SOCIAL PRESTIGE ASSESSMENT OF THE LANGUAGES OF GUINEA-BISSAU BY THEIR SPEAKERS

Abstract

Guinea-Bissau is known as a “swamp of languages” (Intumbo, 2007), being made up of more than two dozens of languages, namely the native African languages, Kryiol (Guineense) and Portuguese. This contact situation has its origins on the historical process of colonization that gathered of different ethnic-groups, their languages and cultures in the territory of Guinea-Bissau, as it happened throughout West Africa. In this paper, we seek to understand the prestige that Guinean speakers attribute to each of their languages, taking into account the conditions of multilingualism that characterize this African country. To do this, we asked three groups of speakers – secondary school students, university students and adults – the question “Do you feel you are more valued speaking Portuguese or Kriol? Why?”. The results show that, among the languages spoken in the country, Portuguese is the most prestigious language for younger speakers, but not for those in the last group. This phenomenon signals the continuous influence of Portuguese, the only language of teaching and administration, even after decolonization.