THE FAMILY AS AN ENVIRONMENT FOR PRESERVING A MINORITY LANGUAGE

Abstract

Purpose. To show how the Dogon minority language is preserved in a traditional African family in the multilingual environment of the capital of Mali, Bamako. Methodology. The study used sociolinguistic methods of conducting a survey questioning the respondents, who were members of the same Dogon family, consisting of 13 people, as well as an included interview with a written record of the interviewing process. Further, a survey of residents of Bamako was conducted, involving 94 people of the Dogon ethnicity aged from 18 to 45 years. Results. The family members are in a constant contact with the three languages: Dogon, the language of cultural identity which they defend; Bamana, the lingua franca of the capital which dominates in their environment and serves for social integration; French, as the official language with the role of an intermediary. Thus, informants specifically choose one or another language depending on the communication situation.Research implications. The study is of practical importance for the development of a competent language policy of Mali in relation to the languages of ethnic minorities. It makes a certain contribution to the typology of language situations in a multilingual state.

Keywords

• protection of linguistic identity
• a communicative situation
• code switching
• sociolinguistic characteristics of the language
• French
• the Bamana language