Marital Dispute Mediation: Linguistic Strategies in Maasai Elders’ Courts in Kenya

Abstract

Conflict remains a universal challenge, yet indigenous people have linguistic frameworks for fostering peace. There is a research gap regarding the linguistic mechanisms employed in Maasai marital mediation. To address the gap, this study investigates how language is a tool for de-escalating domestic discord. The study analyses the organization of conversations, speech acts and politeness strategies in reconciliation relevant to sustainable peace-building. A qualitative research design grounded in three theoretical frameworks: Conversational Analysis (Sacks et al., 1974), Speech Act Theory (Austin, 1962; Searle, 1969), and Politeness Theory (Brown and Levinson, 1987) was adopted. Tape recordings and interviews from three marital cases at the village elders’ courts were deeply and intensively utilized during long mediation sessions, providing rich, nuanced data that broader quantitative surveys often overlook. Findings indicate a highly conventionalized process with regulated turn-taking to ensure balanced participation. Interlocutors utilized bald-on-record, positive, and negative politeness strategies to mitigate face-threatening acts during negotiations. The use of binding speech acts, specifically commissives and declaratives, transformed verbal agreements into social contracts, ensuring the couples adhered to the reconciliation terms. The Maasai community possesses a sophisticated indigenous alternative to formal litigation relevant to broader modern legal mediation and national peace-building policies. 

Received:  29 June   2026 / Accepted: 30 August 2026 / Published: September 2026