Grollemund, R. & Hombert, J.-M. 2012. Use of Plant Names for the Classification of the Bantu Languages of Gabon. Selected Proceedings of the 40th Annual Conference on African Linguistics, ed. by B. Connell & N. Rolle, 150-63. Toronto: Cascadilla Proceedings Project. (original) (raw)
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Use of Plant Names for the Classification of the Bantu Languages of Gabon
2013
Since the early seventies, several classifications of Bantu languages have been proposed. Two branches have been identified in some of these classifications: Eastern and Western Bantu. The homogeneity of the languages of the Eastern branch has been confirmed, while the situation appears more complex with Western languages. Indeed, Bastin, Coupez and Mann (1999) have
While the basic genetic unity of the Bantu family has been recognized for a century and a half (see Schadeberg (2003: 144–146)), important aspects of its internal composition and external relationships remain poorly understood. Greenberg (1955: 40) is credited with the now widelyaccepted view that the Bantu homeland was located around the Cameroon-Nigeria border. However, there is still no consensus on the details of Bantu’s split from the rest of Benue-Congo, nor is it even clear exactly which Benue-Congo languages should be classified as Bantu—or, more precisely, as Narrow Bantu, a term used to designate a hypothetical node in the Benue- Congo family tree clearly delineating “Bantu” languages from their closest Bantoid relatives (see Nurse & Philippson (2003b: 5–7)). The most problematic part of the “Bantu”-speaking area, in this regard, is the northwest, roughly consisting of southern Cameroon, Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, and Congo-Brazzaville.
Linguistic evidence for cultivated plants in the Bantu borderland
Azania:archaeological Research in Africa, 1994
Recent research into the languages of the Nigeria-Cameroon borderland has made possible the elaboration of a more concrete schema relating Bantu and Bantoid languages to the Benue-Congo group. At the same time, new data sources on the vernacular names and ethnobotany of cultivated plants suggest hypotheses on the gradual domestication of indigenous flora. The pattern that emerges suggests that this process occurred gradually in widely scattered locations, but that some types of cultivation were established as far back as the period when Proto-Benue-Congo was spoken.
Gabonese language landscape: survey and pespectives
Several authors have described the language situation of Gabon with regard mainly to native languages, as one of language diversity. In this article, we portray this language situation with regard to both foreign and native languages, and introduce the concept of a Gabonese Language Landscape, which we contrast with a concept of a language situation. The concept is introduced in comparison to that of a language situation. Based on observations, we present an inventory of both foreign and native languages in an attempt to display the language situation of Gabon in a realistic way. The article also examines the status of the various languages used in Gabon as well as Gabon’s language policy.
Central, East and Southern African Languages
The languages of Central, East, and Southern Africa are, like the cultures in which they are embedded, diverse, dynamic, and vibrant. They offer a wealth of exciting structural, sociolinguistic, and comparative material, which is a key to our understanding of the human capacity for language. More than 500 languages are spoken in this vast area and the majority of countries covered have a high degree of multilingualism, both because several languages are part of the public discourse and because speakers are smoothly manipulating different languages for different functions and in different contexts. These circumstances allow for, and sometimes force, the shifting of linguistic identities and allegiances, and are reflected in new linguistic structures and varieties due to language contact and migration, as well as the endangerment of many languages. In terms of classification, all four African linguistic groups are represented in East and Southern Africa: Afroasiatic and Nilosaharan languages in northern East Africa; Khoisan languages in Southern Africa; and Niger-Congo (mainly Bantu) languages in the whole area. In addition, Afrikaans represents a Germanic language, and Malagasy belongs to the Austronesian family. The vast majority of languages in the whole region, however, are Bantu languages. Originating, as far as we can ascertain, from the Nigerian-Cameroonian borderland, Bantu languages have come to be used more widely during the last three millennia and are now spoken throughout the larger part of Central, East, and Southern Africa. Bantu languages are structurally characterized by a complex noun class system according to which each noun is grouped into a specific class marked by a prefix which must agree with dependent elements. Most Bantu languages have between 15 and 20 classes, including a number of singular-plural paired classes. In addition to noun classes, the study of Bantu tone, verb structure, agreement and constructions involving the equivalence of English pronouns, have contributed profoundly to developments in these areas in general linguistics. Many, probably most of the languages of East and Southern Africa have not yet been comprehensively documented. More study would very likely illustrate further how much the languages from this part of the world can tell us about the cultures and histories of the region, and about the nature of language in general. The languages covered in the following pages are prominent languages of the area and among the largest in terms of numbers of speakers. They include fourteen feature languages: Zulu,