Cover not available

In:Ugandan English: Its sociolinguistics, structure and uses in a globalising post-protectorate
Edited by Christiane Meierkord, Bebwa Isingoma and Saudah Namyalo
[Varieties of English Around the World G59] 2016
► pp. 51–72

Get fulltext from our e-platform
JBE logo with link
PDF logo with download linkDownload Book PDF
authorization required

A social history of English(es) in Uganda

Published online: 20 October 2016
DOI logo with link
https://doi.org/10.1075/veaw.g59.03mei
As is the case with the other countries that linguists have discussed under the name East Africa, i.e. Kenya, Tanzania, Burundi and Rwanda, English came to the area that makes up Uganda today relatively late. This chapter traces the history of English in the country. It describes where speakers of English initially came from and who the users of English have been until today to provide a basis for a full appreciation of the sociolinguistics of present-day Uganda and of the differences from its East African neighbours Kenya and Tanzania. It will also discuss how the protectorate status, the lack of a settler strand, and the circumstances of the 1960s, 70s and 80s set Uganda apart from more prototypical postcolonial countries and seem to provide challenges to existing models.
References (52)
References
BBC News 2015. Brits Abroad. <[URL]> (29 September 2015).
Berridge, G.R. 2012. The British Interests Section in Kampala, 1976–7. <[URL]> (18 December 2015).Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Brown, J.M. 2006. Global South Asians: Introducing the Modern Diaspora. Cambridge: CUP. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Byabazaire, D.M. 1979. The Contribution of the Christian Churches to the Development of Western Uganda 1894–1974. Frankfurt: Peter Lang.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Elliot, A.V.P. 1953. The teaching of English in East Africa. Presented at the International Seminar on the Contribution of the Teaching of Modern Languages towards Education for Living in a World Community . Nuwara Eliya, Ceylon, 3–28 August 1953: United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization. <[URL]> (18 March 2016).
Fisher, E.C.A. 2000. Assessing the state of Ugandan English. English Today 16(1): 57–61. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Ghosh, P. 2012. Uganda: Fourty years after Idi Amin expelled Asians. International Business Times, 08/06/12. New York NY: IBT Media. <[URL]> (10 March 2016).Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Granger, S. 2012. Learner corpora. In The Encyclopedia of Applied Linguistics, C.A. Chapelle (ed). Oxford: Wiley-Blackwell. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Gregory, R.G. 1993. South Asians in East Africa: An Economic and Social History, 1890–1980. Boulder CO: Westview Press.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Hansen, H.B. 1984. Mission, Church and State in a Colonial Setting: Uganda 1890–1925. London: Heinemann.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Hoffmann, T. 2010. White Kenyan English. In The Lesser-Known Varieties of English. An Introduction, D. Schreier, P. Trudgill, E.W. Schneider & J.P. Williams (eds), 286–310. Cambridge: CUP. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Huber, M. 2014. Stylistic and sociolinguistic variation in Schneider’s Nativization Phase. T-affrication and relativization in Ghanaian English. In The Evolution of Englishes. The Dynamic Model and Beyond [Varieties of English around the World G49], S. Buschfeld, T. Hoffmann, M. Huber & A. Kautzsch (eds), 86–106. Amsterdam: John Benjamins. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Isingoma, B. 2014. Lexical and grammatical features of Ugandan English. English Today 30(2): 51–56. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Johnston, H. Sir. 1900. Letter to Sir Frederick Jackson, 24 January 1900. Cited in Watson, T. 1962. History of Christian Missionary Society High Schools in Uganda, 1900–1925. PhD dissertation, Makerere University.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Kachru, B. 1985. Standards, codification and sociolinguistic realism: the English language in the outer circle. In English in the World: Teaching and Learning the Language and Literatures. R. Quirk & H. Widdowson (eds), 11–30. Cambridge: CUP.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Keen, R. 2015. General introduction and guide to the archive. Editorial introduction. Church Missionary Society Archive. Marlborough: Adam Matthew Digital. <[URL]> (9 September 2015).Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Ladefoged, P., Glick, R. & Criper, C. 1972. Language in Uganda. Oxford: OUP.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Lugard, F.J.D. General. 1901. The Story of the Uganda Protectorate. London: Horace Marshall & Son.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Mazrui, A.M. & Mazrui, A.A. 1996. A tale of two Englishes: The imperial language in post-colonial Kenya and Uganda. In Post-Imperial English. Status Change in Former British and American Colonies, 1940–1990, J.A. Fishman, A.W. Conrad & A. Rubal-Lopez (eds), 271–302. Berlin: Mouton de Gruyter. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Meierkord, C. 2012. Interactions Across Englishes. Linguistic Choices in Local and International Contact Situations. Cambridge: CUP. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Mercer, W.H. Sir et al. 1907~1925. The Colonial Office List for 1907~: Comprising Historical and Statistical Information. London: Waterlow & Sons.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Mercer, W.H. Sir, Harding, A.J. & Gent, G.E.J. 1926~1962. The Dominions Office and Colonial Office List for 1926~: Comprising Historical and Statistical Information. London: Waterlow & Sons.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Mesthrie, R. & Bhatt, R.M. 2008. World Englishes. The Study of New Linguistic Varieties. Cambridge: CUP. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Middleton, D. 2014. Sir Henry Morton Stanley. British explorer. Encyclopedia Britannica Online. <[URL]> (18 March 2016).Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Mngomezulu, B.R. 2012. Politics and Higher Education in East Africa. From the 1920s to 1970. Bloemfontein: SUN MeDIA. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Morris, H.F. 1973. Introduction to government publications relating to Uganda 1900–1962. In Government Publications Relating to Africa in Microform. Government Publications Relating to Uganda 1900–1962, N. Rubin (ed), 1–40. Wakefield: Microform Limited.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
. 1978. Introduction to the annual departmental reports relating to Uganda 1903–1961. In Government Publications Relating to Africa in Microform, N. Rubin (ed), unpaginated. Wakefield: Microform Limited.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Motani, N.A. 1979. Makerere College 1922–1940. A study in colonial rule and educational retardation. African Affairs 78(312): 357–369.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Moyse-Bartlett, H. 1956. The King’s African Rifles. A Study in the Military History of East and Central Africa, 1890–1945. Aldershot: Gale & Polden.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Mufwene, S. 2001. The Ecology of Language Evolution. Cambridge: CUP. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Myers-Scotton, C. 1972. Choosing a Lingua Franca in an African Capital. Edmonton: Linguistic Research.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
. 1988. Patterns of bilingualism in East Africa (Uganda, Kenya, and Tanzania). In International Handbook of Bilingualism and Bilingual Education, C. Bratt Paulston (ed.), 203–224. Westport CT: Greenwood.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Oonk, G. 2006. East Africa. In The Encyclopedia of the Indian Diaspora, B.V. Lal, P. Reeves & R. Rai (eds), 254–262. Honolulu HI: University of Hawai‘i Press.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Pedler, F. Sir. 1975. British planning and private enterprise in colonial Africa. In Colonialism in Africa 1870–1960. Vol. 4: The Economics of Colonialism, P. Duignan & L.H. Gann (eds), 95–126. Cambridge: CUP.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Rajani, R. 2012. Ugandan Asians: Life 40 years on. BBC News. London: BBC. <[URL]> (10 March 2016).Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Ramchandani, R.R. 1976. Uganda Asians: The End of an Enterprise. A Study of the Role of the People of Indian Origin in the Economic Development of Uganda and their Expulsion 1894–1972. Bombay: United Asia Publications.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Rathore-Nigsch, C. 2015. Dialect Variation and Change Among Twice Migrants. A Sociophonetic Study of the East African Indian Community in Leicester, UK. PhD dissertation, University of Zurich.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Roberts, G. 2012. The British Government and Uganda under Idi Amin, November 1972 to April 1979. Cambridge: self-published. <[URL]> (29 September 2015).Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Rubin, N. (ed). 1978. Government Publications Relating to Africa in Microform. Annual Departmental Reports Relating to Uganda 1903–1961. Wakefield UK: Microform Limited.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Samler Brown, A. & Gordon Brown, G. 1920. South and East Africa Year Book and Guide for 1920, 26th edn. London: Union Castle Line.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Scanlon, D. 1964. Education in Uganda. U.S. Department of Health, Education, and Welfare. Office of Education. Bulletin 1964, No. 32. Washington, D.C.: US Department of Health, Education, and Welfare (now Health and Human Services).Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Schmied, J. 2004. East African English (Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania): Phonology. In A Handbook of Varieties of English, Vol. 1: Phonology, E.W. Schneider, K. Burridge, B. Kortmann, R. Mesthrie & C. Upton (eds), 918–930. Berlin: Mouton de Gruyter.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
. 2006. East African Englishes. In The Handbook of World Englishes, B. Kachru, Y. Kachru & C. Nelson (eds), 188–202. Oxford: Blackwell. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
. 2015. East Africa. In The Oxford Handbook of World Englishes, M. Filppula, J. Klemola & D. Sharma (eds). Oxford: OUP. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Schneider, E. 2003. The dynamics of new Englishes: From identity construction to dialect birth. Language 79(2): 233–281. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
. 2007. Postcolonial English. Varieties of English Around the World. Cambridge: CUP.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Shivachi, C.I. 1999. A Case Study in Language Contact: English, Kiswahili and Luhyia amongst the Luhyia People of Kenya. PhD dissertation, University of Cape Town.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Ssekamwa, J.C. 1997. History and Development of Education in Uganda. Kampala: Fountain Publishers.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
The Spectator. 1976. A watchful eye. 16 July 1976. <[URL]> (18 March 2016).Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Trudgill, P. 1986. Dialects in Contact. Oxford: Blackwell.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Uganda High Commission London. 2009. Bilateral Relations. <[URL]> (29 September 2015).
Wolf, H.-G. 2012. East and West African Englishes: Differences and commonalities. In The Routledge Handbook of World Englishes, A. Kirkpatrick (ed.), 197–211. London: Routledge.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Cited by (5)

Cited by five other publications

Isingoma, Bebwa
2025. Ugandan English. In The Wiley Blackwell Encyclopedia of World Englishes, ► pp. 1 ff. DOI logo
Meierkord, Christiane
2020. Indian English in Lesser-Known Ecologies: Afghanistan, Maldives and Uganda. In Functional Variations in English [Multilingual Education, 37], ► pp. 113 ff. DOI logo
Meierkord, Christiane
2022. Post‐protectorate Uganda and current models of influence across Englishes. World Englishes 41:3 ► pp. 429 ff. DOI logo
Isingoma, Bebwa & Christiane Meierkord
2019. Capturing the lexicon of Ugandan English. In Corpus Linguistics and African Englishes [Studies in Corpus Linguistics, 88], ► pp. 293 ff. DOI logo
Isingoma, Bebwa & Christiane Meierkord
2022. Between exonormative traditions and local acceptance: A corpus-linguistic study of modals of obligation and spatial prepositions in spoken Ugandan English. Open Linguistics 8:1 ► pp. 87 ff. DOI logo

This list is based on CrossRef data as of 22 november 2025. Please note that it may not be complete. Sources presented here have been supplied by the respective publishers. Any errors therein should be reported to them.

Mobile Menu Logo with link to supplementary files background Layer 1 prag Twitter_Logo_Blue