A thesis submitted in parizl fulfillment of the requirements for the award of the degree Licencié en Langues et Littérature Anglaises.

Résumé,

This study " A Sociolinguistic Study of the Jargon used by Prostitutes in Bujumbura City" aims at proving existence of a jargon used by Prostitutes in Bujumbura city and the semantic change reflected in it. This study sought to answer three research questions which are : Does the sociolinguistic situation in Bujumbura city constitute or play a role in the creation of the Prostitutes' jargon ? Do words and expressions used by Prostitutes in Bujumbura City keep their first meaning ? Is the language used by Prostitutes in Bujumbura city composed of words and expressions understandable only bu them ? As far as methodology is concerned, the interview was used to collect the data.

The area of study was Bujumbura city and the population of our study is made of prostitutes living in Bujumbura city. The sample of our population was selected using the simple random sampling.
The findings of this study led the researcher to a number of conclusions. It was revealed that this jargon is taken as prostitutes' identity and used to hide away their secrets.

Consequently, words and expressions composing this Jargon are understandable only by them. Moreover, it was proved that words and expressions used by prostitutes in Bujumbura city do not keep their or play a role in the creation of the prostitutes' jargon.