The Journal of West African Languages

The Journal of West African Languages PDF Author:
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : Africa
Languages : en
Pages : 546

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Book Description

The Journal of West African Languages

The Journal of West African Languages PDF Author:
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : Africa
Languages : en
Pages : 546

Get Book Here

Book Description


A Phonetic Study of West African Languages

A Phonetic Study of West African Languages PDF Author: Peter Ladefoged
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
ISBN: 0521069637
Category : Africa, West
Languages : en
Pages : 114

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The Journal of West African Languages

The Journal of West African Languages PDF Author:
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : Africa, West
Languages : en
Pages : 264

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Aspect and Modality in Kwa Languages

Aspect and Modality in Kwa Languages PDF Author: Felix K. Ameka
Publisher: John Benjamins Publishing
ISBN: 9027291381
Category : Language Arts & Disciplines
Languages : en
Pages : 351

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Book Description
This book explores the thesis that in the Kwa languages of West Africa, aspect and modality are more central to the grammar of the verb than tense. Where tense marking has emerged it is invariably in the expression of the future, and therefore concerned with the impending actualization or potentiality of an event, hence with modality, rather than the purely temporal sequencing associated with tense. The primary grammatical contrasts are perfective versus imperfective. The main languages discussed are Akan, Dangme, Ewe, Ga and Tuwuli while Nzema-Ahanta, Likpe and Eastern Gbe are also mentioned. Knowledge about these languages has deepened considerably during the past decade or so and ideas about their structure have changed. The volume therefore presents novel analyses of grammatical forms like the so-called S-Aux-O-V-Other or “future” constructions, and provides empirical data for theorizing about aspect and modality. It should be of considerable interest to Africanist linguists, typologists, and creolists interested in substrate issues.

Beyond Babel

Beyond Babel PDF Author: Tom Clark
Publisher: John Benjamins Publishing Company
ISBN: 9027256993
Category : Social Science
Languages : en
Pages : 258

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Book Description
The contribution that scholarly organizations make to the study of languages and literatures is a service to the value of systematically learning and using meaning—understanding that meaning operates in systems. Constructively speaking, these organizations support the teaching and research of our world’s experts in grammar, genre, medium, production, reception, exchange, critique, appreciation, and so on. More defensively, they are bulwarks against systems of misinformation, against the empowerment of misrepresentation and distrust between people. The chapters in this volume range from the Old Testament to Facebook and from East Asia to West Africa via Australia, the Americas, and Europe. The scholarly strength forged across that range speaks to similar strengths that so many scholarly organizations devoted to studies in languages and literatures have cultivated and maintained—often in the face of government indifference or hostility towards the Humanities. Beyond Babel makes a powerful case for their potential.

African Kingdoms

African Kingdoms PDF Author: Saheed Aderinto
Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing USA
ISBN:
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 404

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Book Description
This history-rich volume details the sociopolitical, economic, and artistic aspects of African kingdoms from the earliest times to the second half of the 19th century. Africa has a long and fascinating history and is a place of growing importance in the world history curriculum. This detailed encyclopedia covers the history of African kingdoms from antiquity through the mid-19th century, tracing the dynasties' ties to modern globalization and influences on world culture before, during, and after the demise of the slave trade. Along with an exploration of African heritage, this reference is rich with firsthand accounts of Africa through the oral traditions of its people and the written journals of European explorers, missionaries, and travelers who visited Africa from the 15th century and onward. Alphabetically arranged entries cover a particular kingdom and feature information on the economic, cultural, religious, political, social, and environmental history of the regime. The content references popular culture, movies, and art that present contemporary reenactments of kingdoms, emphasizing the importance of history in shaping modern ideas. Other features include primary source documents, a selected bibliography of print and electronic resources, and dozens of sidebars containing key facts and interesting trivia.

Ideophones

Ideophones PDF Author: Erhard Friedrich Karl Voeltz
Publisher: John Benjamins Publishing
ISBN: 9789027229465
Category : Language Arts & Disciplines
Languages : en
Pages : 454

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Book Description
The present volume represents a selection of papers presented at the International Symposium on Ideophones held in January 1999 in St. Augustin, Germany. They center around the following hypotheses: Ideophones are universal; and constitute a grammatical category in all languages of the world; ideophones and similar words have a special dramaturgic function that differs from all other word classes: they simulate an event, an emotion, a perception through language. In addition to this unique function, a good number of formal parallels can be observed. The languages dealt with here display strikingly similar patterns of derivational processes involving ideophones. An equally widespread common feature is the introduction of ideophones via a verbum dicendi or complementizer. Another observation concerns the sound-symbolic behavior of ideophones. Thus the word formation of ideophones differs from other words in their tendency for iconicity and sound-symbolism. Finally it is made clear that ideophones are part of spoken language — the language register, where gestures are used — rather than written language.

Language in Africa

Language in Africa PDF Author: Edgar Gregersen
Publisher: Taylor & Francis
ISBN: 9780677043807
Category : Foreign Language Study
Languages : en
Pages : 264

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Book Description
This book developed out of a survey course on African languages that Uriel Weinreich invited the author to teach at Columbia University. The focus of the course changed considerably in the years that the author taught the course (1964-1968), in large part to accommodate the interests of many students without a background in linguistics but registered for the course. The one thing African languages have in common, setting them off from all the other languages in the world, is the fact that they are spoken in Africa.

Language Documentation and Endangerment in Africa

Language Documentation and Endangerment in Africa PDF Author: James Essegbey
Publisher: John Benjamins Publishing Company
ISBN: 9027268150
Category : Language Arts & Disciplines
Languages : en
Pages : 324

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Book Description
This volume brings together a number of important perspectives on language documentation and endangerment in Africa from an international cohort of scholars with vast experience in the field. Offering insights from rural and urban settings throughout the continent, these essays consider topics that range from the development of a writing system to ideologies of language endangerment, from working with displaced communities to the role of colonial languages in reshaping African repertoires, and from the insights of archeology to the challenges of language documentation as a doctoral project. The authors are concerned with both theoretical and practical aspects of language documentation as they address the ways in which the African context both differs from and resembles contexts of endangerment elsewhere in the world. This volume will be useful to fieldworkers and documentalists who work in Africa and beyond.

Diglossia

Diglossia PDF Author: Mauro A. Fernández
Publisher: John Benjamins Publishing
ISBN: 9027276919
Category : Language Arts & Disciplines
Languages : en
Pages : 526

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Book Description
Today, the notion of 'diglossia' occupies a prominent place in sociolinguistic research. Since the 1960s, when the dominant sense of 'diglossia' was the complementary sociofunctional distribution of two varieties of the same language, the term has been applied — often controversially — to a growing number of diverse sociolinguistic situations. As a consequence of this extension of the scope of the concept, in combination with an increasing interest in the relationship between the role of language and the social structure, the number of publications in this field has risen exponentially over the last decades. However, despite the growing importance of the notion, up till now there was no adequate bibliography devoted to diglossia, while coverage in other bibliographies does not do justice to the number of works actually published in this area. This first comprehensive bibliography of the subject includes almost 3,000 entries; although the time span covered is 1960-1990, the book includes several dozens of entries from before 1960 and also a substantial number of very recent publications from the period 1990-1992. The selection of items has not been restricted to a specific definition of diglossia: all available publications in which the term (or one of its offsprings) appears have been included; moreover, when considered appropriate, some material relevant to the subject has been added even though the term is not explicitly used. The usefulness of the bibliography has been enhanced significantly by six indexes: (1) index of languages, (2) diglossia in literature, (3) historically oriented works, (4) pedagogically oriented works, (5) theoretical works, and (6) theses and dissertations.