African linguistics across the disciplines: Selected papers from the 48th Annual Conference on African Linguistics
About this ebook
In 1972, the Indiana University Department of Linguistics hosted the Third Annual Conference of African Linguistics. Proceedings of that conference were published by Indiana University Publications (African Series, vol. 7). In 1986, IU hosted the Seventeenth Annual Conference of African Linguistics with Paul Newman and Robert Botne editing the proceedings in a volume entitled Current Approaches to African Linguistics, vol. 5. In 2016, Indiana University hosted the 48th Annual Conference on African Linguistics with the theme African Linguistics Across the Disciplines. Proceedings of that meeting are published in this volume.
The papers presented in this volume reflect the diversity of opportunities for language study in Africa. This collection of descriptive and theoretical work is the fruit of data gathering both in-country and abroad by researchers of languages spoken across the continent, from Sereer-sin in the west to Somali in the northeast to Ikalanga in the south. The range of topics in this volume is also broad, representative of the varied field work in country and abroad that inspires research in African linguistics. This collection of papers spans the disciplines of phonology (both segmental and suprasegmental), morphology (both morphophonological and morphosyntactic), syntax, semantics, and language policy. The data and analyses presented in this volume offer a cross-disciplinary view of linguistic topics from the many under-resourced languages of Africa.
About the author
Samson Lotven is a PhD candidate in Linguistics at Indiana University. His research focuses on the phonetics and phonology of under- and un-documented languages, consonant-pitch interaction, sociolinguistic and dialectal variation, and community building in language documentation.
Silvina Bongiovanni is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Romance and Classical Studies at Michigan State University. She received a dual PhD in Linguistics and Hispanic Linguistics from Indiana University where she also received her MA in Hispanic Linguistics. Her work centers on phonetic and phonological variation and seeks to understand how the complex connections between physical instantiation, linguistic interpretation, and phonotactic distribution of sounds come together to shape linguistic variation. In her primary line of research, she examines within- and across-regional patterns of variation in nasality, both in vowels and in consonants, with dialects at different stages of sound change.
Phillip Weirich is a PhD candidate in Linguistics at Indiana University. He studies dialectology and language attitudes, focusing on the interface of sociophonetic variation and beliefs about variation. His dissertation considers language variation across the state of Indiana and the effect that such variation has on individual patterns of speech perception and production.
Robert Botne is a professor at Indiana University. His research focuses on Bantu languages. His primary areas of interest are tense, aspect, and lexical semantics.
Samuel Gyasi Obeng is Professor of Linguistics, an affiliated faculty member in the School of Global and International Studies, and a faculty member of Indiana University’s Honors Program. He also holds adjunct faculty positions in Near Eastern Languages and Cultures, Islamic Studies, African American & African Diaspora Studies, and in the African Studies Program (which he directed from 2007 to 2015). His research interests are in African linguistics, Firthian phonology, conversational phonetics, and discourse-pragmatics focusing on the entwining of language and politics, law, natural conversation, and therapeutic discourse. He has published or edited 29 books, over 100 papers in refereed journals and book chapters, and 25 book reviews. Dr. Obeng also writes poetry in English and Akan (three books) and political satire in various national and international newspapers using different pen names.
