Topics in African linguistics

Author(s)

• Mufwene, Salikoko S.
• Moshi, Lioba J.
• Conference on African Linguistics

Bibliographic Information

Topics in African linguistics

edited by Salikoko S. Mufwene, Lioba Moshi, with the assistance of Ben G. Blount and Deborah Schmidt

（Amsterdam studies in the theory and history of linguistic science, ser. 4 . Current issues in linguistic theory ; v. 100）

J. Benjamins, 1993

• : eur
• : us

Note

Selection of papers presented at the 21st Conference on African Linguistics, held Apr. 12-14, 1990, University of Georgia

Includes bibliographical references and indexes

Description and Table of Contents

Description

The 16 papers in this volume are revised versions of papers presented at the conference; they represent the state of the art in various subfields of African linguistics into which the book is organized: (1) morphosyntax, (2) semantics, (3) phonology, and (4) language contact. The last part covers topics such as code-switching and mixing, pidginization/creolization, and language planning.The papers in Part I: Morphosyntax focus particularly on the verb and verb phrase in a variety of Niger-Congo languages, discussing several aspects of the verb morphology. The specific languages discussed include Kinande, Kilega, Kinyarwanda (Larry Hyman), Kikongo-Kituba (M. Ngalasso), Duala (E. Bilao), Yoruba (S.A. Lawal), Ewe (A.S. Allen), and Gbaya 'Bodoe (P. Roulon-Doko). The papers in Part II: Semantics discuss foundational questions regarding the proper/common noun distinction in two geographically very distant African languages, Gborbo Krahn (Janet Bing) in the west and Luo (Ben G. Blount) in the east, which follow yet very similar principles. And, despite differences in the titles, the papers on Kivunjo (Lioba Moshi) and Emai (Schaefer and Egbokhare) address the question of the semantic basis for assigning property concepts to different lexical categories. There are two papers in Part III: Phonology, which are mostly on the prosodic features of Chiyao (Al Mtenje) and Manding (J. Tourville). In Part IV: Language Contact, Eyamba Bokamba's and C. Meyers-Scotton's papers discuss speech variation and mostly formal constraints associated with them, while Helma Pasch compares segmental features of Sango and Yakoma in the Central African Republic to determine whether the former is a creole. Edmun Richmond focuses on the choice of national official language in sub-Saharan Africa. Except for Pasch all of them cover several languages and geographical areas.

Table of Contents

• 1. Editors' foreword
• 2. I. Morphosyntax
• 3. Conceptual issues in the comparative study of the Bantu verb stem (by Hyman, Larry M.)
• 4. Ewe verbs in derivation and in periphrastic constructions (by Allen, Andrew S.)
• 5. Les procedes repetitifs en kikongo: le redoublement et la reduplication (by Ngalasso, Mwatha Musanji)
• 6. Clitic climbing in BAntu (by Biloa, Edmond)
• 7. The Yoruba serial verb construction: a complex or simple sentence? (by Lawal, S. Adenike)
• 8. La negation en gbaya 'bodoe (by Roulon-Doko, Paulette)
• 9. II. Semantics
• 10. Names and horofic pronouns in Gborbo Krahn (by Bing, Janet)
• 11. Luo names: reference and meaning (by Blount, Ben G.)
• 12. Time-stability: the case of adjectives in kiVunjo-Chaga (by Moshi, Lioba)
• 13. On the typological character of property concepts in Emai (by Schaefer, Ronald P.)
• 14. III. Phonology
• 15. Verb structure and tone in Chiyao (by Mtenje, Al)
• 16. On the reduced nasal phoneme of manding (by Tourville, Jose)
• 17. IV. Language contact
• 18. Language variation and change in pervasively multilingual societies: Bantu languages (by Bokamba, Eyamba G.)
• 19. Building the frame in codeswitching: evidence from Africa (by Myers-Scotton, Carol)
• 20. Phonological similarities between Sango and its base language: is Sango a pidgin/creole or a koine? (by Pasch, Helma)
• 21. Can language plannign work? Theory versus practice in Africa (by Richmond, Edmund B.)
• 22. Author index
• 23. Language index

by "Nielsen BookData"

Details

• NCID: BA21440333
• ISBN:
  • 9027236100
  • 1556195532
• LCCN: 93005761
• Country Code: ne
• Title Language Code: eng
• Text Language Code: eng
• Place of Publication: Amsterdam ; Philadelphia
• Pages/Volumes: ix, 307 p.
• Size: 23 cm
• Classification:
  • LCC : PL8002
  • DC20 : 496
• Subject Headings:
  • LCSH : African linguistics -- Congresses
• Parent Bibliography ID:
  • BA0036280X