Language Battle In Congo

Press, Volume CIX, Issue 31946, 25 March 1969, Page 10

Language Battle In Congo

(N.Z.P. 4. -Reuter—Copyright) 1 KINSHASA, March 23. The Congo is in ferment again—but it is a bloodless, non - violent battle about a national language.

Congo-Kinshasa is inhabited by about 300 tribes with as many dialects in the 900,000-square-mile country. French is the official language and the Congo Democratic Republic is regarded as the largest in size of all Frenchspeaking nations. The present debate, waged in daily newspapers and among politicians and intellectuals, is so far an academic exercise without any legislation in sight. Linguists, who argue for a national language, point to another former colonial territory on the other side of the world, the Philippines, to support their case. Official Languages After centuries of Spanish and American rule, the Philippines decided a year after independence to make Pilipino its national language. Pilipino is based on Tagalog, a Polynesian tongue spoken by nearly half the population. The official languages of the Philippines are Pilipino, English and Spanish. Most people involved in the

debate in Kinshasa realise that Congo-Kinshasa must keep foreign languages for external trade. But within the country they believe that the 300 dialects are based on four main languages— Tshiluba, Kikongo, Swahili and Lingala. There is no linguistic war between these dialects. One commentator says they live in “peaceful co-existence.” An example of this is the soccer on Sunday afternoons. Radio commentators describe the matches in turn in French and the four main Congolese dialects.

Intellectuals claim that the imported French language bears painful memories of colonialism and does not suit Congolese culture. Best Historical Claim Yet they cannot agree on which of the four main dialects to select as a national language. Kikongo has the best historical claim. The language of the Bakongo Tribe on both sides of the Congo River’s mouth, Kikongo was the first Bantu language ever printed. A catechism written by Portuguese missionaries in 1624 was followed by a dictionary in 1632 and a grammar book in 1659. . It is a melodious language with a rich vocabulary but the tribe covers only a limited part of Congolese territory. Tshiluba, the language of the Balubas, is concise and expressive. Swahili is spoken by millions of Africans in many countries, rather than the tongue of any one tribe. Its opponents say, however, that ,t is imported and has an Arabic flavour. The fourth dialect is Lingala, a fairly recent and artificial creation but used widely in the capital. It was originally used by the African

carriers in communication with white explorers. Later Lingala became the dialect of the Army and the police. Today it is also used by politicians, radio reporters and pop singers. Proponents say it is an expanding and non-tribal language. Yet its vocabulary is lean and there is no authorised grammar for it. Cynics stand outside the debate. They ask why is it necessary to proclaim one national dialect—an issue that could become political dynamite. “Switzerland has three official languages French, German and Italian,” one critic said. “This doesn’t seem to harm Swiss national unity.”