Causative construction in Likpakpaanl (Konkomba)

Cultural philosophies, belief systems and experiences serve as superordinate cultural concepts that are reconceptualised and expressed using metaphorical personal names in Mabia languages. Metaphorical personal names are ‘vehicles’ that transport the worldviews of speakers of Mabia languages to the target audiences. Every metaphorical personal name shares properties of a superordinate umbrella concept such that even newly created metaphorical names fall within an already existing cultural philosophy. This study argues that there is a corresponding relationship between a metaphorical personal name, the source domain, and its superordinate umbrella philosophical concept, the target domain. The study uses data from four Mabia ‘sister’ languages of West Africa: Dagbani, Kusaal, Likpakpaln, and Sisaali. The findings show that the source domains of these names include the name-bearer and the personal name itself, and the name-giver, whilst the target domains include flora and fauna terms, belief systems, innuendos and proverbs, experiences of name-givers, ‘death prevention’ labels, among others. The article also establishes that both sociocultural and ethnolinguistic factors influence the use of metaphorical personal names in the cultures under study. The Conceptual Metaphor Theory (CMT) is employed for the analysis of data in this research. The work uses the qualitative method and data are sourced from semi-structured interviews, from school registers and other previous studies on personal names in the selected languages.

UC Berkeley Phonology Lab Annual Report (2013) Nicholas Rolle UC Berkeley “Nasal vowel patterns in West Africa” 1 n.rolle@berkeley.edu 1. I NTRODUCTION Nasal vowels are a common feature of West African phonologies, and have received a significant amount of attention concerning their (suprasegmental) representation, their interaction with nasal consonants, and their phonetic realization. Numerous authors have presented surveys of varying degrees of (targeted) depth which address the distribution of contrastive nasal vowels in (West) Africa, including Hyman (1972), Williamson (1973), Ruhlen (1978), Maddieson (1984, 2007), Clements (2000), Clements & Rialland (2006), and Hajek (2011). Building on this literature, this present study provides a more extensive survey on contrastive nasal vowels in West Africa, and specifically studies the types of systematic gaps found. For example, the language Togo-Remnant language Bowili has a 7 oral vowel inventory canonical of West Africa /i e ɛ a ɔ o u/, as well as a full set of nasal counterparts /ĩ ẽ ɛ a ɔ o ũ/ (Williamson 1973). In contrast, the Gur language Bariba has the same 7 oral vowel inventory, though a more limited nasal set /ĩ ɛ a ɔ ũ/, missing mid-high vowels */ẽ o/ (Hyman 1972:201). Using this as a starting point, this paper addresses the following questions: What are the recurring patterns one finds in West African nasal vowel systems and inventories? o What restrictions are there on mid vowels in the nasal inventory? In which families/areal zones do we find these patterns? To which factors can we attribute these patterns? o Genetic – Vertical inheritance o Areal – Horizontal spread o Universal Phonetic – Parallel Developments How do these patterns manifest in the phonologies of these languages o E.g. Restrictions of (co-)occurrences Are these patterns anomalous or expected when viewed in a cross-linguistic perspective? This paper presents a survey of 168 languages and language clusters, incorporating previous studies on nasal vowels cross-linguistically, and nasal vowels in (West) Africa. This study finds that nasality is pervasive across the region, and does not align well with genetic classification. Both the presence and absence of contrastive nasal vowels is shown in Atlantic groups, Gur groups, Mande, Kru, Kwa/Gbe groups, and Benue-Congo groups, including Igboid, Defoid, Edoid, Plateau/Kainji, Nupoid, Cross River, etc. This strongly suggests [1] areal spread introducing/initiating contrastive nasal vowels or nasal loss, [2] independent innovation/loss of contrastive nasal vowels, or [3] both. In addition, this present survey is unique in coding for the presence/absence of high-mid nasal vowels /ẽ o/, which have been described by many authors as rare in West Africa. This This paper is a working draft stemming from a large-scale project on nasal vowels cross-linguistically. Initial thanks to Larry Hyman, Matt Faytak, Florian Lionnet, Lev Michael, Zachary O'Hagan, Roger Blench, Stuart McGill, and Otelemate Harry. All comments very much welcome!

Drawing on a variety of anthropological analyses of ritual language in West Africa, this chapter examines assumptions of participants and participation in contemporary and historical work. While much scholarship has made implicit assumptions about the boundaries of ritual participation, critically examining these issues highlights the creative use of ritual language as a force for social action. This chapter explores participation through several dimensions including: 1) performance, 2) expanded participation across time and space; 3) factions and groups; 4) multimodal interaction; and 5) and subjectivity.

Reviewed by: Evidence for linguistic relativity ed. by Susanne Niemeier, René Dirven Zdenek Salzmann Evidence for linguistic relativity. Ed. by Susanne Niemeier and René Dirven. (Amsterdam studies in the theory and history of linguistic science. Series IV, Current issues in linguistic theory 198.) Amsterdam: John Benjamins, 2000. Pp. xxi, 240. Most of the ten contributions to this volume were originally presented at the 26th International LAUD Symposium entitled ‘Humboldt and Whorf revisited’ (1–5 April, 1998, Gerhard Mercator University, Duisburg, Germany). Proceedings of the meeting have appeared in two volumes; the fifteen contributors to this volume (including the two editors) come from ten countries on four continents. The volume is divided into two parts: Part 1 contains papers dealing with evidence from language structure; Part 2 has papers that draw on data from cognition, discourse, and culture. In his introduction (ix–xxi), John A. Lucy characterizes linguistic relativity and discusses its empirical evaluations. Before commenting on the papers of the volume, he mentions three types of empirical studies of linguistic relativity—approaches that are structure-oriented, domain-oriented, and behavior-oriented. To sample the contents of Part 1: In one of the papers Jan Schroten studies semantic structure and its relation to the conceptual structure of body-part nouns in English, Spanish, and Dutch. According to him, it is necessary to understand how the semantic structure is organized before one attempts to study the relationship between language and thought. Gábor Györi views the cognitive function of language as also serving ‘to provide the speakers with relatively stable, ready-made categories that reflect the environment the language users live in’ (76). Then by studying semantic change, we learn not only ‘how cognition influences what categories will be created in language, . . . [but also] how the linguistically established categories influence our view of the world’ (77). In Part 2, Dan I. Slobin in ‘Verbalized events: A dynamic approach to linguistic relativity and determinism’ (107–38) gives an example of how languages shape their speakers’ way of thinking. He examines the event of human motion and explores differences in ‘thinking for speaking’ between ‘verb-framed’ languages like French and ‘satellite-framed’ languages like English (this typology originated with Leonard Talmy in 1985). Balthasar Bickel offers evidence from his fieldwork among a Tibeto-Burman people, the Belhare, that cultural forms of social practices (e.g. locating things or persons) show affinity to linguistic patterns. And in ‘ “S’engager” vs. “to show restraint”: Linguistic and cultural relativity in discourse management’ (193–222), Bert Peeters contrasts communicative norms of French and English speakers. The French ideal is one of engagement in order to defend individual expression; the Anglo-Saxon ideal is to avoid the risk of venturing an erroneous opinion and getting drawn into other people’s business. Ultimately, Peeters’s thesis is that ‘selected aspects of language... because of linguistic relativity, generate cultural relativity, which itself generates linguistic diversity’ (217). Papers in this volume will prove to be of interest because they suggest new ways of approaching the issue of linguistic relativity. Zdenek Salzmann Northern Arizona University Copyright © 2001 Linguistic Society of America

A grammar of almost any Bantu language will attest a morpheme a in a variety of constructions involving association, usually of a preceding noun with a following noun or pronoun. In many Bantu languages a second morpheme, with the shape ka or something similar, is used in some similar constructions. These morphemes have frequently been labelled 'possessive', with reference to one of their more obvious uses, or genitive, with the implication that more than literal possession may be involved; the variety of constructions in which they are found makes the more neutral term 'associative' preferable. In the history of efforts to establish and define the relationship of the Bantu languages with most of the languages of West Africa, it has not been widely noted that striking parallels can be found in a number of unique morphological details of such a type that borrowing or other influence is most improbable, thus strongly reinforcing the arguments for recognizing a genetically related NigerCongo language family. It is the purpose of this article to point out some reflexes of the Bantu associative a and ka in some widely divergent non-Bantu languages of West Africa, in most of the same uses and with significantly parallel restrictions. A comprehensive treatment is impossible at present for lack of sufficient evidence; the evidence that is available, however, will establish that these morphemes can be reconstructed for proto-Niger-Congo. It is hoped that this will also stimulate further investigation of comparable phenomena in other NigerCongo languages. The treatment accorded here to these morphemes in the Bantu languages themselves will seem sketchy and elementary to a Bantuist. He is sufficiently familiar with the material, and needs little reminder of the varieties and ramifications of these constructions in Bantu. Others, however, will find a brief sampling of the uses of the associative a and ka in a few Bantu languages necessary andit is hoped-adequate as a background for the non-Bantu evidence. The more restricted and subtle evidence of these morphemes in non-Bantu Niger-Congo languages, on the other hand, will require more detailed treatment irrespective of one's language background.

Hantaviruses are members of the Bunyaviridae family carried by small mammals and causing human hemorrhagic fevers worldwide. In Western Africa, where a variety of hemorrhagic fever viruses occurs, indigenous hantaviruses have been molecularly found in animal reservoirs such as rodents, shrews, and bats since 2006. To investigate the human contact to hantaviruses carried by these hosts and to assess the public health relevance of hantaviruses for humans living in the tropical rainforest regions of Western and Central Africa, we performed a cross-sectional seroprevalence study in the region of Taï National Park in Côte d’Ivoire and the Bandundu region near the Salonga National Park in the Democratic Republic (DR) of Congo. Serum samples were initially screened with enzyme-linked immunosorbent assays using nucleoproteins of several hantaviruses as diagnostic antigens. Positive results were confirmed by Western blotting and immunofluorescence testing. Seroprevalence rates of 3.9% (27/687) and 2.4% (7/295), respectively, were found in the investigated regions in Côte d’Ivoire and the DR Congo. In Côte d’Ivoire, this value was significantly higher than the seroprevalence rates previously reported from the neighboring country Guinea as well as from South Africa. Our study indicates an exposure of humans to hantaviruses in West and Central African tropical rainforest areas. In order to pinpoint the possible existence and frequency of clinical disease caused by hantaviruses in this region of the world, systematic investigations of patients with fever and renal or respiratory symptoms are required.

Reviewed by: A linguist’s credo by Paul Christophersen Alan S. Kaye A linguist’s credo. By Paul Christophersen. (RASK supplement volume 9.) Odense: Odense University Press, 1999. Pp. 176. This volume reprints thirteen of Christophersen’s essays penned over a long and distinguished career. He is well-known for his accomplishments not only as an Anglicist but also as a general linguist. Thus, in many ways he has, probably intentionally, followed in the footsteps of his countryman, the great Dane—Otto Jespersen, who retired five years before C enrolled as a student at the University of Copenhagen in 1930. C, in fact, served as a research assistant under a grant from the Carlsberg Foundation [End Page 616] in the preparation of Vol. VI of Jespersen’s famous Modern English grammar. One can read about his relationship with Jespersen in Ch. 4, “On English grammar and related topics: A conversation with Prof. Paul Christophersen’ (71–79), a 1981 interview by Pablo Dominguez, the editor of Revista canaria de estudios Ingleses. Herein, C speaks candidly about Jespersen’s linguistic views. Concerning language teaching, he has this to say: ‘he [Jespersen] would have been disappointed in the relatively insignificant role that phonetics seems to play nowadays’ (74); and on linguistic terminology, many linguists today would also agree with Jespersen’s dislike for ‘modern linguistic jargon, his own motto being: “what’s worth saying is worth saying simply” ’ (74). An entire chapter (Ch. 5, 81–92), in fact, is devoted to the exploration of ‘Jespersen and second-language learning’. This was originally presented as an address at the University of Copenhagen in 1993 at a symposium commemorating the 50th anniversary of Jespersen’s death. C asserts that Jespersen agreed with writers such as Henry Sweet on the importance of phonetic transcription (82) but was opposed to the use of translation as a foreign language learning strategy, following the lead of Wilhelm Viëtor (88). In the area of diachronic linguistics, C makes it clear that Jespersen in 1886 came out against the Junggrammatiker. Not generally known, however, is C’s relating that Jespersen considered his own English to be nonnative, despite his six-month residence in the United Kingdom and two stays in the United States as a Visiting Professor (81, 89). Let us now take up a few of the papers. Ch. 1, ‘Settling Hoti’s business: or: The linguist at work’ (13–30) was C’s inaugural address as Professor of English at the New University of Ulster, first published in 1977 in Northern Ireland Speech and Language Forum. He opines unconvincingly that linguists do not have any right to condemn prescriptive grammar (25) while simultaneously persuasively arguing that he does not ‘wish to defend pedantic insistence on worthless shibboleths’ (24). Further commenting on the realm of linguistics as a science, Ch. 2, ‘Linguistics: Science or mysticism’ (31–45) once again condemns linguists such as Jean Aitchison for chastising Robert Lowth, Bishop of London in 1777–87, for his prescriptive rules (43–44). C tries to make the case that a linguist is like a doctor. What good is a doctor, he asks, who merely describes diseases without prescribing treatment (44)? But, I believe, the analogy is fallacious in using the erroneous premise that native speakers who say ‘ain’t’, e.g., are suffering from a disease and thus that their language needs a cure. Among the most interesting papers are the last two, on English in West Africa. Ch. 12 (149–57), a review article of John Spencer, ed., The English language in West Africa (London: Longmans, 1971), originally published in English studies (1973), makes important observations on key issues such as diglottia (not to be confused with the well-known diglossia which involves a standard language), in which West African Pidgin English alternates with the more standard West African (acrolectic) English (150). Ch. 13, ‘West African English words’ (159–72), takes up, among other topics, the etymologies of two common West African words: dash ‘gift’ and ju-ju ‘idol, fetish’. The former derives from a Romance etymon meaning #x02018;tribute’; however, the specific donor language is not given. C rejects the OED’s etymology for the latter < French jou...

Global coastal areas are at risk due to geomorphological issues, climate change-induced sea-level rise, and increasing human population, settlements, and socioeconomic activities. Here, the study examines the vulnerability of the West African (WA) coast using six satellite-derived geophysical variables and two key socioeconomic parameters as indicators of coastal vulnerability index (CVI). These geophysical and socioeconomic variables are integrated to develop a CVI for the WA coast. Then, the regional hotspots of vulnerability with the main indicators that could influence how the WA coast behaves and can be managed are identified. The results indicate that 64, 17 and 19% of WA coastal areas had high to very high CVI, moderate CVI, and low to very low CVI, respectively. The study reveals that while geophysical variables contribute to coastal vulnerability in WA, socioeconomic factors, particularly high population growth and unsustainable human development at the coast, play a considerably larger role. Some sections of the WA coast are more vulnerable and exposed than others, particularly those in the region's northwestern and Gulf of Guinea regions. Climate change and human presence may amplify the vulnerability in these vulnerable areas in the future. Hence, future coastal economic development plans should be based on a deep understanding of local natural conditions, resource status, and geophysical parameters to prevent negative coastal ecosystem transformation. It is also essential to establish a coastal management plan that would facilitate the development of desired actions and stimulate sustainable management of West African coastal areas.

Every language is assumed to be unique, structurally and culturally. Taking this neo-Bloomfieldian assumption at the outset, this paper first points out the inadequacy of sentence grammars for foreign language teaching. Toward this end, the paper further argues for the necessity of understanding linguistic and cultural relativity. Linguistic relativity, or better known as the Sapir-Whorf hypothesis, suggests that the way we perceive and categorize reality is partly determined by the language we speak; and cultural relativity implies that verbalization of concepts in a particular language is often culturally conditioned. As related to the field of foreign language teaching, relativity across languages and cultures presupposes contrastive analysis in a very broad senses. Thus, pointing out differences in language structures and cultural conventions should lead students to better acquisition of linguistic and cultural sensitivity.

West African coastal areas including the Beninese coastal zones have undergone an intensification of socio-economic activity in the last few decades that has been strongly driven by the effects of rapid urbanization. This has led to land-use and land cover changes that represent threats to the sustainability of various ecosystem functions. Such dynamics of land use and land cover changes pose challenges to coastal zone management. Correct assessment is vital for policymakers and planners to ensure efficient and sustainable use of the coastal ecosystem services, and it remains crucial to achieving sustainable coastal zone management. This study examines changes in land-use and land cover (LULC) and their impacts on ecosystem services value (ESV) fluctuations in the tropical coastal region of Benin, West Africa. We employed Globe Land 30 image data for the years 2010 and 2020, and the ESV fluctuations during the study period were evaluated using the benefit transfer approach (BTA) with corresponding local coefficients values and the GIS techniques. The results reveal that (1) in the current urbanizing coastal area, the LULC types have changed significantly, with obvious reductions in forest land and waterbodies and a considerable increase in artificial surfaces; (2) the total ESV decreased by 8.51% from USD 7.1557 million in 2010 to USD 6.5941 million in 2020; (3) the intensity of LULC in the coastal region has increased over the last 10 years; (4) regions with high land-use intensity have a high rate of ESV change; and (5) provisioning services are the greatest contributors of ESV (51% in 2010; 41% in 2020), followed by supporting services (37% in 2010; 35% in 2020) and regulating services (25% in 2010; 30% in 2020). Uncontrolled changes in LULC from forest land and waterbodies are the main causes of the loss in total ESV, necessitating urgent measures to improve the coastal ecosystem sustainability through effective planning and policies.

A methodological framework of quantifying the cost of environmental degradation driven by coastal flooding and erosion: A case study in West Africa

Aim Since the opening of the Suez Canal in 1869, many tropical taxa from the Indo‐West Pacific (IWP) realm have entered the Mediterranean Sea, which is experiencing rising temperatures. My aims are: (1) to compare biogeographically this tropical transformation of the Mediterranean biota with the tropical faunas of the Mediterranean and adjacent southern European and West African seas during the Late Oligocene to Pliocene interval; (2) to infer the relative contributions of the tropical eastern Atlantic and IWP to the tropical component of the marine biota in southern Europe; and (3) to understand why West Africa is not now a major source of warm‐water species.Location Southern Europe, including the Mediterranean Sea, and the coast of tropical West Africa.Methods I surveyed the literature on fossil and living shell‐bearing molluscs to infer the sources and fates of tropical subgenus‐level taxa living in southern Europe and West Africa during the Late Oligocene to Pliocene interval.Results Ninety‐four taxa disappeared from the tropical eastern Atlantic (including the Mediterranean) but persisted elsewhere in the tropics, mainly in the IWP (81 taxa, 86%) and to a lesser extent in tropical America (36 taxa, 38%). Nine taxa inferred to have arrived in the tropical eastern Atlantic from the west after the Pliocene did not enter the Mediterranean. The modern West African fauna is today isolated from that of other parts of the marine tropics.Main conclusions Taxa now entering the Mediterranean through the Suez Canal are re‐establishing a link with the IWP that last existed 16 million years ago. This IWP element, which evolved under oligotrophic conditions and under a regime of intense anti‐predatory selection, will continue to expand in the increasingly warm and increasingly oligotrophic Mediterranean. The IWP source fauna contrasts with the tropical West African biota, which evolved under productive conditions and in a regime of less anti‐predatory specialization. Until now, the post‐Pliocene West African source area has been isolated from the Mediterranean by cold upwelling. If further warming should reduce this barrier, as occurred during the productive and warm Early Pliocene, the Mediterranean could become a meeting place for two tropical faunas of contrasting source conditions.

Twelve Nigerian Languages: a handbook on their sound systems for teachers of English edited by Elizabeth Dunstan London, Longmans, 1969. pp. vi + 185. £1.00 paperback. - Language in Education in Eastern Africa edited by T. P. Gorman Nairobi, O.U.P., 1970. pp. viii + 206. E.A.Shs. 12/50 paperback. - The English Language in West Africa edited by John Spencer London, Longmans, 1971. pp. 190. £2.00. - Volume 11 Issue 2

American AnthropologistVolume 17, Issue 4 p. 739-741 Free Access AFRICA: The Languages of West Africa. Frederick William Hugh Migeod Frederick Starr, Frederick StarrSearch for more papers by this author Frederick Starr, Frederick StarrSearch for more papers by this author First published: October‐December 1915 https://doi.org/10.1525/aa.1915.17.4.02a00140AboutPDF ToolsExport citationAdd to favoritesTrack citation ShareShare Give accessShare full text accessShare full-text accessPlease review our Terms and Conditions of Use and check box below to share full-text version of article.I have read and accept the Wiley Online Library Terms and Conditions of UseShareable LinkUse the link below to share a full-text version of this article with your friends and colleagues. Learn more.Copy URL Share a linkShare onFacebookTwitterLinkedInRedditWechat No abstract is available for this article. Volume17, Issue4October‐December 1915Pages 739-741 RelatedInformation

The Languages of West Africa The Languages of West Africa. Vol. II. By Frederick William Hugh Migeod Transport Officer, Gold Coast Colony. (London: Kegan Paul, Trench, Trübner and Co. 1913.) African Affairs, Volume XII, Issue XLVIII, July 1913, Pages 441–445, https://doi.org/10.1093/oxfordjournals.afraf.a099336 Published: 01 July 1913