African linguistic landscapes: Focus on English
Karsten Legère
Abstract
English is the official or co-official language in 21 African nations. Out of these the linguistic landscape analysis here focuses on two countries, that is Namibia and Tanzania. In the latter case, the national language Swahili enjoys de facto the same status as English which, however, for the number of competent speakers is a minority language in this East African country, Namibia and elsewhere in Africa. The paper deals mainly with the English use in various domains, as evidenced in billboard texts, shop signs, on murals, buildings and more. It describes the top-down (originating from central institutions) or bottom up (grassroots) approach to shaping the linguistic landscape in public. From this perspective the paper demonstrates the high prestige of English.
Key words
Namibia, Tanzania, English language use, official status, linguistic landscape markers
pp. 3–30
doi 10.37892/2686-8946-2022-3-1-3-30
The Kakabe dialectal continuum: A lexicostatistical study
Alexandra Vydrina†, Valentin Vydrin
Abstract
Kakabe, an understudied language in Guinea (Mokole < Western Mande < < Mande < Niger-Congo), is spoken by several ethnic groups, mainly of inferior social status, most of which are bilingual in Pular. There are four dialects of Kakabe: Northern (the Kankalabe area), Central (villages to the north-west, east and southeast of Timbo), Kuru-Maninka and Wure-Kaba Maninka. The Northern and Central dialects are close to each other linguistically, their speakers refer to themselves as “Kakabe”, and these dialects can be regarded as comprising “nuclear Kakabe”; meanwhile, the speakers of Kuru-Maninka and Wure-Kaba Maninka reject being identified as “Kakabe”, and their varieties have far fewer loans from Pular. A lexicostatistical study based on the Swadesh 100-item wordlist has been carried out. It confirmed the preliminary hypothesis of a particular affinity between the “core dialects” and showed that the other two dialects are further removed from them, but not as distant as the Mogofin (Mixifore) language spoken to the south of Boke (extreme NW part of the Republic of Guinea). Therefore, from a linguistic viewpoint, the Wure-Kaba Maninka and Kuru-Maninka varieties can be regarded Kakabe dialects despite the fact that their speakers do not consider themselves Kakabe.
Key words
Kakabe, Mogofin, Mokole, Mande languages, dialectology, lexicostatistics, language contact
pp. 31–56
doi 10.37892/2686-8946-2022-3-1-31-56
Le systeme nominal du kirundi (bantou, JD62) et du kiswahili (bantou, G42) : Une analyse contrastive
Epimaque Nshimirimana, Manoah-Joël Misago, Pascal Tuyubahe
Résumé
L’objectif de cet article est de comparer les systèmes nominaux du kirundi et du kiswahili standard en vue d’aider les usagers bilingues du kirundi et du kiswahili à comprendre l’organisation interne et le fonctionnement du substantif dans les deux langues. Une démarche comparative relevant de l’analyse contrastive a permis d’aboutir à deux résultats principaux. D’une part, au niveau des similitudes, les préfixes nominaux sont les moyens d’expression des classes nominales, des genres nominaux, du mécanisme de l’augmentatif/diminutif et servent à commander l’accord grammatical. D’autre part, au niveau des différences remarquables, celles-ci ont été mises en évidence : le système de genres nominaux en kiswahili est simplifié par rapport à celui du kirundi du fait que le kirundi a plus de rétentions du protobantu que ne l’est le kiswahili, l’accord morphosyntaxique est de type formel en kirundi tandis qu’il combine les modèles sémantique et formel en kiswahili. L’expression de l’augmentatif/diminutif se fait différemment en kirundi et en kiswahili au deuxième degré si l’on tient en compte le modèle d’appariement singulier/pluriel dans les deux langues.
Mots-clés
kirundi, kiswahili, genre/classe nominal(e), accord morphosyntaxique, augmentatif, diminutive
The nominal system of Kirundi (Bantu, JD62) and Kiswahili (Bantu, G42): A contrastive analysis
Epimaque Nshimirimana, Manoah-Joël Misago, Pascal Tuyubahe
Abstract
The objective of this article is to compare the noun systems of Kirundi and Standard Kiswahili in order to help bilingual users of Kirundi and Kiswahili to understand the internal organization and functioning of the noun in the two languages. A comparative approach based on contrastive analysis led to two main results. On the one hand, at the level of similarities, nominal prefixes are the means of expression of nominal classes, nominal genders, the mechanism of the augmentative/diminutive and serve to control grammatical agreement. On the other hand, at the level of the remarkable differences, these have been highlighted: the system of nominal genders in Kiswahili is simplified compared to that of Kirundi because Kirundi has more retentions of proto-Bantu than does Kiswahili, the agreement morphosyntactic is of mechanical type in Kirundi while it combines semantic motivated and mechanical models in Kiswahili. The expression of the augmentative/diminutive is done differently in Kirundi and Kiswahili in second degree if we take into account the singular/plural pairing pattern in the two languages.
Key words
Kirundi, Kiswahili, noun gender/class, morphosyntactic concord, augmentative, diminutive
pp. 57–83
doi 10.37892/2686-8946-2022-3-1-57-83
Ideophones in the Kru language family
Lynell Marchese Zogbo
Abstract
In many grammatical descriptions, ideophones are often ignored. In this paper, I attempt to do a preliminary study of ideophones in the Kru language family (Niger Congo). Though data is limited, I give an overview of various phonological, morphophonological, syntactic and semantic features of this word class, as well as make some initial observations of ideophone use in discourse. Primarily a descriptive study, I try to interact with some major claims in the literature (Blench 2010a; 2010b; Bodomo 2006; Childs 1996; 2001; 2003; 2019; Dingemanse 2012; 2019; Welmers 1973), especially in regard to African languages.
Key words
ideophones, Kru language family, Niger-Congo, reduplication
Idéophones dans la famille kru
Lynell Marchese Zogbo
Résumé
Beaucoup d’études grammaticales ne traitent pas de la question des idéophones. Dans cet article, nous voulons offrir une étude préliminaire des idéophones dans la famille kru (Niger-Congo). Bien que les données soient assez limitées, nous survolerons les caractéristiques principales de cette catégorie grammaticale d’un point de vue phonologique, morphologique, syntaxique et sémantique. Nous ferons aussi quelques observations sur l’emploi des idéophones dans le discours. Il s’agit principalement d’une étude descriptive, mais nous essayerons de commenter les observations déjà faites dans la littérature (Blench 2010a, 2010b; Bodomo 2006; Childs 1996; 2001; 2003; 2019; Dingemanse 2012, 2019; Welmers 1973), surtout en ce qui concerne les langues africaines.
Mots-clés
idéophone, Kru, Niger-Congo, réduplication
pp. 84–143
doi 10.37892/2686-8946-2022-3-1-84-143