Our systems are now restored following recent technical disruption, and we’re working hard to catch up on publishing. We apologise for the inconvenience caused. Find out more

Recommended product

Popular links

Popular links


The Cambridge Handbook of African Linguistics

The Cambridge Handbook of African Linguistics

The Cambridge Handbook of African Linguistics

H. Ekkehard Wolff, Universität Leipzig
May 2019
Hardback
9781108417983

    This book provides an in-depth and comprehensive state-of-the-art study of 'African languages' and 'language in Africa' since its beginnings as a 'colonial science' at the turn of the twentieth century in Europe. Compiled by 56 internationally renowned scholars, this ground breaking study looks at past and current research on 'African languages' and 'language in Africa' under the impact of paradigmatic changes from 'colonial' to 'postcolonial' perspectives. It addresses current trends in the study of the role and functions of language, African and other, in pre- and postcolonial African societies. Highlighting the central role that the 'language factor' plays in postcolonial transformation processes of sociocultural modernization and economic development, it also addresses more recent, particularly urban, patterns of communication, and outlines applied dimensions of digitalization and human language technology.

    • The first fully-comprehensive account of African linguistics that addresses its global history, tracing its establishment in various world regions and sub-regions of Africa
    • Exposes readers to a plethora of academic traditions and approaches to the study of 'African languages' and 'language in Africa'
    • Covers a vast area of inquiry including historical linguistics, language typology, culture and society, multilingualism, literacy, and language planning

    Product details

    October 2021
    Paperback
    9781108406185
    835 pages
    243 × 169 × 43 mm
    1.36kg
    Available

    Table of Contents

    • Introduction
    • 1. African linguistics: conceptions and scope H. Ekkehard Wolff
    • Part I. Short Regional Histories of African Linguistics:
    • 2. African linguistics in Europe Arvi Hurskainen, Roland Kießling, Nina Pawlak and Alexander Zheltov
    • 3. African linguistics in North and so-called Francophone Africa Abderrahman el Aissati, Yamina el Kirat el Allame and Philip Ngessimo Mathe Mutaka
    • 4. African linguistics in North-Eastern and so-called Anglophone Africa Akinbiyi Akinlabi, Bruce Connell, Angelika Jakobi, Amani Lusekelo, Ronny Meyer, Marie-Claude Simeone-Senelle and Wolbert Smidt
    • 5. African linguistics in so-called Lusophone and Hispanophone Africa, and in Southern Africa Sonja Bosch, Inge Kosch and Anne-Maria Fehn
    • 6. African linguistics in the Americas, Asia, and Australia G. Tucker Childs, Margarida Petter, Shigeki Kaji, John Hajek, Sun Xiaomeng and Yang Chul-Joon
    • Part II. Comparative and Descriptive African Linguistics:
    • 7. Comparative African linguistics Gerrit J. Dimmendaal
    • 8. A typological and areal perspective on African languages Bernd Heine
    • 9. Niger-Congo linguistic features and typology Larry M. Hyman, Nicholas Rolle, Hannah Sande, Emily Clem, Peter S. E. Jenks, Florian Lionnet, John Merrill and Nicholas Baier
    • 10. Afroasiatic linguistic features and typologies Ronny Meyer and H. Ekkehard Wolff
    • 11. Linguistic features and typologies in languages commonly referred to as 'Nilo-Saharan' Gerrit J. Dimmendaal, Colleen Ahland, Angelika Jakobi and Constance Kutsch Lojenga
    • 12. Linguistic features and typologies in languages commonly referred to as 'Khoisan' Alena Witzlack-Makarevich and Hirosi Nakagawa
    • Part III. African Languages in Cultures and Societies:
    • 13. Sociocultural and political settings of language in Africa Alamin Mazrui
    • 14. In and out of Africa: the sociolinguistics of European and Asian languages in Africa and of the African diaspora Rajend Mesthrie
    • 15. Language endangerment and language documentation in Africa Friederike Lüpke
    • 16. Situated language use in Africa Sigurd D'hondt
    • 17. Special-purpose registers of language in Africa Alice Mitchell and Ayu'nwi N. Neba
    • 18. African languages in urban contexts Andrea Hollington and Nico Nassenstein
    • 19. African languages and mobile communication: between constraint and creativity Ana Deumert, Ivan Panoviæ, Dorothy Agyepong and David Barasa
    • Part IV. Applied Perspectives in African Linguistics:
    • 20. Multilingualism and education in Africa Kathleen Heugh
    • 21. Intellectualisation of African languages: past, present and future Russell H. Kaschula and Dion Nkomo:
    • 22. African languages and human language technologies Justus C. Roux and H. Steve Ndinga-Koumba-Binza.
      Contributors
    • H. Ekkehard Wolff, Arvi Hurskainen, Roland Kießling, Nina Pawlak, Alexander Zheltov, Abderrahman el Aissati, Yamina el Kirat el Allame, Philip Ngessimo Mathe Mutaka, Akinbiyi Akinlabi, Bruce Connell, Angelika Jakobi, Amani Lusekelo, Ronny Meyer, Marie-Claude Simeone-Senelle, Wolbert Smidt, Sonja Bosch, Inge Kosch, Anne-Maria Fehn, G. Tucker Childs, Margarida Petter, Shigeki Kaji, John Hajek, Sun Xiaomeng, Yang Chul-Joon, Gerrit J. Dimmendaal, Bernd Heine, Larry M. Hyman, Nicholas Rolle, Hannah Sande, Emily Clem, Peter S. E. Jenks, Florian Lionnet, John Merrill, Nicholas Baier, Colleen Ahland, Constance Kutsch Lojenga, Alena Witzlack-Makarevich, Hirosi Nakagawa, Alamin Mazrui, Rajend Mesthrie, Friederike Lüpke, Sigurd D'hondt, Alice Mitchell, Ayu'nwi N. Neba, Andrea Hollington, Nico Nassenstein, Ana Deumert, Ivan Panoviæ, Dorothy Agyepong, David Barasa, Kathleen Heugh, Russell H. Kaschula, Dion Nkomo, Justus C. Roux, H. Steve Ndinga-Koumba-Binza

    • Editor
    • H. Ekkehard Wolff , Universität Leipzig

      H. Ekkehard Wolff is Emeritus Professor and Chair of African Linguistics at Universität Leipzig. He publishes widely on descriptive, typological, comparative, and applied linguistics and sociolinguistics of African languages, and on oral literatures. He's published over 25 books including Language and Development in Africa (Cambridge, 2016), Multilingual Education for Africa: Concepts and Practices (2017) and Multilingualism and Intercultural Communication: A South African Perspective (2017).