New publication: La langue kwang et ses dialectes

We would like to announce the publication of a monograph on Kwang, an East Chadic language, jointly authored by Herrmann Jungraithmayr and Carsten Peust, titled “La langue kwang et ses dialectes (République du Tchad). Précis de grammaire – Textes – Lexique”.

This monograph includes a grammar, a dictionary as well as 13 texts of this language, which stands out by its complex morphology. It is a peculiarity of this study that two (three) dialects of the language are described in parallel.

The book has been published by Harrassowitz: https://www.harrassowitz-verlag.de/La_langue_kwang_et_ses_dialectes_(Rpublique_du_Tchad)/title_7391.ahtml

A Table of Contents is available for Download

Hausa dictionary available

Paul Newman has sent the following message:

Zuwa ga abokai masana Hausa,

     We are pleased to inform you that the Hausa-English / English-Hausa dictionary that we published with Bayero University Press in Kano is now available outside of Nigeria. If you are interested in obtaining a copy for yourselves, or if you would like for your library to acquire a copy, the book can be purchased from African Books Collective in Oxford, see https://www.africanbookscollective.com/books/hausa-dictionary-for-everyday-use.

     This new printing is essentially the same as the Kano edition, however we were fortunate in being able to correct a few typos and other small errors that were found in the original.

Best,

Paul & Roxana

Book reviews in JALL 42

Joseph Lovestrand has sent the following message:

The latest JALL has two reviews of works on Chadic languages:

• Allison, Sean. 2020. A grammar of Makary Kotoko. (Grammars and Sketches of the World’s Languages, Africa 12). Leiden/Boston: Brill. XVIII+502 pages. ISBN: 978-90-04-42251-3. EUR 149. (Reviewed by: Abdoulaye, Mahamane L.). In: Journal of African Languages and Linguistics 42(2). 279–285. https://doi.org/10.1515/jall-2021-2022
• Newman, Paul & Roxana Ma Newman. 2020. Hausa Dictionary: Hausa-English/English-Hausa, Ƙamusun Hausa: Hausa-Ingilishi/Ingilishi-Hausa. Kano: Bayero University Press, Kano, Nigeria. (Reviewed by: Leben, William R.). In: Journal of African Languages and Linguistics 42(2). 287–290. https://doi.org/10.1515/jall-2021-2023

Early invitation for CALL workshop presentations

Joseph Lovestrand has sent the following message:

An online workshop on the theme “Words in Chadic languages: Phonology and morphosyntax” is being organized for August 29, 2022 in conjunction with the Colloquium on African Languages and Linguistics 2022.

Anyone who would like to contribute a presentation can express interest by emailing Joseph Lovestrand: jl119@soas.ac.uk

Planned participants include:

Théodore Bebey (University of Maroua)
Adam Mahmat (University of Maroua)
Hamidou Bappa (University of Maroua)
Ousmanou (University of Yaounde 1)
Mélanie Viljoen (SIL)
Joseph Lovestrand (SOAS University of London)
Ndokobai Dadak (SIL)
H. Ekkehard Wolff (Leipzig University)
Shannon Yee (SIL)
Sakine Ramat (FAPLN)

Words in Chadic languages: phonology and morphosyntax

Chadic languages have long been of interest to phonologists, in particular in regard to word prosodies: cases of vowel and consonant harmony in which phonological features are spread across an entire word (Lionnet & Hyman 2018: 633–646; Wolff 2021: 55–61). The most extreme cases of word prosodies are found in Central Chadic languages, while less extreme examples of phonological feature sharing are common throughout the language family (Pearce & Lovestrand forthcoming). Chadic languages also tend to have complex morphology, in particular in the verbal system where pronominal markers and other verbal morphemes (often called “extensions”) may have ambiguous status in regard to whether they are part of the verb (i.e., suffixes) or not (i.e., particles) (Jungraithmayr & Tourneux 1987). Since Chadic languages have both complex morphology and phonological processes that extend across a domain associated with wordhood, they are likely to exhibit patterns of conflicting criteria for wordhood of the type that has raised questions about the theoretical validity of wordhood and the morphology-syntax divide more generally (Tallman 2020). Of particular interest are cases where the domain of prosody or harmony does not match morphosyntactic criteria for wordhood, however, presentations on aspects of the phonology or morphology of Chadic languages will also be included in the workshop.

• Jungraithmayr, Herrmann & Henry Tourneux (eds.). 1987. Etudes tchadiques, Classes et extensions verbales. Paris: Geuthner.
• Lionnet, Florian & Larry M Hyman. 2018. Current issues in African phonology. In Tom Güldemann (ed.), The languages and linguistics of Africa, 602–708. De Gruyter Mouton.
• Pearce, Mary & Joseph Lovestrand. forthcoming. Vowel harmony in Chadic languages. In Harry van der Hulst & Nancy Ritter (eds.), The Oxford Handbook of Vowel Harmony. Oxford University Press.
• Tallman, Adam J. R. 2020. Beyond grammatical and phonological words. Language and Linguistics Compass 14(2).
• Wolff, H. Ekkehard. 2021. Historical phonology of Central Chadic: Prosodies and lexical reconstruction. Cambridge Univ Press.

New publication: A History of the Hausa Language

Paul Newman is pleased to announce the publication of his book A History of the Hausa Language: Reconstruction and Pathways to the Present, Cambridge University Press (2022).

The following description can be found at the CUP website:

With more than sixty million speakers across Nigeria, Niger, Cameroon, and Ghana Hausa is one of the most widely spoken African languages. It is known for its rich phonology and complex morphological and verbal systems. Written by the world’s leading expert on Hausa, this ground-breaking book is a synthesis of his life’s work, and provides a lucid and comprehensive history of the language. It describes Hausa as it existed in former times and sets out subsequent changes in phonology, including tonology, morphology, grammar, and lexicon. It also contains a large loanword inventory, which highlights the history of Hausa’s interaction with other languages and peoples. It offers new insights not only on Hausa in the past, but also on the Hausa language as spoken today. This book is an invaluable resource for specialists in Hausa, Chadic, Afroasiatic, and other African languages as well as for general historical linguists and typologists.

Cambridge University Press

For information on purchasing or making a recommendation to your library, see doi.org/10.1017/9781009128070.

Now online: Bibliography of Chadic and Hausa Linguistics, 5th edition (2022)

The 5th edition of Paul Newman‘s Comprehensive Bibliography of Chadic and Hausa Linguistics has been posted and is now available online:

Newman, Paul. 2022. Comprehensive Bibliography of Chadic and Hausa Linguistics, 5th edition. Bloomington: IUScholarWorks. 

URL:   https://hdl.handle.net/2022/27402

DOI:    https://doi.org/10.5967/5q3g-t220

It includes approximately 3,500 linguistic works written on Chadic languages, of which about 2,000 are on Hausa, by far the largest and most widely spoken member of the family. The entries date from 1790 to the present. The bibliography contains published books and articles as well as unpublished Ph.D. dissertations and master’s theses.

4th Symposium on West African Languages (SyWAL2022)

The 4th Symposium on West African Languages (SyWAL 2022) is scheduled to take place 21-23 September 2022 on the premises of the University of Naples “L’Orientale”. It targets all aspects of studies on African languages spoken in West Africa and West African languages used elsewhere.

Deadlines:

Call for papers: 15 March 2022
Deadline for abstract submissions: 1 June 2022
Notification of acceptance: 15 June 2022
Symposium: 21-23 September 2022

Contact:
sywal2022@unior.it

Find out more following this link.

11th Biennial International Colloquium on the Chadic Languages (BICCL) – CALL FOR PAPERS

The following invitation / call for papers has been distributed via a new BICCL Google group (biccl@googlegroups.com).

11th Biennial International Colloquium on the Chadic Languages (BICCL)
11-12 November 2022, at Universität Wien, Austria 

CALL FOR PAPERS

(Version française ci-dessous)

Registration and abstract submission till: 30 June 2022

Notification of acceptance till: 31 July 2022

Dear colleagues,

after an intermission in 2021 due to the ‘Corona-Pandemic’ we will restart with the next BICCL meeting at the Department of African Studies (University of Vienna), 11-12 November 2022. 

The colloquium will be held in presence; however, colleagues who cannot come to Vienna due to travel restriction can be given the opportunity to present their talk via video conferencing.

Note that you have to fulfil the valid entry regulations for Austria. Currently (27th December 2021) to enter Austria, the so called “2-G” rule (proof of vaccination/recovery) is in place. In addition, you need a negative PCR test or proof of booster jab.

We invite all Chadic scholars to hand in their papers covering the following topics:

– Descriptive linguistics of individual Chadic languages
– Comparative linguistics of Chadic languages
– Typology of Chadic languages
– Hausa linguistics
– The position of Chadic within Afroasiatic
– Contact between Chadic and non-Chadic languages
– Oral literature in Chadic languages

Abstracts should be written in English, French, or German, and not exceed 500 words (excluding references). Talks will be allocated 20 minutes for presentation with a 10 minute question and answer period. There will be a conference fee of 50€ (including conference dinner).

Registrations and abstracts are to be submitted electronically in pdf and word format to the following email address with subject “BICCL 2022”: georg.ziegelmeyer@univie.ac.at

Registration for the meeting should also contain the following information: name and affiliation; planned date of arrival (suggested Thursday, 10th November), and departure (suggested Sunday, 13th of November).

Details concerning participants, program, accommodation and organizational matters will be communicated in further circulars.

We are looking forward to see you!

The organizers (Yvonne Treis, Henning Schreiber, Georg Ziegelmeyer)

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11e Colloque International Bisannuel sur les Langues Tchadiques (BICCL 11)

11-12 novembre 2022
Universität Wien, Autriche

APPEL À COMMUNICATIONS

Date limite pour la soumission des résumés : 30 juin 2022

Envoi de la notification d’acceptation : 31 juillet 2022

Chères et chers collègues,

Après l’annulation du colloque en raison de la pandémie en 2021, nous prévoyons d’organiser le prochain rencontre BICCL au Département d’études africaines de l’université de Vienne les 11-12 novembre 2022. 

Le colloque aura lieu en présentiel, mais les collègues qui ne peuvent pas venir à Vienne en raison de restrictions de voyage auront la possibilité de présenter à distance par visioconférence. Merci de prendre note des mesures sanitaires en vigueur sur le territoire autrichien. Actuellement (27 décembre 2021), la règle dite “2-G” est appliquée lors de l’entrée en Autriche : vous devez donc présenter une preuve de vaccination complète ou un certificat de rétablissement du Covid. De plus, vous êtes tenu de présenter un test PCR négatif ou une preuve de vaccination de rappel.

Nous invitons tous les chercheurs travaillant sur les langues tchadiques à soumettre leur résumé sur les sujets suivants :

– Description linguistique des différentes langues tchadiques
– Linguistique comparative/diachronique des langues tchadiques
– Typologie des langues tchadiques
– Linguistique haoussa
– Position de la branche tchadique au sein du phylum Afroasiatique
– Contact entre les langues tchadiques et non-tchadiques
– Littérature orale en langues tchadiques

 Les résumés doivent être rédigés en anglais, français ou allemand et ne pas dépasser 500 mots (références exclues). Les intervenants disposeront de 20 minutes pour leur présentation et suivies de 10 minutes de questions et discussion.

Les résumés doivent être soumis en format pdf et word à l’adresse mail suivante georg.ziegelmeyer@univie.ac.at (merci de mettre « BICCL 2022 » dans le sujet).

Veuillez également nous envoyer les informations suivantes : 

–   nom, affiliation et adresse
–   date d’arrivée prévue (idéalement le jeudi 10 novembre)
–   date de départ prévue (suggérée le dimanche 13 novembre).

Les frais d’inscription sont de 50 € (y compris le dîner du colloque).

Tous les détails concernant les participants, le programme, l’hébergement et les questions d’organisation seront communiqués dans des circulaires ultérieures.

Nous nous réjouissons de vous accueillir à Vienne en novembre !

Les organisateurs (Yvonne Treis, Henning Schreiber, Georg Ziegelmeyer)

Bibliography of Chadic and Hausa Linguistics, 5th edition (2022)

Paul Newman has sent the following announcement:

I am planning on doing one final (5th) edition of the online, open access Chadic  biblio. (The 4th, which appeared in 2018, is available at http://hdl.handle.net/2022/22181).

      If any of you have Hausa or Chadic books, articles, book reviews, etc. that you would like to see included in the biblio, I would be grateful if you could send me the info in the next two or three weeks at pnxxpn(at)indiana.edu. Please send the info either as text in the body of the email itself or as a WORD attachment.

In addition to things that you yourself have written, if you are aware of other bibliographic information that you feel would be useful, please let me know. Finally, if it is not clear from the title of the publication what Chadic languages are treated, please indicate this in a note so that I can include the relevant info in the Keyword section.

New publication: Linguistique et Langues Africaines (LLA) no. 7/2021

Yvonne Treis has sent the following notice:

The most recent issue of our journal contains one research article and two book reviews on Chadic languages. All contributions are available for free download here: https://llacan.cnrs.fr/lla/index2.html

Le dernier numéro de notre revue contient un article et deux comptes rendus de livres sur les langues tchadiques. Toutes les contributions peuvent être téléchargées gratuitement ici : https://llacan.cnrs.fr/lla/index.html

Table of contents / Table des matières

Articles
– Keith L. Snider, Floating tone noun class prefixes in Mada (Nigeria), p. 11-41.
[CHADIC]- Henry Tourneux, Le nom du souverain dans les parlers « kotoko » du Cameroun, p. 43-62.

Book Reviews / Comptes rendus
– David Jowitt, Nigerian English, 2019 (by Bernard Caron), p. 65-67.
– James Essegbey, Tutrugbu (Nyangbo) language and culture, 2019 (by Matthew Harley), p. 69-73.
[CHADIC] – Erin Shay, en collab. avec Lazare Wambadang, A grammar of Pévé, 2020 (by Joseph Lovestrand), p. 75-79.
– Marlene Guss-Kosicka, Die Verbalsysteme des Amharischen und Tigrinischen: Eine vergleichende Analyse, 2019 (by Ronny Meyer), p. 81-87.
– Gerrit J. Dimmendaal & Rainer Vossen (éd.), The Oxford handbook of African languages, 2020 (by Aurore Montébran & Neige Rochant), p. 89-95.
– Heleen Smits, A grammar of Lumun, a Kordofanian language of Sudan, 2017 (by Nicolas Quint), p. 97-102.
– Mari C. Jones & Damien Mooney (éd.), Creating orthographies for endangered languages, 2017 (by David Roberts), p. 103-110.
– Michel Lafon & Mongezi Bolofo, Manuel de conversation français-zoulou et zoulou-français, 2021 (by Paulette Roulon-Doko), p. 111-113.
[CHADIC] – Sean Allison, A Grammar of Makary Kotoko, 2020 (by Henry Tourneux), p. 115-123.