A DAVID / GOLIATH ACRIMONY: REFLECTIONS ON ENGLISH IN CAMEROON

Abstract

The Cameroonian aphorism that the country is Africa in miniature is manifested equally in its linguistic landscape. The country is not only inundated by many native languages but equally by a number of Englishes. This has resulted in a fervent jostling for position amongst users of the English language within the macrocosm of the varied contexts of use. The hegemony exerted on the ‘marginalised’ variety in various spheres turns to conceal the inherent beauty and magnificence of the latter; projecting it as an inferior variety. The coexistence is at times ferocious especially in a mesolectal context where a lot of arguments on the ideal are predominant. This paper is a reflection on English in Cameroon today, with a focus on users opinions vis a vis the Englishes. The article is a premonition of the outcome of such linguistic transgression alluding it to the outcome of the biblical David versus Goliath contest. It examines the various Englishes that find expression within the linguistic landscape of Cameroon with a projection of the ‘marginalised’ Cameroonian variety of English. The conclusion is that Cameroon English like other ‘minor’ varieties is imbedded with beauty and magnificence in the expression of  national realities as well as the sociocultural heritage of a nation and should be valorised and used with unbridled pride.