DOCSLIB.ORG

Aspects of a Grammar of Makary Kotoko (Chadic, Cameroon) John David Allison University of Colorado at Boulder, Sean-Lezlie [email protected]

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text
Aspects of a Grammar of Makary Kotoko (Chadic, Cameroon) John David Allison University of Colorado at Boulder, Sean-Lezlie Allison@Sil.Org University of Colorado, Boulder CU Scholar Linguistics Graduate Theses & Dissertations Linguistics Spring 1-1-2012 Aspects of a Grammar of Makary Kotoko (Chadic, Cameroon) John David Allison University of Colorado at Boulder, [email protected] Follow this and additional works at: http://scholar.colorado.edu/ling_gradetds Part of the Morphology Commons, Phonetics and Phonology Commons, and the Syntax Commons Recommended Citation Allison, John David, "Aspects of a Grammar of Makary Kotoko (Chadic, Cameroon)" (2012). Linguistics Graduate Theses & Dissertations. Paper 16. This Dissertation is brought to you for free and open access by Linguistics at CU Scholar. It has been accepted for inclusion in Linguistics Graduate Theses & Dissertations by an authorized administrator of CU Scholar. For more information, please contact [email protected]. ASPECTS OF A GRAMMAR OF MAKARY KOTOKO (Chadic, Cameroon) by Sean David Allison B.A. equivalent (maîtrise), Université Marc Bloch, Strasbourg, France, 1993 M.A. equivalent (diplôme d’études approfondies), Université Marc Bloch, Strasbourg, France, 1997 A dissertation submitted to the Faculty of the Graduate School of the University of Colorado in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy Department of Linguistics 2012 This dissertation, Aspects of a Grammar of Makary Kotoko (Chadic, Cameroon) written by Sean David Allison has been approved for the Department of Linguistics Zygmunt Frajzyngier, committee chair David Rood, second reader Date IRB protocol # The final copy of this thesis has been examined by the signatories, and we find that both the content and the form meet acceptable presentation standards of scholarly work in the above-mentioned discipline. iii Allison, Sean David (Ph.D., Linguistics) Aspects of a Grammar of Makary Kotoko (Chadic, Cameroon) Dissertation directed by Professor Zygmunt Frajzyngier Makary Kotoko, a Central Chadic B language, is spoken in the north of Cameroon just south of Lake Chad. It is one of nine Kotoko languages. Published works on Makary Kotoko to date include about a dozen articles on different aspects of the grammar of the language. The present work, which is based primarily on a substantial corpus of recorded texts, is a systematic description of many aspects of the phonology, morphology, and syntax of the language. Makary Kotoko has six vowels and twenty seven consonants, including a series of implosives, a series of ejectives, and a series of prenasalized stops. The tone system (including a high, low, mid, and falling tone) functions both lexically and grammatically, though the functional load of tone is not heavy. Nominal morphology is limited, coding plurality, a diminutive, and three nominalization processes. The language has lexicalized a basic ontological distinction between concrete things and abstract things. Verbal morphology is also limited, coding plurality, an applicative, and a causative. The language codes aspectual/modal distinctions on the subject marker which precedes the verb. Tense is not coded in the language, but spatial orientation is coded through a small number of locative particles. The relative order of the direct object and the expression of location within the clause is affected by the nominal/pronominal realization of the arguments. iv There are four primary non-verbal predication constructions used to express notions of identity, attribution, possession, location, and existence. Makary Kotoko places noun phrases in pre-subject position, followed by a small number of markers, to code pragmatic information for the clause (i.e., topic, contrastive focus, switch reference). The presence or absence of a resumptive pronoun for noun phrases placed in pre-subject position (and for head nouns of relative clauses) is conditioned by a complex of factors, including verb argument structure, the grammatical function of the noun phrase, the human/non-human nature of the referent of the noun phrase, and the ongoing saliency of the referent of the noun phrase within the discourse. Combining clauses is done through various means, including the use of two sequential markers which code (in different domains) the succession of events in the discourse. To Lezlie, my precious wife, and our four wonderful kids, Josiah, Nate, Drew, and Annie. Lezlie, I could not have done this without you. In memory of Mark Obisike Ojunta, martyred Aug. 27, 2011, fellow friend of the Kotoko, and spiritual brother. Soli Deo Gloria vi ACKNOWLEDGMENTS I am grateful to the many Makary Kotoko speakers who have shared with me their knowledge of their language and culture. First and foremost I’d like to thank His Majesty Ali Saleh, sultan of Makary, for his willingness to have my family come and live in the village of Makary and work on Makary Kotoko. I would also like to thank those who shared stories, myths, histories, poems, procedural texts, etc. with me during the early stage of my work in the area. They are: From the neighborhood of Gosəlo in Makary: Alhadj Alifa Abani, Hadja Kingui, Hadja Oumne, Kalia Garba, Liman, Mahamat Abakar, Maram, Oumar Mal Yamani From the neighborhood of Welio in Makary: Abaicho Meinata, Abali Abani, Adji Abba Mahamat, Barka, Guieme Abani From the neighborhood of Galme in Makary: Abakachi Mahamat, Adam Mahamat, Alhadji Mahamat Miskei, Amine Ngueni, Mahamat Kali, Sanda Wassili From the neighborhood of Majio in Makary: Garba Mahamat From the village of Dougoumsilio: Abakoura Alifa, Alifa Hamidou, Gouskro From the village of Blangape: Alhadji Abali, Brahim, M. Blama From the village of Belguede: Awa, Iya Ngala vii From the village of Biamo: Alifa From the village of Maladi: Abakachi Oumar, Soungi Liman I am also grateful to those who ‘tested’ the proposed orthography for the language by writing down stories in the language using the orthography. They are: Hamaye Diguio, Mahamat Sosol, Massaou Djeli, Chalki Toloba. During my time in Makary I held three different ‘language development’ courses. I’m grateful to those who took part in the courses and helped shape the direction of the work for Makary Kotoko. Those that participated in the orthography development workshop held in 1999 are: Abadam Assana, Abakaka Alifa, Abakar Mahamat, Abali Moussa, Abamet Sossol, Abani Minata, Ali Saleh, Batema Diguio, Dogo Liman, El-Adj Mahamat Brahim, Goni Limangana, Guim Yadon Ernestine, Hissene Abdoulaye, Kaïgama Malamine, Kilmé Abakachi, Kotté Koubou, Limangana Liman, Mahamat Abadam, Mahamat Alifa, Mahamat Alifa ‘Oncle’, Nana Kaïgama, Ousman Abali, Saleh Abator, Wowe Justin. Those that participated in the grammatical structures workshop held in 2000 are: Abadam Assana, Abakachi Mamat, Abakaka Alifa, Abakar Mahamat, Abamet Sossol, Abani Minata, Adam Bana, Adji Adam, Ali Kaïgama, Ali Saleh, Assana Wallamba, Falmata Brahim, Kaïgama Malamine, Mahamat Abadam, Mahamat Alifa, Mahamat Mahamat Sossol, Massaou Abamé, Nana Kaïgama, Saleh Abator. viii Those that participated in the literature production workshop held in 2002 are: Abakachi Alifa, Abakachi Mamat, Abakar Mahamat, Abani Minata, Déga Abandoumo, Dogo Liman, Hadjamé Kali, Idrissa Koubou, Iya Abamé, Iyakachi Abali, Kambo Gréma, Kambo Liman, Kilmé Dogo, Koché Kali, Malloum Guéimé, Massaou Abamé, Memoulouan Ngaré, Mey Abali, Nana Kaïgama. The following people helped as artists in drawing the pictures for the French-Makary Kotoko transition primer: Mahamat Massaou, Youssoufa Maïgari, Soumaïla Mamanga et Younoussa (de Maham). The following people helped in the revision of the transition primer to improve its quality: Abalaji, Kaigama, Chalki, Abadam Assana, Abakachi Mahamat. I would like to especially thank those that worked one on one with me as I learned the language, studied the structure of the language, and asked the same or similar questions time and time again. The following people have diligently and patiently worked as Makary Kotoko language consultants for me: Massaou Djeli, Abdoulaye Dialo, Kaigama Malamine, Abakar Mahamat (Chalki), and Kalia Garba. Finally, I owe a huge debt of gratitude to Zygmunt Frajzyngier who first encouraged me to come to CU for doctoral studies, then helped, encouraged, challenged me each step of the way to improve the quality of what has been produced. ix Table of Contents Tables ....................................................................................................................................................... xviii Table of Figures ........................................................................................................................................ xxii Abbreviations ........................................................................................................................................... xxiii 1 Introduction................................................................................................................................................ 1 1.1 Linguistic classification ............................................................................................................. 3 1.2 Borrowings ................................................................................................................................ 4 1.3 Existing scholarship ................................................................................................................... 5 1.4 Background ................................................................................................................................ 6 1.5 Corpus .......................................................................................................................................
Load more

Recommended publications
  • Central Chadic Reconstructions
    Central Chadic Reconstructions Richard Gravina 2014 © 2014 Richard Gravina Foreword This document is a presentation of a reconstruction of the Proto-Central Chadic lexicon, along with full supporting data. These reconstructions are presented in conjunction with my PhD dissertation on the reconstruction of the phonology of Proto-Central Chadic (University of Leiden). You can view the data at http://centralchadic.webonary.org, and also view a summary dictionary of Proto- Central Chadic at http://protocentralchadic.webonary.org. The Central Chadic languages are spoken in north-east Nigeria, northern Cameroon, and western Chad. The Ethnologue lists 79 Central Chadic languages. Data comes from 59 of these languages, along with a number of dialects. Classification The classification used here results from the identification of regular changes in the consonantal phonemes amongst groups of Central Chadic languages. Full evidence is given in the dissertation. The summary classification is as follows (dialects are in parentheses; languages not cited in the data are in italics): Bata group: Bachama, Bata, Fali, Gude, Gudu, Holma, Jimi, Ngwaba, Nzanyi, Sharwa, Tsuvan, Zizilivakan Daba group: Buwal, Daba, Gavar, Mazagway, Mbudum, Mina Mafa group: Cuvok, Mafa, Mefele Tera group: Boga, Ga’anda, Hwana, Jara, Tera (Nyimatli) Sukur group: Sukur Hurza group: Mbuko, Vame Margi group: Bura, Cibak, Kilba, Kofa, Margi, Margi South, Nggwahyi, Putai Mandara group: Cineni, Dghwede, Glavda, Guduf, Gvoko, Mandara (Malgwa), Matal, Podoko Mofu group: Dugwor, Mada,
    [Show full text]
  • Some Principles of the Use of Macro-Areas Language Dynamics &A
    Online Appendix for Harald Hammarstr¨om& Mark Donohue (2014) Some Principles of the Use of Macro-Areas Language Dynamics & Change Harald Hammarstr¨om& Mark Donohue The following document lists the languages of the world and their as- signment to the macro-areas described in the main body of the paper as well as the WALS macro-area for languages featured in the WALS 2005 edi- tion. 7160 languages are included, which represent all languages for which we had coordinates available1. Every language is given with its ISO-639-3 code (if it has one) for proper identification. The mapping between WALS languages and ISO-codes was done by using the mapping downloadable from the 2011 online WALS edition2 (because a number of errors in the mapping were corrected for the 2011 edition). 38 WALS languages are not given an ISO-code in the 2011 mapping, 36 of these have been assigned their appropri- ate iso-code based on the sources the WALS lists for the respective language. This was not possible for Tasmanian (WALS-code: tsm) because the WALS mixes data from very different Tasmanian languages and for Kualan (WALS- code: kua) because no source is given. 17 WALS-languages were assigned ISO-codes which have subsequently been retired { these have been assigned their appropriate updated ISO-code. In many cases, a WALS-language is mapped to several ISO-codes. As this has no bearing for the assignment to macro-areas, multiple mappings have been retained. 1There are another couple of hundred languages which are attested but for which our database currently lacks coordinates.
    [Show full text]
  • •Chadic Classification Master
    Paul Newman 2013 ò ê ž ŋ The Chadic Language Family: ɮ Classification and Name Index ɓ ō ƙ Electronic Publication © Paul Newman This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial License CC BY-NC Mega-Chad Research Network / Réseau Méga-Tchad http://lah.soas.ac.uk/projects/megachad/misc.html http://lah.soas.ac.uk/projects/megachad/divers.html The Chadic Language Family: Classification and Name Index Paul Newman I. CHADIC LANGUAGE CLASSIFICATION Chadic, which is a constituent member of the Afroasiatic phylum, is a family of approximately 170 languages spoken in Nigeria, Cameroon, Chad, and Niger. The classification presented here is based on the one published some twenty-five years ago in my Nominal and Verbal Plurality in Chadic, pp. 1–5 (Dordrecht: Foris Publications, 1990). This current paper contains corrections and updates reflecting the considerable amount of empirical research on Chadic languages done since that time. The structure of the classification is as follows. Within Chadic the first division is into four coordinate branches, indicated by Roman numerals: I. West Chadic Branch (W-C); II. Biu-Mandara Branch (B-M), also commonly referred to as Central Chadic; III. East Chadic Branch (E-C); and IV. Masa Branch (M-S). Below the branches are unnamed sub-branches, indicated by capital letters: A, B, C. At the next level are named groups, indicated by Arabic numerals: 1, 2.... With some, but not all, groups, subgroups are distinguished, these being indicated by lower case letters: a, b…. Thus Miya, for example, is classified as I.B.2.a, which is to say that it belongs to West Chadic (I), to the B sub-branch of West Chadic, to the Warji group (2), and to the (a) subgroup within that group, which consists of Warji, Diri, etc., whereas Daba, for example, is classified as II.A.7, that is, it belongs to Biu-Mandara (II), to the A sub-branch of Biu-Mandara, and within Biu-Mandara to the Daba group (7).
    [Show full text]
  • An Atlas of Nigerian Languages
    AN ATLAS OF NIGERIAN LANGUAGES 3rd. Edition Roger Blench Kay Williamson Educational Foundation 8, Guest Road, Cambridge CB1 2AL United Kingdom Voice/Answerphone 00-44-(0)1223-560687 Mobile 00-44-(0)7967-696804 E-mail [email protected] http://rogerblench.info/RBOP.htm Skype 2.0 identity: roger blench i Introduction The present electronic is a fully revised and amended edition of ‘An Index of Nigerian Languages’ by David Crozier and Roger Blench (1992), which replaced Keir Hansford, John Bendor-Samuel and Ron Stanford (1976), a pioneering attempt to synthesize what was known at the time about the languages of Nigeria and their classification. Definition of a Language The preparation of a listing of Nigerian languages inevitably begs the question of the definition of a language. The terms 'language' and 'dialect' have rather different meanings in informal speech from the more rigorous definitions that must be attempted by linguists. Dialect, in particular, is a somewhat pejorative term suggesting it is merely a local variant of a 'central' language. In linguistic terms, however, dialect is merely a regional, social or occupational variant of another speech-form. There is no presupposition about its importance or otherwise. Because of these problems, the more neutral term 'lect' is coming into increasing use to describe any type of distinctive speech-form. However, the Index inevitably must have head entries and this involves selecting some terms from the thousands of names recorded and using them to cover a particular linguistic nucleus. In general, the choice of a particular lect name as a head-entry should ideally be made solely on linguistic grounds.
    [Show full text]
  • Kent Academic Repository Full Text Document (Pdf)
    Kent Academic Repository Full text document (pdf) Citation for published version Bailey, Laura Rudall (2013) The syntax of question particles. Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) thesis, Newcastle University. DOI Link to record in KAR https://kar.kent.ac.uk/80123/ Document Version UNSPECIFIED Copyright & reuse Content in the Kent Academic Repository is made available for research purposes. Unless otherwise stated all content is protected by copyright and in the absence of an open licence (eg Creative Commons), permissions for further reuse of content should be sought from the publisher, author or other copyright holder. Versions of research The version in the Kent Academic Repository may differ from the final published version. Users are advised to check http://kar.kent.ac.uk for the status of the paper. Users should always cite the published version of record. Enquiries For any further enquiries regarding the licence status of this document, please contact: [email protected] If you believe this document infringes copyright then please contact the KAR admin team with the take-down information provided at http://kar.kent.ac.uk/contact.html The Syntax of Question Particles Laura Rudall Bailey Submitted for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy School of English Literature, Language and Linguistics/ Centre for Research in Linguistics and Language Sciences Newcastle University Examined: November 2012 Submitted: April 2013 Abstract Cross-linguistically, languages are largely head-initial or head-final. Most permit some disharmony, but Holmberg (2000) and Biberauer, Holmberg & Roberts (2012), among others, have argued that the structure shown in (1) is ruled out, where YP is X’s complement and ZP is Y’s complement: (1) *[XP [YP Y ZP] X] In structures such as (1), a head-final phrase immediately dominates a head- initial phrase, violating the so-called ‘Final-Over-Final Constraint’ (FOFC).
    [Show full text]
  • [.35 **Natural Language Processing Class Here Computational Linguistics See Manual at 006.35 Vs
    006 006 006 DeweyiDecimaliClassification006 006 [.35 **Natural language processing Class here computational linguistics See Manual at 006.35 vs. 410.285 *Use notation 019 from Table 1 as modified at 004.019 400 DeweyiDecimaliClassification 400 400 DeweyiDecimali400Classification Language 400 [400 [400 *‡Language Class here interdisciplinary works on language and literature For literature, see 800; for rhetoric, see 808. For the language of a specific discipline or subject, see the discipline or subject, plus notation 014 from Table 1, e.g., language of science 501.4 (Option A: To give local emphasis or a shorter number to a specific language, class in 410, where full instructions appear (Option B: To give local emphasis or a shorter number to a specific language, place before 420 through use of a letter or other symbol. Full instructions appear under 420–490) 400 DeweyiDecimali400Classification Language 400 SUMMARY [401–409 Standard subdivisions and bilingualism [410 Linguistics [420 English and Old English (Anglo-Saxon) [430 German and related languages [440 French and related Romance languages [450 Italian, Dalmatian, Romanian, Rhaetian, Sardinian, Corsican [460 Spanish, Portuguese, Galician [470 Latin and related Italic languages [480 Classical Greek and related Hellenic languages [490 Other languages 401 DeweyiDecimali401Classification Language 401 [401 *‡Philosophy and theory See Manual at 401 vs. 121.68, 149.94, 410.1 401 DeweyiDecimali401Classification Language 401 [.3 *‡International languages Class here universal languages; general
    [Show full text]
  • A History of Domestic Animals in Northeastern Nigeria
    A history of domestic animals in Northeastern Nigeria Roger M. BLENCH * PREFATORY NOTES Acronyms, toponyms, etc. Throughout this work, “Borna” and “Adamawa” are taken ta refer to geographical regions rather than cunent administrative units within Nigeria. “Central Africa” here refers to the area presently encompas- sed by Chad, Cameroun and Central African Republic. Orthography Since this work is not wrîtten for specialised linguists 1 have adopted some conventions to make the pronunciation of words in Nigerian lan- guages more comprehensible to non-specialists. Spellings are in no way “simplified”, however. Spellings car-rbe phonemic (where the langua- ge has been analysed in depth), phonetic (where the form given is the surface form recorded in fieldwork) or orthographie (taken from ear- lier sources with inexplicit rules of transcription). The following table gives the forms used here and their PA equivalents: This Work Other Orthographie IPA 11989) j ch tî 4 d3 zl 13 hl, SI Q Words extracted from French sources have been normalised to make comparison easier. * Anthropologue, African Studies Cenfer, Universify of Cambridge 15, Willis Road, Cambridge CB7 ZAQ, Unifed Kingdom. Cah. Sci. hum. 37 (1) 1995 : 787-237 182 Roger BLENCH Tone marks The exact significance of tone-marks varies from one language to ano- ther and 1 have used the conventions of the authors in the case of publi- shed Ianguages. The usual conventions are: High ’ Mid Unmarked Low \ Rising ” Falling A In Afroasiatic languages with vowel length distinctions, only the first vowel of a long vowel if tone-marked. Some 19th Century sources, such as Heinrich Barth, use diacritics to mark stress or length.
    [Show full text]
  • Kanuri and Its Neighbours: When Saharan and Chadic Languages Meet
    3 KANURI AND ITS NEIGHBOURS: WHEN SAHARAN AND CHADIC LANGUAGES MEET Norbert Cyffer 1. Introduction' Relations between languages are determined by their degree of similarity or difference. When languages share a great amount of lexical or grammatical similarity, we assume, that these languages are either genetically related or else they have been in close contact for a long time. In addition to genetic aspects, we also have to consider phenomena which may lead to common structural features in languages of different genetic affiliation. We are aware, e.g., through oral traditions, that aspects of social, cultural or language change are not only a phenomenon of our present period, we should also keep in mind that our knowledge about the local history in many parts of Africa is still scanty. The dynamic processes of social, cultural and linguistic change have been an ongoing development. In our area of investigation we can confirm this from the 11 th century. Here, the linguistic landscape kept changing throughout time. The wider Lake Chad area provides a good example for these developments. For example, Hausa, which is today the dominant language in northern Nigeria, played a lesser role as a language of wider communication (L WC) in the past. This becomes obvious when we assess the degree of lexical borrowing in the languages that are situated between Hausa and Kanuri. However, during the past decades, we observed a decrease of Kanuri influence and an increase of Hausa . • Research on linguistic contact and conceptualization in the wider Lake Chad area was carried out in the project Linguistic Innovation and Conceptual Change in West Africa.
    [Show full text]
  • AR 08 SIL En (Page 2)
    Annual Report Being Available for Language Development > Word of the Director Laying the foundation In 1992 my wife and I visited the Boyo Division for the first time. We researched the effectiveness of the Kom mother tongue education project. I rode around on the motorbike of the literacy coordinator of the language project, and I enjoyed the scenic vistas and the challenge of travelling on mountainous roads, but above all the wonderful hospitality of the people. My time there made it very clear to me that for many children mother ton- gue education is indispensable in order to succeed in life. Many of them could not read after years of schooling in English! I vowed that my own contribution to language development in Cameroon would be to help chil- dren learn to read and write in their own language first. I made myself available so that children would learn better English, would be proud of their own culture and would be able to help build a better Cameroon. 2 Fifteen years later, I am still just as committed to that goal . I am exci- ted to see mother tongue education flourish again in the Kom area. Over the years SIL helped establish the Operational Programme for Administration the Teaching of Languages in Cameroon (PROPELCA) in many lang- in Cameroon in December 2007 uages in Cameroon, hand in hand with organisations like the National Association of Cameroon Language Committees (NACAL- George Shultz, CO) and the Cameroon Association for Bible Translation and Literacy General Director Steve W. Wittig, Director of (CABTAL). It started as an experiment with mother tongue education General Administration but has grown beyond that.
    [Show full text]
  • Phonology of Lagwan (Logone-Birni Kotoko)
    Ministry of Scientific Research and Innovation Phonology of Lagwan (Logone-Birni Kotoko) Joy Naomi Ruff SIL B.P. 1299, Yaoundé Cameroon 2005 1 Contents Abbreviations and transcriptions 4 Transcriptions: three levels of representation 4 Abbreviations 5 Phonology of Lagwan (Logone-Birni Kotoko) 1 Introduction 6 1.1 Population and location 6 1.2 Language names, classification and genetic affiliation 6 1.3 Dialects and variation 7 1.4 Previous research 7 1.5 Present research 7 1.6 Overview of phonology 7 2 Consonants 8 2.1 General characteristics of the consonant system 8 2.1.1 Distributional restrictions 9 2.2 Consonantal allophony 9 2.3 Distinctive consonantal features 13 2.3.1 Redundancy 14 2.3.2 Default phonetic realisation 14 2.3.2.1 The glottalic obstruents 14 2.3.2.2 The nasals 15 2.3.2.3 The zero consonant 15 2.4 Complex and contour consonants 15 2.4.1 Prenasalised obstruents 15 2.4.2 Labialised dorsal obstruents 18 2.4.2.1 Prosodic tendencies 19 2.5 Gemination 21 2.6 The voiced lateral fricative 22 2.7 Free variation 23 2.8 Loan word consonants 24 2.8.1 Pre-palatal affricates 24 2.8.1.1 The voiceless affricate [c] 24 2.8.1.2 The voiced affricate [j] 26 2.8.2 Pre-palatal fricatives 29 2.8.3 The glottal stop 31 3 Vowels 32 3.1 General characteristics of the vowel system 32 3.2 Distinctive vowel features 33 3.2.1 Redundancy 33 3.3 Phonemic vowels with limited distribution 33 3.3.1 The mid vowels |e| and |o| 34 3.3.1.1 The front vowel |e| 34 3.3.1.2 The back vowel |o| 35 2 3.3.2 The high vowels |i| and |u| 36 3.3.2.1 The front vowel
    [Show full text]
  • The Dynamics of Bilingual Adult Literacy in Africa: a Case Study of Kom, Cameroon
    The Dynamics of Bilingual Adult Literacy in Africa: A Case Study of Kom, Cameroon Jean Seraphin Kamdem THESIS SUBMITTED FOR THE DEGREE OF DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London. 2010 ProQuest Number: 11015877 All rights reserved INFORMATION TO ALL USERS The quality of this reproduction is dependent upon the quality of the copy submitted. In the unlikely event that the author did not send a com plete manuscript and there are missing pages, these will be noted. Also, if material had to be removed, a note will indicate the deletion. uest ProQuest 11015877 Published by ProQuest LLC(2018). Copyright of the Dissertation is held by the Author. All rights reserved. This work is protected against unauthorized copying under Title 17, United States C ode Microform Edition © ProQuest LLC. ProQuest LLC. 789 East Eisenhower Parkway P.O. Box 1346 Ann Arbor, Ml 48106- 1346 DECLARATION OF OWNERSHIP I, the undersigned, hereby declare that the work presented in this thesis is my own work and has not been written for me in whole or part by any other person. Signed: J. S. Kamdem 2 | SOA Q lARY ABSTRACT This thesis investigates, describes and analyses adult literacy in local languages in Africa, with a focus on Kom, a rural community situated in the North West province of Cameroon. The thesis presents the motivations, relevance, importance and aims of the research; then gives an overview of the national and local backgrounds, namely Cameroon and Kom. A detailed description is given of the multilingual landscape and language use in formal education, the development of writing systems for Cameroonian languages, the official literacy activities at the national level, and the Kom language and community.
    [Show full text]
  • Hausa and the Chadic Languages
    36 Hausa and the Chadic Languages Paul Newman 1 Chadic The Chadic language family, which is a constituent part of the Afroasiatic phylum, contains some 140 languages spoken in the sub-Saharan region west, south and east of Lake Chad. The exact number of languages is not known since new languages continue to be discovered while other supposedly independent languages tum out to be mere dialects or tenninological variants. The most important and best-known Chadic lan- guage is Hausa. Other Chadic languages are considerably smaller, ranging from a quarter of a million speakers to less than a thousand. Most of the languages at the lower end of the spectrum are now seriously endangered. The languages in the family fall into three major branches plus a fourth independent branch. The West Chadic Branch, which includes Hausa, contains about 60 languages divided into seven groups. All of these languages are spoken in northern Nigeria. The Biu-Mandara (or Central) Branch contains over 45 languages, assigned to eleven groups, extending from the Gongola and Benue river basins in Nigeria to the Mandara Mountains in Cameroon. The East Chadic Branch contains about 25 languages belonging to six groups. These are scattered across central Chad in a southwest-northeast direction from the Cameroon border to the Sudan border. The Masa Branch consists of a single group of some half a dozen closely related languages spoken between the most southeasterly Biu-Mandara languages and the most southwesterly East Chadic languages. A com- prehensive list of Chadic languages organised by branch and group is given in' Table 36.1.Within each group, the languages are listed alphabetically rather than according to closeness of relationship.
    [Show full text]