The Oxford handbook of African languages
Rainer Vossen (Editor), Gerrit Jan Dimmendaal (Editor)
This book provides a comprehensive overview of current research in African languages, drawing on insights from anthropological linguistics, typology, historical and comparative linguistics, and sociolinguistics. Africa is believed to host at least one third of the world's languages, usually classified into four phyla - Niger-Congo, Afro-Asiatic, Nilo-Saharan, and Khoisan - which are then subdivided into further families and subgroupings. This volume explores all aspects of research in the field, beginning with chapters that cover the major domains of grammar and comparative approaches. Later parts provide overviews of the phyla and subfamilies, alongside grammatical sketches of eighteen representative African languages of diverse genetic affiliation. The volume additionally explores multiple other topics relating to African languages and linguistics, with a particular focus on extralinguistic issues: language, cognition, and culture, including colour terminology and conversation analysis; language and society, including language contact and endangerment; language and history; and language and orature. This wide-ranging handbook will be a valuable reference for scholars and students in all areas of African linguistics and anthropology, and for anyone0interested in descriptive, documentary, typological, and comparative linguistics
Print Book, English, 2020
First edition View all formats and editions
Oxford University Press, Oxford, 2020
xxxiv, 1066 pages : illustrations, maps ; 26 cm.
9780199609895, 0199609896
1164662912
ebook version :
AcknowledgementsList of abbreviationsList of maps, figures, and tablesThe contributors1: Gerrit J. Dimmendaal and Rainer Vossen: IntroductionPart I: Domains of Grammar2: Michael J. Kenstowicz: Phonology and phonetics3: David Odden: Tone4: Klaus Beyer: Morphology5: Jochen Zeller: SyntaxPart II: Language Comparison6: Rainer Vossen: African language types7: Mena Lafkioui: Dialectology and linguistic geography8: Ludwig Gerhardt: Reflections on the history of African language classificationPart III: Language Phyla and Families9: Jeff Good: Niger-Congo, with a special focus on Benue-Congo10: Friederike Lüpke: Atlantic11: Henning Schreiber: Mande12: Mary Esther Kropp Dakubu: Kwa13: Gudrun Miehe: Gur14: Lutz Marten: Bantu and Bantoid15: Ulrich Kleinewillinghöfer: Adamawa16: Helma Pasch: Ubangi17: Nicolas Quint: Kordofanian18: Victor Porkhomovsky: Afro-Asiatic overview19: Balázs J. Irsay-Nagy: Egyptian20: Maarten Kossmann: Berber21: Mauro Tosco: East Cushitic22: Martine Vanhove: North Cushitic23: Zelealem Leyew: Central Cushitic24: Roland Kießling: South Cushitic25: Bernhard Köhler: Omotic26: Bernard Caron: Chadic27: Victor Porkhomovsky: Ethio-Semitic28: Gerrit J. Dimmendaal: Nilo-Saharan and its limits29: Norbert Cyffer: Saharan30: Gerrit J. Dimmendaal and Angelika Jakobi: Eastern Sudanic31: Pascal Boyeldieu: Central Sudanic32: Henry Honken: Khoisan33: Gerrit J. Dimmendaal: Linguistic isolatesPart IV: Languages Structures: Case Studies34: Tucker G. Childs: Bom-Kim35: Valentin Vydrin: Dan36: Coffi Sambiéni: Biali37: Rose-Juliet Anyanwu: Yukuben38: Yuko Abe: Bende39: Ulrich Kleinewillinghöfer: Waja40: Helma Pasch: Zande41: Catherine Taine-Cheikh: Zenaga42: Kazuhiro Kawachi: Sidaama43: Zelealem Leyew: Kolisi44: Maarten Mous: Iraqw45: Zygmunt Frajzyngier: Wandala46: Osamu Hieda: Kumam47: Gerrit J. Dimmendaal: Baale48: Lameen Souag: Songhay languages49: Rainer Vossen: Cara50: Henry Honken: ǁ?X'egwi51: Helen Eaton: SandawePart V: Language, Cognition, and Culture52: Christa Kilian-Hatz: Ideophones53: Doris L. Payne: Colour term systems: Genetic vs areal distribution in Sub-Saharan Africa54: Ulrike Zoch: Experiencer constructions55: Karsten Legère: Language and ethnobotany56: Patricia Friedrich: Distinctive languages57: Maren Rüsch: Conversation analysis58: Axel Fleisch: Cognition and languagePart VI: Language and Society59: Andrij Rovenchak and Solomija Buk: Indigenous African scripts60: Kembo Sure: Language policy and politics61: Ingse Skattum: Language and education62: James Essegbey: Language endangerment, documentation, and revitalization63: Ellen Hurst: Language birth: youth/town language64: Klaus Beyer: Language contact65: Maarten Mous: Mixed languages: The case of Ma'á/Mbugu66: Andrea Hollington: African languages in the Diaspora67: Gabriele Sommer: Pidgin and creole languages68: Victoria A.S. Nyst: Sign languages69: Jonathan Owens: Arabic in Africa70: Elke Karan and David Roberts: Orthography standardization71: Thomas Bearth: Pragmatics and communication72: Kristin Vold Lexander: African languages in information and communication technologyPart VII: Language and History73: David L. Schoenbrun: Words, things, and meaning: Linguistics as a tool for historical reconstruction74: Koen Bostoen: Language and archaeologyPart VIII: Language and Orature75: Wilhelm J.G. Möhlig: Narratives76: Sebastian K. Bemile: Proverbs77: Clarissa Vierke: PoetryLanguage indexAuthor indexSubject index