Bostoen, K. and Donzo, J.-P. 2013. Bantu-Ubangi language contact and the origin of labial-velar stops in Lingombe (Bantu, C41, DRC). Diachronica, 30(4), 435-468. (original) (raw)
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In this article, we show that the influence of Khoisan languages on five southwestern Bantu click languages spoken in the Kavango-Zambezi transfrontier area is diverse and complex. These Bantu languages acquired clicks through contact with both Khwe and Ju languages. However, they did not simply copy these Khoisan clicks words. They adapted them phonologically, resulting in a reduction of the click inventory and also integrated them into Bantu morphosyntax through the unusual process of paralexification. What is more, clicks do not only occur in words of Khoisan origin, but also spread to native vocabulary as a language-internal change, among other things through sound symbolism. Finally, calques and head-final nominal compounds in a number of these Bantu languages point to structural influence, most likely from Khwe. We argue that the contact-induced changes observed in the southwestern Bantu languages can be partly accounted for by the language shift of native Khoisan speakers who...
Divergence and contact in Southern Bantu language and population history
Language Dynamics and Change
In this paper we present a new, lexicon-based phylogeny of 34 Southern Bantu languages, and combine it with previous insights from linguistics, archaeology, and genetics to study the history of Southern Bantu languages and their speakers. Our phylogeny shows all Southern Bantu languages to derive from a single, direct ancestor, which contrasts with archaeological evidence indicating separate migrations of Bantu speakers into southern Africa. This suggests that the Bantu languages spoken by the first migrants became extinct, and the ancestor of present-day Southern Bantu languages only emerged in southern Africa during the second millennium CE. We also map the distribution of previously established or suspected Khoisan-derived linguistic features in Southern Bantu languages onto this phylogeny. Evidence for intensive contact with speakers of Khoisan languages also comes from population genetics, which shows that Khoisan linguistic influence is mainly seen in languages spoken by popul...
The phonology of contact: Creole sound change in context
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This paper explores the middle voice in Kagulu, a Bantu language of Tanzania. Although not traditionally recognized in Bantu languages, recent research has asserted that middle voice is attested in some Bantu languages. We propose that of eight affixes that might be considered middle markers, Kagulu has two affixes that are part of the middle voice system, each one coding two different detransitivizing voices. We argue that, from a diachronic viewpoint, the underdeveloped voice syncretism of Kagulu's middle markers is the result of competing morphology and minimal functional innovations towards voice syncretism in the derivational system of Kagulu.
Prehistoric Bantu-Khoisan language contact A cross-disciplinary approach
Click consonants are one of the hallmarks of "Khoisan" languages of southern Africa. They are also found in some Bantu languages, where they are usually assumed to have been copied from Khoisan languages. We review the southern African Bantu languages with clicks and discuss in what way they may have obtained these unusual consonants. We draw on both linguistic data and genetic results to gain insights into the sociocultural processes that may have played a role in the prehistoric contact. Our results show that the copying of clicks accompanied large-scale inmarriage of * BP is grateful to the labex aslan (anr-10-labx-0081) of Université de Lyon for its financial support within the program "Investissements d' Avenir" (anr-11-idex-0007) of the French government, operated by the National Research Agency (anr). HG acknowledges financial support from Ghent University that funds her PhD research. KB is grateful to the Special Research Fund (bof) of Ghent University for financing his research professorship. We furthermore thank Carina Schlebusch and two anonymous reviewers as well as Jeff Good for their insightful comments on a previous version of this manuscript. 2 pakendorf et al. Language Dynamics and Change 7 (2017) 1-46