JOURNAL OF AFRICAN LANGUAGES AND LITERATURES

Journal of Linguistic Anthropology, 2002

These two edited volumes represent major breakthroughs in the published scholarship on African languages and linguistics. Bom share the goal of striking a middle ground between specialist and nonspecialist audiences, and both, through their extremely well-written chapters and well-thought-out organization, succeed in this goal as highly accessible and internally coherent edited volumes. The Heine and Nurse volume is a general introductory textbook that positions the study of African languages within mainstream linguistics, while the Webb and Kembo-Sure volume is a more problem-driven sociolinguistic textbook that positions the study of African languages within the study of society, culture, and the nation-state. In this sense, the two books are excellent complements to each other. Consistent with their titles, African Languages stresses languages themselves as the object of study, while African Voices focuses more on the very human-and often highly charged-social nature of language. In contrast to these two volumes, most books on African languages fall into one of two types. On the one hand, there are the single-language studies modeled, for example, on the conventional paradigms of theoretical linguistics, descriptive linguistics, or folklore studies. On the other hand, mere are the national-level studies guided by macrosociolinguistic concerns, particularly in language planning and policy. Both types of books mainly target specialists in the languages of Africa and specialists in specific subfields of linguistics. While articulating strongly with this existing literature, both of the edited volumes reviewed here resist any kind of narrow enclaving of the study of African languages and linguistics. In this sense, they fill a significant gap by enabling a more widespread understanding of African language structures and the place of language in contemporary African contexts. The Heine and Nurse volume covers all language families of Africa and includes detailed examples from languages such as Fulfulde, Hausa, Igbo, Maasai, Setswana, Kiswahili, and !X6o. The Webb and Kembo-Sure volume is equally detailed in its representation of specific African languages, but with the exception of material from Dholuo and Afrikaans, it is more confined to examples from Bantu languages such as Chibemba, Iingala, Sepedi, Kiswahili, and isiZuhi. The two books together, or selected chapters from mem, could be used in a wide range of courses in African studies, cultural anthropology, linguistic anthropology, and linguistics. For the most part, their styles of presentation are accessible and engaging for a range of readers, including college undergraduates, advanced students, general linguists, and readers interested in African studies. Some sections of the Heine and Nurse volume, however, are written primarily for linguists and advanced linguistics students. Turning to each volume separately, African Voices (Webb and Kembo-Sure) represents the collaborative work of eleven scholars based at eight different universities across Africa-in Botswana, Kenya, South Africa, Tanzania, and Uganda. This in itself is an unprecedented kind of joint effoit for linguists from across the continenL African Voices is positioned as "a wholly African-oriented introductory linguistics textbook" (p. xiii), intended to serve as a corrective to what the editors see as the Western-centric nature of most introductory linguistic textbooks. The book is not meant to be a textbook on African languages, nor a textbook for African students alone; it is usable as an introductory text to linguistics in general. Yet the Sure's African Voices.

Journal of African Languages and Linguistics, 2019

The following is a continuation of our comprehensive list of recently published books and monographs on African languages and linguistics. Prices are given where available. This list serves as an acknowledgement of receipt of review copies of the items marked (R). Copies of book reviews printed in the journal are automatically sent to the publishers. There can be no guarantee, however, that all works received will in fact be reviewed. Authors who would like to review a particular book or would like to be considered in general as potential reviewers are encouraged to write to the editor indicating their areal and topical fields of interest. [Sara Petrollino]

This issue marks the seventh volume of the Arusha Working Papers in African Linguistics, an open-access journal founded in 2018 to make accessible the scholarship of African scholars on African language-and literature-related topics. We are pleased to announce that this year's release coincides with a newly-branded website, itself a consequence of two successful hacking attempts on our journal. This must, of course, suggest that our work is so important that it has been targeted. Despite this minor obstacle, the reader will enjoy this year's volume, which unifies the sociological, the discursive, and the pedagogical. As always, we continue to expand our geographical, linguistic, and theoretical/applied scope and hope that you enjoy this year's contributions. This volume begins with Budzani Mogara and Andy Chebanne's treatment of Lephephe Pans Khoisan, foregrounding sociolinguistic issues impacting the retention, maintenance, and endangerment of language in Botswana. This is followed by four articles that present discursive analyses through Orowo Precious Atoma et al.'s discussion of journalistic reporting in Nigeria, Ojo Akinleye Ayinuola's discussion of issues of gender (in)equality present in or reified by the national anthems of African countries, Matthew Olaoluwa Ilori's presentation of a multimodal account of Nigerian cartoons, and Joel Olatunde Ayodabo and Ojo Akinleye Ayinuola's analysis of campaign speeches in Nigeria. Finally, this volume closes with Gemechis T. Chali's study of integrated reading and writing skills in a secondary school in Ethiopia. Finally, this volume is dedicated to the memory of two important reviewers and founding members of the Arusha Linguistics Circle, who have departed this world: Joachim Kisanji and Ahmad Kipacha. Both were steadfast supporters of and contributors to this journal and deserve special recognition. In the case of the former, he was a dedicated teacher of Swahili and was undertaking documentary research on the EchiBungu language of Tanzania. In the case of the latter, he was also a dedicated teacher of Swahili and, as his contributions to AWPAL indicate, a researcher who provided mentorship to his junior colleagues. As the saying goes, "Kufa ni nini? Ni kuonana na baba." ('What is death, then? It means meeting one's ancestors.'). May this volume serve as a tribute to their dedication and lives.

2019

THE JOURNAL OF AFROASIATIC LANGUAGES, HISTORY AND CULTURE, formerly known as THE JOURNAL OF AFROASIATIC LANGUAGES (JAAL), is published by the Institute of Semitic Studies. JAAL brings forward contributions of history, culture and linguistics of all types—historical, comparative, theoretical, descriptive, and others—that deal with Afroasiatic languages and their speakers. JAAL welcomes book reviews in any area of linguistics and Afroasiatic studies, reactions to articles in JAAL or to relevant issues raised anywhere, and addenda to articles. JAAL intends to provide a forum for debates on specific issues, and invites suggestions.

An introduction to African languages is a somewhat atypical work that serves, on the one hand, as a kind of extended scholarly review of a selection of significant linguistic research on African languages from as for back as Koelle (1854) to the present day, while, on the other hand, adopting a tone and format more along the lines of an introductory textbook than a book for specialists.

Journal of Afroasiatic Languages, History, and Culture. Volume 9, Number 1, 2020

THE JOURNAL OF AFROASIATIC LANGUAGES, HISTORY AND CULTURE, formerly known as THE JOURNAL OF AFROASIATIC LANGUAGES (JAAL), is published by the Institute of Semitic Studies. JAAL brings forward contributions of history, culture and linguistics of all types—historical, comparative, theoretical, descriptive, and others—that deal with Afroasiatic languages and their speakers. JAAL welcomes book reviews in any area of linguistics and Afroasiatic studies, reactions to articles in JAAL or to relevant issues raised anywhere, and addenda to articles. JAAL intends to provide a forum for debates on specific issues, and invites suggestions. This issue contains four papers, a book review and a commentary. JAAL strongly believes in open access of academic works.

1985

A directory of the 82 African languages given high rriority for instruction in the United States contains a profile for each language that includes its classification and where It is spoken, the number of speakers, dialect situation, usage, orthography status, and listings of related human and institutional resources for the purpose of systematizing instruction. The languages profiled are:

Languages and Linguistics is a new peer-reviewed international forum devoted to the descriptive and theoretical study of Afroasiatic languages. Te territory of the Afroasiatic family spans a vast area to the South of the Mediterranean, extending from the Atlantic Ocean to the Middle East and reaching deep into the heart of Africa. Some of the Afroasiatic languages have been studied for centuries, while others still remain partially or entirely undocumented. In the course of the second half of the 20th century, the constantly increasing qualitative and quantitative contribution of Afroasiatic languages to the elaboration of linguistic theory has met with considerable attention from the linguistic community. General instructions for submission Brill's Annual of Afoasiatic Languages and Linguistics is a new peer-reviewed international forum devoted to the descriptive and theoretical study of Afroasiatic languages. It welcomes top-level contributions in phonology, morphology, syntax, semantics, comparative and historical linguistics.

2020

The use of general descriptive names, registered names, trademarks, service marks, etc. in this publication does not imply, even in the absence of a specific statement, that such names are exempt from the relevant protective laws and regulations and therefore free for general use.

1985

A directory of the 82 African languages given high rriority for instruction in the United States contains a profile for each language that includes its classification and where It is spoken, the number of speakers, dialect situation, usage, orthography status, and listings of related human and institutional resources for the purpose of systematizing instruction. The languages profiled are: