The Sociolinguistics Of Development In Africa

Paulin G Djit download

https://ebookbell.com/product/the-sociolinguistics-of-
development-in-africa-paulin-g-djit-50755242

Explore and download more ebooks at ebookbell.com

Here are some recommended products that we believe you will be
interested in. You can click the link to download.

The Sociolinguistics Of Writing Theresa Lillis

https://ebookbell.com/product/the-sociolinguistics-of-writing-theresa-
lillis-51971898

The Sociolinguistics Of Grammar Tor A Farli Brit Mhlum

https://ebookbell.com/product/the-sociolinguistics-of-grammar-tor-a-
farli-brit-mhlum-4727340

The Sociolinguistics Of Globalization 1st Edition Jan Blommaert

https://ebookbell.com/product/the-sociolinguistics-of-
globalization-1st-edition-jan-blommaert-5131934

The Sociolinguistics Of Academic Publishing Language And The Practices

Of Homo Academicus Linus Sal Auth

https://ebookbell.com/product/the-sociolinguistics-of-academic-
publishing-language-and-the-practices-of-homo-academicus-linus-sal-
auth-6616856
The Sociolinguistics Of Hiphop As Critical Conscience Dissatisfaction
And Dissent 1st Edition Andrew S Ross

https://ebookbell.com/product/the-sociolinguistics-of-hiphop-as-
critical-conscience-dissatisfaction-and-dissent-1st-edition-andrew-s-
ross-6840922

The Sociolinguistics Of Higher Education Language Policy And

Internationalisation In Catalonia 1st Ed Josep Soler

https://ebookbell.com/product/the-sociolinguistics-of-higher-
education-language-policy-and-internationalisation-in-catalonia-1st-
ed-josep-soler-10487240

The Sociolinguistics Of Irans Languages At Home And Abroad The Case Of

Persian Azerbaijani And Kurdish 1st Ed Seyed Hadi Mirvahedi

https://ebookbell.com/product/the-sociolinguistics-of-irans-languages-
at-home-and-abroad-the-case-of-persian-azerbaijani-and-kurdish-1st-ed-
seyed-hadi-mirvahedi-10488146

The Sociolinguistics Of Narrative Ulla Connor Thomas A Upton

https://ebookbell.com/product/the-sociolinguistics-of-narrative-ulla-
connor-thomas-a-upton-1650556

The Sociolinguistics Of Identity Tope Omoniyi Goodith White

https://ebookbell.com/product/the-sociolinguistics-of-identity-tope-
omoniyi-goodith-white-1688476
 WA13106090

IIIII IIIIIIII IIII I IIIII IIII IIIIIIIII IIIII

The Sociolinguist1cs of Developm·e nt in Africa

PEf'C.' IG-JJ.. 11 L
CATG-PEFC-052
w ww.pefc.org
MULTILINGUAL MATTERS SERIES
Series Editor: Professor John Edwards,
St Fra11cis Xavier University, Antigonish, NoVll Scotia, Canada

Other Books in the Series

Motivation in La nguag(' Planning ru1d Language Policy
Dennis Ager
Multi lingualism in SpaiJ,
M . Teresa Turell (ed.)
A Dynamic Model of Multilingualism
Philip Herdfrw and Ulrike Jessner
Beyond Boundaries: Language and Jdentity in Contemporary Europe
Paul Gubbins a11d Mike Holl (eds)
Bilingualism: Beyond Basic Principles
Jean-Marc Dewaele, Alex J-:lousen and U Wei (eds)
Ideology and Image: Britain and Language
Dennis Ager
Where East Looks West: Success in English in Coa and on th(' Konkan Coast
D1m11is Kurzon
English in Africa: After the Cold War
Almnin M . Mazrui
Politeness u, Europe
/.eo Hickeua11d Miranda Ste.oart (eds)
in
Language Jewish Society: Towards a New Understand ing
/0/111 Myl1ill
Maintaming a Minority Language
Jolin Gibbons al!d £/izabet/1 Ramirez
UrbM Multilingualism in Europe
Guus Extra 1111d Kutluy Y,igm.11r (eds)
Cultural and Lingu istic Policy Abroad: The ltalian Experience
Mariella Totaro-Geneva-is
Language Decline and Death in Africa: Causes, Consequences and Challenges
Hern-um M. Batibo
Directions m Applied Linguistics
Paul Bruthiaux, Dwight Atki11:1011, William C. Cggi11gton, William Gmbe and
Vaidel1i J<amn11atha11 (eds)
Language Diversity in the Pacific: Endangerment and Survival
Denis C1111ni11glrnm, 0.£. Ingram and Ke1111eth Su111lmk (eds)
Multilingualism in European Bilingual Contexts: Language lJse and Attitudes
David Lasagabaster and Angel Huguet (Pds)
Linguistic Landscapes: A Comparative Study of Urban Multi lingualism in Tokyo
Peter Backhaus
The Defence of French: A Language in Crisis?
Robin .Adamson
Mu,ority Language Media: Concepts, Cri tiques and Ca~e Studies
lvfike Cormack and Niamh Houriga11
GlobaJJy Speaking: Motives for Adopting English Vocabulary in O ther Languages
f11ditlr Rosen house n11d Rotem Kow11er (eds)

For more details of these or any other of our publications, please contact:
Multilingual Matters, Frankfurt Lodge, Clevedon Hall,
Victoria Road, Clevedon, 8521 7HH, England
http://www.multilingual-matters.com
MULTILINGUAL MATTERS 139
Series Editor: John Edwards

The Sociolinguistics of
Development in Africa

Paulin G . Djite

MULTILINGUAL MATTERS LTD

Clevedon • Buffalo • Toronto
 Learning Res rce~
Cer 1re

13106090
Library of Congress Cataloging in Publication Data
Djite, Paulin G.
The Sociolinguistics of Development in Africa / Pauli n G. Djite.
Multilingual Matters: 139
Includes bibliographical references and index.
l. Sociolinguistics-Africa. 2. Mul tilingualism- Africa.
3. Language and education-Africa. 4. Africa-Economic conditions. I. Title.
l'40.45.A35O56 2008
306.44096--0c22 2007040067

British Librar:y Cataloguing in Publication Data

A catalogue entry for this book is available from the British Library.

tSBN-13: 978-1-84769-046-3 (hbk)

lSBN-13: 978-1-84769-045-6 (pbk}

Mu ltilingual Matters Ltd

UK: Frankfurt Lodge, Clevedon J:-lall, Victoria Road, Clevedon BS21 7H1I.
USA: UTP, 2250Military Road, Tonawanda, NY 14150, USA .
Canada: lJTP, 5201 Dufferin Street, N"orfh York, Ontario M3H ST8, Canada.

Copyright © 2008 Paulin G. Djite.

All rights reserved. No part of this work may be reproduced in any form or by any
mea ns wi thout permission in writing from the p ublisher.

The policy of Multi lingua l Matters/Channel View Publications is to use papers that
are natural, renewable and recycloble prod ucts, made from wood grown in
sustainable forests. ln the manufacturing process of our books, and to fu rther support
OLLr pol icy, preference is given to printers that have FSC and PEFC Chain of Custody
certification. The FSC and/ or PEFC logos will appear on those books where fu ll
certification has been granted to the printer concerned.

Typeset by Wordworks Ltd.

Printed and botu\d in Great Britain by tv1PG Books Ltd.
Contents
Acknowledgements . ... . . . . . . .. . .. . . . . .. . . . . . . . . . vi
Preface . . . . . . . . . . . . . • . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . vii

Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . J
What is the Sociolinguistics of Development? .5

1 Prolegomena to the Sociolinguistics of Development . .8

ln trod uction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .8
What is Development? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11
Can Africa Develop? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18
The Pathologising of Multilingualism: Old Myths about
Language and Development in Africa . . . . . . . 21
Historical Evidence from Africa . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34
The Present State of Affairs of African Languages . . . . 36
New Myths about Language and Development in Africa 40
Pervasiveness of Language Diversity beyond Africa . 45
Conclusion: If You Fail to Plan, You Plan to Fail 47

2 Language, Education and Development . . . . . . . 53

Introduction: Nam et Ipsa Scientia Potestas est . . . 53
Language and Language-in-Education Policies: The Colonial
Legacy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 56
English-seeking, Not English-speaking. . . . . . . . . . 62
Cost-benefit Analysis of Mother-tongue Education. . . 65
Language-in-Education Policies in Africa: The Current
State of Affairs. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 69
Everything is Nothing in Education without Language 78
African Languages as Languages of Science and Technology:
Why Not? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 82
One Laptop per Child: A Good Reason for Hope. . . . . . . . 87
Conclusion: Looking into the Future, Learning from the Past . 90

V
-'-v-'-i_ _ __ _ __ ____ 7:_h_e Sociolinguistics of Development in Africa

3 Language, Health and Development . . . . . . . . . . . 93

Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 93
Health and Health Care in Africa: Facts and Figures. 94
Development without Health? . . . . . . . . . . . . . 98
Health without Local Languages? . 109
Conclusion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 115

4 Language, the Economy and Development 117

Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 117
Facts and Figures: The Paradox of Poverty in the Midst of Plenty . 118
New Initiatives to Combat Poverty . . . . . . . . . . . . . 130
Globalisation in Africa: Can the Majority be Globalised? . 132
Language and the Economy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 137
The Informal Economy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 140
The Language(s) of the Informal Economy: An Argument
for Localisation. 144
Conclusion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 151

5 Language, Governance and Development . 153

Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 153
Facts and Figures: Looking into U,e Mouths of the
Peanut Roasters . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 157
Language and Governance in Africa: When History
Shows the Way. 163
Conclusion . 168

Conclusion . . . . 172
Introduction 172
Why the Sociolinguistics of Development? 173
Development, not Anglicisation, Francisation or
Lusophonisation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 175
Living on Borrowed Tongues? A Note of Caution. 177
Conclusion . 178

Notes ... .. 182

References 202
Acknowledgements
1 would like to thank Terry Chesher, Joel Dehe, Robert Desiabuk, David
Price and Langming Zhang for reading and commenting on earlier
versions of this book. I hope their cmnments and advice are reflected in my
writing.
My deepest gratitude goes to my children. Thank you for your interest
and challenging discussions. Paul-Simon, you once expressed the desire to
'stay with grandma to learn the mother tongue, then join you guys later',
because you were curious (and I guess unhappy) that we do not speak an
African language at home. I hope this book helps you understand the
historical and structural constraints witlun which our language identities
have been constructed. Bruce, you often worried about my state of health,
because of the long hours I spent in the study; maybe this book will allay
some of your concerns. Sidney, you often queried 1ne about the practical
solutions to Africa's woes; I hope the suggestions in this book provide some
answers to your questions. Above all, remember your father's middle
name: GOU-PO-CNON or the malevolence of the Other shall not deter-
mine your destiny.
16 June 2007

vii
Preface
What if half the world's languages are on the verge of exti11flio11?
Let them die in peace.
Malik (2000)

Language is the beginning; it is part of who we are.

Rosen (2002)
Fairclough 1,vrites:
Sociolinguistics is strong on 'what?' questions (what a re the facts of vari-
ations?) butweakon 'wh y?' and 'ho,v?' questions(whyare t/1efactsas they
are? how-in terms of the development of social relations hips of power-
was the existing sociolinguistic order brought into being? liow is it
sustained? and how might it be changed to the advantage of t/10se who are tf0111 i-
nated by if?). (Fairclough, 2001: 6; my italics)
Fairclough goes on to discuss 'the genera l insensitivity of sociolinguistics
towards its own relationship to the sociolinguistic orders it seeks to
describe' and suggests that:
When one focuses on the simple existence of facts, without attending to
thesocialconditions which 1nade them so and the social conditions for their
potential change, the notion that the sociolinguist herself 1night somehow
affect the facts hardly seems to arise. ( ... ] the effect of sociolinguistic
research might either be to legitin1.ise these facts and so indirectly the power
relations which underlie them, or to show lhe conti11ge11cy of these facts despite
their apparent solidity, nnd so indirectly point to wnys of changing them.
(Fairclough, 2001: 7; my italics)
l n other words, sociolinguistic research needs to expand, to consider not
only the language uses at issue, but also the social landscape in which they
occur (sec also Tollefson, 1995). Fairclough has a point here. Many of us
have been trained in the tradition of sociolinguistic research, whlchseeks to
establish the facts, and refrains from speculating as to 'why?' and 'how?' In
the developing world, and especially in Africa, this has led toa trend, albeit
a sad trend, whereby research is lintited to frameworks dictated bv
constraints such as the sources of funding and/ or target publicatio~
outlets, often overlooking the reality of day-to-day interactions. Makoni

viii
Preface ix

and Meinhof (2004) argue that seemingly progressive applied linguistic

projects consolidate a Western view of the conti11ent in postcolonial Africa
and only mirror these 1nyths. The brave few who managed to break the
shackles of accepted theories and wisdom were often derided and ridi-
culed. For instance, as recently as 1989, countering the arguments of
African scholars on the prospects of the French language in Africa,
Chaudenson was writing:
As distressing and painful as this choice 1naybe for a number of African
intellectuals, most of them know quite well that there is no better one
and, rather than dreaming ofsome impossible Edenic Africas, it is in1perative
and urgent to plan and manage the present to the best of our ability, in
order to make a future possible. (Chaudenson, 1989; my translation; my
italics)
Du1nont could only concur and added:
There is nothing more annoying than reading or hearing, almost thirty
years after independence, nice texts about language rights and the
necessity to introduce African languages in the schools. These are rear-
guard struggles and the battle is over, if not won .... [for) ... no one comes
out ofa century of French. colonial administration unscathed. (Dumont, 1990;
my translation; my italics)
Dumont's last phrase echoes one of the French obsessions that, through
the French language, 'all conquered peoples ... will become republicans'
(Brunot, 1967: 186).
Hence, the imposition of the French language ill Africa is seen and
constructed by some as an unchangeable fact of life, even though less than
20% of the people in the so-called 'French-speaking Africa' are profi.cient in
it. In the face of such bold pronouncements and mystifications about
language passing for theoretical frame·works and operating prejudicially
against the whole continent, Ngalasso (1989) could only lament that 'All
the indications arc that in this minor continent, there are no people, only
tribes, no languages, but a plethora of dialects more or less unintelligible
and lacking in wlitten tradition.' Like Sarh·e (1948)1, Robert (2004: 58) has
an entirely different perspective on the issue. She believes that it is urgent
Africans speak about their land, their people and their languages, ill their
own way, and that others should learn to listen for once. Africans must
construct their own perception and aspirations for Africa; and the redis-
covery of the continent must go beyond intellectual sophistry that glosses
over the reality, only to force it into one1 s own prism of preconceived ideas
and speculative pseudo-theories (Robert, 2004: 95). One has to be allowed
X - -- - -The
--Sociolinguistics
- of Development in Africa

to contribute to making and writing one's own history, not just be subjected
to it, for 'as long as the lions will not have their own historians, the stories
about hunting will always praise the courage of the h1u1ter' (African
proverb). It must be said, though, that the specificity of Africa lies in the fact
that the continent never had a word in edgeways. Convinced of their
authori ty and right to impose their vision of the world on others, some in
the developed world have endeavoured and conhnue to crash and elim.i-
nate all those who dare to think and act differently. Only conceit stops one
from learning from the Other. Nevertheless, Africa's future, just like its past
and present, comprises a multip licity of viewpoints, all of which deserve to
be heard.
The fact remai ns that, 50 years on, Africa is the only continent where a
school child can have access to knowledge and science only tl1rough a
language other than the one spoken at home or in the wider community;
the only continent where the majority of the people cannot have access to
justice in their own language(s). This has led a number of African
researchers seeking to break out of the mou ld of sociolinguistic and applied
linguistic platitudes (e.g. contrastive analyses between French and African
languages, new approaches to teaching/learning French, etc.) to look for
research grants outside the three champions of monolingualisn1: France,
England and the United States. Germany, the l etherlands, Sweden,
orway and others qukkly answered the call for acadenuc freedon1.
Not long after it had been acknowledged that no language could be
s hown to be more accurate, logical or capable of expression than another,
there were rumblings about how, in practice, some languages are rnore
'adapted', and therefore 111ore va I uablc, than others, in that tl1ey- and they
alone - can be employed in all functions and domains of modern civilisa-
tion. Only European languages were suited for literature, high culture and,
more importantly, science and technology, and the possession of a v.rritten
language correlates with development. African languages on the other
hand did nol even have a literary tradition, an ascription with ilnplications
for the cognitive potentia l and I.eve! of underdevel()pment, illiteracy and
poverty of Lhe speech comn1muties of these languages. eed less to say,
these assertions would not include an analysis of the 'why' and 'how', or
the historical and structural fac tors that contributed in a significant way to
such a situation (Tollefson, 1991 ). But isn't it the case tha t some languages
have simply not been allowed to develop as others have? Isn't it the case that
evidence of literacy tradition in some languages has intentionally been
destroyed (Battestilu, 1997), forbidden (e.g. Ajami script) or ignored (e.g.
the Timbuktu manuscripts)?2 \Ve must now be able to accept that tbese
things did happen; after all, the objective of colonisation '[,vas] not to
Preface xi
- - -- - - - - - - - - - - - - -
suppress inequalities between human beings, but to a1uplify them and
make them into law', 'not equality, but domination' (Renan, 1882, cited in
Cesaire, 1956/89).
So, itis a cntel irony that African languages have thus far been a Ji.ability,
and a cause of vulnerability, rather than a source of power. In an age of
globalisation, many indeed find it difficu It to understand the need for other
languages, especially in Africa, and discussions about the link between
language and development in Africa can be frustrating. In addition to the
foregoing articles of faith, coming from those who are regarded as experts
in African sociolinguistics, cn1cia I evidence and obvious counter-examples
are often blatantly overlooked. I-fence, Pool (1972: 213) could still write that
' ... a country that is linguistica Uy highly heterogeneous is a Iways undevel-
oped, and a country that is developed always has considerable language
uniformity', and have his argument bandied around for decades as scien-
tific truth (Coulmas, 1992: 25; Fasold, 1984: 7; Gellner, 1983: 35).3 Mean-
while, developed nations in the heart of Europe (e.g. Belgium and
Switzerland), and in North.America (Canada) were multilingual, and poor
nations in Europe (e.g. Portugal and Spain}4 were monolingual, at least
until they changed their constitution (e.g. Spain) and joined the European
Community, now the European Union. The argu1nent also overlooks
highly homogeneous polities in Africa (Burundi, Rwanda and Somalia)
and elsewhere (Cambodia, Lao PDR and Vietnam) that are still underde-
veloped. Significantly, some do acknowledge that this view is essentially
'based on the high degree of coincidence of virh1al and, more importantly,
perceived monolingualism and economic development observed in the
industrialised '\,Vorld' (Coulmas, 1992: 25) not on science, even though they
arc prepared to put forth an even sh·onger version of the sa1ne argument.
Hence, using data fron1 the International Monetary Fund on reserve
currencies, Coulmas (1992: 77-81) argues that 'the value of a language is
determined ln relation to that of other languages ... [and is] ... above all
economic ... [in part] ... through its advances on the foreign language
market', a.nd concludes that 'there is an almost perfect match with the great
foreign languages of the world' [my italics]. This argun1ent begs the following
question: What language does the Euro speak? Furthermore, the argument
ignores a trend in central banks around the world, the trend for diversi-
fying their reserve currency base, as well as an even stronger trend that
favours a rise of the euro as the preferred reserve currency. Secondly, the
argument fails to acknowledge the fact that the true value of the languages
of the European colonial powers - with the remarkable exception of Porh1-
guese - is directly proportion a I to the role these powers played in the trans-
atlantic slave trade and colonisation, as well as the size of their ernpires.
xii The Sociolinguistics of Development in Africa
- - - -- -
English and French, forinstance1 became 'economjcally valuable' at least in
part because of these major historical, socio-political and economic events.
Indccd1 the current status of European languages is largely due to the fact
that they have been imposed, under different guises/ on the undeveloped
countries of the world. What if there were a negative causal relationship
between multilingualism and economic development? No real attempt is
made to ask the questions that matter - 'why?' and 'how?' and, further-
more, as Fairclough would put it, how might this situation be changed to
the advantage of those who are dominated by it, instead of recycling and
elaborating on a number of Lint,rt1istic fallacies and myths dating back from
the days of colonisation? It is at times pointed out that, from a socio-
linguistic perspective, African linguists should listen to speech conununi-
ties that resist the use of their lanbrtiages in education, in order to move
beyond the 'in1passe'. That some should caJI the neglect and complete rele-
gation of African languages to non-languages an 'impasse' is disingenuous
and places undue focus on the individual. Furthermore, it i!,111ores more
powerful historical and n1acrostn1ctural factors that create and entrench
social inequalities and injustices. The very observation about an 'impasse'
often fails to fuliy acknowledge the insidious role the articles of faith and
linguistic fallacies have p layed in the general perception of 1nulti.ling-
ualism in Africa. Therefore, the issue ren1ains: what is the best way out of
this 'impasse'?
Indirect contrad iction to the scientific evidence available, son1e, who are
stilJ wedded to myths about the 'superiority' and/or universa lity of a
certain language - this used to be French; now it is English - even refuse to
believe that there is an ' impasse'. ln a critique of Va11islti11g Voices (Nettle &
Romaine, 2000), Malik (2000) writes: ' ... most languages die out, not
because they arc suppressed, but because native speakers yearn for a better
life. Speaking a language such as English, French or Spanish, and
discarding traditional habits, can open up new worlds and is often a ticket
to modernity.' ln other words, the world co1nn1w1ity is better off embracing
the (current) dominant language ()f gll)balisation (Van Parijs, 1999, 2000,
2002 and forthcoming). This is qu.ite a categorical view: 'What if half of the
world's languages are on the verge of extinction? Let them die in peace.'
(Malik, 2000). The point is that, in the case of Africa, as is shown in this
book, we are not exactly talking about languages on the verge of extinction.
The presumption that multilingualism is a stumbling block to develop-
ment is just that, a presumption- albeit engrossed with a certain vision of
deve]()pment as it ought to be pursued throughout the world, that is to say,
through narrowly conceived economic theories and practices of develop-
ment. Lieberson (1980: 12) points out that 'essentially no substantial causal
Preface xiii

linkage exists in either direction between changes in the nation's develop-

ment and its level of linguistic homogeneity', whilst Nettle {2000: 344-346)
argues that there is a 'lack of evidence for a direct causal interpretation ...
/and] that attempts to enforce linguistic homogeneity cannot be justified on
econon1ic terms.' Nettle further writes that
No data thus far produced give unequivocal evidence of a link between
language and economy above and beyond that explained by their
codetermination by geograpnical factors. A more realistic interpretation
of the correlation would therefore stress that languages and economies
coevolve under the constraints of physical and human geography.
(Nettle, 2000: 344)
(Also see Grin, 1996, 1999 and 2003; Nettle &Romaine, 2000: 155; Sku tnabb-
Kangas, 2000: 242; Spolsky, 2003).
The stage is therefore set. \,Ve may now ask the fundamental questions,
as patterns of language repertoire and use in developing nations, and no·w
within the institutions of the European Union (Grin, 2004), amply demon-
strate that the degree of communication effectiveness, and hence its critical
importance to economic progress, is not necessarily a hmction of the number
of languages spoken, but that of the availability of communication across
the different language communities through multilingualism (Lo Bianco,
2002: 6). If the main argument seeking to tie multilingualism with difficul-
ties in communication is essentially flawed, why should Africa continue to
use European languages as the sole media of instruction and adnlinistra-
tion? How can African languages be used to improve outcomes in the areas
of education, health, governance and the economy? What are the African
languages that can bring about these outcomes? Is the aim of globalisation
to transform the objective disempowerment of the African peoples into a
subjective acceptance by these peoples of the view that they are incapable
of empowerment? Does globalisation spell the demise of African languages?
The paradigm proposed in this book is to approach the definition and
process of development in terms of the medium of transfer of non-prescrip-
tive information and skills to the majority of the people, and the active
participation of the latter in programmes that matter to their everyday Ii fe
and wellbeing, so that the changes that are generated are sustainable.
Despite the self-congratulatory claims of Francophonic and the Global
English movement, African languages have survived, developed and
spread (Organisation Internationa le de la Francophcmie, 2007). \,Vhat does
this say about the African people and their social and communicative prac-
tices of languages? What does it say about the prevailing definition of
language?
xiv The Sociolinguistics of Development in Africa
- - - - - --
Multilingualism in Africa
Pardon and Furniss (1994: 4) describe multilingualism as the African
lingua franca, thereby stressing that multilingualism is the norm. Tnclivid-
uals use a variety of languages (indigenous languages, pidgins, creoles,
popular varieties of national/ official languages) in their daily interactions,
with varying degrees of fluency, for different purposes, code-1nixing and
code-switching to adjust to new communicative situations.
After much hesitation, I have resolved to include in this foreword a brief
autobiography, to underscore the point that the thrust of this book is not
about a nostalgic dream for some imaginary revival of African languages,
or a choice between the languages of the former colonisers and African
languages. Born in Africa, the first languages I spoke were Wa and French,
at home with my parents and siblings, and Yoruba, Baoule and Dyula, with
other children of my age in the immediate neighbourhood and in other
domains outside my home. All my primary and secondary schooling was
in French, with English, then Spanish as subjects in secondary schools
(English from the first year of secondary school and Spanish from the third
year of secondary school). I soon added Attie, Gouro and Koulango as my
father, a civiI servant, took his family with him when he was sent to various
regions across the country. As I moved away from home for n1y secondary
and upper secondary schooling, l also picked up Dida and Bete.5 My under-
graduate studies were done mostly in French, with some English, and my
graduate studies entir~ly in English-which meant that I spent three or four
times the amount of time my American classn,ates took to go tlu-ough the
reading assignments. Later on, as an adult, for personal and professional
reasons, I acquired 'passive knowledge' of other languages sud1 as Ewe (a
cross-border language spoken in Ghana and Togo)" and Laotian, and famil-
iarised myself with Mandarin Chinese and Japanese, when my ch ildren
studied these languages in primary and secondary school. Many educated
Africans have fol lowed a similar path, having to learn new languages alto-
gether in order to attend tertiary institu ti.ons in Europe, the USA, the former
LJSSR, China and Japan.
Over the years, and because of the way I use my language repertoire,
French has taken over as my dominant language, nnd English as u1y second
dominant language. I use the languages of my childhood only when
needed, and although I am no longer proficient in son1e of them (some, like
Spanish, have receded into passive memory) I cherish every word and
ph rnse l can stilI recall. They are always a great source of satisfaction every
time I get to use the1n to remind a childhood friend,orsomeonewho speaks
the language, that I am not a total stranger. And, a 11 the while, I have never
Preface xv
- - - -- -- --
felt that I might lose fluency in \,Vft, as a consequence of having acquired all
these other languages. My identity would be incomplete without the
dispersed identities f have acquired through these languages. Better than
Janus, I have several faces, each of which is an essential part of my person-
ality, and with which I view and deal with the world around n1e. In my
country of birth, and in other African countries, it is a matter of course that
one should acquire all the communicative tools necessary to interact effec-
tively with the people in whose environment one lives. ft is a great irony
that the English language I have embraced with a passion, in order to
express my discontent with the hegemony of French in my country of birth,
is itself displaying the srune features and arrogance that I abhor so much.
This is not an exceptional linguistic experience in the context of my
country of birth, or in the wider African context. Many African children are
going through the san1e linguistic experience, and there is evidence to
suggest that this dynamic of the patten1s of language learning and use is
spreading well beyond the lucky few of the late 60s and 70s. 7 But to what
extent do such changes in language repertoires generate and are a reflection
or a reconfiguration of 'elite clostue' (Myers-Scotton, 1993: 149)?
It is sometin1es suggested that I, and those Africans who have been
through a similar linguistic experience, must be highly intelligent. But lam
always reminded that this is very n1t1ch akin to being a war veteran. Those
who return home are not necessarily the bravest, and the heroes - the true
heroes - die on the battlefield, just Iike a 11 these brilliant minds I have c01ne
across in primary school, in secondary school and in my undergraduate
years at university, who dropped out along the way for various reasons,
including the failure to master the language of instruction.
Multilingualism in Africa is part and parcel of lifo and takes no account,
a pr.iori, of a hierarchy between the languages acquired.11ost people select
the language or variety of language most appropriate for a particular
context of interaction and communities and identities are defined and
change through particular practices and netvvorks of communication.
Batibo (2005: 1) gives the example of a Tshivenda speaker (South Africa)
who may speak Tshivenda to his/her parents, but uses JsiZulu or Fanagalo
when talking to ,~rorkmates, and receives orders Ln Afrikaans from his/her
employer, then uses English at a ba.Ilk. Members of a speech community
have a number of languages at their disposal and use them according to the
subject matter and/or context, or to 1-vhom they are speaking. This
complexity has led to assertions that defy corrunon sense. There is therefore
greater order in the apparent chaos of the African n1ultilinguaJ context than
is generally realised, and the Somali, Rwanda and Burundi tragedies have
finally turned on its head the argument that monolingualism or near-
xvi The Sociolinguistics of Development in Africa

monolingualism is the bedrock of socio-political stability and economic

prosperity for Africans. The rea lity is that local African languages help the
masses survive, especially in the areas of health and the economy.
Tius reality is not exclusively African. Many children growing up in
multilingual contexts the world over have similar childhood experiences
with their languages. So conference interpreters, even in European coun-
tries, sometirnes have to add a language to their repertoire, or in1prove it in
a formal context, before sitting the entrance examination of the interpreting
school. Sometimes this happens much later in their professional life, when
they ,,vant to extend their language combination in order to enter a specific
language market. Adding a language to one's repertoire is quite cmnmon
and always enriching. Contrary to what some - mostly monolinguals -
ntay think, speaking more than one language is not an act of religious faith;
if one caimot be a committed Jewish practitioner and a devout Muslin,, or a
good Catholic and a strong Protestant at the san1e tin1e, it is always
rewarding to be able to speak to sti-angers in their own language and hence
to build bridges instantly. The foregoing is evidence that the linguistic
environment of the African child is a complex one. This muJtilingual
complexity at the individual level is a reflection of the linguistic complexity
of African societies at la rge. Is this sort of diversified linguistic repertoire an
obstacle to efficient communication, and ultimately to development? What
is development?
Introduction
... novelty shall not be suppressed for very long.
Kuhn (1962)

As long as the lions will not have their own historians, the stories about
hunting will always praise the courage of the hunter.
(African Proverb)
The aim of this book is to describe the place and role of African languages in
four areas traditionally considered as the pillars of development; namely,
education, health, the economy and governance. It argues that the role of
language in human societies contains its own imperative as the focus for
research in development, because language is the vehicle for the transfer of
knowledge, and because this transfer of knowledge is conditional upon the
efficiency of communication. Acknowledgen1ent of this role wou ld help
provide the masses with better literacy, numeracy and health care. This is
not just about African languages of wider communication, but also about
the gradual shifts in linguistic identities occurring in almost every African
society, based both on African languages of wider con1munication and on
European languages inherited from colonisation. The language practices of
individuals and communities exhibit an incredible capacity and resource-
fulness in empowering themselves where and when it matters most. The
sociolinguistics of development suggests that an understanding of these
linguistic realities goes a long way towards helping to improve educa-
tional, health and economic policies and to resolve the crises of governance
in Africa.
Although the title of this book suggests an equal treatn1ent of both
sociolinguistics and developtnent, it is decidedly focused on development
in Africa. Development is often understood in terms of ccono.mic growth;
but the economy must rely on other key sectors such as education (an illit-
erate population cannot help itsel£ out of the dungeons of poverty and
misery), health (an unhealthy population cannot provide a reliable
workforce) and good governance (the lack of basic human rights, good and
fair administration and political vision will seriously affect economic
growth). This book argues that language lies at the heart of all these sectcn'S,
at least insofar as adequate and appropriate service provision is concerned,
2 The Sociolinguistics of Development in Africa

and therefore at the heart of the economy and of deve.lopment. Indeed,

development is a process that requires a momentum of its own, iJ it is to
endure. The help com ing from well-meaning benefactors and aid donors
will mea:n nothing, if it only goes to hands that receive, and no t to brains
that can conceive. This book also aims to question the present, in order to
better understand the future.
Ki Zerbo (2003: 153) warned that 'The trees of growth must not hide the
forest of development"; in other words, development must not be reduced
to a question of 'economic possession' or 'power' to the detrin1ent of a
holistic and human vision. Development is first and foremost about 'being'
and 'wellbeing', not just abou t a material dimension that leads to a 11sorts of
absurdities. Although it is rich in mineral resources, the continent is better
known in terms of poverty, inequality, exclusion, war a:nd diseases; the sad
reality i~ quite simply that development, in its current model, has stalled in
Africa,and the current state of affairs can be summed up in one word: 'crip-
pled'. The education systems, the health syste1ns, governance and hence
the economy are all crippled, and in no small 1neasure, because of lack of
genuine communication. Those at the top are tnlking nt, not to, the popula-
tion, using European languages that bring them power and prestige. For
those at the bottom though, day-to-day life b a struggle that is n1ade even
harder, as they must face the challenge of learning and seeking medical
help in a foreign language. Yet, there exists another Africa, an Africa of hard
working people, and an Afriea looking to the future with great anticipation.
While this book may read at times like a litany of the continent's s hortcom-
ings, it is this thriving Africa that it aims to point to, tlu-ougha discussion of
the centrality of its languages in a sustainable development strategy, whilst
arguing that development is much rnore than econo1nic growth, and that
development is viable onJy when it seeks to allow speech c01nmun.ities to
realise their full potential, when it endorses and respects linguistic and
cultural p luralism.
Each chapter of this book focuses on one of these sectors fu ndamental to
econ01nic growth and, ultimately tc) develop1nent, looking at tl1e true place
and role of African languages in these facets of the life of th e African people.
The subject of the first chapter, prolego1nena to the sociolinguistics of
development, is an attempt to summarise the main issues that have long
stood in the way of African languages. Are the arguments justified and well
founded? Is language neutral? This chapter argues that language is an inev-
itable site of ideology1 which involves asymmetrical power relations
between groups and individuals (Su leiman, 2004: 7); much more than just a
means of communication, language binds a speech community with its
history and a sense of identity through specifi c cultural practices that drive
Introduction 3

the imagination and creativity of the n,embers of the community. Hence,

language also serves as an instrument of power 'that shapes reality by
influencing other people's perceptions of that reality, and of what counts as
reality. Words are not empty talk; they are a form of action' (Suleiman, 2004:
218), and they express an ideological position. Th.is is why no significant
and lasting change can occur in Africa without her languages and without
the full participation of the majority of her people. The solution to empow-
ering the masses in Africa is not in making everyone fluent in English,
French, Portuguese or Spanish, but in replicatLn.g their patterns of local
language use in development policies and programs.
Empowering the people to take an active part in their own destiny
begins with language Uteracy and education, both of which are critical indi-
cators of development; so this topic naturally leads to a discussion of the
role of language in the provision of literacy and education, the subject of
Chapter 2. Most children of school age in Africa speak their mother
tongues, and yet find themselves in schools where the language of instruc-
tion is not the Ianguage(s) they know, and so they will struggle to succeed
academically. Many of them \NilJ drop out, or will be pushed out, for lack of
success. This chapter revisits the issues raised by education in European
languages and asks whether there is a case to be made for mother-tongue or
bil i.ngual education. Development is today perceived as the transformation
of the world through the innovations of new information and communica-
tion technologies (VVorld Summits on the Information Society in Geneva in
2003 and in Tunis in 2005). Hence, this chapter also discusses recent devel-
opments in Information and Communication Tedmologies (ICTs), which
hold the promise of bridging the digital divide. ICTs now provide a
pathway for accessing new knowledge through the languages that can
articulate the creative and inventive instincts of the African child and offer
the technical tools to address many of the constraints that held the African
continent back, allo,ving a nu1nber of myths to develop andspread. lmple-
menting a consistently democratic language policy through the encultur-
ation of technology, such as software localisation, now appears as one of the
critical c01nponents of the consolidation and expansion of democratic
society in Africa, even, and especiaUy, in a 'globalised' world.
Chapter 3 deals with language, health and development and discusses
recent surveys (e.g. Sidaction, UNAIDS and WHO, 2005) and reports on
local associations and comn1tmity groups that are at the forefront of best
practices in facilitating access to, adrninistration and 1nanagement of the
antiretroviral drugs for the treatment of HIV/AIDS and other diseases in
Africa. These programs are mostly implemented in the local languages and
make up for gaps in a publichealthsystem that is completely overwhelmed
4 The Sociolinguistics of Development in Africo
- - - - --
in most African countries. The chapter also discusses the issues of medical
infrastructure across Africa and the massive brain dra in of African med ical
staff to Europe and the United States. However, the fundamental question
here is about how the masses access health information in Africa, and how
health is generally administered. ,iVhat is the general pattern of doctor-
patient comn1unication, and to what extent is the language used critical to a
successful outcome?
The topic of Chapter 4, language, the economy and development, has
been an important one for quite some tin1e now, and is increasingly being
used to argue against the adoption of mother-tongue education in Africa.
To what extent is economic analysis relevant to language? Th.is book argues
that the economic experiments of nearly half a cenhuy in Africa have
failed, mainJy because the actors of change have not been allowed to partic-
ipate in the formulation and implementation of these development
programmes. This is in part through the neglect of a sustainable strategy-
the use of the languages most appropriate for the transfer of knowledge
and technology in the African context. A look at language use in the
informal sector of the economy suggests that at the micro-economic level
African lcmguages make good business sense. The inform a I sector involves
an average of 2.7 million people or 76'1/o of jobs in Cotonou (Benin),
Ouagadougou (Burkina Faso), Abidjan (Cote d'Ivoire), Bamako (Mali),
Niamey (Niger), Dakar (Senegal) and lo1ne [fogo), and generates US$9
billion, or the equ iva lent of the combined GDPs of Senegal and Mali (see
Afristat & DLA.L, 2003). It occupies well over 90% of the active population,
represents well over 70% of the GDP i.n several African countries, at least
43% of the African GDP according to the 1,Vorld Bank (2007) and is the Iifc-
Line for many communities in which African languages are the do1ninant
vehicles of commLmication. This chapter exrun.ines whether policies mobi-
lising and revitalising the languages that oil the machine of the informal
economy can have positive unplications for the formal economy and for
econom.ic development at large.
The chapter on language, governance and developn1ent, Chap ter 5,
looks at the need for the actors of develop,nent to understand and take an
active part in the day-to-day running of their own affairs, th.rough the
language(s) they know, if good governance is indeed about people, all
people, being able to talk to one another, and about participation, represen-
tation and benefaction. Current estimates of speakers of English, French,
Portuguese and Spanish in Africa over the las t 50 years vary between 20°/o
to a low 5% (Bamgbose, 1971: 38-39; Heine, 1992: 27; Heugh, 1999: 75-76).8 lf
this is true, then we are dealing with an elitist state of affairs, where the lucky
few arc talking to the majority of the people in languages that empower only
Introduction 5
- - -- -
those who do the talking. This chapter explores ways in whlch democracy
and governance can be in1proved for the majority in Africa.
The final chapter suggests that language is a means by which the partici-
pation of the people in the process of development can either be facilitated
or hindered. The question, when it comes to Africa, js no longer about what
speech communities need to do with their languages, but what it is they actu-
ally do with them. This essential consideration has significant i.lnplications
in terms of the place and role of European languages and their local vari-
eties \.Vithln the new, mostly young African speech communities; ignoring
these in any future language plan will be as mistaken and costly as the
language policy that is the target of this book. Language is an explicit
contributing factor of development and needs to be taken into account in
the formulation of innovative and visionary language policies in Africa for
good education, health, economy and governance, all of which are condi-
tional upon efficient communication.

What is the Sociolinguistics of Deve lopment?

In the preface to English as Global Language, David Crystal (1997: viii-ix)
writes:
I firn1ly believe in two linguistic prmciples which some people see as
contradictory, but which for me are two sides of one coin.
I believe in the fundamental value of multilingualism, as an amazing world
resource which presents us with different perspectives and insights, and
thus enables us to reach a more profound understanding of the nature of
the human mind and spirit ...
I believe in the fundamental value of a common language, as an amazmg
world resource which presents us with unprecedented possibilities for
mutual understandmg, and thus e11ables us to fi.l'ld fresh opportunities for
international communication ...
We need to take both principles on board if we are to make any progress
towards the kind of peaceful and tolerant society which most people
dream about .... (Crystal, 1997: viii-ix; my italics)
There is indeed no contradiction in these two lmguistic principles: safe-
guarding multilingualism, and having a common language at the same
time. This is an age-old practice, which unfortw1ately has been tampered
with across time and space by monolingual language policies.
Although the adoption of a national/ official language or a medium of
instruction is a complex process that requires the balancing of political and
6 The Socio/ingulstics of Development in Africa

practical considerations, the available evidence does not s uggest that since
independence the African politica I classes have struck the right balance in
this area. Language constitutes a key ingredient in creating a favourable
context for sustainable and long-term endogenous developn1ent, and good
education, health, economy and governance are all conditio nal upon effi-
cient co1nmm1ication. So, it is one thing to argue that a common language is
a necessary and sufficient requirement in nation building (Bcrd ichevsky,
2004: 1) and another to suggest that development can occur in someone
else's language. If 1nultilingualism is valuable for nation building, instruc-
tion in African languages raises a number of issues and challenges that
some advocates of this solution are not always fully aware of (Djitc, 2006b).
It would be wonderful if everyone could conduct all their affairs, including
education, health, trade a nd governance, in their own language. The n1uch
more sobering reality is, however, is that the alternative of giving African
languages a better status in education, health, the economy and gover-
nance requires considerable expenditure. Moreover, the correction of
inequality, inequity and injustice is not always the motive for language-in-
education planning. On tbe contrary, the avai lable evidence suggests that
language policy and planning have generally been carried out to establish
or entrench a fo rm of imposition or domination and, hence, to deepen the
inequality, inequity and injustice. Therefore, the issue of instruction in
African lan).,rtiages is one of power relations. Govenm1ents in Africa make
language-related decisions in ways that can maintain and guarantee their
control of power. The key question here is whether these decisions will Lead
to and foster development on the continent.
The sociolinguistics of development is an analysis of modernisation,
infonned by w hat constitutes the pillars of n1odernisation itself in the
African context; nmnely, education, health, the economy, governance. The
premise of the a nalysis is that ead\ of these sectors is like a piece of a puzzle
connected to the others. Education, for instance, provides the foundations
for good governance. One cannot expect a country to attain any level of
development when its people have no fwictional literacy skills, and no
access to basic infonnation about how to protect themselves against
preventable diseases, when they cannot find e1nployment, earn a decent
wage and accrue assets, and are not able to participate in the pub Ile affairs
of their own society. The language policy,langu age-in-education policy, the
pattern of language maintenance and use, as well as language attih1des,
form the basis of the analysis, and link all these sectors to the challenges of
modernisation that face Africa.
The sociolinguistics of development calls for a paradig1n shift in terms of
the subject matter of the sociolinguistic study. lt n,akes the point that the
Introduction 7

issue oflanguage is•vital and complex, because of its inextricable links with
a society's education, health, economy and political life. Tt also acknowl-
edges that language policy issues are highly political and politicised, and
that language can be used as an instrun1ent to provide or deny access to
economic and political emancipation. Taking into account the language
practices of the majority of the people concerned will make a critical differ-
ence in terms of effectiveness, relevance and sustainability. This is in 110
way an attempt to recover national and cultural pride (nationalism), but an
attempt to facilitate the process leading to development, through a more
appropriate language, for the majority of the population (nationism).
The sociolinguistics of development argues that a good language policy
must be based on evidence from research and be defendable on the strength
of this evidence. It must be realistic in terms of the resources available but,
above all, it must be just and democratic and address the interest of the
nation (Lo Bianco 1.991). The premise of any scientific endeavour is to iden-
tify a problem and find a solution to it. Being able to identify a linguistic
problem for what it really is, is a prerequisite to providing an accurate,
organised picture of the overall linguistic situation and to making the pros-
pect of language planning more realistic. Assumpti(ms, no matter how
close they ,nay be to the truth, must be rejected, especially when they are
not supported by evidence, and failing to acquaint oneself with the
sociolinguistic reality or not taking it into account will not make it go away.
Language is an implicit contributing factor to development, but the issues
involved in the relevance of African languages in the modernisation of the
continent are not simple and are most certainly beyond simpl isticsolutions.
Chapter 7
Prolegomena to the Sociolinguistics
of Development
Western culture hns mnde, tl1ro11gh language, a provisional analysis
of reality and, wi/h()u/ corrective, /10/ds resolutely lo that 1111alysis as
finnl; the only correctives lie in all those other tongues which by
aeons rif independent evolution have arrived at differe:nf, but equally
logical provisional analyses.
Whorf (1956: 244)

In broader tenns, Africa that acknowledges its et/mo-li11guistic

pl11ralis111 and accepts this as a normal way of life and as
a rich resource for development and progress.
'Vision for Africa' -The Harare Declaration
(UNESCO, 2006)

Introduction
The interfaces between sub-Saharan Africa and the rest of the wo rld
have been, and still are, painful. In almost all cases (agriculture, trade,
health, technologies, immigration), they present a negative balance.
Indeed, everything pertaining to Africa is seen as a problem: its demog-
raphy, its econom)~ its political systems, its languages. However, the 1nost
painful and ab$urd interface between Africa and the rest of the world is the
language questlon, and the crucial nexus between language and develop-
ment. In an age of globalisation, many find it d ifficu lt to unders tand the
need for continuing to problen1atise and reflect on the issue of language in
Africa. So rnuch so that it is very hard to argue the case for the maintenance
of African languages, let alone their developmen t. Lt is even harder to
generate interest in language policy .issues about and on the African con ti-
nent. vVhv, is this so?
First, the African linguistic situation is genuinely a complex one:
multilingualism is nonnal for the majority of the African population and
language diversity is a feature of almost every coun try on the continent.
Language policies, when they exist, vary considerably fron1 one country to
another, and the prevai ling view around the world and in Africa is s till that
this continent is awash with a plethora of languages, the speech con11nuni-

8
Prolegomena to the Sociolinguistics of Development 9
~ - - -- - - -- - --'-
ties of which can hardly understand one another. Secondly, most African
languages lack international currency and are put under severe strain by
the languages of the former colonisers that arguably offer the African
people economic and scientific advantages not available to them through
their own languages. Thirdly, after independence, the hangover of colonial
approaches to multilingualism has led n1any African countries to promote
the use of European languages, to the detriment of the languages actually
known and used by the majority of the people. Despite the occasional rhet-
oric about their importance, African languages have, until recently, been
neglected and downgraded in alm.ost all cases, as development interven-
tion and pedagogical practices .in education have been suborctinated to the
search for a way around the linguistic diversity of African countries
(Robinson, 1996). Former British colonies by and large used local languages
as languages ofinstruction in the firstfew years of education, whilst forn1er
French, Belgian and Portuguese colonies n1aintained French and Portu-
guese as the sole languages of instruction throughout the school system.
These European languages, in essence the languages of power and high
status functioning as boundary markers of socio-economic opporh1nity
and mobility, largely excluded and still marginalise the vast majority of
Africans from various aspects of everyday life that are considered the
pillars of development. Indeed, knowledge of a European language .is the
sine qua non condition for higher education and socio-economic success,
and African societies are ctnTently split between those who speak the
language of power and those who do not - a division that mirrors the
dichotomy between literate versus illiterate, educated versus uneducated,
urban versus rural, rich versus poor. And yet cw·rcnt language policies and
practices show no real willingness to break away from the colonial systems,
as many African governments seem hell-bent on pursuing the colonial
practices and refuse to innovate in favour of mass education. Hence, 50
years on, the historical legacy still prevails (Bamgbose, 1991:70-- 71), and
the current situation can be summed up as follows:
(1) timid or no use of local languages as media of jnstruction;
(2) dominant or exclusive use of the language of the former coloniser at all
levels of education.
As a result, in most of Africa, one European language (English, French or
Portuguese) always plays the most important role, at least in the official
domain and mainly in the urbai-t centres, placing those who are not profi-
cien t in European languages at a considerable disadvantage, and pushing
majorities into separate and artificial existence. Comprehension and active
use of French, English or Portuguese, the 'cultural [and economic] capital'
10 - - -The
-- Sociolinguistics
- of Development in Africa

seldom exceed 20% of the population and remain' w1a ttainable' for the res t
(Alexander, 2000). This lac k of proficiency in the official language is a
powerful obstacle to individual and collective socio-econonuc improve-
ment, as the majority of the people have no access to education, decent
housi ng and health, and are denied full and active participation in the
running of the affairs of state, simply because they cannot speak the official
language.
Alexander (2005: 520) notes that Africa's linguistic dependence on
Europe (Mazrui & Mazrui, 1998) was most apparent when the outgoing
chairperson of the African Union (AU), Joaquim Chissano of Mozambique,
caused a stir when he addressed the assembled Heads of States in
KiSwahili, although it had al ready been resolved that KiSwahili would be
one of the working languages of the AU. And there were even more
rumblings in the audience when the inconung chairperson, Ol usegun
Obasanjo of Nigeria, proceeded to address the audience in Arabic, wluch
has been an official language of the Organisation for African Union and the
AU for a long time (BBC News, 2004). This supports the view of Mazrui and
Mazrui when they write:
fan] in1portant sotu-ce of intellectual dependence in Africa is the language
in whlch African graduates and scholars are taught ... in non-Arabic-
speaking Africa, a modern s1u-geon who does not speak a European
language is virtually a sociolinguistic impossibility ... [A] conference of
African scientists, devoted to scientific n1a tters and conducted primarily
in an African language, is not yet possible ... It is because of the above
considerations that intellectual and scientific dependence in Africa may
be inseparable from linguistic dependence. The linguistic ques t for liber-
ation must seek to promote African languages, especially in acadenua,
as one of the s trategies for promoting greater intellectual and scientific
independence from the vVest. (Mazrui & Mazrui, 1998: 64-65)
The fundamental question has therefore always been, and still is, about
the nexus between language and development. \,Vhat, for exan,ple, is the
most appropriate language(s) for disseminating infonnation to the masses
about health and hygiene and, mos t importantly, about preventive
measures against diseases such as m.alaria, h1berculosis and HIV/ AIDS?
vVhat is the most appropriate language(s) for passing on to fanners rele-
vant information on the efficient and safe use of fertilisers and pesticides, or
practical.information on high-yield varieties of crops and cattle, techniques
for stocking ponds, fo;h conservation and processi.n.g, rivers and artificial
lakes, appropriate planting seasons, irrigation techniques and techniques
for the preservation of la nd and soils? Quite simply, Africa cannot continue
Prolegomena to the Sociolinguistics of Development 11
- - - -- -
to ignore her own languages. Fifty years after colonisation began to come to
an end, it is abundantly clear that the hnposition of the languages of the
former colonisers in the crucial areas of education, health, the economy and
governance has failed to meet local needs.
The aim of this chapter is to separate facts from fiction, and to disentangle
the language question in Africa from articles of faith passing for theoretical
frameworks which, despite the appearance of intellectual con1plexity, are
narrow and self-serving, because they fail to fully appreciate the complexi-
ties of language diversity. Nothing short of the full participation of the
majority of its human capital will bring significant and lasting change to
Africa; for, SO years on, the solution to empowering fue masses in Africa
dearly does not lie in making everyone fluent in the languages of the
former colonisers (i.e. English, French, Portuguese or Spanish). The issues
raised in this chapter are:
(1) the assumptions underlying the rhetoric behind the marginalisation
of African languages;
(2) the actual sociolinguistic picture of Africa, not just in terms of the
number of languages, but in terms of the over-arching patterns of
actual use, roles and statuses of these languages;
(3) whether language is neutral in the pursuit of developn1ent. In other
words, can development be achieved in any language? Can civic infor-
mation be efficiently disseminated? How much does the average
citizen know about his/her country's politica l processes? fs the
paucity of newspapers in local languages an impediment to political
debate? What, in the final analysis, is development? ls the lack of
development in Africa in fact an absence of solidarity?

What is Development?
Development, for the layperson, is quite simply finding solutions to
everyday problems which human beings face, and improving their living
conditions. In his Inaugural Address of January 20, 1949, after the devasta-
tion of World War 11, US President Harry S. Truman described his thinking
of Development Assistance as ' ... making the benefits of our scientific
advances and industrial progress available for the improvement and
growth of underdeveloped areas' (Truman, 1949). ln other words, develop·
ment was to be a process of h·ansferring techrtical capability or expertise to
stimulate local food production and industrial infrastructure. The devel-
oped world engaged in this process of transfer of know-how in Africa,
seeking to replicate well-known and tried processes. This was inevitable,
since economic theories of development and modernisation before the
12 The Sociolinguistics of Development in Africa
- - - -- -
Asian boom (Japan, Korea, Taiwan, Singapore, and now lndia and China)
were mostly Euro-centric. Over time, it became abundantly clear to some
that Africa's cultural and socio-historical circumstances are different, and
that the paths to development on the continent may differ from those of the
V\lestern world. \.''i11at are so.me of these cultural and socio-historical
circumstances? Do they really matter?
All economic studies look at development in terms of the general level of
education, the critical indicators of health, the growth of the economy and,
most recently, good governance. The connection between language and
development did not a1ways feature in these studies, in part because d eve 1·
opn1ent was first conceived as moral progress for 'primitive' or' oral' soci-
eties. Yet economic history ca1mot be explained on the basis of economic
factors alone; and language, being part and parcel of all spheres of life -
thought processes, comrnwucation, education, health, the economy and
good governance - can.not be excluded from economic history.
Development in Africa is often defined in technocratic tenns that do not
take language into account and hence marginalise the 1najority of the
people, their concerns and legitimate aspirations, even though Africa is
beset by a number of development issues that are. language-related. Most
approaches to devclop1nent in Africa put the emphasis on economic
growth, measured by traditional indicatm~-; such as the gross domestic
product or the gross national product, and this is reflected in the definition
of development one can draw from the practices of the Bretton Woods lnsti·
tutions over the past six decades, namely, that developm.e nt means export·
led growth through structural adjustn1ent, because for a long time develop•
ment was determined by way of quantitative constructs such as gross
national product, gross domestic product, growth and / or Lnflation rates
and income per capita." It was thought that technology (e.g. the green revo-
lution), the economy (e.g. import substitution or comparative advantage
theories), politics and the economy (e.g. the dependency theory, which sees
a dependency li.n.k between politics and the economy), and / or demog•
raphy were key factors of development policies.
Co1nplicating matters further is the confusion created under the criteria
of the \No rid Trnde Orgarusation (\.'\!TO), 10 where there is a certain degree of
selection and interpretation of mean ing of the tenns 'developed' and
'devel.o ping' country, as countries choose to be either 'developed', 'devel-
oping' or 'least developed', because each of these statuses in the \NTO
brings certain rights and privileges. Por instance, developing countries
have the privi lege of receiving tcclmi.cal assistance or the benefit from the
Generalised System of Preferences (GSP) provided by developed countries
Prolegomena to the Sociolinguistics of Deve lopment 13
- - - --
(although it is the preference-giving counh-y that decides which devel-
oping country will benefit from these preferences).
Development is therefore generally accepted as a moral evidence,
universal aspiration and historical necessity. After nearly half a cenhrry of
political independence, it has become painful ly clear that development is
certainly not the result of a quiet and easy stroll, inexorably promised to all.
This is in part because, for far too long, development was an idea from
developed countries 'projected', as it were, towards non-developed coun-
tries. Unfortunately, development in African countries was perceived by
many as the hoarding of material v.1ealth and consumerism, whilst the
necessary d1anges of the productive social and organisational structures
were overlooked. This kind of develop1nent has proven illusory for the
majority. The current state of affairs in Africa clearly shows that there is
so1nething funda.mentally wrong in this sort of approach and that one
cannot set developmental goa Is that ignore the attributes and peculiarities
of the target population.
This approach to development was first called into question in a report
published in 1975 by the Dag Ham mars kjold Foundation,11 as it became
clear that communication is crucial in the process of technical or technology
transfer. The report argued that, in order to be sustainable, development had
to effect changes at three levels; namely: (1) at the level of the actors, (2) at
the level of the methods used, and (3) at the level of the aims and objectives
of the process. The report also stressed the need for a 'bottom-up' or
participative approach to development, in which the target population and
non-governmental organisations would beco1ne the main actors in devel-
opment planning and projects. It ,~,as acknowledged that no one factor can
define, account for or shape the development process, and that a shift had
to be made fron, mono-causal and mechanistic theories of development to
more holistic approaches, with the introduction of the 'human develop-
ment indicator' encompassing several related development indicators.
This type of development had to be firmly based on local knowledge and
aimed at meeting local needs and aspirations. Languages are the corner-
stones of communication and progress, and examining human develop-
ment means examining how the communicative, and hence linguistic,
dim.ension of development is understood. Participatory methods were
therefore initiated, with a v iew to involving people in the identification and
resolution of their own problems, and this gave rise to a number of methods
of data collection, such as the Rapid Rural Appraisal (RRA), the Participa-
tory Rural Appraisals (PRA) and the Participatory Learning and Action
(PLA), a Lt of which recognised the need to listen to the people and to share
knowledge. The Participatory Rural Communication Appraisals (PRCA), a
14 - - -The
- --Sociolinguistics of Development in Africa

modified form. of PRA, were also developed to focus on communications

systems and ilnprove1nent of c01n1nunication sharing among aU the stake-
holders. The PRCA is a cornmunication research method that uses field-
based visualisation techniques, intervie,vs and group discussions to
generate information for the design of effective communication program-
mes, ntaterials, media and methods for development purposes. Needless
to say, the PRCA requires the use of a shared language, and in niral artd
remote areas, an African language, to ensure, as the name of the method
suggests, the full participation of the people in the process of needs anal-
ysis, problems identification, possible solutions, understartding of the
scientific, technical and developn1ental issues artd, most importantly, the
relevance to and sense of ownership by the people involved in such a
process (Anyaegbunam et al, 2001: 18). Language in the PRCAserves as a
vehicle for active participation of all the shareholders in the development
process and influences decision-making.
The concept of sustainable development was again used in the 1987
Bnmdtland Report (vVCED, 1987). In the 1990s, Mahbub Ul :H aq developed
the seminal concept of 'Development Index', a comparative standard
means of measuring poverty, literacy, education, life expectancy, childbirth
rates and other critical factors . As a result, in the VNDP 1992 World Report on
Human Development, the UNDP changed the economic indicators (i.e.
productivity, gross national product and infrastructure) through which tbe
level of development of a society was assessed. Since then, the index has
been used to measure: (1) life expectancy at birth, (2) adult literacy rate
(with two-thirds weight) and the combined primary, secondary, and
tertiary gross enrolment ratio (with one-third weight), and (3) gross
domestic product per capita at purchasing power parity in US dollars. Ln
other words, the Develop1nent lndex is a 1neasure of the extent to which the
citizens of a country can lead a long and healthy life, be educated and enjoy
a decent standard of living. It is therefore an indication of where a country
is in terms of develop1nent.
This advance in the field of development theory acknowledges the link
between language and socio-economic develop1nent. Hu.man develop-
1nent has it roots in the socia I we II-being a pp roach and is understood as the
process of opening up the people's opportunities and capabilities to enable
them to lead rewarding, healthy and fulfilling lives. It is a process that
includes empowering people to gain and maintain the skills necessary, not
only to meet their basic needs (food security, safe drinking water, improved
sanitation, health care, education), but also to show resourcefulness and
inventiveness in taking up new challenges that directly or .indirectly affect
their lives. As a result, the UNDP is now of the view that:
Prolegomena to the Sociolinguistics of Development 15
- - - - - -- - - --'-"'
Previous concepts of development have often given exclusive attention
to economk growth - on the asstm1ption that growth will ultimately
benefit everyone. Human development offers a much broader and more
inclusive perspective. It demonstrates thateconomk gi:owthis vital. [ ... ]
But growth on its own is not sufficient - it has to be translated into
improvements in people's lives. Economic growth is not the end of
human development. It is one important means. [ ... ]People contribute to
growth, and growth contributes to human well-being. (UNDP 1992: 12;
italics in the original)
The 1992 World Summit in Rio de Janeiro again insisted on the need, not
only to include the people in development projects, but also to empower
them to own and drive development initiatives from the start to the in1ple-
mentation stage. The Rio World Summit came up with a Plan of Action for
the 21st century called Agenda 21, which defined the objectives and priori-
ties of sustainable development and the action of the NGOs within that
Plan of Action.
The concept of development itself was later extended to include issues
such as empowerment, co-operation, sustainability and security (UNDI~
1996: 55-56). It has also been expanded to the role of culture in the develop-
ment process, leading the UNDP to state that 'human development is
concerned not just with people as individuals but also with how they
interact and cooperate in communities' (UN DP, 1996: 55). In its 1996
Report, the UNDP (1996: 55) identified the imposition of a dominant
language as a culturally repressive form of development, which destroys
other cultures and languages in the pursuit of nation-building and stressed
that the most successful states (e.g. Switzerland,Malaysia) tend to be those
that acknowledge and respect cultural and linguistic diversity (UNDP,
1996: 4, 62). This view was reiterated in the 2004 UNDP report:
People want the freedom to practice their religion openly, to speak their
language, to celebrate their ethnic or religious heritage without fear or
ridicule or punishment or diminished opportunity. People want the
freedom to participate in society without having to slip off their chosen
cultural moorings. (lJNDP, 2004: 1)
The 2004 report also warned that restrictive choices in language policies
can lead to certain groups being excluded from society and therefore from
development (UNDP, 2004: 60). Calling for a 'three language formula' for
multilingual states, which would include an international language, a
national lingua franca and a mother tongue in education and in govern-
ment institutions (UN DP, 2004: 60- 63), the report went so far as to say that
'development divorced from its human or cultural context is growth
16 ' ' ' of Development in Africa
The Sociolinguistics

with out a soul' (UNDP, 2004: 91). The UNDP is not alone is m aking such
categorical assertions (see World Bank, 2005a, 2006a; ADB, 2006). This state
of affairs comes as no surprise to the student of language, the education
specialist, the health expert, the economist or the poli tical scientist inter-
ested in Africa, who has witnessed teachers and th eir students, and d octors
and their pa tients, struggling to conununicate and politicians on television
and rad io tal king at their people and ai m ing to impress the West, rather
then talking to them and engaging them in a constructive manner.
Wha t these major institutions were trying to suggest is that the mission
of develop ment is n o lon ger the same and that the concept, just like the
actions on the ground, has to change, a long with the philosophy and prac-
tical ap proach. ln the United Nations' 2005 Human Development Report,
African countries occupied the last 23 places (from 154th to 177th) on the
H um an D evelopment Ind ex, with the best performers si tting a t 51st
(Seychelles) a nd 58th p laces (Libya) respectively.
Recent definitions suggest that development is a red uction in partici-
pan ts' vu lnerability to things they do not control. Moreover, it is now
generally agreed that people a re to be placed at the centre of development,
as develop ment is increasingly seen as a general improvement of human
li fe, incl ud ing the general improvement of material well-being for the
majority of the people in terms of food securtty, safe d rinking water,
im p roved sanitation, health care, education and bette r life expectancy.
Human development can be w1derstood as the process of opening u p the
opportunities and capab ilities of people to enable them to lead rewarding,
healthy a nd fulfi ll ing lives. This process includes empowering people n ot
only to gain and maintain the skills necessary to m eet their basic needs, b ut
to s how reso urcefu lness an d inventiveness to meet the challen ges affecting
their lives. Development is the1·efore no t just economic, but also social an d
institutiona l, and incorporates elements of social practices, beliefs, values
and customs, including languages. Only such a holistic approach can lead
to the establishmen t of socio-political and econ01nic sys tem.sand institu-
tions that promote and guaran tee human freedo1n (i.e. individ u al freedo1n,
as well as freedom of choice), dignity, respect and social justice. Therefore,
the concept of development cannot be dissociated from. the need for active
comm uni ty participation in the process, as it comes down to the jud icious
u tilisation of the available resou rces and human capital of the community.
A nd, n o matter how one defines development, tt carn,ot be achieved
without reference to la nguage as an important factor, and real development
is not possib le in Africa wi thout the integration of local la nguages and the
full participation of a ll of her h tunan capita l. The people of Africa are the
ones w ho will make it, or fail to make it, a developed continent.
Prolegomena to the Sociolinguistics of Development 17

Many organisations of the United Nations bodies now emphasise the

fac t that the recipients of development programs are not just passive recep-
tors of knowledge and ready-made development solutions, but are active
contributors to the designing of strategies to tackle specific problems. The
fi ght to wuock the human potential of Africa is m1derscored in the 2004
UNDP Human Development report, Cultural Liberty in Today's Diverse
World. The report higlilights the potential of building a prosperous world,
by bringing issues of language and/ or cu lture to the mainstream of devel-
opment thinking and practice; that is to say, 'Human development is first
and foremost about allowing people to lead the kind of life they choose -
and providing them with the tools and opportunities to make those
choices' (UNDP, 2004: v). In the Foreword, Mark Malloch Brown, the
UNDP Adn1inistrator, writes:
If the world is to reach the Millenni um Development Goals and ulti-
mately eradicate poverty, it must first successfully confront the chal-
lenge of how to build inclusive, culturally diverse societies. Not just
because doing so successfully is a precondition for countries to focus properly on
other priorities of economic growth, health and education for all citizens. But
because allowing people full cultural expression is an important development
end in itself. (UNDP, 2004: Foreword: my italics)
The Report goes on to debunk some age-old myths according to which
cultural and/ or linguistic differences lead to social, economic and political
conflicts, pointing out instead that managing such differences is a funda-
mental principle of human development. It notes that ' ... failing to address
the grievances of marginalised groups does not just create injustice. It
builds real problems for the future: unemployment, disaffected youth,
angry with the status quo and demanding change, often violently.' (UNDP,
2004: vi). More often than not, social, econoroic and political conflicts erupt
because of 'unequal access to economic assets, income or employment
opportwuties, social services or political opportunities' (UNDP, 2004: 41).
Whilst being cautious and ackno,vledging tha t 'no state can afford to
provide services and official docwnents in every language spoken on its
territory', the report emphasises the need for multicultural policies in
1nultilingual contexts by stressing another fm1damental truth: 'Freedom of
expression and the use of a language are inseparable' (VNDP, 2004: 60).
Significa ntly, the Report argues that bilingual/multilingual education is a
long-term investment whose costs are not as prohibitive as some would
suggest, and gives the exantples of the production of materials in Senegal,
Guatemala and India to illustrate this point (UNDP, 2004: 62). It also deals
with an important misconception (UNDP, 2004: 63), which, far too often,
78 The Sociolinguisfics of Development in Africa

autorrtatically compares language diversity to chaos, when in fact there is

order in the apparent chaos of n1ost multilingual polities. Djitc (1988) and
Prah (2000) have discussed the predominance of lingua francs and/ or
regional languages in multilingual contexts. These languages often tran-
scend national bo1mdaries (e.g. Bambara and Fulfulde in West Africa,
Swahili in East Africa and Hausa in Nigeria, Niger, Chad and northern
Cameroon) and are spoken by millions of people across territories much
wider than those of many developed countries (e.g. Lingala in the Demo-
cratic Republic of Congo, Yoruba in Nigeria, Sango in the Central African
Republic, Wolof in Senegal, and Xhosa and Zu lu in South Africa). Another
n,isconception is one that waves the spectre of banning European
languages of wider communication, as was the case in Algeria in the early
1990s (Djite, 1992). ln spite of all the optimistic 'guesstimates', the
sociolinguistic reality remains that Africa speaks English and French today
to about the same extent that medieval Europe spoke Latin (Coulmas, 1992:
52). More importantly, the goal of pron1oting multilingualism would be
defeated if it meant banning European languages of wider c01rununicatio.n.
lnstead, the goal is to give African languages the status they deserve in
order to provide the majority of Africans with life-long functional literacy,
nun1eracy and management skills, and to channel their enb·epreneurial
impulse for developn\Cnt into sustainable and long-term solutions. In as
much as social wellbeing depends on the level of economic development,
good economic performance is conditioned by an inversely proportional
investment in human resources. Along the lines of the UNDP Hw11an
Development report, the UK Co111missio11 on Africa (2005) also calls for
substantial new 'investments in {the] people' of Africa.
Much more than simply improving the standard of living, therefore,
development is, Ln the final analysis, the s ustained and continued improve-
ment of the pillars of education, health, the economy and good governance
(i.e. accountability) and a 'developing counh-y' is a country tryi11g to achieve
some form of improvement of the human condition in the cruciaJ areas of
education, health, food, jobs, incomes and housing for the majority of its
citizens, through its economic, political and social systems. The key tern1s
here are Lhe three words: lryi11g to achieve, as not everyone is agreed that
Africa has tried or is trying to achieve anything at all.

Can Africa Develop?

The continued decline of all the development indicators and the
harrowing misery of the African people over the last five decades are good
reasons to ask whether Africa really wants to develop. For a contiJ1ent with
Prolegomena to the Sociolinguistics of Development 19
- - -~-'-'-'---"-'--'--- - - -- -- ~

a wealth of raw materials, oil, solar and wind energy, it is quite simply
beyond the. comprehension of maJ1y that Africa should still be wallowing
in such misery. TI1e African elite has and wil I blame the continent's pred ica-
men ton an ongoing international conspiracy, which, from the transatlantic
slave trade to colonisation and neo-colonisation, tries to control Africa's
wealth and destii1y. One wonders where one ea n find a drug that can make
people so delusional, and many in Africa and abroad are beginning to tire
of this line of argument, which essentially seeks to exonerate w idespread
mediocrity, iJ'tcompetence, selfishness and greed in the society, and says
that the problem lies squarely in the maladminish·ation and systemic
corruption of those elite (Kabou, 1991).
In her incisive Et si I'Afrique refusait le developpement, Kabou (1991),
among others (Ki Zerbo, 1990; Kodjo,1986; Memml, 1989), asks whether
Africa really wants to be developed and suggests that the evidence over-
whelrn.ingly points to the contrary. For her, Africa is under-developed and
not developing, because of the lack of organisation, method and rigour char-
acteristic of its econonuc, social and po Ii tica Istructures. Kabou raises impor-
tant issues having to do with a number of attitudes, excesses, paradoxes and
contradictions undedh1ing aspects of the prevalent mal-administration in
many African countries, and pleads:' Africa in the 21st century will have to
become rational or there will be no Africa to speak of' (Kabou, 1991: 205).
Ayittey (2005) shares this view and writes that there is mud, more than neo-
colonialism artd debt behind Africa's woes and, ·w hilst arguing that a move
away from the legacy of foreign colonial powers and contemporary
Western-trained elites is vita l, he accuses Africa's politicians of being
largely responsible for the continent's problems. Smith (2003) goes so far as
to state that if Africa is dying, this is a suicide that Africans alone are
responsible for. Africru1s only have what they deserve, since as at the tin1e
of independence, 'Africa has been ,~rorking for re-colonisation'. Unfortu-
nately, everything in their ntaterial civi lisation, their social organisation
and their political culture acts as a braek to development. /vtanguelle (1989)
adds that Africans have to acknowledge their own 'conscious' or 'uncon-
scious' rejection of science and rationalism and undergo a radical 'cultural
adjushnen t' before any develop:mentproject on the continent can succeed.
But is it fair to say that Africans do not ,~rant development? Robert (2004)
sees Africa as a victim of powerful external forces and conspiracies.
According to her, one of the most serious proble1ns in Africa is the presence
on the continent of' different (Western) ethnic groups that do not speak the
srune language, such as the World Bank, the fMF, the USAI D and the French
1"1inish·y of Cooperation' (Robert, 2004: 27). In other words, far too many
doctors who are not agreed on the right medicine to cure the patient. But
20 The Sociolinguistics of OevelqP,ment in Africa

clearly, Africa's underdevelopment is not due to disagreement between the

donors or to lack of funding fro1n the internationa I conununity-othenvise,
no one would be calling for debt forg iveness 50 years on. It is due to a lack of
imagination, creativity and vision, and an inability to see the reality and
accept oneself for what one is, and work towards sustainable and lasting
solutions to one's iLis. The political elite has distinguished itself by its zeal to
out-Herod Herod, engaging in the building of prestigious white elephants
with a11 almost kamikaze tendency to destroy everything preceding its
term of office, and then to self destruct. It is an open secret that some leaders
in these political elite are far richer than some of the wealthiest people in the
developed world, and ye t fail to help the most vulnerable citizens of their
own countries, choosing instead, and with pride, to finance the political
campaigns of their friends inEurope. 12 In almost all of Africa, key positions
at all levels of government and adminish·ation, as well as university schol-
arships, are awarded not on merit, but by nepotism and favouritism.
Government officials do not hesitate to write to Vice Chancellors and
University Presidents overseas to request that their children be admitted in
competitive courses without sitting the norn1al entrance examinations. 13
Some J1ave argued that this ignorant and suicidal approach to governance
was typical of an old generation of political leaders, who had sold their
souls to the former colonisers. The jury is still out on the current political
leadership, although the emerging trends are not encotuaging. Wa
Thiong'o (1986) s uggests a decolonisation of the minds, whilst Djite (1994)
argues that not only the political elite, but also the people need to be detoxi-
fied, because 'fish does not rot from the head a lone, but also from the guts'.
indeed, corruption and greed are manifest not just in the embezzle1nent of
public funds by governn1ent ministers, but also i_rt the acts of the customs
Officer, the traffic gendarn1e or policeman, and the office clerk, all of whom
expect to be bribed before doing what they get paid for. It is manifest in the
behaviour and philosophy of life of the masses who, in s01ne cotmtries,
have come up with colourful expressions such as 'Q11i est Jou ?' ('Who is
mad?'), or 'Ce n'esf pns le chn111p demon pere!' ('It is nol n1y father's farm!') -
articulating their complete disregard for the proper functioning of public
institutions.
These attitudes are reflected in the discow·se of the political elite when it
comes to language policy, and especially to language-in-education policy.
Convinced of the superiority of European languages, they adopt the argu-
ments of the colonia I powers and use them in part to ma intain and consoli-
date their own privileges, and to continue to divide and rule. And by dint of
repeating and recycling such arguments, generations of 'English-seeking',
not 'English-speaking', parents and children, have begun parroting their
Prolegomena to the Sociolinguistics of D-'-
e_v-'-
el--'o-'-'p-'m
--'"'"e
""'n"""t_ _ _ __ _ 21

leaders, those they are endeavouring to e1nulate. Hence, many parents,

especially in the rural areas, express the view that they send their children
to school to learn the official language (English, French or Portuguese), and
that a policy forcing them to learn an African language amounts to a
dumbing down of their children to keep them at the bottom of the socio-
economic scale. Therefore, arguing for the maintenance and development
of African languages is a real challenge. It may not be enough to ask the
right questions; one also has to engage in the much harder task of decolo-
nising the minds of Africans. On all the available evidence, the latter task
may indeed prove to be the hardest. And so the same questions remain.
Must development be imported from the West, lock, stock and barrel? Must
development be an intriguing, and sometimes contemptuous and ar.ro-
gant, process that wants to dictate its own terms and conditions over and
above those of the majority of the people? Must it ignore African culture
and languages, African know ledge and know-how? This is one of the most
in1portant prolegomena that needs to be resolved for a sociolinguistics of
development to be possible. And this endeavour requires an objective
discussion of some of the myths (old and new) about why African
languages are generally believed not to be conducive to development.

The Pathologising of Multilingualism: Old Myths about

Language and Development in Africa
We define myths here as those commonly-held 1nisconceptions that can
be traced back to the era of colonisation and that are based either on the
intrinsic value of language (i.e. linbri.1istic factors) or the economic value of
language (i.e. extra-linguistic factors, such as 'Ew·opean languages are
better suited for trade and globalisation'). These misconceptions, which are
often based not on scholarship and research but on articles of faith, take on
the characteristics of an ideology of contempt, trying all manner of ways to
convince us that:
(1) African languages are barbarous, unintelligible fonns of speech
spoken by savage and low people, not worthy of God's creation and
4
certainly not worthy of civilisation and industrialisation/ in part
because they cannot express the complexities of modern scientific
concepts, and also because there are so many o.f them that choosing
any one of these languages as a national and/ or official language will
almost certainly lead to ethnic strife and division;
(2) Only European language5,are rational, moral, civrnsed, and capable of
expressing abstract thought, and therefore of articulating ideas
pertaining to science, technology and development.
22 - -
The Sociolinguistics of Development in Africa
- - - - - ' --'-----

vVhat is more, European languages are not only universal - as was at

least claimed for the French language - they are also the only neutral
languages able to inspire a feeling of nationhood in Africa.
These falsehoods and prejudices, all aimed at arguing the superiority of
European languages, were planted in the minds of the African elite and
ordinary people, and the colonial and neo-colonial literature is replete with
negative descriptors ascribed to African languages and positive de-
scriptors ascribed to the languages of the former colonisers.
The ad hoe nature of these generalisations was rarely questioned.
Instead, as Hechter (1975) writes, they led to 'internal colonialism',
whereby the African elite have reinforced the 1nyths and negative in1ages
of African languages propagated by the colonial system. The protest of Ake
Loba, a writer from Cote d'Ivoire, who declared: 'Let's speak French,
EngUsh, Arabic, Chinese or Russian; but please, let's speak without
wasting time' (cited in Person, 1982), is reminiscent of the famous cry of the
Nama Chief in Na1nibia, who, in response to attempts to open schools
using Nama as the mcdiwn of education, is reported to have said: 'Onl y
Dutch, Dutch only! I despise myself and I want to hide in the bush, when I
speak my Hottentot language' (Vedder, 1981: 275; cited in Ohly, 1992: 65).
Internal colonialism is therefore as guilty as the colonial discourse on
African languages in maintaining and spreading these myths that are now
deeply rooted in the African psyche, as European languages continue to be
associated with socio-economic advancement, whHst many Africans still
do not believe that their own languages are capable of intellectualisation.
Most African governments have retained the language(s) of the former
coloniser(s) as their official language(s). 15 As a result, many, especially in
the middle-class, are now bringing up their children exclusively in Euro-
pean languages, and many from the masses also seek to become, or have
their children become, proficient in the same languages, having all come to
the conclusion that the up Ii ftLng of their socio-econo1nic status lies in these
European languages.
The colonial legacy of linguistic ideology, the 'One Nation = One
Language' equation, was so well articulated that some African languages
have also been made more privileged than others (Blominaert, 1999a;
Mazru i, 2003) on the African continent. Indeed, Blomn1aert (1999a) argues
that Julius Nyerere's Ujamaa in Tanzania promoted the view according to
which nation building required the reduction of language diversity 'to a
workable degree', since ethnicity and its Unguistic correlates were seen as
remnants of the pre-independence situation. Although the wide use of
KiSwahili, including as a medium of higher education (e.g. Open University
of Dares Salaam), disproved, in practice, the idea that African languages
Prolegomena to the Sociolinguistics of Development 23
- - -- - - ---=
are no t appropriate media for scientific discourse, the Swahilisation of
Tanzanian society II1eant that the basic pre1nises of colonial integrationist
assumptions for efficiency and development were adopted. Tn other
words, defining KiSwahili as a binding force for national unity also
promoted the underlying belief that the fewer languages are spoken in a
society, the more efficient that society is, and that a single national language
should therefore be promoted, in order to stimulate the socio-political
cohesion of the new nation. Language policy in Ujamaa society promoted
Swahili exclusive!)~ to the detriment of the other ethnic languages of the
land, which were seen as symbols of tribal consciousness and obstacles to
the hegemonic aim of the socialist ideology.
The curse of the Bible: Africa, the Tower of Babel
The Tower of Babel is a huge biblical archi tectural enterprise that
Nebuchadnezzar II was never able to complete, because of communication
difficulties within the workforce, who are said to have spoken the same
language until divine intervention introduced other languages to con-
found the whole project. One of the most enduring myths about Africa is
that, like the Tower of Babel, the continent has such a multitude of
languages that it is impossible for any African country to choose a local
language as its national or official language, or even as a mediun1 of
instn1ction . The problems of communication that made it impossible to
complete the Tower of Babel are projected onto the African continent.
\,Vithout trying to deny the multilingual nature of Africa, it must be said
that the identification of languages on the continent tends to be a loose free-
for-all enterprise in which a new breed of explorers 'discovers' new
speeches and labels them as they wish, hence creating new languages, in
the name of their God-given right to do so, or as a necessary condition of
despotism under which diversity of languages is consonant with a policy of
divide and rule. As a result, dialects or phonological variations of the same
language have been labelled separate languages (Djite, 1987), and the
multi lingual pich1re of the continent is b lown out of proportion to suggest a
linguistic Capernaum. Westley (1992) and Maho (2004), for instance, claim
that at least 1400 languages are spoken in Africa, whilst Grimes (1992)
believes that there are 1995 healthy languages on the continent. Batibo
(2005: 2) acknowledges that:
(1) many languages are known by several names, ... some f ... ] spelt with a
variety of prefixes, and ... some [ ... ) erroneously listed in ea tegories to
which they do not belong;
24 The Sociolingu(sfics of Development in Africa
- - - - -- -
(2) it is often difficult to distingu ish between language, dialect and dialect
dus ters;
(3) missionaries in the 19th century f ... ] established different orthogra-
phies' for each language variety 'thus separating themfromead1 other;
(4) the names of some languages are known only through docu1nentation.
Batibo (2005: vii, ix) also asserts that about one third of the world's
language~ are found in Africa, where more than 2000 languages are spoken
(see also Crystal, 1997; Gi:imes, 2000; Heine & Nurse 2000), giving each
ind.ividua l country 'an average of between 35 and 40 languages' (Batibo,
2005: 14). Batibo (2005: 3) further acknowledges that it is difficult to verify
most of this inforn,ation, especially in the absence of census data. Most of
these figures are therefore the result of guesswork at best,'b rather than
principled linguistic analysis. The contradictions in the theoretical frame-
work of Batibo's work are sympton,atic of a number of locally-based
African linguists, who claim not to be comfortable with some of the asser-
tions or existing pseudo-evidence, but still use that pseudo-evidence in
their work and, by so doing, help spread and entrench the very erroneous
concepts and ideas they purport to disagree with. Although he comes to the
conclusion that 'we just have to look inward', happily confusing the
concepts of 'ethnic groups' and 'language groups', SiJnire (2003: 238), citing
Onwuejeogwu (1987: 2-3), goes so far as to claiJn that 'The only place in the
world that has over 300 ethnic groups is Nigeria.' Bobda following
Tadadjeu (1990) compares Cameroon to a 'Tower of Babel' and wTites:
The linguistic landscape of Cameroon is uniquely complex, ha.rdly
paralleled by that of any other country in the world. [ ... ] indeed, the
linguistic situation of Cameroon is not paralleled even by that of neigh-
bouring Nigeria, a country of 130 million Ltlhabitants, w hich has, in
addition to English and PidgiJ1, over 400 languages. (Bobda, 2006: 357-
358)
There is no doubt that counting languages is difficult, especially when it
is a major challenge to find out how closely languages are related to each
other (particularly in the case of llnwritten languages). Whether two vari-
eties should be considered independent languages or dialects of one
language is a question to which it is almost impossible to find a uniform
answer from native speakers, 1inguists, or politicians (Coulmas, 1992: 300).
ln an inh·oductory note to his incisive Lang11age a11d Colonial Power, Fabian
(1986) begins with the fol lowing words: 'Writing on African history
requires choices regardiJ1g nomenclature and orthography. Selecting and
imposing names and ways of writing them, in fact, belonged to the exercise
Prolegomena to the Sociolinguistics of Devel-o..cp
- __ m--e'-'--n-t_ _ _ _ __ 25

of colonial power over language.' He goes on to say that' Any enumeration

of distinct languages ,viii be an artefact of linguistic classification rather
than an accurate indication of commw1icative praxis' (Fabian, 1986: 82).
The naming and development of languages in Africa were part of a
conscious and premeditated plan to present the language situation on the
African continent through European ideologies of racial and national
essences' (Irvine & Gal, 2000: 47), and as separate and enumerable catego-
ries (Makoni & Pennycook, 2007: 2; also see Harris, 1980, 1981). Harries
(1987) and Chimhundu (1992) have documented the inventions of Tsonga,
Shona, Afrikaans, Runyakitara and ChiNyanja, whilst Irvine and Gal (2000:
47) have shed light on the description of Senegalese languages by 19th
century European linguists. Makoni et al. (2006: 377, 385) also discuss the
complex origin<; of terms such as Shona, and argue that Europea11s appropri-
ated African languages as a prelude to imposing these European variants of
African languages on Africans.17 Roy-Campbell (1998) describes how faulty
transcriptions, some arising from missionary zeal and inaccuracies, occurred
across the continent, resulting in a multitude of dialects of the same
language being labelled as new languages. Makoni (2000) also criticises the
role of missionaries in labelling certain speech forms fully-fledged
languages, when they were known not to be fully-fledged languages.
Brock-Uh1e (2005: 176) notes that Oshindonga and Oshikwanyama, north
of Namibia, are listed as two separate languages and have h,vo different
written forms (when they are in fact the same language) simply as a result
of the rivalry between the Finnish and German missionaries who visited
and worked in the area. She adds that the mai.ntenance of this artificial
separation 'suited the divide and rule policy' of the apartheid government
of the day. Prah (2003) is of the view that many of these inaccuracies are also
due to a genuine lack of proper rn1derstand ing of the languages transcribed
and a failure to look at African societies outside the framework of the colo-
nial boundaries. Examples of such arbitrary and artificial labelling can be
found throughout Africa, from Malawi (e.g. ciNyanja and ciChewa), to
Ghana (e.g. Akuapin, Asante, Fanti, Akim and Brong), to Cote d'Ivoire (e.g.
Wobe, Guere; Nyaboua and Nyedeboua or Bete and Dida) (Blommaert,
1999c; Bock-Utne, 2002; Djite, 1988: 1- 13; Djite, 1987; Prah, 2002). According
18
to the Centre for Advanced Studies of African Society (CASAS), 85% of
Africans speak no more than 12 to 15 core languages as their first, second
and third language (Prah, 2000, 2002). Fenton (2004: 7, also cited in Makoni
& Pennycook, 2007: 7) suggests that these language descriptions were, in
many instances, no more thaJ1 interlinguistic descriptions based on European
interlanguages. Hence, missionaries and colonial admini:;trators, who wrote
grammars and textbooks, were able to learn their own versions of indige-
26 - - - - -- The Socio/ingu/sflcs of Development in Africa
nous languages, which were sometimes given special names (e.g. chibaba,
the variety of Shona spoken by the priests in Zimbabwe). Jea ter (2001)
shows that few whites (largely traders and farmers) had a poor command
of the local languages in the early years of colonisation in Southern
Rhodesia (1890-1935); yet, these were the very people used to translate a nd
interpret in the public service. Hence, contrary to the old myth, Christianity
did not work in favour of retaining and prornoting local languages. Spolsky
(2003: 86) notes for instance that it failed to save Amerindian languages,
like Navajo, and ahnost wiped out the Maori language in New Zealand.
Hastings (2001) notes that there was comparatively very little published in
African languages, except for church purposes and, in their enthusiasm to
translate the Bible into African languages, different and/or competing
n1issionary groups used their own idiosyncratic orthographies and spell-
ings. ln countless instances, this has led to the same speech form being
represented in these different orthographies and spellings and often being
la belled as 'full-blown' languages in their own right (Brock-Utne, 2000:
142). ln a review of the effects of European colonisation on the language
situation in Africa and elsewhere, and a critical analysis of the work of
Christian missionaries in language contact situations, Errington (2001)
discusses how, through standardisation different dialects of Shona were
created by various Protestant and Catholic missionaries and then produced
different languages in present-day Zimbabwe. This problem was exacer-
bated to a certain extent by the arbitrar·y geographical, ethnic and linguistic
carve up of thecontinentby the colonial powers at the Berlin Conference in
1884, resulting in many counh·ies (e.g. Benin, Cameroon, Chad, Cote
d'Ivoire, Ghar1a, Liberia, Niger, Nigeria, Sierra Leone and Sudan) having
peoples from adjoining states within their borders. It is all this evidence
that leads Zeleza (2006: 14) to go so far as to say that' African languages are
inventions, mutually constitutive, existential and epistemic constructions'.
Zeleza further contends that Christianity, hand in hand with anthropolo-
gists and the colonial ad1ninistration, invented African languages, 'pro-
ducing, regulating and constituting new languages and languages regimes
[... ] naming, codifying and standardising many of /\frica's current lang-
uages' as part of their civiJising mission (see Zeleza, 2006: 22). Since naming
entailed counting, a 'census ideology' set in (Pennycook & Makoni, 2005;
IV1akoni et al., 2007), and languages and dialects were unified (e.g. Shona
and Yoruba) or separated (e.g. Zulu and Xhosa, or Cuen~, Wobc, Nyabua
and Nyedebua) (see also Djitc, 1988: 6-8), according to the imperatives of
the colonlal masters (Zelez:a, 2006: 22). Christian missionaries therefore
played a crucial part in assisting colonialism and neo-colonialism not only
in destroying other ways of being, but also in terms of U1e language effects
Prolegomena to the Sociolinguistics of Development 27
of their activities (Pennycook and Makoni (2005). Their choices of media of
instruction were neither random nor gratuitous; they promoted European
languages first and foremost and played a prominent role Ln the construc-
tion and invention of African languages to fit a certain European percep-
tion of a Babelian Africa. Fabian summarises the whole process and
motivation thus:
Missionaries did not describe (or even learn) African languages simply
because 'they were there'; their linguistic, scholarly work was embedded
in a communicative praxis which had its own Lnternal dynamics. In very
broad terms, it was characterised by a gradual shift from descriptive
appropriation to prescriptive imposition and control. (Fabian, 1986: 76)
Ron1aine (l 994, cited in Pennycook, 2002) alludes to speakers as cultural
and political constructs when looking at Papua 1 ew Guinea where she
found that speakers claimed to speak a different language when, linguisti-
cally, this language appeared identical to another language. She concludes:
The very concept of discrete languages is probably a European cultural
artefact fostered by processes such as literacy and standardisation. Any
attempt to count distinct languages will be an artefact of classificatory
procedures rather than a reflection of con1mumcative practices.
(Romaine, 1994, cited in Pennycook, 2002: 12)
Pennycook (2002: 14) concurs with Ron1aine, and suggests that the very
notion that languages exist is highly questionable and most probably a
reflection of European beliefs. Makoni and Pennycook (2007: 1) make a
most interesting contribution to this debate, pointing out that beyond the
fact that 'linguistic criteria are not sufficient to establish the existence of a
language', languages, conceptions oflanguageness and the metalanguages used
to describe them are 'inventions', that 'languages were ... invented ... as part
of the Christian/colonial and nationalistic projects in different parts of the
globe'. They add that these 'inventions' have had very real and material
effects on how languages are understood and identified with, on how
language and language-in-education policies are constructed and on social
life. They suggest that these 'inventions' have to be 'deconstructed' and
'reconstructed' in order to find alternative wavs to move forward (Makoni
& Pennycook, 2007: 2, 3), for language is not :a thing that leads a life of its
own outside and above human beings' (Yngve, 1996: 28) and can be
reduced to the simple arithmetic of enumeration. Makoni and Pennycook
(2007: 6/7) also denounce the 'discovery attitude' (see Blommaert ]999b:
104), whereby whatever \'\fas there on the continent was there only as a
result of European 'discovery'. Hence, languages were decreed into exis-
28 The Sociolinguistics of Development in Africa
- - - - --
tence by those who, in Said's words, had 'been there' (Said, 1985: 156-157),
an attitude that found its way into the French language (and psyche) when
talking about Africa in terms of 'faire l'Afrique' (literally, 'to make Africa',
meaning to 'have been there'), proving yet again that the German Anthro-
pologist Leo Frobenius was right when he said that the idea of the
barbarian black man was a European invention. If the aim of theory is to
make things si1nple, why was it necessary to proclaim such complexity in
the language situation of the continent? It would appear that language
diversity led to the next lobrical step, albeit another myth, that multi-
lingualism is a serious threat to national cohesion. It is to this other article of
faith that we now turn.
Language diversity and the threat of inter-ethnic conflicts
A very common argument for the exclusion of African languages and
maintenance of European languages in education and ad1ninistTation is
that any attempt to impose the choice of a local language in these domains
will exacerbate tensions among ethnic groups and lead to major conflicts.
European languages are therefore often advocated as the best vehicles to
draw the different language groups together into national consciousness
and national integration. It is true that Africa currently leads the world in
armed conflicts, but although many are quick to blame these events on
ethnic and/ or religious strife, it is yet to be den1onstrated that any of these
conflicts are based on language issues. lndeed, the worst and longest
armed conflicts seem to have taken place in countries in which language
diversity is not an issue to fight over (e.g. Burundi, Rwanda and Somalia).
r:urthermorc, the acknowledgement and recognition of different legal stat-
utes and the coexistence of multiple Linguistic gi-oups within the same terri-
tory is neither an African irwentionnor a curse. Multilingualism is a reality
and part of the regular functioning of many countries (e.g. Albania,
Belgium, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Canada, China, Finland, Guate-
mala, [ndia, Ireland, Israel, Pakistan, Paraguay, Switzerland and Sri Lanka,
to name a few), including many LO the heart of the developed world,
demonstrating that the recognition and use of 1nore than one language
need not constitute an obstacle to national w1ity.
When in October 1830 for instance, a provisional goven1mcnt declared
Belgium an independent state, splitting fro1n the Netherlands, and
bringing together Dutch-speaking Catholic Flanders and French-speaking
Catholic Wallonia, th.e elite of the French-speaking 1ninority dominated the
affairs of the state, and all higher education was in French, until 1898, when
formal equity was granted to the two languages, Dutch and Frendl. Never-
theless, the Dutch-speaking population considered itself a junior partner in
Prolegomena to the Sociolinguistics of Development 29
- - - --
a state where French cuJture and language dominated every aspect of life
(professional and socio-economic advancement). Even though the country
was administratively separated into Dutch and French regions in March,
1917, the first university using Dutch as the language of instruction was not
established until 1930, and Dutch clid not become an official language of the
army until 1938. Furthermore, a nun1ber of constitutiona Ian1endments and
political reforms partitioned the country into four areas, all defined by
language, after the Second World War (Dutch-speaking Flanders, French-
speaking Wallonia, bilingual Brussels and a small German community
district with local autonomy), and establishing three official languages:
French (local variant Walloon, spoken by 33% of the population) Dutch
(local variant Flemish, spoken by 60% of the population) and German
(spoken by 1 % of the population). In 1977, the country was divided into
three administrative regions - Flanders, Wallonia and Brussels - but this
new federation was not recogrused. in the constitution until 1980! And yet,
today, there is no suggestion of a threat to Bel.gium's stability and pros-
perity, simply because of its linguistic organisation.
Switzerland is another good example of a multilingual, developed
nation. Founded in 1291, Switzerland is a confederation comprising 26 rela-
tively autonomous cantons and half-cantons. Itis broadly divided into four
linguistic zones. Jts three official languages (Article 70 of the Constitution)
are: French (spoken by 19.5% of the population), German (spoken by 63.9%,
of the population) and Italian (spoken by 6.6% of the population), while
Romansh or Rhaeto-Roman, spoken by 0.5% of the population, is deemed
to be an official language for communicating with Romansh speakers. 19
Three of the cantons are official ly bilingual, while one is officially trilingual.
Each canton has conh·olover its own educational system. Cantonal school
regulations require that every child learns a second national language,
starting in primary school, although in practice English is increasingly
taking over the 'other Swiss language' second-language requirement. TI1e
four languages within the te.rritorial frontiers of Switzerland and the auton-
omous administrative system based on nationhood and clearly aimed at
safeguarding religious, Jinguistic and cultural differences, have not
hindered a strong sense of cohesion, solidarity and national unity; nor has
the autonomy in the areas of education, mass communications and reli-
gious services. And although conflicts of interest plagued the early history
of the country, these were never based primarily on the linguistic cleavage
between French, German and Italian speakers, and Switzerland today
enjoys the reputation of a mos,t stable state with one of the world's highest
standards of Hving. Another significant example is that of Spain which,
after .Franco, joined Belgium and Switzerland as an officiaJ multilingual
30 - - - - - -- The Sociolinguistics of Development In Africa

country when she accorded official status to fi\7e languages - Cata lan,
Galician, Euskera (the Basque language), Valencian and Majorcan - in
addition to Castilian (Spanish) in 1988. There is no evidence to su ggest that
th is decision has weakened the country's instih1tions or dented the
people's sense of cohesion and nationhood.
Finally, history teaches us that languages are not at the root of conflicts,
beca use even people who speak the same language Ln the same territory
did not always avoid major conflicts and wars. This was the case of
England (1642-1645), the Uni ted States (1861-1865), Finland (1917-1918),
Russia (1918- 1920), Spain (1936-1939), Greece (1946-1949), Korea ()950-
1953), Vietnam (1954-1975), Lebanon (1957-1958 and 1975-1990), Yemen
(1962- 1969 and 1986) and Somalia (since at least 1991). Somalia is a country
-w idely considered to be the only truly homogenous nation in Africa, ethni-
cally, culh ually and Ii nguistica Ily. Tndeed, these wars are testimony that the
root cause(s) of conflicts often lie outside the language question.

Longuoge(s) of lnternotionol communication, science and

technology
Early in the last century Jespersen (] 926: 228) wa med that: 'It "vould be
u nreasonable to suppose, as is sometunes done, that the cause of the enor-
mous propagation of the English language is to be sought in its intrinsic
merits'. ·nus argument has become even more unportant with the growing
need to keep abreast of developments in inforn,ation technology, where
European languages, especially English, are clearly dominant. Generally,
European languages are the only ones to provide Africans with an interface
for the exchange of information at inten1ational level. Given the margh\-
alisation of their own languages, European languages are the prerequisites
for Africans to attend universities at home and in other countries, to find
work in international business or with humanitarian and non-govern-
mental organisations, and tohaveaccess toa great number of other intellec-
tual activities and endeavours. This growing reality has led to another
article of fa ith, akin to a myth, accordu1g to which European languages are
the only ones tluough which Africans can expand their world knowledge
and the ab ility to communicate in a vastly wider context than they ,,v ould
ever be able to with African languages. One is almost tc1npted to suggest
that, if la ken to its logical end, such an argument can litera ll y be extended to
all other languages but English. Clearly, although history has p laced some
European languages at an ad vantage, no language has ever been shown to
be more accurate, logical or capable of expression than another. Any
language can be developed and used for higher functions, as is shown by
the Finnish and Hebrew languages, which only recently developed i.nto
Prolegomena to the Sociolinguistics of Development 31

modern national languages. Likewise, son1e of the lingua francas in Africa

- Bambara,_Ewe, Hausa, Kinyarwanda, Kirundi, Kiswahili, Yoruba, Somali
and Malagasy- arc being considerably developed. Vocabulary expansion
is an ongoing process in all languages, and even international languages
(French is a case in point) are constantly undergoing elaboration in a
changing world of science and technology.
Notwithstanding this, a nun1ber of African scholars have spent their
lives trying to disprove the assertion that African languages are not appro-
priate vehicles for science and technology. Cheik Anta Diop and Ngugi Wa
Thiongo are an1ongst the 1nost prominent of these scholars. ln an effort to
show that African languages can be used for intellectualisation, Cheik Anta
Diop translated Einstein's Theory of Relativity into Wolof (Senega l). Ngugr
Wa Thiong' o spent a number of years writing in his native Gikuyu. Others
have pointed out that many texts, excluding the much older systems 0£
Nubia, Egypt and Ethiopia, were written in Wolof as far back as 1732, and
that Ewe, which is used in the government-owned newspaper Azvli Yeye (or
La Nouvelle Marche) in Togo, has a long tradition of literacy, with the first
texts in the language dating from 1658. Amegbetoa, a novel written in Ewe in
1949 by the Gha naian Sam Obianim, a best-seller reprinted eight times to
date in that language, is currently being translated into French. Over the
years, African countries have progressively allowed some local languages
to play a significant role, especially in the broadcasting media.
Owing to their wide reach and their power to influence opinion, the
media are an integral part of daily life, and an important tool for develop-
ment. The languages associated with the n1edia acquire an important status
in society. Kenya has one daily newspaper in KiSwahili, whilst Taru:ania
has several. In Uganda, Luganda and other local languages have a strong
presence in the media. In Mali, Kibaru, a 1ural new·spaper, is written in
Bambara, Peulh, Songhay and Tamasheq. Examples of the use of local
languages, in community radio and on national radio and television for
comn1ercials or to disseminate practical information on health and hygiene
or techniques of cultivation of land, abound across Africa. Even interna-
tional broadcasters have joined in on the act. For example, the BBC (British
Broadcasting Corporation) uses four African languages on its radio
stations: Hausa, KiSwahili, Kinyarwanda and Kilundi. In the process, the
BBC is making an active contribution to development of these languages,
coining new words such as 'nyambizi' (meaning dive) for 'submarine',
'Kilnjamau' ('a disease that emaciates those afflicted') for AIDS in KiS1,vahili,
and phrases such as 'na'ura m_ai kwakwalwa' ('a machine that has a sharp
brain') for 'computer', 'jirgi mai saukar angulu' ('a plane that lands like a
vulture') for 'helicopter' in Hausa. The national languages of Tanzania
32 - - - - --The Sociolingui~tcs of Development in Africa
(KiSwahili), Botswana (Sctswana), Ethiopia (Amharic), Somalia (Somali),
and Afrikaans in South Africa also provide us with a good exan1ple of
corpus planning and have demonstrated their capacity to render some of
these new terms and expressions.
ln 2005, the government of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC)
and the Electoral h1stitute for Southern Africa produced a translation of the
draft constitution in four local languages (Lingala, Ciluba, Kikongo and
KiSwahili) in order to involve the n1asses in the democratic process. In June
2006, Microsoft Africa announced the launch of r.1icrosoft Office J 2 and
Microsoft Vista in Wolof2° as part of the Local Language l'rc,grarn of
Microsoft International, which began in 2004. This is a major initiative
seeking to create innovative partnerships with governments, universities
and local authorities not only in Africa, but all around the world, as
Microsoft ln temational plans to have its Microsoft Windows XP and
Microsoh Office 2003 available in some 40 languages. In the final analysis, it
is initiatives such as this that, by bringing African languages into the 21st
century, are certain to close the debate on which languages are better suited
for communication, science and technology.
Another aspect of the myth about the inherent inadequacy of African
languages for communication, science and technology is that most of them
have not been reproduced in written form, and may not have coined terms
for scientific and technolobrical advancement. furthennore, engaging in
corpus planning activities in these languages, and worse yet in several
languages (that is to say, devising a writing system and lexifying and stand-
ardi'iing the languages), developing educational rnaterials, training teachers
to use those 1naterials, etc. will be prohibitively expensive for underdevel-
oped counhies.
Firstly, history again teaches us that written con1munication was devel-
oped in some parts of the African continent (also see below). Although
some will argue that written corrununication was introduced in Africa
through religion and education (Christian and Islan1 in the 7th century),
there is evidence that the Vai, a Mande-speaking people of north-western
Liberia (a poptLlation of about 75,000) independently invented a phonetic
writing system generally referred to as a script (Dalby, 1967; Gelb, 1952;
Koe lle, 1854). This script, a syllabary of200characters, with a conunon core
of 20 to 40 characters, has been in active use, widely available to all
mc1nbcrs of the society and transmitted outside any institutional setting,
for well over a century and a half, in the context of h·aditional ntral life.21
Another well known writing system, although now overshadowed by
Romanised Hausa (Boko), is Aja mi, an Arabic script that came into use in
the 17th century and is s ti Uused today. Ajami is used to transcribe Hausa, a
Prolegomena to the Sociolinguistics of Development
_ _ _ _ _ _ __ 33
-=:_

Cha die language spoken by some 39 million people spread across northern
Nigeria and Niger, Benin, Burkina Faso, Cameroon, the Central African
Republic, Chad, Congo, Eritrea, Ghana, Sudan and Togo. Timbuktu,
Agadez and Sokoto have also been known as centres of intense writing
practices in Africa. Since the 15th century, they have resorted to the Arabic
script to transcribe business conh·acts, court decrees and judgen,ents, as
well as correspondence in a number of local languages, and the library of
the Sokoto History Bureau holds a folder (No. 291) entitled 'al-murasilat
billugat a/-haoussiiwiyya' (correspondence in the Hausa language), which
contains some 20 manuscripts in the Hausa language, written in Arabic
script. Other well-kno,vn syllabaries in Africa arc: Kpelle, Loma, Mende,
Ndjuka, Ojibwe and Yi. 22 Battestini (1997) notes that many African writing
syste1ns were forbidden during the colonial era (e.g. Mum in Cameroon)
and some still are today (e.g. Kamara in ~1ali). Nevertheless, there was
then, as there is today, a certain degree of linguistic organisation. The
Timbuktu .tv1anuscripts, for instance, provide a written testimony to the
continent's history and cultural heritage, as well as to the skills of African
scholars and scientists, in subjects such as astronomy, chemistry, clima-
tology, geography, history, Islamic studies, judicial law, n,athematics,
medicine, optics, philosophy, physics and science. Written before European
colonisation, the Tunbuktu Manuscripts constitute a rich legacy and a
unique cultural and intellectual heritage for the continent and provide
evidence for the idea that, conh·ary to the popular n,yths of a 'dark' conti-
nent of oral tradition alone, Africa had a thriving tradition of writing. Scat-
tered in various locations in Timbuktu and its surroundings for the last 600
years - only 18,000 of an estimated 700,000 manuscripts are in the Ahmed
Baba Research Centre - virtually exposed to the elen1ents of the desert,
these manuscripts have been in brittle condition for a long time and always
been in urgent need of restoration, preservation, translation and publica-
tion. However, it was not until 2001 that the President of South Africa,
Thabo Mbeki, on the occasion of a state visit to Mali, offered to help the
Malian government to preserve some 200,000 of these manuscripts. 23
The story of the Timbuktu Manuscripts is an interesting one. First, it was
proposed and widely chronicled that Africans have essentially an oral
history. One could assume an innocent mistake had been made; but then
the colonialists stumbled upon the Timbuktu Manuscripts and had clear
evidence of the existence, not only of writing, but of scholarship of a higher
order. Yet, a deafening silence prevailed over this significant'discovery' for
well over 600 years ... 600 years is a long time in anyone's conception of
time. Raising such an issue goes back to the heart of the claim of objectivity
and 'scientificity' of everything that had been said and written about the
Random documents with unrelated
content Scribd suggests to you:
Frank Raynor may have drawn many a deep breath in his life, but
never so deep a one as he drew now. Mechanically he folded the
letter and placed it in an inner pocket.

"Are you there, sir?"

The question came from outside the door, in the voice of one of the
servants. Frank unbolted it.

"Lunch is on the table, sir."

"Is it?" returned Frank, half bewildered. "I don't want any to-day,
James. Just say so. I am going out for a stroll."

The letters from Cornwall were never delivered at Eagles' Nest until
the midday post. Frank took his hat, and went out; bending his steps
whithersoever they chose to take him, so that he might be alone.
Strolling on mechanically, in deep thought, he plunged into a dark
coppice, and asked himself what he was to do. The letter had
disturbed him in no ordinary degree. It had taken all his spirit, all his
elasticity out of him: and that was saying a great deal for Frank
Raynor.

"I wish I could hang Blase Pellet!" he broke forth in his torment and
perplexity. "He deserves it richly. To disturb my poor uncle with his
malicious tongue! Villain!"

But Frank was unconsciously unjust. It was not Blase Pellet who had
disturbed Dr. Raynor. At least, he had not done it intentionally. To do
Blase justice, he was vexed that the doctor should have heard it, for
he held him in great respect and would not willingly have grieved
him. In an evil moment, when Blase had taken rather more than was
quite necessary—an almost unprecedented occurrence with him—he
had dropped the dangerous words to Andrew Float.
"Yes, I must hide from him, as my uncle says," resumed Frank,
referring to the advice in the letter. "There's no help for it. He could
be a dangerous enemy. For my own sake; for—every one's sake, I
must keep myself in some shelter where he cannot find me."

Emerging on to the open ground, Frank lifted his eyes, and saw,
standing near him, the man in grey, whom they had christened the
Tiger. He was leaning against the tree with bent head and folded
arms, apparently in deep thought. All in a moment, just as a
personal fear of him had rushed over Charles, so did it now rush
over Frank. His brain grew dizzy.

For the idea somehow struck him that the man was not wanting
Charles at all. But that he might be an emissary of Blase Pellet's,
come hither to look after himself and his movements.

CHAPTER IV.

AT JETTY'S

John Jetty was the local carpenter. A master in a small way. His
workshop was in the village, Grassmere, near to Eagles' Nest; his
dwelling-house was on the common already described. In this house
he lived with his sister, Esther Jetty; a staid woman, more than ten
years older than himself: he being a smart, talkative, active, and
very intelligent man of two or three-and-thirty. The house, which
they rented of Major Raynor, was larger than they required, and
Esther Jetty was in the habit of letting a sitting and bedroom in it
when she could find a desirable lodger to occupy them.
On the Thursday in Passion Week, when she was in the midst of her
house-cleaning for Easter, and in the act of polishing the outside of
the spare sitting-room window, in which hung a card with "Lodgings"
inscribed on it, she noticed a man in grey clothes sauntering up from
the direction of the railway-station, an overcoat on his arm, and a
good-sized black bag in his hand.

"Some traveller from London," decided Esther Jetty, turning to gaze

at him; for a stranger in the quiet place was quite an event. "Come
down to spend Easter."

The thought had scarcely crossed her mind, when, somewhat to her
surprise, the stranger turned out of the path, walked directly
towards her, and took off his hat while he spoke.

"Have you lodgings to let?" he asked. "I see a card in your window."

"Yes, sir; I have two rooms," said she, respectfully, for the courtesy
of the lifted hat had favourably impressed her, and the tones of his
voice were courteous also, not at all like those of an individual in
humble station. "What a fine beard!" she thought to herself. "How
smooth and silky it is!"

"I want to stay in this place a few days," continued he, "and am
looking for lodgings. Perhaps yours would suit me."

Esther Jetty hastened to show the rooms. They were small, but
clean, comfortable, and prettily furnished: and the rent was ten
shillings per week.

"It is not too much, sir, at this season of the year, when summer's
coming on," she hastened to say, lest the amount should be
objected to. "I always try to make my lodgers comfortable, and cook
for them and wait on them well. The last I had—a sick young
woman and her little girl—stayed here all the winter and spring: they
only left three weeks ago."
The stranger's answer was to put down a sovereign. "That's the first
week's rent in advance," said he. "With the change you can get me
some mutton chops for my dinner. I shall not give you much
trouble." And he took possession of the rooms at once.

As the days had gone on, only a few as yet, Esther Jetty found that
his promise of not giving much trouble was kept. She had never had
a lodger who gave less. He lived very simply. His dinner generally
consisted of two mutton chops; his other food chiefly of eggs and
bread-and-butter. It was glorious weather; and he passed nearly all
his time out-of-doors.

Not a nook or corner of the immediate neighbourhood escaped his

keen eye, his, as it seemed, insatiable curiosity. He penetrated into
the small dwelling-houses, good and bad, asking questions of the
inmates, making friends with them all. He would stand by the half-
hour side by side with the out-door labourers, saying the land
wanted this and that done to it, and demanding why it was not
done. But, there could be no doubt that he was even more curious
in regard to the Raynor family, and especially to its eldest son, than
he was as to the land and its labourers: and the latter soon noticed
that if by chance Charles Raynor came into sight, the stranger would
stroll off, apparently without aim, towards him; and when Charles
turned away, as he invariably did, the man followed in his wake at a
distance. In short, it would seem that his chief business was to look
surreptitiously after some of the inmates of Eagles' Nest; and that
his visits to the land and the cottages, and his disparaging remarks
thereupon, were probably only taken up to pass the time away.
These opinions, however, grew upon people as time went on, rather
than at the beginning of his stay.

Easter week passed. On the following Sunday the stranger went to

church; and, after the service began, took up a place whence he had
full view of the large square pew belonging to Eagles' Nest. On
Easter Sunday he had sat at the back of the church, out of sight.
Charles, Alice, and Frank were in the pew to-day, with the governess
and little Kate: Mrs. Raynor was at home with Frank's wife, then
lying dangerously ill; the major had not come. This was two days
before they received news of Dr. Raynor's death. Charles was
rendered miserably uncomfortable during the service by the
presence of the Tiger opposite to him—as might be read by any one
in the secret of his fears, and was read by Frank. Never did Charles
raise his eyes but he saw those of the Tiger fixed on him. In fact,
the Tiger studied the faces in Major Raynor's pew more attentively
than he studied his book.

"He is taking toll of me that he may know me again: I don't suppose

he knew me before, or his work would have been done and over,"
thought Charles. "What a precious idiot I was to come to church!
Thank Heaven, he can't touch me on a Sunday." And when the
service was ended, the Tiger coolly stood in the churchyard and
watched the family pass him, looking keenly at Charles.

He had in like manner watched them into church. From a shady

nook in the same churchyard, he had stood, himself unseen, looking
at the congregation as they filed in. When the bell had ceased, and
the last person seemed to have entered, then the Tiger followed,
and put himself in the best place for seeing the Raynors. It was,
however, the first and last time Charles was annoyed in a similar
manner. On subsequent Sundays, the Tiger, if he went to church at
all, was lost amidst the general congregation.

On this same Sunday evening, John Jetty found himself invited to

take a pipe with his lodger. They sat in the arbour in the back-
garden, amidst the herbs, the spring cabbages, and the early
flowers. Jetty never wanted any inducement to talk. He was not of a
wary nature by any means, and did not observe how skilfully and
easily the thread of his discourse was this evening turned on the
Raynors and their affairs. No man in the place could have supplied
more correct information to a stranger than he. He was often at
work in the house, was particularly intimate with Lamb the butler,
who had lived with Mrs. Atkinson; as had two or three of the other
head servants; and they had the family politics at their fingers' ends.
Mrs. Raynor had brought one servant from Spring Lawn; the nurse;
the woman knew all about her branch of the family, Frank included,
and had no objection to relate news for the new people's benefit,
who in their turn repeated it to Jetty. Consequently Jetty was as
much at home in the family archives as the Raynors were
themselves.

"Is the estate entailed on the major's son?" questioned the Tiger, in
a pause of the conversation.

"I don't think it's strictly entailed on him, sir, but of course he'll have
it," was Jetty's answer. "Indeed, it is no secret that the major has
made a will and left it to him. Mrs. Atkinson bequeathed it entirely to
the major: she didn't entail it."

"Who was Mrs. Atkinson?" asked the Tiger.

"Why, the possessor of the estate before him," cried Jetty, in accents
full of surprise. To him, familiar for many years with Eagles' Nest and
its people, it sounded strange to hear any one asking who Mrs.
Atkinson was. "She was an old lady, sir, sister to the major, and it all
belonged to her. He only came into it last year when she died."

"Had she no sons?"

"No, sir; not any. I never heard that she did have any. Her husband
was a banker in London; he bought this place a good many years
ago. After his death Mrs. Atkinson entirely lived in it."

"Then—it is sure to come to the major's eldest son?"

"As sure as sure can be," affirmed Jetty, replenishing his pipe at his
lodger's invitation. "The major would not be likely to will it away to
anybody else."
"I saw two young men in the pew to-day: one quite young, scarcely
out of his teens, I should say; the other some years older. Which of
them was the son?"

"Oh, the youngest. The other is a nephew; Mr. Frank Raynor. He is

very good-looking, he is: such a pleasant face, with nice blue eyes
and bright hair. Not but what Mr. Charles is good-looking, too, in a
different way."

"Mr. Charles looks to me like an insolent young puppy," freely

commented the Tiger. "And has a haughty air with it: as though he
were king of the country and all the rest of us were his subjects."
The probability was that Charles had honoured the staring Tiger with
all the haughty and insolent looks he could call up throughout the
service.

"Well, he is a bit haughty sometimes," acknowledged the carpenter.

"Folks have found him so. He is just home from Oxford, sir, and I
fancy has been spending pretty freely there: Lamb just gave me a
hint. But if you want pleasant words and cordial manners, you must
go to the nephew, Mr. Frank.

"What is he doing here?" dryly asked the stranger, after a pause.

"He is a doctor, sir."

"A doctor? Is he in practice here?"

"Oh no. He is waiting to set up in London, and staying down here till
he does it."

"What is he waiting for?"

"Well, sir, for money, I guess. The Raynors are open-natured people
and don't scruple to talk of things before their servants, so that
there's not much but what's known. When the late Mrs. Atkinson
died, a good deal of stir arose about some money of hers that could
not be found: thousands and thousands of pounds, it was said. It
could neither be found, nor the papers relating to it."

"Is it not found yet?" asked the Tiger, stroking his silky beard.

"Not yet. The major is anxiously waiting for it: not a day passes,
Lamb says, but he is sure to remark that it may turn up the next. Mr.
Frank Raynor is to have some of this money to set him up in
practice."

"Did Mrs. Atkinson not leave any money to him? He must have been
a relation of hers?"

"Oh yes, she left him money. I forget what it was now—a good sum,
though."

"Why does he not set up with that?" questioned the Tiger,

wonderingly.

"He has spent it, sir. He and his young wife went abroad, and lived
away, I suppose. Any way, the money's gone, Lamb says. But Mr.
Frank's as nice a fellow as ever lived."

"Did he——" began the stranger, and then broke off, as if in doubt
whether or not to put the question: but in a moment went on firmly.
"Did he ever live at Trennach, in Cornwall?"

"Trennach?" repeated Jetty, considering. "Yes, sir, I think that's

where he did live. Yes, I'm sure that is the name. He was in practice
there with another uncle, one Dr. Raynor, and might have stopped
there and come into the practice after him. A rare good opening for
him, it's said: but he preferred to go elsewhere."

"Preferred to travel and see the world," spoke the stranger, cynically.
"Are Major Raynor's revenues good ones?"
"Well, sir, I know in Mrs. Atkinson's time this estate was said to bring
in a clear two thousand a-year. And Major Raynor had of course an
income before he came into it: but that, I hear, is only an annuity,
and goes from him at his death."

"Then, if his revenues amount to that—from two to three thousand

a-year—how is it that he does not do the repairs necessary on the
estate, and keep up the land, and help to ameliorate the condition of
the wretched serfs about him?" demanded the stranger.

Jetty shook his head. "I don't think it is the will that's wanting,"
replied he. "The major seems to be thoroughly good-hearted and
Lamb says he is one of the easiest masters he could ever wish to
serve. No, it is not the will, sir, that is wanting."

"What is it, then? The money?"

Jetty nodded in the affirmative. "They live at such a rate, you see,
sir; and it is said the major had a lot of back-debts to pay when he
came here. Altogether, he has nothing to spare."

"Then he ought to have," asserted the Tiger, tapping thoughtfully at

his pipe, that lay on the table. "Does he never visit his tenements
and see into things for himself?"

"No, sir, not he. 'Twould be too much exertion for him. He can't walk
about much; never comes beyond his own garden gates; never."

The Tiger paused. "This young Frank Raynor's wife, who is lying ill:
had she no money?"

"No, sir. Her family have plenty, I expect, for they live at some grand
place down in Cornwall. But she has none. It was a runaway match
that she and Mr. Frank made, so she couldn't expect any."

The Tiger nodded two or three times, as if in self-commune. "I see,"

said he: "these Raynors are an improvident set altogether.
Thoughtless, cruel, selfish, upstart and purse-proud. From what little
I have noticed during the few days I have been here, that is the
impression they make upon me: and what you say confirms it."

He took his pipe up from the table as he spoke, knocked the ashes
out of it, and put it into its case. An intimation, John Jetty thought,
that their social hour was at an end: and he went away, respectfully
wishing his lodger good-evening.

Easter was over; and the time for going back to Oxford for the
coming term was past. Charles Raynor had not gone up to keep it.
He had to confess to the major that he did not care to go back
without a good sum of money, apart from his allowance; he might
have said, dared not go. It was not convenient to find the sum: so
the major decided that Charles must miss that one term, and keep
the next.

The weeks went on. Charles had in a degree got over his dread of
the Tiger—who still remained on in his lodgings—for it was now very
evident that if that mysterious man's mission at Grassmere were to
take him into custody for debt, it might have been accomplished ere
this. Nevertheless, so strongly do first impressions retain their hold
upon us, his dislike of the man continued in all its force.

But, as Charles's alarm subsided, Frank's increased. The more

evident it became that Charles was not the Tiger's object, the more
surely did it seem to Frank that he himself was. It was a fear he
could not speak of, but his secret uneasiness was great. Neither he
nor Charles could fail to see that the man's daily business appeared
to be that of watching the movements of the Raynor family,
especially those of the two young men. Not watching offensively, but
in a quiet, easy, unobtrusive manner. Frank fully believed that the
man was a secret emissary of Blase Pellet's sent there to see that he
did not escape his toils.
Major Raynor had never seen this man: and Frank and Charles, each
for his own private and individual reasons, had refrained from
speaking about him. Of late the major had chiefly confined himself
to the gardens immediately attached to his house. There were two
reasons for this: the one, that he had now grown so very stout as to
render walking a trouble to him, and when he did go out it was in a
carriage; the other, that he never went beyond his inner fence but
he was sure to meet one or other of those wretched malcontents;
who thought nothing of accosting him and asking him to do this, and
to do that. So matters remained pretty stationary: the major
indolently nursing himself in his easy-chair on the lawn; the young
men enjoying their private discomforts; and the Tiger peering into
every conceivable spot open to him, and making himself better
acquainted with the general shortcomings of the Raynors, in regard
to the estate and the people on it, than they were themselves.

It was Saturday evening. Alice sat at the piano in the drawing-room,

singing songs in the twilight to the intense gratification of William
Stane, who stood over her. The young barrister frequently ran down
home the last day of the week, to remain over the Sunday with his
family. As a matter of course, he spent a great part of the time at
Eagles' Nest. The major sat back in the room, dozing; Charles was
listlessly turning over a pile of music. Eagles' Nest had given an
afternoon party that day; a fashionable kettledrum; but the guests
had departed.

"I can scarcely see," said Alice, as her lover placed a new song
before her. She was in the dress she had worn in the afternoon: a
black gauze trimmed with white ribbons, with silver bracelets and
other silver ornaments, and looked charmingly lovely. They were in
mourning for Dr. Raynor.

"I'll ring for lights," said Charles. "I can't see, either."

The talking had aroused the major. "We don't want lights yet," said
he. "It is pleasanter as it is."
"Sing the songs you know by heart," whispered William Stane. "After
all, they are the best and sweetest."

Presently Lamb came in of his own accord, with the wax-lights. The
major, waking up again, made no objection now, but forbade the
shutters to be closed.

"It's a pity to shut out that moonlight," said he. Not that the
moonlight could have interested him much, for in another minute he
was asleep again. He had grown strangely drowsy of late. So the
room was lighted up, and the moonlight streamed in at the window.

Frank entered. He had been sitting upstairs with his wife, who was
still very ill. In fact, this had been an unusually prolonged and critical
sickness. Taking up his position at the window, Frank listened silently
to the song then in progress. Charles came up to him.

"How is she to-night, Frank?"

"No better. If—— Look there!" he suddenly exclaimed, his voice sunk
to a whisper.

Some one had walked deliberately by, outside the window, gazing at
what there might be to see within the room. Was it the Tiger?
Frank's heart beat nineteen to the dozen.

"Did you see him, Charley?"

"Who was it?" whispered Charley.

"I'm not quite sure; he passed so quickly. The Tiger, I conclude. Yes,
I feel sure of it. I know the cut of his hat."

"What consummate impudence, to be trespassing here!"

They both left the room, made their way to a side-door, and looked
out. No one was in sight; and yet, whosoever it was that had passed
must have come that way.

"He has turned back," said Charley: and as he spoke he advanced

cautiously amidst the shrubs that skirted that end of the house, and
looked round at the front.

No. Not a soul was to be seen or heard. Had he scampered straight

across the lawn and made off? It seemed like it.

"I wonder what it's coming to!" cried Charley. "Could we have him
warned off the estate, I wonder?"

"Hardly," spoke Frank, in a dreamy tone.

"I cannot think what he does here," exclaimed Charles. "If he had
any evil intentions, he—he would have acted upon them before
now."

"You mean as to yourself, Charley. Rely upon it, you are out of the
matter altogether."

"Who's in it, then?"

"Myself, perhaps."

The answer was given quietly and easily: but there was something in
its tone that kept Charles from regarding it as a jest.

"You are not in debt, are you, Frank?" he cried hastily.

"Not that I know of."

"I declare for the moment I thought you must be in earnest," said
Charles, relieved. "It is uncommonly strange what the fellow can
want here!"

Frank said no more. They paced about for some time, without their
hats, in the bright moonlight, talking of other matters. In crossing
the path to the house; they met Jetty the carpenter coming away
from it, a frail in his hand, out of which a saw was standing upright.
The man had been doing some repairs indoors.

"Jetty," said Charles, accosting him, and speaking upon impulse,

"who is the man that lodges with you? The fellow with the great
brown beard, who goes about in a suit of grey."

"I don't know who he is in particular, sir," replied Jetty. "He is a very
quiet lodger, and pays regular."

"What is he down here for?"

"Well, I think for his health," said Jetty. "He told us he had not been
well for some time before he came to Grassmere."

"What is his name?"

"That I don't know, sir——"

"Not know his name?" interrupted Charles, impatiently.

"Well, sir, I was going to say that I don't know it from himself. He is
uncommonly close as to his own affairs: though he likes well enough
to hear about other people's. As to his name, he did not mention it
when he first came in, and my sister said she did not like to ask him.
But——"

"I never knew such a thing as not knowing a lodger's name," went
on Charles, getting excited over it, whilst Frank stood by in perfect
silence. "Does the man not get any letters?"

"Yes, sir. But they don't come to the house; they are left at the post-
office in Grassmere, and he fetches them himself. The other
morning, when Esther went into his parlour, he was reading one of
these letters, and the cover lay on the table, address upwards. She
was not quick enough to read the name on it, for he took it up, but
she saw it was a short name and began with a G."

"Grim, no doubt," said Charles.

"'Mr. G——, Post Office, Grassmere.' That was it, sir."

"I must say I should like to know who he is and what he is doing
here," continued Charles. "Good-night, Jetty."

Jetty touched his cap and went away with rapid strides. Drawing
near to his home, he overtook the Tiger, sauntering along with slow
steps.

"You are late to-night, Jetty."

"Yes, sir," replied the carpenter, suiting his pace to that of the
speaker. "I had to put some new shelves into one of the kitchen
cupboards at Eagles' Nest, and it has taken me longer than I
thought for."

"All going on well there?" continued the Tiger.

"First rate," said Jetty. "They had a great party this afternoon; one of
those new-fashioned kettledrums. Such an entertainment it was!
such fine dresses!"

"I thought the son, Charles Raynor, was keeping his terms at
Oxford," resumed the Tiger, after giving himself time to digest the
information touching the kettledrum. "Why is he not keeping this
term?"

"Well, sir," said Jetty, beginning to answer in his usual favourite

mode, and lowering his voice, though they were quite alone on the
common: "I believe Mr. Charles can't show his face at Oxford until he
is better up in funds; so he is omitting this term."
"Debts—eh?" cried the Tiger, but without any appearance of
surprise. "And the major has not the funds to spare for them?"

"Well, sir, that's to be inferred."

"Meanwhile the lad fills up his days and hours at home with dancing,
and smoking, and kettledrums, and other good-for-nothing
amusements. A nice way of spending one's life!"

"Young men will be young men, sir—though they are but lads,"
spoke Jetty, deprecatingly.

"Yes; young men will be young men: some of them, at any rate,"
came the mocking retort. "But in all my days I never saw a young
man who appeared more likely to go straight down to ruin than
Charles Raynor."

CHAPTER V.

SIR PHILIP'S MISSION

Major Raynor sat in his favourite seat on the lawn at Eagles' Nest, at
drowsy peace with himself and with the world. Of late the major had
always been drowsy: morning, noon, and night, no matter what
company he was in, he might be seen nodding. Frank, as a medical
man, did not like the signs. He spoke to his uncle of the necessity of
rousing himself, of taking more exercise, of indulging somewhat less
in good luncheons and dinners. The major made an effort to obey:
for two days he actually walked about the lawn for twenty minutes,
refused two rich entrées, took at each meal one glass less of wine.
But the efforts ended there, and on the third day the major gave up
reformation as a bad job.

"It's of no use, Frank, my boy. You young folk can be upon the run
all day if you choose, and live upon bread-and-cheese and beer; but
we old ones require ease; we can't be put about."

So the major sat at ease this day as usual, lazily thinking, and
dropping into a doze. A letter had been received that morning from
Edina, in answer to an invitation from Major and Mrs. Raynor to
come and make her home with them now that she was alone in the
world. Edina declined it for the present. She was staying at Trennach
parsonage with Mr. and Mrs. Pine: her plans were not decided upon;
but the clergyman and his wife would not yet spare her. She had
many affairs to settle at Trennach. Mr. Hatman had taken to the
practice, as had been arranged, and to the house; but Edina could
not leave the place at present. She hoped to pay Eagles' Nest a visit
in the course of the summer.

Thinking of this, and subsiding into dozing, sat the major. The hum
of the insects sounded in his ears, the scent of the rich flowering
hawthorn was heavy in the air. Though not yet summer by the
calendar, for May was still reigning, the season was unusually
premature, and the weather was, to all intents and purposes, that of
summer. Bees were sipping at the honey-blossoms, butterflies
fluttered from flower to flower. All nature seemed conducive to
repose, and—the major was soon fast asleep, and choking as though
he were being strangled.

"You are wanted, if you please, sir."

The words aroused him. Opening his eyes, and sitting upright in his
chair, he saw his butler by his side.

"What do you say, Lamb? Wanted? Who is it?"

"Sir Philip Stane, sir. He is in the drawing-room."

The major took a draught of his champagne-cup, standing on the

table by his side. Which cup, it must be confessed, was much more
innocent than its name would imply. A quart or two of it would not
have hurt any one: and the major was always thirsty. Crossing the
lawn, he went into the drawing-room. Sir Philip Stane, a little man
with a white shirt-frill, a cold face, and a remarkably composed
manner, rose at his entrance. Major Raynor shook hands with him in
his hearty way, and they sat down together.

For some few minutes the conversation turned on general topics;

but soon the knight gave the major to understand that he had come
to speak upon a particular subject: the attachment of his son to Miss
Raynor.

"It has for some time been observable that they are thinking of one
another," remarked he.

"Well, yes, I suppose it has," said the major. "We have noticed it
here."

"William is getting on fairly well; he calculates that he will make at

least seven-hundred pounds this year. Quite enough, he thinks, to
begin housekeeping upon, with help. With help, major."

"I should have thought it unbounded riches in my marrying days,"

observed the major.

"William considers that he would be justified in setting up a home,

provided he can be met," continued Sir Philip in his deliberate,
sententious way, presenting a direct contrast to the major's
heartiness. "Young people do not of course expect to begin as they
may hope to end: riches must come by degrees."

"Quite right," said the major.

"And therefore, with a view to the consideration of the matter—to
finally deciding whether my son may be justified, or not, in settling
this year—I have come to ask you, Major Raynor, what portion you
intend to bestow upon your daughter."

"Not any," replied the plain-speaking major. "I have none to bestow."

Sir Philip looked at him blankly. He did not appear to understand.

"My will is good, Sir Philip. I would give a portion to Alice heartily if I
possessed it. Thousands, I'm sure, the young people should be
welcome to, if they needed it."

"Do you mean to say that you—that you will not bestow any portion
whatever upon your daughter when she marries?" asked Sir Philip, in
a tone of cold astonishment.

"I'm sorry that I can't do it," said the major. "I wish I could. If that
lost money of mine would only turn up——"

"Then, I am afraid, I—cannot say what I had come to say," returned

Sir Philip, with the air of a man who deliberates aloud, and quite
ignoring the major's interrupted sentence. "I could not advise my
son to settle upon the few hundreds a-year that make up his present
income."

"Why, it's abundance," cried the candid major. "You have just said
yourself that young people cannot expect to begin as they will end.
Your son's is a rising income: if he makes seven-hundred this year,
he may expect to make ten next, and double the seven the year
after. It is ample to begin upon, Sir Philip."

"No," dissented Sir Philip. "Neither he nor I would consider it so.

Something should be put by for a rainy day. This communication has
completely taken me by surprise, Major Raynor. We took it for
granted that your daughter would at least add her quota to the
income: had it been only three or four hundred a-year. Without
money of her own, there could be no settlement on her, you see, my
son's not being real property."

The major was growing a little heated. He did not at all like the turn
the conversation was taking, or Sir Philip's dictatorial tone.

"Well, you hear, Sir Philip, that Alice has nothing. Those who wish to
take her, must take her as she is—portionless—or not at all."

Sir Philip Stane rose. "I am sorry, then, major, that I cannot ask what
I was about to ask for—herself. Your daughter——"

"You are not wanted to ask it, sir," hotly interrupted the major.

"The fact of your daughter's being portionless debars it," quietly

went on the knight. "I am very sorry indeed to have troubled you,
and subjected myself to pain. William must consider his pretensions
at an end."

"They are at an end," fired the major. "If it is money he has been
thinking of all this time, he ought to be ashamed of himself for a
calculating, mercenary young rascal. Were he to come to me on his
knees, after this, begging for my daughter, he should not have her.
That's my answer, Sir Philip Stane, and you can take it away with
you."

The major's tug at the bell-rope sent a peal echoing through the
house. But Sir Philip Stane's hand was already on the door-handle,
letting himself out with a short "good-morning."

Away went the major, hunting for Alice. He found her with her
mother. Hotly and explosively he gave an account of the interview;
of what he called the mercenary conduct of Sir Philip and William
Stane. Poor Alice turned hot and cold: red and white by turns. She
took the indignity—as she was pleased to think it—quite as
resentfully as the major.
"I forbid you to have anything to do with him after this, Alice. I
forbid you to see him again."

"You need not forbid me, papa," was the answer. "I should not think
of it."

Major Raynor was one who could not keep in anything, good or bad,
especially any grievance. He went about the house, looking for
Charles and Frank, that he might impart the news, and so let off a
little of his superfluous anger. But he could not find either of them.

Matters were going on much as usual. Daisy was progressing so far

towards recovery that she could sit at the open window of her
chamber and revel in the balmy air, while feasting her eyes upon the
charming landscape. Charles was in a little extra trouble; for he had
been written to twice upon the subject of the fifty-pound bill that
was overdue. And Frank, outwardly gay as the flowers of May, was
inwardly on thorns and nettles.

That that mysterious personage, the Tiger, was wasting his days and
hours at Grassmere on Frank Raynor's account, Frank felt persuaded
of. To him it seemed an indisputable fact. The man did not molest
him: did not appear to take particular notice of him; he had not yet
accosted him: but Frank knew that all the while he was craftily
watching his movements, to see that he did not escape. It needed
not a conjuror to tell him that the Tiger was the spy of Blase Pellet.

The espionage was growing intolerable to Frank. And on this very

day, just about the time that Sir Philip Stane was at Eagles' Nest, he
flung prudence to the winds, and questioned the enemy. The Tiger
had wandered as near to the house as he could, without being guilty
of a positive trespass: and Frank, chancing to turn out of what was
called Beech Walk, came face to face with him. It was the first time
they had thus closely met. For half-a-minute they gazed at each
other. The Tiger stood his ground, and quietly took from his pocket a
small note-case of brown morocco leather, with the initials "C.R."
stamped upon it in gilt.

"Does this belong to you?" questioned the Tiger.

"Not to me," replied Frank. "But I believe it belongs to my cousin,

Mr. Raynor.

"I picked it up a few minutes ago as I was strolling along. Perhaps

you will be so good us to give it to its owner."

Frank took the case from the Tiger, and thanked him. Even to this
man, suspecting him as he did for a despicable spy, he could only be
courteous. And, indeed, but for this suspicion, Frank would rather
have liked the man's face, now he saw it closely; the thought passed
through his mind that, for a Tiger, he was a civilized one. There was
a tone of pleasant freedom in the voice; the dark grey eyes, gazing
steadily into Frank's, were earnest and good.

"You come from Trennach," said Frank suddenly, speaking upon

impulse.

"From Trennach?" repeated the stranger, vaguely, and evincing no

surprise.

"Or from some one there," continued Frank. "Employed by him to—
to look after his villainous interests here."

"I am my own employer, young man."

"What is your name, pray?"

"If I thought it concerned you to know it, I might, perhaps, inform

you," was the answer, civilly delivered.

"But suppose it does concern me?"

"It is my opinion that it does not."

"At any rate your business here does."

"Does it?"

"Will you deny that you have business here? Business of a private
nature?"

"I cannot deny that, for it is true."

"And that your business consists in peeping, and watching, and

spying?"

"You are partly right."

"And," continued Frank, growing warm, "don't you think that to peep
and to spy is a despicable proceeding?"

"In some cases it may undoubtedly be so regarded," was the calm,

cool answer. "In other cases it is perfectly justifiable. When some
good end, for instance, has to be obtained: or, let us say, a problem
worked out."

"The devil can quote Scripture, we are told, to serve his own
purposes," muttered Frank to himself as he turned away, afraid of
pursuing the subject, half afraid of what revelation the man might
make, and of his fearless grey eyes and their steadfast gaze.

They strode apart one from another at right angles. The stranger
with careless, easy steps, with profound composure: Frank less easy
than usual.

"I wonder," soliloquized he, "whether Pellet has let him into that
unhappy night's secret, or whether he has only given him general
instructions to look after me, and has kept him in the dark? Any way,
I wish Blase Pellet was——"
The wish, whatever it might have been, was left unspoken. For the
Tiger had changed his course. Had turned to follow Frank at a fleet
pace, and now came up with him.

"Will you tell me, sir, what induced you to assume that I had come
here from Trennach? And for what purpose I am 'spying'?—and upon
whom?"

"There's no need to tell you," rejoined Frank. "You know too well
already."

"And if I tell you that I do not know?"

"I hope you don't. It's all the same," returned Frank, indifferently,
believing he was being played with.

"Perhaps you have run up debts at Trennach, and are mistaking me

for a sheriff's officer?" proceeded the Tiger, once more gazing
steadfastly at Frank as he spoke. "Your cousin, the major's son, has
been taking me for one."

"How on earth did he get to know that?" thought Frank. And it

seemed to be so confirmatory of the Tiger's accomplishments in the
prying line, that Frank felt as much exasperated as his sweet-
tempered nature was capable of feeling.

"Your road lies that way, and mine this," spoke Frank, with a wave of
the hand. "Good-morning."

The Tiger stood still, looking after his receding footsteps. A very
peculiar expression sat on his face, not altogether complimentary to
Frank.

"A curious lot, these Raynors," concluded he to himself, as he turned

to pursue his own way.
It was perhaps rather remarkable that Charles Raynor should also,
on this same day, be brought into contact with the Tiger for the first
time. Charley's troubles were culminating to a point: at least, in so
far that he was about to be pressed for one of his debts, though he
knew it not. It would come upon Charley something like a shock.
Since fear, on the score of the Tiger, had subsided, he had enjoyed a
complete immunity from personal annoyance; and this had lulled his
apprehensions to rest; so that he went about here, there, and
everywhere, feeling free as air.

He had been out in the dog-cart all the morning. Upon going indoors
on his return, by the entrance that was nearest to the stables, in
passing the butler's pantry he saw Lamb standing in it. The man
made a sudden movement as though he would speak to him, and it
arrested Charley.

"Do you want me, Lamb?" he asked, halting on his way.

Lamb dropped his voice to a mysterious whisper, and Charley

instinctively moved inside, and shut the door. Lamb knew nearly as
much about his young master's embarrassments as he himself knew.

"A party has been here this morning who wanted to see you, Mr.
Charles. When I said you were out—gone up to London, I thought—
he seemed as if he hardly believed me. I began to think I shouldn't
get rid of him."

"Who was it?" asked Charles.

"It was a respectable-looking man, sir. Highly respectable, one might

be tempted to call him, if his errand had not been to bother people
for money. Being near the neighbourhood, he had turned aside to
Grassmere to see you, he said, and his business with you was
particular. Of course I knew what it all meant, Mr. Charles, and I
declared you were gone out for the day and couldn't be seen though
he waited till night."
"I wonder which of them it was?" mused Charley. "Did he give his
name?"

"Yes, sir; Huddles. He——"

"Oh, Huddles, is it?" interrupted Charley, his mouth falling. "I'm glad
I didn't see him. Is he gone for good, do you think, Lamb?"

"I should say so, sir. I fully impressed upon him that his waiting
would be no earthly use. I even said, Mr. Charles, that there was no
answering for your return when you went to London, and that you
might be there a week, for all I could say. I told him he had better
write to you, sir. 'Very well,' he said in answer, and went off with a
quick step: no doubt to catch the next train."

"That's all right then," said Charley, completely reassured. "Any

visitors been here, Lamb?"

"Sir Philip Stane called, sir. And some ladies are in the drawing-room
now. Would you like some refreshment, Mr. Charles?"

"No, I'll wait till dinnertime."

But it still wanted some two or three hours to dinnertime. Presently

Charles went strolling out on foot, digesting the unpleasant item of
news that his father had just hastened to impart to him—the
sneaking behaviour, as he called it, of William Stane. Charles felt
greatly vexed and annoyed at it for Alice's sake. He was sure there
was a mutual attachment, and had believed that they understood
each other.

Lost in reflections on this subject, and never giving a thought to the

matter imparted to him by Lamb, his eyes never raised, his footsteps
wandering on almost as they would, Charley found himself passing
along the common, on the side of the better houses. Words of
salutation greeted him.
"Good-afternoon, sir. A hot day again, is it not?"

They came from Miss Jetty, the carpenter's sister. She was sitting at
work at her open window. Charles lifted his eyes to nod to her; and
that enabled him to see some one who was approaching at a short
distance. Huddles. Charley recognized him; and on the spur of the
moment darted into the carpenter's to hide.

"I hope and trust he did not see me!"

But Mr. Huddles had seen him. Mr. Huddles came up with a long
stride, and was inside the house almost as soon as Charley was.
Charley could not pretend to be blind then. He stood just within
Esther Jetty's sitting-room; and the applicant stood in the passage
facing him.

"I called at Eagles' Nest to-day, Mr. Charles Raynor, and could not
see you. You know of course what it was I wanted?"

Charles was taken aback. What with the unpleasantness of the

surprise, the consciousness of the helpless state of his finances, and
the proximity of Miss Esther Jetty's eyes and ears, raised in curiosity,
he was turning frightfully cross. A few sharp, haughty words greeted
Huddles, apparently causing him astonishment. This application
concerned one of the two "bills" given by Charley; the one on which
no proceedings had as yet been taken.

"Can you meet that bill, Mr. Charles Raynor?"

"No, I can't," replied Charles. "I wrote you word that I would meet it
as soon as I could; that bill and the other also; and so I will. You
must wait."

"For how long, Mr. Raynor? It is inconvenient to wait."

Charles flew into a passion. But for Esther Jetty's presence, he would
have managed much better; that of course behoved him to carry
matters with a high hand, and he showered abuse on Mr. Huddles in
haughty language, forgetful of diplomacy. Mr. Huddles, not at all the
sort of man to be dealt with in this manner, repaid him in his own
coin. Had Charles met him civilly, he would have been civil also; ay,
and forbearing. The bills—he held them both—had only come into
his hands in the course of business. He was really respectable, both
as a man and a tradesman, not accustomed to be spoken to in such
a fashion, and most certainly in this instance did not deserve it. His
temper rose. A short, sharp storm ensued, and Mr. Huddles went out
of the house in anger, leaving a promise behind him.

"I have been holding the two bills over for you, Mr. Charles Raynor,
and staying proceedings out of consideration to you and at your
request. And this is the gratitude I get in return! The affair is none
of mine, as you know; and what I have done has been simply out of
good-nature, for I was sorry to see so young a man in danger of
exposure, perhaps of a debtor's prison. I will not delay proceedings
another day. The bills shall pass out of my hands, and you must do
the best you can for yourself."

Whilst Charles stood knitting his brow and looking very foolish,
staring at the front-door, which still vibrated with the bang Mr.
Huddles gave it, and not half liking to turn and face Esther Jetty, the
parlour-door on the other side of the passage, which had been ajar
all the time, opened, and the Tiger appeared at it. He must have
been an ear-witness to the whole. It did not tend to decrease
Charley's annoyance: and, in truth, the sudden appearance of this
man upon the scene, in conjunction with the visit of Huddles,
revived Charley's suspicions of him. The Tiger's face wore quite a
benevolent aspect.

"Can I be of any use to you?" he asked. "I will be if I can. Step in

here, Charles Raynor, and let us talk it over."

Charley lost his head. The words only added fuel to fire. Coming
from this sneak of a sheriff's officer, or whatever other disreputable
thing he might be, they sounded in his ears in the light of an insult—
a bit of casuistry designed to entrap him. And he treated them
accordingly.

"You be of use to me!" he contemptuously retorted, with all the

scorn he could call up. "Mind your own business, man, if you can.
Don't presume to interfere with mine."

And out of the house strode Charley, banging the door in his turn,
and sending a good-afternoon to Esther Jetty through the open
window. The Tiger shrugged his shoulders with a disdainful gesture:
as much as to say that the young man was not worth a thought and
that he washed his hands of him and his concerns. Taking up his
slouching hat, he put it well over his forehead, stood for a few
minutes at the outer door, and then passed through the little gate.

"Wouldn't you like your tea, sir?" called Esther Jetty from the
window. "I was just about to get it."

"Presently," replied the Tiger.

Meanwhile Charles Raynor was striding towards home, full of bitter

repentance. All the folly of his recent conduct was presenting itself
before him.

"I wish I had met the fellow differently!" he soliloquized, alluding to

Huddles. "There can be no more putting-off now. A day or two and
they will be down upon me. I think I was a fool! What a to-do
there'll be at home! How on earth will the money be found?—and
what will be the upshot of it all?"

Indeed, it seemed that, with one thing and another, Eagles' Nest was
not altogether comfortable. Most of its inmates had some secret
trouble upon them. And yet not twelve months ago they had entered
upon it, all glee and joy, believing their days would henceforth be
delightful as a second Paradise!
The next afternoon but one, Saturday, brought William Stane. Alice
chanced to be in the shrubbery, and met him. His countenance
proved that he felt vexed, doubtful, ill at ease. Instead of the tender
glance and smile that had been wont to greet Alice, he had a grave
eye and knitted brow. The look angered her, even more than had the
reported words of Sir Philip on the Thursday before.

What precisely passed between them perhaps neither could

afterwards clearly recall. He said something about how sorry he was
that their happy intercourse should have been marred; Alice
interrupted him with a sharp and haughty retort. William Stane
retorted in his turn; and things were spoken between them, in the
moment's ill-feeling, that could neither be unsaid nor qualified.
Prejudiced by his father's account of the unsatisfactory interview
with the major, he had come, naturally inclined to espouse his
father's side; Alice on her part upheld their own cause. Very short
indeed was the scene, but it was decisive.

"I am sorry to have been so mistaken in you, Miss Raynor," he said,

turning to depart. "No great harm has, however, been done."

"None," returned Alice. "Fare you well."

He raised his hat without speaking, and the echoes of his retreating
footsteps died away in the shrubbery.

Thus they parted. The fault being at least as much Alice's as his.
Whether he had come to straighten matters, to repudiate the fiat Sir
Philip had pronounced, Alice knew not, but she did not allow him the
opportunity. If the possession of Eagles' Nest had taught nothing
else to Major Raynor's children, it had certainly taught them to be
arrogant. The world seemed made for them, and for them alone.

Alice went upstairs humming a gay song, and passed into Daisy's
room. She halted at the glass, glancing at her pretty face, at the
brightness of the blue eyes, at the unusual flush on her cheeks.
Frank's wife turned round.
"You are gay this afternoon, Alice."

"Gay as a fairy," replied Alice. "It is lovely out-of-doors. The sun's

shining and the birds are singing."

A few days went on. Charley was in a state of mental collapse. For,
not one single minute of those days came and went but he was on
the look-out for some dreadful shock, emanating from the enemy,
Huddles. Each night, as darkness fell, he felt not at all thankful that
the blow had kept off, concluding that the morrow would bring it. It
seemed to him at times that its falling would bring relief, by ending
his almost unbearable suspense.

Alice continued gay; gay as a lark. Was it assumed, this gaiety, or

was it real? Perhaps she herself did not know.

"You could not have cared very much for William Stane, Alice, or he
for you," one day remarked her mother, to whom the affair had
given pain, interrupting Alice in the carolling of a song, sung to an
impromptu dance.

"Cared for him, mamma!" she returned, in her spirit of bravado. "I
am well rid of him."

Mrs. Raynor sighed. Alice had so changed: not, she feared, for the
better. So had Charles. Good fortune had ruined them all.
 CHAPTER VI.

STARTLING NEWS

The first of June. A day destined to be an eventful one at Eagles'

Nest. At five o'clock in the morning the house was aroused from its
peaceful slumbers by a commotion. Mrs. Raynor's bell was ringing
violently; Mrs. Raynor's voice was calling for help in loud and anxious
tones. Major Raynor had been taken ill.

Frank was first at the bedside. His uncle lay unconscious, or partly
so, exhibiting alarming symptoms. An attack of some kind seemed
imminent; Frank thought it would prove apoplexy. Other advice was
sent for.

Long before the usual hour for breakfast, breakfast had been taken,
and the family hardly knew what to do with themselves. Dr. Selfe, a
clever man, residing near, had seen Major Raynor—who now seemed
to be somewhat better. The doctor quite agreed with Frank that the
symptoms were indicative of apoplexy; but he thought that it might
be warded off, at least for the present, by the aid of powerful
remedies. These remedies had been applied, and the patient was
decidedly improving. He spoke little, but was quite conscious. On
these occasions, when one out of the home circle is lying upstairs in
sudden and dangerous illness, the house becomes utterly unsettled.
Ordinary habits are changed; no one knows what to be at.

"I shall ring for some more coffee," said Charles, rising as he spoke.
"There's nothing else to do."
Lamb came in and received the order. The breakfast-things were still
on the table. This was one of the pleasantest rooms in the house:
small and cosy, with glass-doors opening to the garden. It faced the
west, so was free from the morning sun: but, beyond the shade cast
by the house, that sun shone brightly on the smooth green grass
and clustering flowers.

Whilst waiting for the coffee, which had to be made, Charles leaned
against the window, half in, half out-of-doors, whistling softly and
keeping a good look-out around, lest any Philistine should be
approaching unawares. This illness of his father's terribly
complicated matters. In the midst of Charley's worst apprehensions
there had lain, down deep in his heart, the vista of a possible refuge.
He had whispered to himself, "When things come to a crisis, my
father will no doubt find a way to help me;" and the hope had been
as a healing balm to his spirit. But his father, lying in this state, could
not be applied to: his repose of mind must not be disturbed: and if
Charley fell into some tiger's clutches now, what on earth was he to
do?

Whistling softly and unconsciously, Charley indulged in these highly

agreeable reflections. His mother had not come downstairs at all.
Alice had gone up to Daisy: Kate and Mademoiselle were reading
French under the distant walnut-tree. Only Frank was there.

"I do think I can smell haymaking!" cried Charley, suddenly.

"Yes," assented Frank. "Some of the fields are down."

"Is it not early for it?"

"We have had an early season."

No more was said. There flashed into Charley's mind a remembrance

of the day he had first seen Eagles' Nest: when he had stood at one
of the windows, though not this one, gazing out at the charming
scenery, the lovely flowers; inhaling their perfume and that of the
Welcome to our website – the perfect destination for book lovers and
knowledge seekers. We believe that every book holds a new world,
offering opportunities for learning, discovery, and personal growth.
That’s why we are dedicated to bringing you a diverse collection of
books, ranging from classic literature and specialized publications to
self-development guides and children's books.

More than just a book-buying platform, we strive to be a bridge

connecting you with timeless cultural and intellectual values. With an
elegant, user-friendly interface and a smart search system, you can
quickly find the books that best suit your interests. Additionally,
our special promotions and home delivery services help you save time
and fully enjoy the joy of reading.

Join us on a journey of knowledge exploration, passion nurturing, and

personal growth every day!

ebookbell.com