A sociolinguistic survey of the Farefari dialect in Damongo

Abstract

The study is a sociolinguistic survey of the Farefari dialect in Damongo, seeking to investigate the various domains in which the dialect is spoken, the attitude of speakers toward their dialect, and the extent of the threat to the dialect from the dominant language. The study covers the six Farefari settlement areas within the Damongo community, where the settlers are Farefari speakers who were resettled from the Farefari-speaking community of the Upper East region of Ghana. The study focused on language use, language attitude, and the perceived vitality of the dialect in Damongo. The study used the Ethnolinguistic vitality theory that was proposed by Giles et al. (1977) to investigate the role of socio-structural variables in intergroup relations, crosscultural communication, second language learning, mother tongue maintenance, and language shift and loss. The study adopted a mixed methods methodology, focusing on a convenient sampling technique. The source of data for this study is mainly primary. The analysis has shown that home is the basic domain in which the dialect is used most. The respondents demonstrated that they have a very high positive attitude towards the dialect by speaking it at all times and wish that the dialect be maintained in the region. Agriculture is the mainstay economic activity the Farefari are mostly engaged in as their occupation. There are indications that the dialect is not threatened by the dominant language group, even though it is not used in schools and other government institutions in the region. However, poor crop yields, the threat from Fulani headsmen, and the multi-ethnic and multi-cultural context of the language could eventually force speakers to shift linguistically towards other language groups. There is no indication that the language will be used in school any time soon, even though there is evidence that its use in the media particularly on the radio could expand.