Labial-velar stops in Sakata (Bantu C34)

Gisamba (ISO 639-3: smx) is a nearly undocumented and undescribed as well as highly endangered Bantu language spoken in the Kwilu and Kwango provinces of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC). It belongs to the Kikongo Language Cluster (KLC), a discrete subclade of the West-Coastal Bantu (WCB) branch of the Bantu language family. Within the KLC, Gisamba forms a distinct subgroup called “Kikongoid” together with Kiyaka, Kisuku and Kihungan, which are also spoken in the Kwilu and Kwango provinces of the DRC. In this article, we show how both divergence as part of WCB and the KLC and convergence through contact with neighboring WCB and South-West Bantu (SWB) languages contributed to the genesis of Gisamba as spoken today. For this purpose, we provide a synchronic and diachronic account of the phonology of Gisamba. Data used in this article stem from original fieldwork which the first author conducted in 2017 in the village of Kimafu. Some of the diachronic sound changes confirm Gisamba’s affiliation to WCB, the KLC and Kikongoid. Others show that Gisamba’s synchronic phonology cannot be accounted for as being only the result of vertical transmission through inheritance, but must be the outcome of horizontal transmission through space. This is well in line with the fact that Gisamba is currently endangered and that, historically speaking, its speech communities have been scattered in the Kwilu and Kwango provinces of the DRC where they are surrounded by much larger WCB and SWB speech communities.

Abstract. The gestural model of Articulatory Phonology currently being developed by Browman and Goldstein provides a new way of modelling both synchronic and diachronic phonetic processes as well as certain types of synchronic phonological rules. Although Browman and Goldstein place stringent restrictions on the model, ruling out categorical deletion and insertion of gestures, as well as gestural permutation not resulting from magnitude and timing changes, Articulatory Phonology can nonetheless provide enlightening accounts of various types of sound change, including historical developments which have previously been analysed as segmental insertions and deletions. The application of Articulatory Phonology to sound changes is beneficial in that it allows the formulation of a change to include some account of its motivation from the point of view of the speaker (or indeed, though less straightforwardly, the hearer). We aim to extend Browman and Goldstein's preliminary applications of their model to sound change, by demonstrating that changes which have been analysed as entirely separate developments in a traditional segmental phonology can be seen instead as part of an integrated complex of interrelated changes within Articulatory Phonology. Focussing on the development of non-rhotic varieties of English, we show that the sound changes producing present-day linking [r], which are typically given as three independent developments of Pre-[r] Breaking, Pre-Schwa Laxing, and /r/-Deletion, can be shown to be interdependent and analysed in an explanatory way using the gestural model. However, we argue that not all the synchronic phonological processes to which such sound changes give rise can be analysed in gestural terms, given the current restrictions on Articulatory Phonology. For instance, in present-day English varieties which exhibit intrusive as well as linking [r], and which seem to be best characterised by an [r]-Insertion analysis, synchronic addition of gestures must be permitted. Insertion processes of this sort may initially seem incompatible with Articulatory Phonology, but there is clear motivation to retain the gestural framework, given its ability to model many sound changes, casual speech processes and phonological rules using the same mechanisms. Consequently, we propose that, to account for English [r] and similar cases, the current constraints on Articulatory Phonology must be relaxed to a limited extent at some level of the grammar. We suggest that this might be achieved by integrating the gestural approach into a model of Lexical Phonology.

A rare, scattered resource in Central Africa, copper was produced in the Copperbelt since the 4th–7th centuries CE and traded over large distances from the 9th to the 19th centuries. It was exchanged mainly in the form of cross-shaped ingots, also called croisettes, varying in form and size over time and space. In this article, we explore and compare the spatial distribution of these ingots over time. This approach offers an opportunity to study pre-colonial trade. Indeed, during the 2nd millennium CE, the use of the same type of ingots is attested in distant regions, from the Great Zimbabwe area to the Upemba depression (north Katanga, Democratic Republic of Congo [DRC]). Over the centuries, changes in geographic distribution patterns and styles indicate shifts in contacts and the appearance of new boundaries. These variations reflect changes in the regional distribution networks and suggest areas of exclusive political influence. Historical information available for the 19th century shows that it is possible to link the diffusion of copper with political entities, a hypothesis supported by evidence related to other kinds of production, such as ceramics and salt. For remote periods, confrontation of the croisettes’ distribution with other aspects of material culture suggests that such links between socio-political spaces and copper distribution may also have occurred in the distant past.

Zambia: Language Situation

The Democratic Republic of Congo, like many African countries, has an important public and private administration, but one whose performance and productivity are generally considered to be low. Numerous efforts to modernize and improve the productivity of this administration have been made, notably by recourse to modern office equipment and supplies. In this doctoral study we label the equipment and supplies under the denomination of western technologies which signals their provenance. A close examination of the documents which catalogue and describe the functioning of these technologies, reveals that the overwhelming majority of these documents are written in either French or in English. In other words, the western technologies which are used in the Congolese public administration are denominated in the idioms of theirs designers and their operations are described in the same idioms. These technologies which range from simple to sophisticated tools (equipment for word processing or for electronic transmission of data) can be considered as the symbols of modern culture which generally is dominated by the western countries and some industrialized nations of Asia (Korea, Japan, Taiwan). The technologies are objects that are foreign to the cultures of Africa and the Congo. With regard to this situation, we argue that these imported western technologies must be localized when they arrive in African countries. To be localized means that the relevant documents be translated into the languages of the host countries in order to improve the efficiency with which the users are able to use the technologies. Our research demonstrates that when these imported technologies arrive in the Democratic Republic of Congo they are frequently under-utilized. This is because the occidental languages predominate in the operation documentation which are oriented for use within the social and legal contexts of western countries. Our analyses indicate that this under-utilization is essentially due to a terminological deficiency based on an assumption that the Congolese national languages are not sufficiently able to support the imported technologies. Our analyses also show that this assisted modernization of public administration in the Democratic Republic of Congo with the recourse to western technologies simultaneously poses organizational, economic and linguistic problems. Our conclusions not only point to operation difficulties but also to dif culties operators have nding the correct terms, which makes it more likely that items will be named in their own languages. It is in this context that we identify the link between economics and linguistics. From a linguistics position, the need of multilingual terminological research is clear, research that supports the users in the efforts to adapt their languages as languages of reception for these imported technologies. Eager to explore this eld in connection with the Bantu languages and cultures we began our research for the thesis. Our thesis is articulated around four following ac- tivities: (i) development of the nomenclature having to be used as a sample of the study; (ii) the globalization or the methodological route of the terminological appropriation of western technologies which are addressed by our research; (iii) the study of the denominating terms of the afore-mentioned technologies; (iv) the study of the mechanism of an apparatus with regard to technical terms in Ciluba. The four activities outlined above will be developed over a planned eight chapters which constitute our thesis. This approach provides the focus for our research objectives, all of which are informed by one overriding need: providing the ciluba with one specialized glossary of office equipment and supplies. Key words: Neology, terminology, translation, language planning, Bantu African languages, Ciluba, development of resourced languages, equipment and office supplies, applied linguistics

This chapter aims to give the reader an idea of the linguistic situation in Zambia, and how language relates to national identity in the Zambian context. Zambia lies in the heart of central Africa and shares borders with the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) to the north, with Tanzania, Malawi, and Mozambique in the east, with Zimbabwe, Botswana, and Namibia in the south, and with Angola in the west. Zambia has no direct access to the sea, but the Zambezi, one of Africa’s largest rivers, runs through Zambia for about 1,000 kilometres. Zambia also lies in the centre of the Bantu-speaking area. Historically, Bantu languages became widely spoken in sub-Saharan Africa from around 300 BC, and present-day Zambia’s Bantu languages are the result of several linguistic developments which introduced the languages spoken today through gradual processes of migration, language contact, and language shift over the last two millennia. From the late nineteenth century onwards, different European languages were introduced into what is now Zambia through missionary activities, in particular in education, and through colonial governance as a British colony. As a legacy of this period, English plays an important role in the current language situation, a role which was affirmed after independence in 1964, when English became the official language. After the change from a one-party system to multiparty democracy in 1991, emphasis has shifted towards the promotion of Zambia’s seven national languages, Bemba, Nyanja, Tonga, Lozi, Lunda, Luvale, and Kaonde, and contemporary Zambia is an explicit example of a multilingual country.

In this paper it is demonstrated that the marking of argument focus in Mbuun (B87), a western Bantu language from the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), relies on syntactic and morphological devices that deviate from common tendencies reported in eastern and southern Bantu languages. Focalising a non-verbal constituent in Mbuun obligatorily involves deviations from the canonical SVO order. A focused object is fronted immediately before the verb in Mbuun, resulting in a SOV word order, which runs counter to the narrow focus site immediately after the verb in many other Bantu languages. The object also moves in Mbuun when other non-verbal clause constituents are focused. Both subjects and oblique arguments are focused in situ but their focalisation triggers a movement of the object to clause-initial position resulting in OSV. Morphologically speaking, Mbuun argument focus is peculiar, because it involves a Class 1 á- versus ká- allomorphy in the verbal subject-concord slot, which co-varies not only with focus, but also with tense/aspect. This morphological focus device has not been reported in eastern and southern Bantu, where the so-called ‘conjoint/disjoint’ distinction in the Tense-Aspect-Mood (TAM) slot is more common. It is, however, a wider western Bantu feature, which may have its origin in an identification copula.

This paper focuses on the applicative construction in ciLubà (L31a), a Bantu language from the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Applicative constructions usually promote a participant otherwise encoded as a thematically peripheral argument or adjunct to the status of core argument of the verb. The thus promoted participant, that is the ‘applied object’, is most commonly associated with the semantic role of beneficiary. However, this widespread meaning is not necessarily the core meaning, neither in ciLubà nor in other Bantu languages. In this paper, goal is claimed to be the underlying function of the applicative in ciLubà, as evidenced by double applicative constructions, applicatives in connective constructions and transit or intermediary goal constructions. Not only grammatical evidence points towards goal as the underlying core meaning, but also the informationstructural role the applicative plays in ciLubà locative constructions.

NTDs in the Heart of Darkness: The Democratic Republic of Congo's Unknown Burden of Neglected Tropical Diseases

This PhD thesis consists of the documentation, reconstruction and classfication of ten Bantu languages (bolondo , bonyange, ebudzà , ebwela, lib bi, ling mb , mond ng , mony ng , mos ngé, pagabéte) spoken in the geographical area between the Congo and Ubangi Rivers in the north- western part of the Democratic Republic of the Congo. The study examines the interaction between these languages and seven neighboring Ubangian languages (gb nz r , g b , ma , mb nz , monz mb , ngbandi, ngbaka-m n gend ). By means of a lexicostatistical study which determines the degree of lexical similarity between the languages under study, a phylogenetic classi cation has been established which integrates these languages in the larger sample of 401 Bantu languages used by Grollemund et al. (2015). This quantitative approach has generated Neighbor-Net and Neighbor-Joining networks as well as Bayesian trees, which indicate the in- ternal sub-groups of the Bantu family in general, and more speci cally of the Bantu languages of the central Congo basin to which the Bantu languages spoken between the Congo and Ubangi Rivers belong. Subsequently, we have undertaken a descriptive and comparative study of the those languages as well as a study of regular sound correspondances with regard to Proto-Bantu. They possess certain foreign phonemes that have not been reconstructed to Proto-Bantu, such as im- plosives and labiovelar stops, which have the status of distinct phonemes. The study of these spe- ci c sounds suggests that they were borrowed from the neighboring Ubangian languages. The lexical comparison also revealed an interaction between Bantu and Ubangian languages. Certain lexical borrowings were transferred from Bantu to Ubangian, while others moved in the opposite direction. Through the comparative method, we have obtained a phonological reconstruction of the hypothetical ancestor language of these langues. This Proto-Congo-Ubangi Bantu split into two sub-branches, i.e. Proto-Congo Bantu and Proto-Ubangi Bantu.

Some Bantu languages spoken in southwestern Zambia and neighboring regions of Botswana, Namibia, and Angola are characterized by the presence of click consonants, whereas their closest linguistic relatives lack such clicks. As clicks are a typical feature not of the Bantu language family, but of Khoisan languages, it is highly probable that the Bantu languages in question borrowed the clicks from Khoisan languages. In this paper, we combine complete mitochondrial genome sequences from a representative sample of populations from the Western Province of Zambia speaking Bantu languages with and without clicks, with fine-scaled analyses of Y-chromosomal single nucleotide polymorphisms and short tandem repeats to investigate the prehistoric contact that led to this borrowing of click consonants. Our results reveal complex population-specific histories, with female-biased admixture from Khoisan-speaking groups associated with the incorporation of click sounds in one Bantu-speaking population, while concomitant levels of potential Khoisan admixture did not result in sound change in another. Furthermore, the lack of sequence sharing between the Bantu-speaking groups from southwestern Zambia investigated here and extant Khoisan populations provides an indication that there must have been genetic substructure in the Khoisan-speaking indigenous groups of southern Africa that did not survive until the present or has been substantially reduced.

Swahili

BackgroundIntimate partner violence (IPV) has received increasing attention the last three decades and it has been recognized as health, social, and human right issues across the world. Worldwide, sub-Saharan Africa is the most affected region. In the search of putative factors associated with IPV, women in polygamous marriages were found to be more exposed to IPV compared with those in monogamous marriages. However, previous research focused on polygyny at individual level; therefore, ignoring possible heterogeneity of the “acceptance of polygyny” across communities. This paper developed the concept of “community polygyny” in Central Africa and tested its associations with IPV. Furthermore, the paper tested interactions between the community polygyny and (i) polygyny at women’s level; (ii) women’s education; and (iii) urban residence.MethodsThe paper used recent Demographic and Health Surveys of four countries in Central Africa (Democratic Republic of the Congo, Cameroon, Gabon, and Chad). Multilevel binary logistic regression analyses (additive and multiplicative models) were carried out. Findings were reported as adjusted odds ratios (aOR) at 95% Confidence Interval (95%CI).Main findingsFindings indicated an inverse-relationship between the percentage of women living in polygamous marriages and IPV. Indeed, the percentage of polygamous marriages was higher in Chad (34.3%) compared with the Democratic Republic of the Congo (18.6%), Cameroon (14.6%), and Gabon (13.9%). However, the percentage of women who experienced intimate partner violence in the last 12 months was lower in Chad (18.9%) compared with the Democratic Republic of the Congo (43.5%), Gabon (40.3%), and Cameroon (30.8%). In multivariate results, findings showed that a sizeable percentage of intraclass correlation (ICC) of IPV in the selected countries was explained at cluster level: ICC = 18.2% [95%CI: 15.0%-21.9%]; ICC = 14.3% [95%CI: ICC = 10.9%-18.5%]; ICC = 7.8% [95%CI: 5.3%-11.3%]; and ICC = 29.5% [95%CI: 23.7%-35.9%] in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Cameroon, Gabon and Chad, respectively. Community polygyny (from Model 2) showed different patterns. In the DRC, it was positively and significantly associated with the likelihood of IPV (aOR = 2.890; 95%CI: 1.461–5.719). In contrast, it showed a negative association with IPV in Cameroon (aOR = 0.278; 95%CI = 0.143–0.539); in Gabon (aOR = 0.504; 95%CI = 0.237–1.074); and Chad (aOR = 0.749; 95%CI = 0.319–1.763).ConclusionFindings from this study substantiates the importance of moving beyond individuals’ characteristics and incorporating the collective mindset of polygyny to fully capture the effects of polygyny on intimate partner violence in Central Africa. Previous research pointed out the negative effects of polygyny at individual level. This study showed that community polygyny, since communities might differ on the acceptance levels towards polygyny, is equally important to understand how polygyny could affect the prevalence of intimate partner violence in Central Africa. Therefore, interventions aimed at eliminating intimate partner violence should integrate communities’ influences on intimate partner violence in Central Africa and worldwide.

In this paper, we discuss shifts in the formal relation, i.e. “correspondence” (Haspelmath 1993; Nichols et al. 2004), between members of noncausal/causal verb pairs in eight East Bantu languages. These shifts are the effect of diachronic changes to the morphophonological structure of the verbs involved, conditioned by reflexes of a reconstructed Proto-Bantu causative suffix *-i. In the history of many Bantu languages, the high vowels i and u conditioned a series of sound changes on the preceding consonant. The suffixing of the causative suffix *-i to a verb root is one context in which these sound changes occurred. We investigate noncausal/causal pairs in eight East Bantu languages in which the causal verb is historically derived by a reflex of the suffix *-i. We argue that many of these noncausal/causal pairs changed from a causative to another correspondence. Our analysis has implications for the study of the formal alternations of noncausal/causal verb pairs across all Bantu languages and beyond.

Background The mpox public health emergency of international concern that emerged in 2022, driven by clade IIb mpox infections in high-income nations, was declared over by the WHO in May 2023, while the more virulent clade I mpox, continues to spread endemically in Central Africa. In November 2023, the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) reported its highest ever annual clade I mpox cases, reaching 12,569 with a 4.6% case fatality rate (CFR). The DRC lacks rollout of approved mpox vaccines but has two vaccine trials among healthcare personnel ongoing. The US saw a 78% increase in clade IIb incidence in the first 11 weeks of 2024 compared to the same period in 2023. Only 25% of the eligible US population has completed the two-dose vaccine regimen; waning immunity may leave the population more susceptible to clade I infection should it be imported. Travel is increasing from the DRC and the Congo to the US, particularly within the past year, highlighting the need for enhanced surveillance and vaccination. Methods Three vaccination scenarios for the DRC, beyond the baseline of no vaccines received, were built: 1) vaccinating the public who have not received the smallpox vaccine, 2) vaccinating the high-risk GBMSM (gay, bisexual and other men who have sex with men) population aged 18-40 years and 3) vaccinating children, another high-risk group. Direct and indirect international travel volumes from the DRC to the US were analysed and forecasted to assess risk of the introduction of clade I in the US. Results Our data suggest that if clade I mpox spreads similarly to clade IIb in 2022, the expected death toll could be > 5000 deaths globally (CFR 5.69%) and ∼ 1800 in the US. A GBMSM-targeting vaccine campaign could avert ∼ 9000 infections and > 250 deaths in the DRC. The number of travellers from the DRC to the US is forecasted to reach a high of > 5600 passengers between April-August 2024, with indirect travel also posing a risk. The top three countries with travel to the US include the UK, France and India; France sees the highest levels of travel from the Congo and the DRC, increasing the risk of onward clade I transmission if an introduction were to occur. Conclusion Vaccinating the GBMSM in the DRC could significantly reduce infection rates and reduce the clade I risk posed to nations, such as the US, via international travel. Disclosures All Authors: No reported disclosures