Cover not available
Part of
World Englishes in their Local Multilingual Ecologies
Edited by Peter Siemund, Gardy Stein and Manuela Vida-Mannl
[Hamburg Studies on Linguistic Diversity 9] 2025
► pp. 208–230

Chapter 10
English in the linguistic landscape(s) of rural Tanzania

 | University of Dar es Salaam
 | University of Hamburg
The linguistic macro-ecology of Tanzania is characterized by multiple interactions of languages that can generally be summarized as 2 + 1 out of many, involving the national official language Swahili, the ex-colonial and elitist (co-official) language English and a panoply of 120+ vernacular languages, broadly forming a triglossia. While Tanzania’s Swahilisation policy during the Ujamaa socialist era (1967–1985) aimed at restricting public domains of English usage, the turn towards economic, cultural and educational liberalization since the 1990s and the impact of internationalization, globalization and the spread of new media of communication have come to boost the image of English considerably (Blommaert 2014; Legère 2006; Lema 2021). Its growing prestige is not only reflected in attitudes (Mohr 2018; Mohr, Lorenz & Ochieng 2020), but also in a surge of English-sourced items surfacing at various levels, e.g., in the urban juvenile stylects of Swahili known as Lugha ya Mitaani (Reuster-Jahn & Kießling 2022), in various terminological registers of standard Swahili (Lupapula 2021; Legère 2006) and in Tanzania’s linguistic landscapes at large. The present contribution provides a case study of the visual public presence of English at the Tanzanian grassroots level, e.g., in official signboards and private shop signs found in two remote areas of the Tanzanian Rift valley, i.e., Mkalama district (Singida region) and Mbulu district (Manyara region). By tracing the forms in which English penetrates into the remote corners of the Tanzanian rural linguistic landscapes, the contribution complements existing studies on the linguistics of Tanzanian cityscapes (Bwenge 2009; Chul-joon 2014; Peterson 2014; Mdukula 2018; Lusekelo & Alphonce 2018; Lusekelo & Mdukula 2021). At the same time, the chapter illustrates how English forms are appropriated, manipulated and creatively adapted to local needs and aspirations in the process of translocation as exponents of global culture.
Keywords: linguistic landscapes, rural areas, Swahili, Tanzania
Article outline
  • 1.Introduction
  • 2.Tanzanian English?
  • 3.English in East African linguistic landscapes
    • 3.1Urban Tanzania
    • 3.2Rural Tanzania
  • 4.English in Tanzanian language ecologies
  • 5.Conclusion
  • Author queries
  • Notes
  • References
This content is being prepared for publication; it may be subject to changes.
References (61)
References
Abdulaziz Mkilifi, M. H. 1972. Triglossia and Swahili-English bilingualism in Tanzania. Language and Society 1: 197–213. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Banda, Felix & Hambaba Jimaima. 2015. The semiotic ecology of linguistic landscapes of rural Zambia. Journal of Sociolinguistics 19(5): 643–670. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
. 2017. Linguistic landscapes and the sociolinguistics of language vitality in multilingual contexts of Zambia. Multilingua 36(5): 595–625. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Banda, Felix, Hambaba Jimaima & Lorato Mokwena. 2019. Semiotic remediation of Chinese signage in linguistic landscapes of two rural areas of Zambia. In Ari Sherris & Elisabetta Adami (eds.), Making Signs, Translanguaging Ethnographies: Exploring Urban, Rural and Educational Spaces, pp. 74–90. Bristol: Multilingual Matters.Google Scholar
Batibo, Herman M. 1995. The growth of Kiswahili as language of education and administration in Tanzania. In Martin Pütz (ed.), Discrimination through Language in Africa? Perspectives on the Namibian Experience, pp. 57–80. Berlin: Mouton de Gruyter. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
2005. Language Decline and Death in Africa: Causes, Consequences and Challenges. Clevedon: Multilingual Matters. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Ben-Rafael, Eliezer, Elana Shohamy, Muhammad Hasan Amara & Nira Trumper-Hecht. 2006. Linguistic landscape as symbolic construction of the public space: The case of Israel. In Durk Gorter (ed.) Linguistic Landscape: A New Approach to Multilingualism, pp. 7–30. Bristol: Multilingual Matters. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Blommaert, Jan. 2014. State Ideology and Language in Tanzania. Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Bwenge, Charles. 2009. Language choice in Dar es Salaam’s billboards. In Fiona McLaughlin (ed.), The Languages of Urban Africa, pp. 152–177. London: Continuum.Google Scholar
. 2012. English in Tanzania: A linguistic cultural perspective. International Journal of Language, Translation and Intercultural Communication 1(1): 167–182. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Chul-joon, Yang. 2014. Shifting agency in shaping linguistic landscape: Evidence from Dar es Salaam, Tanzania. The Sociolinguistic Journal of Korea 22(2): 45–64. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Costley, Tracey, Nancy Kula & Lutz Marten. 2022. Translanguaging spaces and multilingual public writing in Zambia: Tracing change in the linguistic landscape of Ndola on the Copperbelt. Journal of Multilingual and Multicultural Development 44(9), 773–793. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Eberhard, David M., Gary F. Simons & Charles D. Fennig (eds.). 2023. Ethnologue: Languages of the World, 26th edn. Dallas, TX: SIL International. [URL] (11 October 2024).
Forsythe, Lora, Maria Njau, Adrienne Martin, Aurelie Bechoff & Keith Tomlins. 2017. Staple Food Cultures: A Case Study of Cassava Ugali Preferences in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania. Natural Resources Institute and CGIAR Research Program on Roots, Tubers and Bananas (RTB). RTB Working Paper.Google Scholar
Haugen, Einar. 1972. The ecology of language. In Anwar S. Dil (ed.), The Ecology of Language. Essays of Einar Haugen, pp. 325–339. Stanford, CA: Standford University Press.Google Scholar
Heine, Bernd. 1979. Sprache, Gesellschaft und Kommunikation in Afrika: zum Problem der Verständigung und sozio-ökonomischen Entwicklung im sub-saharischen Afrika. München: Weltforum Verlag.Google Scholar
Higgins, Christina. 2007. Shifting tactics in intersubjectivity to align indexicalities: A case of joking around in Swahinglish. Language in Society 36: 1–24. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Hurst-Harosh, Ellen. 2020. Tsotsitaal in South Africa: Style and Metaphor in Youth Language Practices. Köln: Rüdiger Köppe.Google Scholar
Ilonga, Emmanuel & Gastor Mapunda. 2022. Complementarity of communicative modes on meaning making in Tanzania’s digital telecom marketing: A social semiotic multimodal perspective. South African Linguistics and Applied Language Studies 40(1): 87–99. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Karlsson, Mina & Emelie Maniette. 2015. COCO BEACH — From City Dump to Paradise: A Design Proposal for a Public Beach in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania. M.A. thesis, Uppsala University.
Kießling, Roland & Maarten Mous. 2004. Urban youth languages in Africa. Anthropological Linguistics 46(3): 303–341.Google Scholar
Kießling, Roland, Maarten Mous & Derek Nurse. 2008. The Tanzanian Rift Valley area. In Bernd Heine & Derek Nurse (eds.), A Linguistic Geography of Africa, pp. 186–227. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
Languages of Tanzania Project. 2009. Atlasi ya lugha za Tanzania. Dar es Salaam: University of Dar es Salaam.Google Scholar
Lanza, Elizabeth & Hirut Woldermariam. 2014. Indexing modernity: English and branding in LL of Addis Ababa. International Journal of Bilingualism 18(5): 23–49. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Legère, Karsten. 2006. Formal and informal development of the Swahili language: Focus on Tanzania. In Olaoba F. Arasanyin & Michael A. Pemberton (eds.), Selected Proceedings of the 36th Annual Conference on African Linguistics, pp. 176–184. Somerville, MA: Cascadilla Proceedings Project.Google Scholar
Legère, Karsten & Tove Rosendal. 2019. Linguistic landscapes and the African perspective. In Martin Pütz & Neele Mundt (eds.), Expanding the Linguistic Landscape: Linguistic Diversity, Multimodality and the Use of Space as a Semiotic Resource, pp. 153–179. Bristol: Multilingual Matters.Google Scholar
Lema, Benedict P. 2021. The triple linguistic heritage in Tanzania: Opportunities and challenges. Journal of Education, Humanities and Sciences 10(1): 57–76.Google Scholar
Lupapula, Abel. 2021. Terminological Development in Tanzania: An Analysis of the Bantu-sourced Loanwords in Standard Kiswahili Terminology. P.h.D. dissertation, University of Hamburg.
Lusekelo, Amani & Chrispina Alphonce. 2018. The linguistic landscape in urban Tanzania: An account of the language of billboards and shop-signs in district headquarters. Journal of Language, Technology and Entrepreneurship in Africa 9(1): 1–28.Google Scholar
Lusekelo, Amani & Adventina Buberwa. 2021. Swahili and English sell; but what about Iraqw and Sukuma? Tanzanian native languages and ethnic affiliations in bottom-up commercial signage. Tanzania Journal of Humanities and Social Sciences 10(1): 73–103.Google Scholar
Lusekelo, Amani & Paschal C. Mdukula. 2021. The linguistic landscape of urban Tanzania in Dodoma City. Utafiti Journal of African Perspectives 16(1): 63–94.Google Scholar
Mapunda, Gastor & Emanuel Ilonga. 2022. Lexical innovation through Swahilisation of English lexicon in online advertisement. Utafiti 17(1): 107–129. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Mapunda, Gastor & Tove Rosendal. 2021. Imagined futures and new technology: Youths’ language attitudes in Songea, Tanzania. Language Matters 52(1): 92–112. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Mdukula, Patrick C. 2018. Linguistic Landscape of Public Health Institutions in Tanzania: The Case of Muhimbili National Hospital. P.h.D. dissertation, University of Dar es Salaam.
Mohr, Susanne. 2018. The changing dynamics of language use and language attitudes in Tanzania. Language Matters — Studies in the Languages of Africa 49(3): 105–127. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Mohr, Susanne & Dunlop Ochieng. 2017. Language usage in everyday life and in education: Current attitudes towards English in Tanzania. English Today 33(4): 12–18. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Mohr, Susanne, Steffen Lorenz & Dunlop Ochieng. 2020. English, national and local linguae francae in the language ecologies of Uganda and Tanzania. Sociolinguistic Studies 14(3): 371–394. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Mühlhäusler, Peter. 1996. Linguistic Ecology. Linguistic Change and Language Imperialism in the Pacific Region. London: Routledge.Google Scholar
Ochieng, Dunlop. 2015. The revival of the status of English in Tanzania: What future does the status of the English language have in Tanzania? English Today 31(2): 25–31. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Peterson, Rhoda. 2014. Matumizi na dhima za lugha katika mandhari-lugha ya jiji la Dar es Salaam. P.h.D. dissertation. University of Dar es Salaam.
Petzell, Malin. 2012. The linguistic situation in Tanzania. Moderna Språk 1: 136–144. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Reuster-Jahn, Uta. 2014a. Antivirus: The revolt of bongo fleva artists against a media-and-entertainment empire in Tanzania. In Matthias Kings & Utah Reuters-Jahn (eds.), Bongo Media Worlds: Producing and Consuming Popular Culture in Dar es Salaam, pp. 43–78. Cologne: Rüdiger Köppe.Google Scholar
. 2014b. English versus Swahili: Language choice in bongo flava as expression of cultural and economic changes in Tanzania. Swahili Forum 21: 1–25.Google Scholar
Reuster-Jahn, Uta & Roland Kießling. 2006. Lugha ya mitaani in Tanzania: The poetics and sociology of a young urban style of speaking — With a dictionary comprising 1100 words and phrases. Swahili Forum 13: 1–196.Google Scholar
. 2022. Tanzania: Lugha ya Mitaani. In Heike Wiese & Paul Kerswill (eds.), Urban Contact Dialects and Language Change: Insights from the Global North and South, pp. 167–185. London: Taylor & Francis. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Rosendal, Tove. 2011. Linguistic Landscapes: A Comparison of Official and Non-official Language Management in Rwanda and Uganda, Focusing on the Position of African Languages. Köln: Rüdiger Köppe.Google Scholar
Roy-Campbell, Zaline M. & Martha Qorro. 1997. The Language Crisis in Tanzania: The Myth of English Versus Education. Dar es Salaam: Mkuki na Nyota Publishers.Google Scholar
Rubagumya, Casmir M. 1991. Language promotion for educational purposes: The example of Tanzania. International Review of Education 37(1): 67–85. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
2003. English Medium Primary Schools in Tanzania: A new “linguistic market” in education? In Birgit Brock-Utne, Saline Zubeida & Martha Qorro (eds.), Language of Instruction in Tanzania and South Africa, pp. 149–169. Dar es Salaam: E&D Limited.Google Scholar
Schmied, Josef. 1985a. Attitudes towards English in Tanzania. English World-Wide 6: 237–269. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
. 1985b. Englisch in Tansania. Sozio- und interlinguistische Probleme. Heidelberg: Groos.Google Scholar
. 2004a. East African English (Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania): Morphology and syntax. In Bernd Kortmann & Edgar W. Schneider (eds.), A Handbook of Varieties of English: Morphology and Syntax, pp. 930–947. Berlin: Mouton de Gruyter.Google Scholar
. 2004b. East African English (Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania): Phonology. In Bernd Kortmann & Edgar W. Schneider (eds.), A Handbook of Varieties of English: Phonology, pp. 918–929. Berlin: Mouton de Gruyter.Google Scholar
. 2012. Tanzanian English. In Bernd Kortmann & Kerstin Lunkenheimer (eds.), The Mouton world Atlas of Variation in English, pp. 454–465. Berlin: Mouton de Gruyter. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Shohamy, Elana & Durk Gorter (eds.). 2009. Linguistic Landscape: Expanding the Scenery. London: Routledge.Google Scholar
Steiner-Anthony, Nathalie. 2012. Linguistic Landscape: Schriftlicher Sprachgebrauch im Stadtbild Daressalaams (Tansania). M.A. thesis, University of Hamburg.
United Republic of Tanzania. 1995. Education and Training Policy. Dar es Salaam: Ministry of Education and Culture.Google Scholar
. 1997. Sera ya utamaduni (Cultural policy). Dar es Salaam: Ministry of Education and Culture.Google Scholar
. 2013. Basic Education Statistics in Tanzania (BEST). Dar es Salaam: Ministry of Education and Vocational Training.Google Scholar
Visonà, Mark. 2017. Language attitudes and linguistic landscapes of Malawi. Texas Linguistics Forum 60.Google Scholar