A Grammar of the Kilba Language

Very little has been published so far on Kilba, a Chadic language spoken in Adamawa State of Nigeria, the closest relative of which is Margi. Soon, a  publication on Kilba will appear at LINCOM Europe. Here are some details which the author of the book, Dr. Mohammed Aminu Mu’azu, has sent me:

SAL 76: A Grammar of the Kilba Language

ISBN 9783895866654. LINCOM Studies in African Linguistics 76. 198 pp. 2009. Price: EUR 63,00
Mohammed Aminu Mu’azu
University of Bayreuth
The book describes some linguistic aspects of Kilba. As a preliminary to the main discussion, the geographical location of Kilba land, the culture and dialects of the Language are highlighted. The book then describes the Phonology, Morphology and Syntax of the Language. On phonology, the book treats the sound system, phonological processes and the tonal system of the language.

The section on Morphology treats, in part, nominal and verbal morphology of the language. On the nominal, the book treats nouns, adjectives, pronouns and adverbs, while the verbal morphology discusses the derivational and inflectional aspects of the verbs. Finally, concerning syntax, the book treats the various constituents that make up the two phrases: nominal and verbal. The book reveals the nature and restrictions that occur in the usage of the lexical items in the two phrases. Each of the items that occur in both the phrases are spelt out and phrase structure tree diagrams of some of the sentences are drawn and phrase structure rules are also established in order to show how the constituents are hierarchically related.

Mohammed Aminu Mu’azu holds a PhD in General Linguistics from the University of Maiduguri, where he is a Senior Lecturer in the Department of Languages and Linguistics. The book was written during his tenure as lecturer in the Department of African Studies (Afrikanistik II), University of Bayreuth, Germany (2008 – 2010). He has also published articles on various linguistic aspects of the Kilba language in international journals of languages and linguistics.