwell.
16. Hall, J.K. (2011). Teaching and researching: Language and culture (2 nd ed). London: Pearson.
17. Heller, M. (1982). Language, ethnicity and politics in Quebec. Unpublished doctoral dissertation, University of California, Berkeley.
18. Heller, M. (ed.) (2007). Bilingualism: A social approach. London: Palgrave MacMillan.
19. Higgins, C. (2009). English as a local language: postcolonial identities and multilingual practices. Toronto: Multilingual Matters.
20. Makoni, S. & A. Pennycook. (eds.) (2007). Disinventing and reconstituting languages. Clevedon: Multilingual matters.
21. Makoni, S. & P. Mashiri. (2007). Critical historiography: Does language planning in Africa need a construct of language as part of its theoretical apparatus? In Makoni, S. & A. Pennycook (eds.), Disinventing and reconstituting languages. Clevedon: Multilingual matters, 62-85.
22. Mambwe, K. A. Mangi, & N. Njobvu. (2024). You are what you Look: A Socio (Linguistic) Analysis of Some Kaonde Nicknames Associated with Physical Appearance. Journal of Language and Linguistics in Society (JLLS) ISSN 2815-0961, 4(03), 26–36. https://doi.org/10.55529/jlls.43.26.36
23. Mambwe, K. & D.C. Fernando. (2016). Enhanced Masculinities: Names of Male Aphrodisiacs in Selected Southern African Countries, in The Postcolonial Colonial Condition of Names and Naming Practices in Southern Africa. In O. Nyambi, T. Mangena & C.Phukwa, (eds). Newcastle: Cambridge Publishing, 352-370.
24. Mambwe, K. (2014). “Mobility, Identity and Localization of Language in Multilingual Contexts of Urban Lusaka,” Ph.D. Ling, Dept. of Ling, Univ. of the Western Cape, Cape Town.
25. Mambwe, K. (2009). The form and function of code switching in some Zambian song lyrics. Zambia Journal of Contemporary Issues. 26 (16), 1-12.
26. Mambwe, K. (2010). The rising status of Bemba as a language of wider communication in Zambia and its impact on minority languages. Conference paper, 23th July. African Languages Association of Southern Africa (ALASA), University of Botswana.
27. Mc Laughlin, F (ed.) (2009). Languages of urban Africa. London and New York: Continuum International Publishing Group.3740460903364185>[7/03/2013]
28. Pavlenko, A & A. Blackledge (eds.) (2004). Negotiation of identities in multilingual context. London: Cromwell Press Ltd.
29. Pennycook, A. (2010). Language as a local practice. London: Routledge.
30. Pennycook, A. (2007). Global Englishes and transcultural flows. London: Routledge.
31. Rampton, B. (2006). Language in late modernity. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
32. Rampton, B. (1995). Crossing: language and ethnicity among adolescents. New York: Longman.
33. Schatzki, T. (2001). Introduction: practice theory. In T. Schatzki, K. Knorr Getina and E. Von Savigny (eds.), The Practice in turn contemporary theory. London: Routledge, 1-14.
34. Siachitema, A. (1991). The social significance of language use and language choice in a Zambian urban setting: An empirical study of three neighborhoods in Lusaka. In English around the world, ed. J. Cheshire. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 474 90.
35. Spitulnik, D. (1999). The language of the city: Town Bemba as urban hybridity. Journal of linguistic anthropology. 8 (1): 30-59.
Published
2025-10-31
How to Cite
Mambwe, K. and Njobvu, N. (2025) “The Artificiality of Linguistic Boundaries: Evidence from Multilingual Urban Discourses in Lusaka, Zambia”, Journal of Law and Social Sciences, 6(4). doi: https://doi.org/10.53974/unza.jlss.6.4.1595.
Section
Humanities