Standardisation a Considerable Force behind Language Death: A Case of Shona

Abstract

The paper assesses the contribution of standardisation towards language death taking Clement Doke’s resolutions on the various Shona dialects as a case study. It is a qualitative analysis of views gathered from speakers of the language situated in various provinces of Zimbabwe, the country in which the language is spoken by around 75% of the population. It is argued that, under normal circumstances, standardisation should not result in people having to cede more than half of their way of speaking. The paper demonstrates how people speaking varieties that were initially treated as independent languages may be forced to speak in a prescribed way inspite of whether they really speak the same language or not which in turn leads to language shift and death. The language policy of the entire nation would result in the disappearance of motivation to continue with the old way of speaking which in turn leads to the death of that particular language or way of speaking. The paper recommends nations to understand the importance of multilingualism and labour for its preservation.

Keywords: Standardisation, language death, Shona