The present paper provides first insights into emblematic language use in Bunia Swahili, a variety of the Bantu language Swahili as spoken in and around the city of Bunia inIturi Province, Democratic Republic of the Congo. Structural variability in Bunia Swahili shows that this language variety consists of basilectal, mesolectal and acrolectal registers, which are used by speakers to express different social identities. Whereas the basilectal variety shows structural similarities with Central Sudanic languages, the mesolectal and acrolectal registers are closer to East Coast Swahili. We argue that these lectal forms are to be understood as fluid repertoires which are used by speakers as a form of adaption to different conversational settings and as indexical representations of their (ethnic) identity. We go on to describe the historical background to these diverging ways of speaking Bunia Swahili, which are due mainly to the long-lasting conflict between different groups in the area.

本文提供了在刚果民主共和国伊图里省布尼亚市及其周围所使用的多种班图语斯瓦希里语中的布尼亚语斯瓦希里语中象征语言使用的初步见解。布尼亚语斯瓦希里语的结构变异性表明，该语言变种包括通俗语，中亲语和折语语种，说话者使用这些语种来表达不同的社会身份。大教堂的变种与中苏丹语的语言在结构上有相似之处，而中部和杂居的变种更接近斯瓦希里语东海岸。我们认为，这些非语言形式应被理解为流畅的曲目，说话者将其用作适应不同会话环境的形式，并作为其（种族）身份的索引表示。