Dancing African Languages

Language is beautiful, both for its utilitarian benefits as well as its artistic aspects. It’s hard for me to get over all the different languages that are spoken feely here. It never ceases to amaze me when I listen to friends whose Mother Tongue differs.

In such a multi-lingual society the language spoken is nearly as fluid as the words themselves. Conversations don’t stay rutted in one language, confined by the terms and phrases of a single system. A conversation, like any other organic process, moves and flows with the rhythms of the moment. During many times I have been a part of a conversation when others in the conversation will swiftly and seamlessly roll into a different language.

It is even more fascinating to me as I begin to learn the differences between the languages. I am able to at times discern when they change. This is particularly true between Tswana to Xhosa, for which I have several friends who speak both. They are both beautiful, but very different African languages. Tswana is characterized by sweet, soft, rolling tones accentuated by subtle German sounds. In contrast, Xhosa is melodic and dances with tonal inflections with the addition of clicks that provide irregular and exotic drum beats to its tune.

On many occasions I have been a part of a conversation where one individual is speaking Xhosa while another is speaking Tswana. All individuals speak both languages and, if one didn’t know they were different languages, there was no irregular syntax in the conversation. Then, if I listen carefully, I will hear bits of English or of other languages. Sometimes the conversation will switch entirely to one language or another, and then back again to speaking separate languages. It continues to amaze me.

It must be wonderful to have the full grasp of several languages to fully express oneself. Not being bi-lingual it is difficult to fully understand. But I do know that many times I have heard that one phrase or another just doesn’t translate. On a few occasions, I haven’t been able to fully express an English idiom. What a fantastic gift to have the ability to manipulate so many languages.