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Ugandan English: Its sociolinguistics, structure and uses in a globalising post-protectorate
Edited by Christiane Meierkord, Bebwa Isingoma and Saudah Namyalo
[Varieties of English Around the World G59] 2016
► pp. 19–50

Towards assessing the space of English in Uganda’s linguistic ecology

Facts and issues

| Makerere University
| Gulu University
| Ruhr-Universität Bochum

This chapter analyses the present-day language situation in Uganda with the aim of providing a description of the diversity of Uganda’s languages, and the space of English therein. It examines the degrees of development and vitality, as expressed through speaker numbers and the availability of orthographies, and the geographical and social spaces occupied by the individual languages. Against this background, the chapter discusses how this correlates with the languages’ functions and statuses in present-day Uganda. It demonstrates that whilst English is the de facto sole official language, various indigenous languages, most prominently Luganda and Kiswahili, occupy increasingly stable positions in several domains.

Keywords: function and market value, geographical and social space, Language diversity, language policy, polyglossia
Published online: 20 October 2016
DOI logo
https://doi.org/10.1075/veaw.g59.02nam
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