Is there such thing as Ugandan English? #3: Semantics

Over the last two weeks I've been blogging some observations about the English spoken in Uganda, organised according to linguistic strata: first phonology, then lexicogrammar. This week I'm up to semantics - the systems of meaning that operate for speakers of a given language.

The main semantic difference I've noticed is really quite closely linked with wording and grammar (lexicogrammar), as it's to do with the way Ugandans perform the speech function of 'command'. For the non-linguists, I first need to briefly explain some things about this concept of 'speech functions' and how they are expressed in wording and grammar. There are basically four speech functions: statement (giving information), question (demanding information), offer (giving goods & services), and command (demanding goods & services). These are meanings which are expressed grammatically in particular ways. The prototypical matches are as follows:

• statement is typically expressed through declarative mood (Subject comes before Finite verb), e.g. The waitress brought some water for washing hands.
• question is typically expressed through interrogative mood (inversion of Subject and Finite verb), e.g. Did the waitress bring some water for washing hands?
• [offer does not have a particular match from among the three mood types]
• command is typically expressed through imperative mood (imperative form of verb, typically with no Subject or Finite), e.g. 'Bring some water for washing hands!'

But these prototypical match-ups do not always have to be used, and a different mood type can be chosen to express a speech function depending on the politeness required or other contextual factors. In Australian English, for example, it's very common to use declarative or interrogative mood to express a command, e.g. 'I need some water to wash my hands' or 'Could you please bring some water for washing hands?'. If you went into a restaurant in Sydney and said 'Bring me a menu!' (because you probably wouldn't ask for water to wash your hands), the staff member would probably take you for a very rude person and not treat you very well.

In Australian English imperative mood tends to be used to express commands in relationships of legitimate authority (e.g. owners to pets, parents to children, teacher to student, government official to citizen especially in written communication) or intimacy (family member or close friend). In the Australian context, the service relationship between a restaurant patron and a staff member is not one of 'legitimate authority'. In another context the restaurant patron might find him/herself serving the restaurant staff member.

It seems that in Ugandan English, imperative mood is used much more widely for expressing commands, without necessarily carrying the implication that the speaker is either in legitimate authority over, or in an intimate relationship with, the addressee. So you could say 'Bring a menu' or 'Bring some water for washing hands' or 'Pack these leftovers for me' or 'Bring the bill' in a restaurant and it would not be considered out of place.

On a lighter semantic note, I've enjoyed the fact that, in linguistics classes I've been to here, mangoes figure very prominently in examples constructed to illustrate a point, e.g. 'The boy bought a mango'. The mango is culturally much more salient here than in Australia - and cheaper too!