Language and identity
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Date
1999
Authors
Mugambi, P.J.M.
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
Kenyatta University
Abstract
Language is primarily an essential tool for communication. People are endowed with vocal abilities
so that they can pass messages and other information in verbal form whether it involves two or
more participants. Language, therefore, enables us to convey our thoughts, desires, feelings and
emotions. This communication is influenced by our geographic, regional, ethnic, clan or other cluster
inclinations and expectations. We belong to certain groups and by virtue of our membership - real or
imagined, we often communicate information that is either beneficial or harmful to us and the
society at large.
Language can and has been used negatively as an identity symbol. People at times use language
selectively to attain certain selfish goals and in so doing seek to co-opt and/or corrupt those they
communicate with to achieve their aims. Of course languages positively identify and enhance people's
culture, aspirations and heritage but often these collective gains are taken for granted and instead,
people use language to denote identity and consequently derive some advantage. Language has for
instance been used as an ethnic weapon to show either the superiority or inferiority of a people
depending on the angle one looks at it from. Indeed as Parkin notes in Whiteley (1974: 186) "the ebb
and flow of vernacular interchange among specific pairs of ethnic groups is a function of their
positions of "dominance" relative to each other. "Dominance" is seen as resting singly on or on a
combination of socio-economic status, political and numerical factors People are constantly conscious
about these social signifiers and they as a result strive to outdo each other in terms of achieving
material or social well-being. Language itself is a distinctive feature and consequently people usually
exploit it to maximize their sectarian pursuits. At the individual level, language is used by some
people to achieve-an immediate unfair advantage over those who do not identify with the same
language. Envisage the following episodes:
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Citation
CHEMCHEMI International Journal of Arts and Social Sciences VOLUME 1 DEC. 1999