The multilingual situation in Cameroon and the status of English as a co-official language constitute a unique and fascinating case for sociolinguistic investigation. Drawing from first-hand material, the author investigates several aspects of this complex configuration, including the historical development of English in Cameroon, the various languages and lingua franca areas, the linguistic policy, the de facto status of English and the situation in the anglophone provinces. The speech community of the Anglophones is highlighted as a rare example of an ethnicity tied to the second language. Apart from important sociolinguistic findings, the work includes a novel, corpus-based analysis of Cameroon English. Certain lexical phenomena are explained by the cognitive coding of culture - particularly the African cultural model of community, which also underlies the self-perception of the Anglophones - a perspective hitherto neglected in the study of the New Englishes.

Autorentext

Hans-Georg Wolf is Assistant Professor at the Humboldt-Universität Berlin, Germany.

Klappentext

The Contributions to the Sociology of Language series features publications dealing with sociolinguistic theory, methods, findings and applications. It addresses the study of language in society in its broadest sense, as a truly international and interdisciplinary field in which various approaches theoretical and empirical supplement and complement each other. The series invites the attention of scholars interested in language in society from a broad range of disciplines anthropology, education, history, linguistics, political science, and sociology. To discuss your book idea or submit a proposal, please contact Natalie Fecher.

Inhalt

Introduction English in West Africa English in Cameroon * The historical background of the linguistic situation in Cameroon * The present linguistic situation in Cameroon * The linguistic situation in the Anglophone provinces Cameroon English as a national variety The cultural model of 'community' realized in African English in general and in Cameroon English in particular. Summary