Abstract
Language maintenance remains a persistent challenge for speakers with a migration background, influenced by a range of social, political, and economic factors. This study explores the issue of language maintenance of Sepedi in the multilingual urban context of Pretoria, South Africa. Pretoria is a linguistically diverse city where numerous South African indigenous languages, as well as foreign languages, coexist. This diversity creates a complex environment for language preservation, particularly for migrants. For example, the participants in the current study come from Limpopo, where Sepedi is predominantly spoken. Upon migrating to Pretoria, Sepedi speakers encountered a setting in which their home language holds limited societal dominance, making them more susceptible to language shift. In many cases, this shift is driven by the desire to integrate into the broader urban community, often at the expense of their native language.
This study employed a qualitative research approach, utilising observations and semi-structured interviews to collect data from participants who shared their lived experiences regarding language maintenance. The findings revealed varied perspectives among participants. While some emphasised the importance of preserving Sepedi for intergenerational transmission, others showed less concern due to their own experiences of language shift. For instance, second-generation speakers, born in Pretoria to Sepedi-speaking parents, often reported minimal exposure to Sepedi, resulting in a further weakening of the language among the third generation.
These differing attitudes toward language maintenance directly influenced language practices within households. Participants who prioritised Sepedi actively used and promoted the language alongside others they were proficient in, whereas others predominantly used more dominant local languages. The study concludes with a set of recommendations aimed at promoting language maintenance both in informal (home) and formal (school) domains. These strategies include encouraging the use of Sepedi at home, integrating Sepedi into school curricula, and creating community-based programs to support its use and transmission across generations.