Afrika und Übersee
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Aspects of negation in Makaa (A83)
Full text linkPolarity is a topic that has attracted much attention in semantics but as well in language typology regarding the syntactic and morphological realisations of negation. This paper studies negation in Makaa (A83) following two major perspectives. First, typologically, it examines the system of Makaa negation against the backdrop of polarity theory and second, from a (comparative) Bantu perspective, it examines the system of Makaa negation against the backdrop of other Bantu languages; including grammaticalization. Makaa negation displays divergent and very complex negation patterns studied under the contrast standard vs. non-standard negation. Concerning the origin of negators in Makaa, it is argued that Makaa negators might derive from grammaticalized verbs, the 3SG personal pronoun, possessive adjectives or object marker, and locative pronouns. Others are probably old negation particles
Contact-induced disturbances in personal pronoun systems in the Chadic – Benue-Congo convergence zone in Central Nigeria
Full text linkThe paper looks at personal pronoun systems in languages of the convergence zone on both sides of the borderline between Benue-Congo and Chadic. Focus is on inventories and systems, meaning the overall interrelationship of pronoun shapes across the categories of person, number, grammatical gender and noun class (3rd person concord). The issues to be explored are (i) whether the personal pronoun systems as such provide any further indication towards the Sprachbund idea implied in Wolff & Gerhardt (1977), and (ii) whether one can identify some unusual features of or patterns within the systems, which are shared by languages on both sides of the line separating Benue-Congo and Chadic, and which are of such nature as to strengthen the hypothesis of a cross-genetic convergence zone. The answers provided are affirmative: In addition to cross-genetic borrowing of pronoun shapes, which is generally considered rare and/or at least remarkable, pronoun systems as such and across the convergence zone show at least two rather quirky disturbances of the expected pattern that can hardly be explained but by rather surprising instances of cross-language interference. These two kinds of disturbance within systems will be discussed under the headings of “category shifting” and “circumfix conjugational pattern” emergence.Given the present state of knowledge, the paper can only point out promising lines of detailed historical research: Any attempt to provide final answers would be premature at this stage
Historical inferences from traditions of origins of Tarok and some Chadic languages in Central Nigeria
Full text linkContact between the Tarokoid languages of Sur, Yangkam, Pe, Vaghat Cluster, Tarok and some Chadic languages found in southeast Plateau State of central Nigeria and its implications for the sketching of a history for the area is the main thesis of this work. A brief outline of oral traditions of origin of the sub-groupings of Tarok language is presented and interpreted in the light of linguistic data to illustrate how the methodology works. The underlying principles of this paper are based on the theoretical premise that oral traditions can shed some light in the interpretation of linguistic data and vice versa. Lexical items found in secondary sources and an Ngas wordlist I took were examined for cognates between the Chadic languages and Tarok proper
"Long live our tribal jujus" - The range of meanings of the word juju in Cameroonian English
No full textIm Folgenden wird das Bedeutungsspektrum des generischen Begriffes juju im Kamerunischen Englisch auf der Grundlage von Aufsätzen, die 1968 von Studierenden aus verschiedenen südwestkamerunischen Gemeinschaften über jujus verfasst wurden, untersucht. Die Analyse zeigt, dass der Begriff juju ein sehr weites Bedeutungsspektrum hat. Er kann folgende semantisch miteinander verbundene Phänomene beschreiben: 1. einen Geheimbund, 2. eine übersinnliche Kraft, 3. eine Maske, die eine Gottheit personifiziert, 4. eine Darbietung, in der eine Gottheit (als Maske) auftritt, oder in der einer Gottheit gehuldigt wird, 5. ein Objekt, das mit Kräften einer Gottheit ausgestattet ist.In the following I analyse the range of meanings of the generic term juju in Cameroonian English based on short essays which were written by students from different South-western Cameroonian communities in 1968. The analysis shows that juju has a wide range of meanings, if can denote several semantically connected phenomena: 1. a secret society, 2. a supernatural power, 3. a mask which personifies a deity, 4. a performance, in which a deity occurs (in the form of a mask), 5. an object which has supernatural powers
Creissels, Denis & Konstantin Pozdniakov (eds.) 2015. Les classes nominales dans les langues atlantiques. Köln: Rüdiger Köppe.
Full text linkProgress and problems in literacy programmes in Central Nigeria
Full text linkCentral Nigeria is a region of great linguistic diversity where there were no pre-colonial orthographies in use. The expansion of population and modern education has created a strong demand for local literacy programmes for the Plateau languages of Central Nigeria. For people to be able to develop themselves intellectually, it is important that they have a system of writing that is truly their own. Initially, demand for literacy has been in relation to programmes for Bible translation, and this is largely where funding is sought. However, these programmes are frustratingly long-term and some have been quite ineffective due to poor (or no) initial planning and ill-designed orthographies.
However, in the decade since 2010, demand is increasingly coming from non-denominational organisations whose concern is cultural maintenance, and thus the use of vernacular languages in education. This paper examines the progress achieved and problems faced by some of the Plateau languages in the area of literacy development with a more detailed case study of the Mada Literacy Programme, as well as offering some practical solutions to assist the spread of literacy
The expression of diminutivity in Central Ring Grassfields Bantu
Full text linkoai:hup1.journals.sub.uni-hamburg.de:article/203Studies on the expression of diminutivity in Bantoid languages of the Cameroonian Grassfields have tended to focus on the role that noun class derivation plays within the familiar Bantu paradigm. A closer look at individual branches of Bantoid, however, reveals a more complex picture, which rather suggests a division of labour between derivational strategies and compounding and/or periphrasis. This contribution zooms in on the languages of the Central Ring (CR) branch of Grassfields Bantu, presenting an overview of diminutivisation strategies found here: the notorious transfer to gender 19/6a, which is at times, accompanied by the addition of a semantically bleached suffix –CV, and periphrasis in associative constructions headed by nouns with inherent diminutive meanings such as ‘child’.
The East Kainji languages of Central Nigeria
Full text linkThe paper is an overview of current scholarship on the East Kainji language group of Central Nigeria. It reviews the existing published and manuscript sources and describes recent research, as well as the development of orthographies for some languages. Many East Kainji languages are severely threatened and some have gone extinct within the period under review. The paper presents an internal classification of the group and briefly discusses the external relationships of these languages. On the basis of existing data, a review of the basic phonology and noun class prefix systems is given
Mäsob: Designing a new Amharic coursebook
Full text linkThis article presents a project to design a new Amharic coursebook which draws upon current approaches to language teaching, and will provide stimulating learning materials for its users. The coursebook will target university students at A1 level, and in its content and structure will aim, for the first time in the history of Amharic language teaching, to conform to the spirit of the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages. Topic-based and task-based syllabi will form the backbone of the coursebook. It will contain a range of activities in which students, while learning grammar, are engaged in using new language in a meaningful, communicative way. Apart from developing the usual four language skills, among which priority will be given to oral practice, the coursebook will help students to acquire cultural competence and support them in improving their language learning strategies