ASSESSING MINORITY LANGUAGES ENDANGERMENT: A CASE OF THE TABWA ETHNOLINGUISTIC COMMUNITY

This study investigated the sociolinguistic status of the Tabwa language with particular reference to its level of endangerment, considering its apparent condition as a language threatened with extinction. This situation is primarily attributed to the increasing dominance of Kiswahili language, while other social and economic factors were also found to contribute to the observed decline in the use of the language. The study investigated the sociolinguistic status evidenced by domain function and intergenerational transmission and their possible contributions to the threatened status of the Tabwa language. The integrated approach using both qualitative and quantitative data was adopted in the study. This study targeted the Tabwa people. Stratified random and purposive sampling techniques were used in the study. The respondents were grouped in three different age categories. The first category was children between 10 to 15 years, the second category was that of the youth aged between 16-25 years, and the third and last category was that of adults aged between 26-55. A total of 120 respondents were selected to provide quantitative data. The sample comprised three groups: 40 children aged 10–15 years, 40 youth aged 16–25 years, and 40 adults aged 26–55 years. A total number of 35 respondents were taken for the group that provided qualitative data. The analysed data indicate that, the Tabwa language is potentially endangered. It was observed that there was a lack of effective intergenerational transmission of the language from older to younger generations. The language was also found to have very few functional domains and to possess a very low prestige value.