CU linguists seek speakers of undescribed African languages, many of which are also endangered
The University of Colorado Linguistics Department is seeking speakers of hitherto un-described African languages to participate in research projects whose aim is to produce descriptions of those languages.
There are more than 6,000 languages in the world. Most of them have never been properly described or even written down, and many will disappear in the next 50 years, linguists predict.
Documenting these languages helps answer fundamental questions such as, “Why and in what ways are all languages similar?” and, “Why and in what ways do they differ?”
Most languages of Africa remain undescribed, and many are also endangered, the Linguistics Department web site states. But research in the CU Linguistics Department has produced first-ever grammars of endangered languages including Kuteb (a Niger-Congo language spoken in Nigeria), Pero, Mupun (West Chadic languages spoken in Nigeria), Mina and Hdi (Central Chadic languages spoken in Cameroon), East Dangla (an East Chadic language spoken in Chad).
Researchers in this area also study languages that, although not endangered, have structural properties of “great theoretical interest.” These include Lele (an East Chadic language spoken in Chad), Hausa, the lingua franca of Northern Nigeria, and Gidar (Northern Cameroon).
The Linguistics Department has an African Language Lab composed of faculty and students interested in African languages.
Speakers of African languages are encouraged to contact Zygmunt Frajzyngier, professor and chair of linguistics, at 303-492-6959 (they can leave a message); he, another faculty or a graduate student will respond.
Frajzyngier is an internationally recognized authority on African linguistics, having devoted much of his academic career to studying the undescribed and “increasingly endangered” languages of the Chadic family, which is described as the largest and most diverse family within the Afroasiatic phylum.
Frajzyngier holds a master’s in Oriental Languages from the University of Warsaw, a master’s of African linguistics from the University of Ghana, and a doctor of philosophy from the University of Warsaw. He has been a member of the CU-Boulder faculty since 1970.
In current work, Frajzyngier and Research Assistant Professor Erin Shay, along with student collaborators, are creating grammars of two Central Chadic languages, Wandala and Giziga, and a Hdi dictionary in collaboration with a native speaker, Roger Prafé.
Later this year, Mouton De Gruyter is scheduled to publish Frajzyngier’s book “A Grammar of Wandala,” a hitherto undescribed Central Chadic language spoken in Northern Cameroon and Northeastern Nigeria.
The study of these languages reveals structures and functions that challenge much of our current thinking about language universals.
For more information about the University of Colorado Boulder Department of Linquistics, see http://www.colorado.edu/linguistics.
Jan. 10, 2012
There are more than 6,000 languages in the world. Most of them have never been properly described or even written down, and many will disappear in the next 50 years, linguists predict.
Documenting these languages helps answer fundamental questions such as, “Why and in what ways are all languages similar?” and, “Why and in what ways do they differ?”
Most languages of Africa remain undescribed, and many are also endangered, the Linguistics Department web site states. But research in the CU Linguistics Department has produced first-ever grammars of endangered languages including Kuteb (a Niger-Congo language spoken in Nigeria), Pero, Mupun (West Chadic languages spoken in Nigeria), Mina and Hdi (Central Chadic languages spoken in Cameroon), East Dangla (an East Chadic language spoken in Chad).
Researchers in this area also study languages that, although not endangered, have structural properties of “great theoretical interest.” These include Lele (an East Chadic language spoken in Chad), Hausa, the lingua franca of Northern Nigeria, and Gidar (Northern Cameroon).
The Linguistics Department has an African Language Lab composed of faculty and students interested in African languages.
Speakers of African languages are encouraged to contact Zygmunt Frajzyngier, professor and chair of linguistics, at 303-492-6959 (they can leave a message); he, another faculty or a graduate student will respond.
Frajzyngier is an internationally recognized authority on African linguistics, having devoted much of his academic career to studying the undescribed and “increasingly endangered” languages of the Chadic family, which is described as the largest and most diverse family within the Afroasiatic phylum.
Frajzyngier holds a master’s in Oriental Languages from the University of Warsaw, a master’s of African linguistics from the University of Ghana, and a doctor of philosophy from the University of Warsaw. He has been a member of the CU-Boulder faculty since 1970.
In current work, Frajzyngier and Research Assistant Professor Erin Shay, along with student collaborators, are creating grammars of two Central Chadic languages, Wandala and Giziga, and a Hdi dictionary in collaboration with a native speaker, Roger Prafé.
Later this year, Mouton De Gruyter is scheduled to publish Frajzyngier’s book “A Grammar of Wandala,” a hitherto undescribed Central Chadic language spoken in Northern Cameroon and Northeastern Nigeria.
The study of these languages reveals structures and functions that challenge much of our current thinking about language universals.
For more information about the University of Colorado Boulder Department of Linquistics, see http://www.colorado.edu/linguistics.
Jan. 10, 2012