Translational register as factor of language change in Kanuri

Abstract In Islamic West Africa, interpretation and translation of the Qur’an and other canonical Arabic texts into local languages have long been an integral part of exegetical practices, preaching and religious schooling conducted by Muslim clerics. Such scholarly activity has resulted in specialised linguistic registers bound to the source Arabic language with varying degree of influence on everyday speech. In most of the Muslim communities of West Africa, these registers are to an extent transparent to lay audience, which facilitates contact between the exegetical variety and commonly spoken vernaculars and creates the potential for register-induced change. In extreme cases however, the translational domain has sealed off an earlier stage of language, making the resultant linguistic code a different language unintelligible to common speakers. One such extreme case is Tarjumo Kanembu, a scholarly variety of Kanuri. Despite unintelligibility of Tarjumo Kanembu to lay Kanuri speakers, contact between the specialised code and spoken language does take place, especially during translational sessions and in metalinguistic conversations. The article traces the influence of Tarjumo Kanembu on lexical, phonological and grammatical structures of Kanuri and introduces a prototype-based definition of translational register.