International Journal of Linguistics & Communication

The Issue of Identity in the Developmental Efforts of Senegalese Local Languages from 2001 Onwards
Dr Ibrahima Sarr

Abstract
Language as an identity marker has now become a clear fact and a generally shared assumption. Linguistic policies should then seek the development of all communities by empowering their respective languages to get them play a pivotal role in development strategies. In Senegal, from independance to present day, a number of twenty one languages have been promoted to the status of national language. This was acheived in two phases: the first concerned the former six national languages promoted between 1972 and 1975 and the latter concerned a larger set of smaller languages promoted from 2000 onwards. So for about 30 years, the number of national langues remained unchanged but in 15 years, it shot up drastically. This paper questions the reasons for such a fact and tries to demonstrate that identity was a deep concern in this process. The paper provides an overview of linguistic rights, and then revisits Senegal’s linguistic policies. It also assess the role played by ethnic associations in codification processes to explain the sthrength and flows of such an approach.

Full Text: PDF     DOI: 10.15640/ijlc.v3n2a11