The new urban youth language Yabacrâne in Goma (DR Congo)

Abstract

Yabacrâne is a Kiswahili-based youth language practice used by youths in Goma, Eastern Democratic Republic (DR) of the Congo, where distinctive language usage marks speakers’ identity and community of practice. Yabacrâne reveals salient features which do not coincide with characteristics typical of other youth language practices in Africa. The gangster image and violent behavior, aggravated by the prevailing con?ict zone in Eastern DR Congo, as well as a tough ‘street image’, are the central points of reference for Yabacrâne speakers. Unlike neighboring youth languages in the Great Lakes region, Yabacrâne is no longer limited to urban spaces; furthermore, speakers draw heavily on other (remote) youth languages in DR Congo such as Lingala-based Yanké (spoken in Kinshasa), especially through music and social media. Besides speakers’ phonological and semantic manipulations, the present paper aims to take cross-geographical ?uidity into account in order to describe the trajectories that new terms pass through before they are eventually diffused within the community. Moreover, as an innovative approach, the paper also takes some deliberate modi?cations in pragmatics, namely politeness strategies and linguistic taboos, into consideration.