African Languages
African Languages

Author: Bernd Heine

Publisher: Cambridge University Press

Published: 2000-08-03

Total Pages: 412

ISBN-13: 9780521666299

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This book is an introduction to African languages and linguistics, covering typology, structure and sociolinguistics. The twelve chapters are written by a team of fifteen eminent Africanists, and their topics include the four major language groupings (Niger-Congo, Nilo-Saharan, Afroasiatic and Khoisan), the core areas of modern theoretical linguistics (phonology, morphology, syntax), typology, sociolinguistics, comparative linguistics, and language, history and society. Basic concepts and terminology are explained for undergraduates and non-specialist readers, but each chapter also provides an overview of the state of the art in its field, and as such will be referred to also by more advanced students and general linguists. The book brings this range of material together in accessible form for anyone wishing to learn more about this challenging and fascinating field.

The Cambridge Handbook of African Linguistics
The Cambridge Handbook of African Linguistics

Author: H. Ekkehard Wolff

Publisher: Cambridge University Press

Published: 2019-05-16

Total Pages: 0

ISBN-13: 9781108417983

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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.

African Youth Languages
African Youth Languages

Author: Ellen Hurst-Harosh

Publisher: Palgrave Macmillan

Published: 2018-12-19

Total Pages: 0

ISBN-13: 9783030097240

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This book showcases current research on language in new media, the performing arts and music in Africa, emphasising the role that youth play in language change and development. The authors demonstrate how the efforts of young people to throw off old colonial languages and create new local ones has become a site of language creativity. Analysing the language of ‘new media’, including social media, print media and new media technologies, and of creative arts such as performance poetry, hip-hop and rap, they use empirical research from such diverse countries as Cameroon, Nigeria, Kenya, the Ivory Coast and South Africa. This original edited collection will appeal to students and scholars of African sociolinguistics, particularly in the light of the rapidly changing globalized context in which we live.

New Terms for New Ideas
New Terms for New Ideas

Author: Michael Lackner

Publisher: BRILL

Published: 2021-11-15

Total Pages: 473

ISBN-13: 9004501665

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This volume is about the lasting impact of new (Western) notions on the 19th and early 20th century Chinese language; their invention, spread and standardization. Reaching beyond the mere cataloguing of the thousands of lexical innovations in this period of change, the essays explore the multiple ways in which initially alien notions were naturalized in Chinese scientific and political discourse. Topics examined range from preconceptions about the capacity of the Chinese language to accommodate foreign ideas, the formation of specific nomenclatures and the roles of individual translators, to Chinese and European attempts at coming to terms with each other’s grammar. By systematically analysing and assessing the lexical adaptation of Western notions in Chinese contexts, the book will serve as a valuable reference work for all those interested in the historical semantics of modern China.

Cultural Sociology of the Middle East, Asia, and Africa
Cultural Sociology of the Middle East, Asia, and Africa

Author: Andrea L. Stanton

Publisher: SAGE

Published: 2012

Total Pages: 1977

ISBN-13: 141298176X

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In our age of globalization and multiculturalism, it has never been more important to understand and appreciate all cultures across the world. The four volumes take a step forward in this endeavour by presenting concise information on those regions least well-known to students across Europe: the Middle East, Asia and Africa. The volumes convey what daily life is like for people in these selected regions. Entries will aid readers in understanding the importance of cultural sociology, to appreciate the effects of cultural forces around the world, and to learn the history of countries and cultures within these important regions. Key Features -Topics are explored within historical context, in three broad historical periods: prehistory to 1250, 1250 to 1920 and 1920 to the present. -One volume each is devoted to the regions of the Middle East and Africa and then one volume to East and Southeast Asia and a final volume to West, Central and South Asia. The volumes include extensive use of photographs and maps to explain cultural and geographic content. -Each volume has its own volume editor with expertise in that particular region. Key Themes Arts, Culture and Science People, Society and Dynasties Religion and Law Family and Daily Life Conflicts and Wars Politics and Government Health and Education Economy, Trade and Industry National Geography and History.

A History of African Linguistics
A History of African Linguistics

Author: H. Ekkehard Wolff

Publisher: Cambridge University Press

Published: 2019-06-13

Total Pages: 377

ISBN-13: 1108417973

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The first global history of African linguistics as an emerging autonomous academic discipline, covering Africa, the Americas, Asia, Australia, and Europe.

Language Adaptation
Language Adaptation

Author: Florian Coulmas

Publisher: Cambridge University Press

Published: 1989

Total Pages: 254

ISBN-13: 9780521362559

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Language Adaptation examines the process by which a speech community is forced to adopt an active role in making its language suitable for changing functional requirements. This wide-ranging collection of essays looks at this phenomenon from a variety of historical and synchronic perspectives, and brings together the work of a number of leading scholars in the field. Several different languages are examined at different stages of their history, including Hebrew, Arabic, Chinese, Japanese, Kiswahili, German and Hindi. This well-informed book is a significant contribution to the existing literature on language planning, and is the first to use one theoretical concept to deal with the relationship between natural and deliberate language change. It shows that language adaptation is a particular aspect of language change, and thus establishes a link between the social and the historical study of language. It will appeal to graduate students and professionals in linguistics and the social sciences, as well as to practitioners of language planning.