Kotoko resources is a website of resources for the Kotoko languages mainly geared toward speakers of the language, but also contains an up-to-date bibliography in the domain of linguistics and also archaeology/history/anthropology.
Tag: Central
New Publication: A Grammar of Makary Kotoko
A Grammar of Makary Kotoko by Sean Allison has been published by Brill in their series Grammars and Sketches of the World’s Languages, Africa, Volume: 12
The following description is found on the Brill website (Link)
In A Grammar of Makary Kotoko, Sean Allison provides a thorough description and analysis of Makary Kotoko – a Central Chadic language of Cameroon, framing the discussion within R.M.W. Dixon’s (2010a, 2010b, 2012) Basic Linguistic Theory. Working with an extensive corpus of recorded texts supplemented by interactions with native speakers of the language, the author provides the first full grammar of a Kotoko language. The detailed analysis of the phonology, morphology, syntax, and discourse features of Makary Kotoko is from a functional/typological perspective. Being based on a large number of oral texts, the analysis provides an example-rich description showing the range of variation of the constructions presented while giving insights into Kotoko culture.
The publication has more than 500 pages and is available in print and as E-Book (PDF).
New publications in Central Chadic
Two important publications in Central Chadic have appeared at Rüdiger Köppe Verlag:
- A Dictionary of Hdi by Zygmunt Frajzyngier et al. (195 pp., € 34,80)
- A large book containing two volumes: The Lamang Language and Dictionary by H. Ekkehard Wolff (1110 pp., € 128,00). It can also be ordered as two separate volumes: Lamang Language (501 pp., € 68,00 ) and Lamang Dictionary (609 pp, € 78,00)
Follow the above links to find out more about these publications.
New Publication: The Phonology of Proto-Central Chadic
Richard Gravina‘s PhD thesis on The Phonology of Proto-Central Chadic has recently been published by LOT. It is available online at https://openaccess.leidenuniv.nl/handle/1887/30139.
The summary found there says:
The Central Chadic languages are a diverse and fascinating collection of languages, spoken in Nigeria, Cameroon and Chad. The phonologies of these languages have intrigued linguists since they were first studied, due to their minimal sets of phonemic vowels (sometimes only one), complex systems of vowel harmony, and extensive use of palatalized and labialized consonants. Analysis of these languages led to the proposal of phonemic units referred to as ‘prosodies’, which act on both vowels and consonants, allowing Central Chadic phonologies to be described in a neat and succinct way. This study looks at the diverse phonological systems found within Central Chadic, and reconstructs the phonological system of their ancestor language. This system is itself simple and succinct, and includes one phonemic prosody and just three phonemic vowels. The study describes the phonological processes that led from this system to the many phonological systems that are in use today, shedding light both on the history of the languages, and on issues in the analysis of these languages.
Alongside the publication, there is a website giving 250 reconstructions within Central Chadic with full data. This can be found at http://centralchadic.webonary.org/.
Chadic Newsletter Online 