Linguistic and cultural changes relating to kinship in the Columbus Somali community

Since the 1980’s, the Somali Civil War has caused millions of families to seek refuge all around the world. Nearly 40,000 Somalis have made Columbus, Ohio their new home. Eight thousand miles separate them from their motherland, creating serious problems for the maintenance of their cultural traditions and forcing them increasingly to adapt. Among Somali traditions, language use and cultural practices such as family kinship systems are especially connected to their identity in Columbus. This study specifically seeks to explore to what extent Somali kinship and its expression in language has been affected in the diaspora community in Columbus. Thus we ask, to what degree have the traditional Somali kinship system been maintained among the refugees, and what linguistic and cultural changes have occurred? What factors motivate any ongoing changes? In order to answer these questions, I am conducting interviews with twenty different Somalis in Columbus. I will select ten first generation informants who were raised in Somalia and ten second generation informants who spent their childhoods outside of Somalia and prefer English over Somali. The interviews are designed to elicit information on informants’ personal histories, discuss their degree of familiarity with use of Somali kinship terms, and discuss their observations of Somali and American culture with reference to family structure. These questions will identify potential factors for encouraging maintenance of kinship terms, such as connections to Somalia, close-knit extended families, higher Somali proficiency, and strong identification as a Somali. Data collection is currently in progress, and preliminary findings show that adherence to one strict kinship system has declined in the second generation. As data collection continues, findings will develop further. Once complete, the study is intended to be a contribution to the broader picture of how cultural change affects language change, with specific reference to kinship.Research Scholar Award from OSU Undergraduate Research OfficeNo embargoAcademic Major: Linguistic