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We have been investigating what motivates people to become multilingual in Lower Fungom. But in Lower Fungom, individuals are actively learning both local languages as well as socioeconomically powerful ones. Shift to major languagesĪll over the world, the dominant trend is for small speaker communities to shift to major languages such as English, Spanish, or Chinese. Most are learned without any formal schooling and are acquired through family relationships, friendships or for work. The average adult is able to speak or understand around five to six different languages. A survey conducted by Angiachi Esene Agwara, a Cameroonian collaborator, found there to be no monolinguals in Lower Fungom. What is especially remarkable is the sheer number of languages spoken by each individual in Lower Fungom. Multilingualism is woven into the fabric of Lower Fungom society, as it is in much of Africa. The ways that people use these languages are also endangered. The languages of Lower Fungom, like so many others, are endangered. These include colonial languages such as English and French as well as hundreds of local languages. Around 300 languages are spoken by its approximately 20 million people. Cameroon is one of the most linguistically diverse countries in the world. Since 2004 I have been working with my colleague Pierpaolo Di Carlo and other collaborators to understand the language dynamics of a region of Cameroon known as Lower Fungom. But the link between language and identity can differ greatly from community to community and is especially complex in societies dominated by multilingualism. This has led to revitalisation efforts, especially in parts of the world dominated by settler societies, such as Australia, Canada and the US.

The death of a language can be a significant loss for speaker communities who view their language as a key part of their heritage. Some experts predict that half of the world’s languages will disappear within a century, with urbanisation and the increasing use of major world languages diminishing smaller languages’ chances of survival. The world is going through an unprecedented period of language endangerment.