Cultural Norms of Greetings in the African Context

Beata Wojtowicz

doi:10.18290/rh21696-10

Beata Wojtowicz University of Warsaw, Poland https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8819-3219

DOI: https://doi.org/10.18290/rh21696-10

Keywords: greetings, African languages, African communities, verbal communication, non-verbal communication

Abstract

Knowledge of a foreign language facilitates communication. In order to be fluent in a foreign language, it is not enough to learn its words and grammatical rules, but one has to also be aware that there are additional, culture-bound norms that govern communication practices among various language groups. Even if one is not fluent in a foreign language, it is possible to make communication successful by applying appropriate non-verbal behaviour. In this article, I present communicative culture-related greeting rules among different African communities. I focus on the main factors that govern acts of greeting in different African languages.

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