Diglossic dynamics in Bujumbura

an analysis of some representations

Abstract

The assessment of diglossic dynamics in Bujumbura through linguistic representations was based on a qualitative analysis of the data, collected thanks to a field survey which targeted 400 speakers distributed in the three communes of the city (Ntahangwa, Mukaza, Muha). Results revealed that despite the image of “less useful” that Kirundi and Kiswahili still inspire, these languages are slowly shaking the French language status in some socio-professional sectors originally reserved for high language varieties. Since Burundi adopted a language policy which promotes Kirundi, Kiswahili and English in 2006, French has been relatively undermined in favor of these three languages. However, English, while being an official language, is more a language that many Burundians would like to learn than it is really used.