An Introduction to African Languages(<Feature Articles>Phonetics of African Languages)

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  • KAGAYA Ryohei
    Institute for the Study of Languages and Cultures of Asia and Africa, Tokyo University of Foreign Studies

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  • アフリカの言語 : 概説(<特集>アフリカ諸語の音声)
  • アフリカの言語:概説
  • アフリカ ノ ゲンゴ ガイセツ

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Abstract

Over 1,000 languages are spoken in the African continent. They are classified into four major language families, i.e., the Afro-Asian, the Nilo-Saharan, the Niger-Congo and the Khoisan language families. Bantu languages belong to the Niger-Congo family. As an overview, the classification of the African languages, the language situation and some linguistic topics are briefly described in this article. In the following articles, some topics on phonetic and phonological phenomena of each language family will be presented and discussed by scholars specializing in the languages. The scholars are all field-workers and use mainly their own data collected in the fields. The following are their main subjects: (1) the sound system in the Afro-Asian family, referring to uvularization, (2) phonetic and phonological topics in the Nilo-Saharan family, (3) the click sounds in the Khoisan family, and (4) the tonological characteristics and velarized consonants of Bantu languages in the Niger-Congo family. Though, there are many other interesting phenomena in African languages that are not dealt with in these feature articles, the authors hope the reader will become interested in African languages.

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