According to Lamy (1979) and Pool (1979), ethnic
identity comprises four distinctive features, namely
linguistic identity, cultural identity, autonymic identity
and ethnonymic identity. When an ethnic group is
losing its identity because of pressure or attraction
from a major or dominant ethnic group in a marked
bilingualism situation (Batibo, 1992, 2005), the loss is
usually progressive, starting from linguistic identity and
ending with ethnonymic identity. Although this pattern
has been attested in a number of cases, particularly
in trans-cultural situations, there have been several
exceptions.
This paper is based on a study which investigated
the patterns of ethnic identity loss in western Botswana,
Southern Africa, which is both linguistically and culturally
complex, due to the co-existence of Bantu and Khoesan
groups. The study showed that the ethnic identity loss
model can be distorted, where there are factors that have
strong impact on people’s lives in terms of fundamental
human needs. Also, strong external socio-political
pressure, such as restrictions and group domination may
contribute to this situation.