There is little doubt a rich system of number marking must be reconstructed for West Chadic. Haus... more There is little doubt a rich system of number marking must be reconstructed for West Chadic. Hausa, the Ron languages and the North Bauchi languages all demonstrate this. Nonetheless, it has disappeared virtually without trace in some branches, notably the A3 languages, Ngas etc. and the South Bauchi languages. A few relics of number marking remain for nouns related to persons in these subgroups, but their lack of external cognacy suggests they are subsequent innovations.
The paper aims to summarise the systems of number marking in the subgroups of West Chadic and then to explore the mechanisms or trajectories by which these are lost in some families. There is little doubt of the generic influence of the Plateau languages with which these are in contact. Plateau languages have either no nominal marking or alternating prefixes, very different from the suffixing systems typical of Chadic. However, it is remarkable that the shortening process has led to the disappearance of even trace mo
Compared with Sub-Saharan Africa, ideophones in the languages of the Himalayas are little studied... more Compared with Sub-Saharan Africa, ideophones in the languages of the Himalayas are little studied. Although recorded extensively for languages such as Japanese and Khmer, dictionaries are a sparse resource and few journal publications deal with them. Despite this, they are extremely numerous in the languages of Arunachal Pradesh (and presumably in neighbouring regions). The paper looks in detail at the iconic expressions in two languages, Idu and Kman, which are claimed to be Trans-Himalayan, and extends the analysis to neighbouring languages where some documentation exists.
By the time external written records begin, settlement patterns and economic structures in Centra... more By the time external written records begin, settlement patterns and economic structures in Central Nigeria had been drastically altered by the incursions of Hausa slavers from the north. Minority peoples had been forced to settle montane regions, or to build complex defensive architecture. Patterns of trade and exchange had been disrupted and complex social and marital arrangements restructured to respond to these security challenges. The paper aims to explore how we can reconstruct society and economy in the period immediately before the ramping up of the slave trade, which was driven both by increased demand from North Africa and greater access to guns and horses. Apart from the excavations in and around Nok, there has been little or no reliable archaeology in this region. Oral traditions typically refer to settlement in the mountains and have little to say about the period prior to the movement there. So other types of evidence must be brought to bear.
The paper describes long-term research in the agro- and ethno-botany in Central Nigeria and strat... more The paper describes long-term research in the agro- and ethno-botany in Central Nigeria and strategies for delivering the outcomes in the community.
Developing the agro- and ethno-botany of minority communities requires a long-term iterative commitment to communities which almost directly opposed to the dogma-driven, short funding cycle approach which inevitably dominates large institutions. Indeed many typical methodologies actively spread misinformation.
The paper describes a two decades long project to document the ethnobotany of Central Nigeria and strategies to make the results available to the communities. The output combines botany, linguistics and anthropology. This involves collaboration with knowledgeable individuals over a long period, as well as an iterative produced involving the distribution of preliminary documents. The field material is entered in a database which can be regularly updated and export to an app for Android phones.
Mwaghavul, a West Chadic A3 language, has a multifunctional nasal particle which precedes both no... more Mwaghavul, a West Chadic A3 language, has a multifunctional nasal particle which precedes both nouns and verbs in a wide variety of contexts. In some cases it is homorganic, being realised as /n/, /m/ and /ŋ/ according to the following consonant. It bears a tone, invariably low, regardless of the tone of the stem following. It is written in the current orthographic system with a hyphen following to distinguish it from the stem, since Mwaghavul words can have initial ŋ-. The meanings so far listed for this particle include;
The morphology and syntax of related A3 languages is poorly known, although grammatical materials exist for Ngas and Goemai. The same functions for the nasal particle are attested in both these languages, at least for Irrealis/future, Locative, Dative and animal names, so it is suggested these uses can be reconstructed for the branch of West Chadic. A3 languages in partic
The Maban languages constitute one of the orphan groups of Nilo-Saharan; they are generally recog... more The Maban languages constitute one of the orphan groups of Nilo-Saharan; they are generally recognised as one of its branches, but their exact place remains to be determined. Data on Maban languages is extremely patchy; only one full-length grammar exists and no comprehensive dictionaries. The paper establishes the sources of data, and the internal structure of the Maban group as well as proposing a phonological inventory of proto-Maban. Maban languages mark number on nouns with suffixes and at least some nouns exhibit three-term plurality, as elsewhere in Nilo-Saharan. The paper puts forward a provisional reconstruction of the system of tripartite number marking on nominals. This is shown to be extremely similar to that occurring in the neighbouring East Sudanic family, especially Taman. This suggests the possibility that Maban is either the closest relative of Eastern Sudanic or indeed an unrecognised branch of Northeast Sudanic.
Highland Madagascar is well-known for its grassy biomes; their origin is however, highly controve... more Highland Madagascar is well-known for its grassy biomes; their origin is however, highly controversial Some researchers (e.g. Bond et al.) have argued that these are ‘natural’, i.e. they represent climax vegetation Alternatively, they were created by burning at the same period that megafaunal extinctions occur The exponents of the ‘natural’ view do not explain the data presented by Burney and others concerning the rise in carbon ca. 2400 BP. More recent papers, e.g. Godfrey et al. (2019) espouse an anthropic origin based on the faunal evidence This in turn relates to a crucial question. Exactly when was Madagascar first settled and by whom?
This is the introduction to a preliminary dictionary of the Fɨran language [fir], posted separate... more This is the introduction to a preliminary dictionary of the Fɨran language [fir], posted separately, which is spoken in Kwakwi and surrounding hamlets in Ganawuri District, Riyom LGA, Plateau State, in central Nigeria. Fɨran is an Izeric language, one of the subgroups of Plateau and ultimately of Benue-Congo. Fɨran is a noun class language with alternating prefixes marking number. The system of alternations is described briefly.
This is the introduction to a dictionary of Sajolang (~Miji) [sjl], a language of Western Arunach... more This is the introduction to a dictionary of Sajolang (~Miji) [sjl], a language of Western Arunachal Pradesh, Northeast India. It has been prepared in co-operation with Mr. Rijin Deru and the Sajolang community. The dictionary can be downloaded separately in the folder marked 'Dictionaries'. The dialect represented here is that of Nafra, i.e. Western Sajolang. Eastern Sajolang, spoken in Lada circle, is sufficiently different as to be regarded as a separate language. Also related is Bangru, a poorly documented language spoken in Sarli circle. These languages are usually treated under Trans-Himalayan, although the evidence for this affiliation is weak. The introduction covers villages, social organisation, religious beliefs and subsistence, as well as providing a concise grammar sketch, including some sentence examples. It should be emphasised that this is a preliminary document; there are many unresolved questions.
The ‘North Assam’ languages of Arunachal Pradesh represent a major problem in the internal classi... more The ‘North Assam’ languages of Arunachal Pradesh represent a major problem in the internal classification of Trans-Himalayan [=Sino-Tibetan] languages. A paper by Blench & Post (2014) argued that we had at that time insufficient data to assign these to the phylum unequivocally. The last decade has seen a major expansion of documentation and the time is appropriate to reconsider the issue. The paper presents basic information about the most problematic languages, based on recent fieldwork, together some of the hypotheses concerning their genetic affiliation. It argues that if we apply the same standards as are used in other global areas of high diversity, such as the Amazonia and Australia, we would certainly classify these as either isolates or small phyla. It also suggests that strategies for reconstructing Tibeto-Burman are ill-adapted to ascertaining the position of these languages.
Recent decades in Nigeria have seen a dramatic escalation in herder/farmer conflict. This is typi... more Recent decades in Nigeria have seen a dramatic escalation in herder/farmer conflict. This is typically attributed to political and religious differences, exacerbated by the conflict in the Northeast of the country. However, these are almost certainly secondary reframings; the underlying causes are a catastrophic change in vegetation patterns, resulting from massive demographic expansion. Farmers open up more and more land, placing ever greater pressure on the open grazing of pastoralists. The result is overgrazing, which leads to replacement of digestible species by tougher grasses and woody species. This can be illustrated by the highly visible southward movement of particular tree species, such as the fan and dum palms. This in turn attracts pastoralists with livestock specialised in these species and consequently increased farm incursions. The paper argues that without an empirical scientific base to determine the causes of environmental change, no amount of reconciliation processes will make any difference to the incidence of conflict.
This is an introduction to the Labɨr [jku] or Jaku language, spoken in Bauchi State, Nigeria. Jak... more This is an introduction to the Labɨr [jku] or Jaku language, spoken in Bauchi State, Nigeria. Jaku is almost completely undocumented, with only short wordlists in the literature. Jaku is a Jarawan Bantu language, part of the branch of Bantu which migrated north and west. The paper presents a basic phonology, a brief grammar sketch. It includes recommendations for orthography. It should be used together with a lexicon of Jaku, presented separately.
A dictionary of Gura, a Jarawan Bantu language of Central Nigeria. To be used with the introducti... more A dictionary of Gura, a Jarawan Bantu language of Central Nigeria. To be used with the introduction to Gura, posted separately.
This paper provides a comparative dataset for the Ijoid numerals. Ijoid is spoken in the Niger De... more This paper provides a comparative dataset for the Ijoid numerals. Ijoid is spoken in the Niger Delta of Nigeria and is usually considered Niger-Congo. Preliminary reconstructions are presented. Higher numerals are usually composites and therefore are not independent of their components.
The broad association between the SE Asian Neolithic and the expansion of Austroasiatic is now un... more The broad association between the SE Asian Neolithic and the expansion of Austroasiatic is now uncontroversial. Reconstructions for Proto-Austroasiatic which depict a farming society with a continuing dependence on hunted and aquatic resources support this association. Material culture in mainland Southeast Asia is quite conservative and many forms remain widespread across the region up to the present.
The paper reviews the archaeological evidence for baskets and the distributional evidence from synchronic ethnography. The linguistic data focuses on the reconstruction of basket types. It then presents a series of quasi-reconstructions based on the comparative lexical evidence, and where possible ties these to particular types or basket. The reconstructions reflect close contact between core branches of Austroasiatic in the Vietnam/Laos/Cambodia area. Outlier branches, such as Munda and Nicobaric, virtually never show cognates, suggesting the process whereby they occupied their present territory was marked by a cultural bottleneck, which resulted in cultural loss.
The Nilo-Saharan phylum of African languages was introduced by Greenberg in 1963. Although widely... more The Nilo-Saharan phylum of African languages was introduced by Greenberg in 1963. Although widely accepted, recent decades have seen researchers both inside and outside the field, reject its coherence in whole or in part. The paper argues that at least twelve recognised branches do form a coherent phylum and provides some morphological and lexical evidence to support this claim. Three topics are examined in detail, three-term number marking, ATR vowel harmony and the use of t-, k- affixing. In addition, the evidence from personal pronouns is tabulated. The paper concludes with a new model of the internal configuration of Nilo-Saharan.
The chapter explores the Indigenous Knowledge (IK) systems of the peoples of Arunachal Pradesh, N... more The chapter explores the Indigenous Knowledge (IK) systems of the peoples of Arunachal Pradesh, NE India. Arunachal Pradesh is exceptional in the region both for its ethnic diversity and the relative conservation of the natural environment. The extremely mountainous topography has protected the region from the deforestation and poaching that has devastated similar environments elsewhere in the region. There are some fifty-two ethnolinguistic groups in Arunachal Pradesh with very little published about their language and culture. The cultural areas can be broadly divided into four, the Tibetan-influenced region in the west, the independent groups across the centre, and the Tai and Naga groups in the extreme east.
The major areas of Indigenous Knowledge which are relevant to this area are knowledge of plants and animals and concepts of disease. Arunachal Pradesh peoples are keen observers of the animals with which they share their environment and hunting remains a major source of protein for many populations. At the same time, specific animals are surrounded by ritual restrictions, in particular the tiger. Plants, which are hyper-diverse but still poorly explored botanically, serve as a source of food, medicine, craft and construction materials. However, they are also attributed spiritual natures, and their extraction and use a spiritual activity as well as resource exploitation. Diseases and epidemics, which were a major threat to the community prior to the advent of Western medicine, are typically conceptualised as the work of malevolent spirits, and are countered by characteristic ritual procedures.
The peoples of Arunachal Pradesh and their understanding of the natural environment capture many insights still unfamiliar to western science. However, the changing socio-economic context is allowing this knowledge to be lost without documentation. The paper concludes with a plea for greater in-depth documentation, based on more professional science-based approaches.
proceedings of Symposium Magic and Monotheism, 2024
Archaeology provides very limited evidence for the verbal culture of early humans. However, oral ... more Archaeology provides very limited evidence for the verbal culture of early humans. However, oral traditions, often dismissed pejoratively as folklore, show striking parallels between those recorded for Europe and accounts of ethnographic experience in Sub-Saharan Africa and NE India. The paper illustrates parallels between narratives of encounters with spirits in Nigeria and those in Ireland. In another striking example, the eschatology of the Idu in Arunachal Pradesh involves a ferryman carrying a dead soul across a river to the land of the dead, closely resembling the figure Charon in Greek mythology. Narratives of contests between shape-changers are embedded in European folk tales and songs and show strong similarities to the accounts of the contests of shamans in India. The argument is that this is neither convergence nor diffusion, that the parallels in these accounts go back to a period of shared culture, i.e. far back into the Palaeolithic. Case studies of tradition in aboriginal Australia show that oral tradition can be conserved over very long periods.
The years 2021-2024 have seen a seismic shift in the political map of West-Central Africa. The Fr... more The years 2021-2024 have seen a seismic shift in the political map of West-Central Africa. The Francophone countries, which have broadly maintained a consensus relationship with their former colonial rulers, underpinned by the Cfa which is tied to the Euro, have one by one thrown off the link to France. French troops have been asked to leave and there has been a re-orientation towards Russia, through its surrogate, the Wagner group. The three countries where ECOWAS membership was suspended following coups have no definitively left. Even where coups have no direct link to Russia, such as in Niger, pro-Russian statements have become part of the currency. Although the absence of analogous links between Britain and its former Anglophone colonies has impeded similar regime change, the overspill of insurgency from the Sahel and the unprepared and incompetent security services in these countries means that they will not be protected from instability.
The paper considers the roots of this rapid wave of change, as well as where things are likely to go in the next few years. As importantly, it argues that European governments have been seriously inept in their policy responses and that this will have consequences. The reason for this is the privileging of the endless to and fro of bloodshed in the Near East, most of which makes good television, but which has limited impact. The creation of a zone of freelance insurgency across the Sahel is likely to significantly increase the trade in weapons and drugs from the region to the Maghreb and thence into southern Europe. In addition, the Mediterranean ‘migrant crisis’ is already creating a highly effective channel for bad actors to enter the European crime and terrorism ecosystem. The paper makes a strong recommendation that greater in-depth and sophisticated analysis be applied to the region of West- Central Africa, and that far more effective policy responses be developed.
There is little doubt a rich system of number marking must be reconstructed for West Chadic. Haus... more There is little doubt a rich system of number marking must be reconstructed for West Chadic. Hausa, the Ron languages and the North Bauchi languages all demonstrate this. Nonetheless, it has disappeared virtually without trace in some branches, notably the A3 languages, Ngas etc. and the South Bauchi languages. A few relics of number marking remain for nouns related to persons in these subgroups, but their lack of external cognacy suggests they are subsequent innovations.
The paper aims to summarise the systems of number marking in the subgroups of West Chadic and then to explore the mechanisms or trajectories by which these are lost in some families. There is little doubt of the generic influence of the Plateau languages with which these are in contact. Plateau languages have either no nominal marking or alternating prefixes, very different from the suffixing systems typical of Chadic. However, it is remarkable that the shortening process has led to the disappearance of even trace mo
Compared with Sub-Saharan Africa, ideophones in the languages of the Himalayas are little studied... more Compared with Sub-Saharan Africa, ideophones in the languages of the Himalayas are little studied. Although recorded extensively for languages such as Japanese and Khmer, dictionaries are a sparse resource and few journal publications deal with them. Despite this, they are extremely numerous in the languages of Arunachal Pradesh (and presumably in neighbouring regions). The paper looks in detail at the iconic expressions in two languages, Idu and Kman, which are claimed to be Trans-Himalayan, and extends the analysis to neighbouring languages where some documentation exists.
By the time external written records begin, settlement patterns and economic structures in Centra... more By the time external written records begin, settlement patterns and economic structures in Central Nigeria had been drastically altered by the incursions of Hausa slavers from the north. Minority peoples had been forced to settle montane regions, or to build complex defensive architecture. Patterns of trade and exchange had been disrupted and complex social and marital arrangements restructured to respond to these security challenges. The paper aims to explore how we can reconstruct society and economy in the period immediately before the ramping up of the slave trade, which was driven both by increased demand from North Africa and greater access to guns and horses. Apart from the excavations in and around Nok, there has been little or no reliable archaeology in this region. Oral traditions typically refer to settlement in the mountains and have little to say about the period prior to the movement there. So other types of evidence must be brought to bear.
The paper describes long-term research in the agro- and ethno-botany in Central Nigeria and strat... more The paper describes long-term research in the agro- and ethno-botany in Central Nigeria and strategies for delivering the outcomes in the community.
Developing the agro- and ethno-botany of minority communities requires a long-term iterative commitment to communities which almost directly opposed to the dogma-driven, short funding cycle approach which inevitably dominates large institutions. Indeed many typical methodologies actively spread misinformation.
The paper describes a two decades long project to document the ethnobotany of Central Nigeria and strategies to make the results available to the communities. The output combines botany, linguistics and anthropology. This involves collaboration with knowledgeable individuals over a long period, as well as an iterative produced involving the distribution of preliminary documents. The field material is entered in a database which can be regularly updated and export to an app for Android phones.
Mwaghavul, a West Chadic A3 language, has a multifunctional nasal particle which precedes both no... more Mwaghavul, a West Chadic A3 language, has a multifunctional nasal particle which precedes both nouns and verbs in a wide variety of contexts. In some cases it is homorganic, being realised as /n/, /m/ and /ŋ/ according to the following consonant. It bears a tone, invariably low, regardless of the tone of the stem following. It is written in the current orthographic system with a hyphen following to distinguish it from the stem, since Mwaghavul words can have initial ŋ-. The meanings so far listed for this particle include;
The morphology and syntax of related A3 languages is poorly known, although grammatical materials exist for Ngas and Goemai. The same functions for the nasal particle are attested in both these languages, at least for Irrealis/future, Locative, Dative and animal names, so it is suggested these uses can be reconstructed for the branch of West Chadic. A3 languages in partic
The Maban languages constitute one of the orphan groups of Nilo-Saharan; they are generally recog... more The Maban languages constitute one of the orphan groups of Nilo-Saharan; they are generally recognised as one of its branches, but their exact place remains to be determined. Data on Maban languages is extremely patchy; only one full-length grammar exists and no comprehensive dictionaries. The paper establishes the sources of data, and the internal structure of the Maban group as well as proposing a phonological inventory of proto-Maban. Maban languages mark number on nouns with suffixes and at least some nouns exhibit three-term plurality, as elsewhere in Nilo-Saharan. The paper puts forward a provisional reconstruction of the system of tripartite number marking on nominals. This is shown to be extremely similar to that occurring in the neighbouring East Sudanic family, especially Taman. This suggests the possibility that Maban is either the closest relative of Eastern Sudanic or indeed an unrecognised branch of Northeast Sudanic.
Highland Madagascar is well-known for its grassy biomes; their origin is however, highly controve... more Highland Madagascar is well-known for its grassy biomes; their origin is however, highly controversial Some researchers (e.g. Bond et al.) have argued that these are ‘natural’, i.e. they represent climax vegetation Alternatively, they were created by burning at the same period that megafaunal extinctions occur The exponents of the ‘natural’ view do not explain the data presented by Burney and others concerning the rise in carbon ca. 2400 BP. More recent papers, e.g. Godfrey et al. (2019) espouse an anthropic origin based on the faunal evidence This in turn relates to a crucial question. Exactly when was Madagascar first settled and by whom?
This is the introduction to a preliminary dictionary of the Fɨran language [fir], posted separate... more This is the introduction to a preliminary dictionary of the Fɨran language [fir], posted separately, which is spoken in Kwakwi and surrounding hamlets in Ganawuri District, Riyom LGA, Plateau State, in central Nigeria. Fɨran is an Izeric language, one of the subgroups of Plateau and ultimately of Benue-Congo. Fɨran is a noun class language with alternating prefixes marking number. The system of alternations is described briefly.
This is the introduction to a dictionary of Sajolang (~Miji) [sjl], a language of Western Arunach... more This is the introduction to a dictionary of Sajolang (~Miji) [sjl], a language of Western Arunachal Pradesh, Northeast India. It has been prepared in co-operation with Mr. Rijin Deru and the Sajolang community. The dictionary can be downloaded separately in the folder marked 'Dictionaries'. The dialect represented here is that of Nafra, i.e. Western Sajolang. Eastern Sajolang, spoken in Lada circle, is sufficiently different as to be regarded as a separate language. Also related is Bangru, a poorly documented language spoken in Sarli circle. These languages are usually treated under Trans-Himalayan, although the evidence for this affiliation is weak. The introduction covers villages, social organisation, religious beliefs and subsistence, as well as providing a concise grammar sketch, including some sentence examples. It should be emphasised that this is a preliminary document; there are many unresolved questions.
The ‘North Assam’ languages of Arunachal Pradesh represent a major problem in the internal classi... more The ‘North Assam’ languages of Arunachal Pradesh represent a major problem in the internal classification of Trans-Himalayan [=Sino-Tibetan] languages. A paper by Blench & Post (2014) argued that we had at that time insufficient data to assign these to the phylum unequivocally. The last decade has seen a major expansion of documentation and the time is appropriate to reconsider the issue. The paper presents basic information about the most problematic languages, based on recent fieldwork, together some of the hypotheses concerning their genetic affiliation. It argues that if we apply the same standards as are used in other global areas of high diversity, such as the Amazonia and Australia, we would certainly classify these as either isolates or small phyla. It also suggests that strategies for reconstructing Tibeto-Burman are ill-adapted to ascertaining the position of these languages.
Recent decades in Nigeria have seen a dramatic escalation in herder/farmer conflict. This is typi... more Recent decades in Nigeria have seen a dramatic escalation in herder/farmer conflict. This is typically attributed to political and religious differences, exacerbated by the conflict in the Northeast of the country. However, these are almost certainly secondary reframings; the underlying causes are a catastrophic change in vegetation patterns, resulting from massive demographic expansion. Farmers open up more and more land, placing ever greater pressure on the open grazing of pastoralists. The result is overgrazing, which leads to replacement of digestible species by tougher grasses and woody species. This can be illustrated by the highly visible southward movement of particular tree species, such as the fan and dum palms. This in turn attracts pastoralists with livestock specialised in these species and consequently increased farm incursions. The paper argues that without an empirical scientific base to determine the causes of environmental change, no amount of reconciliation processes will make any difference to the incidence of conflict.
This is an introduction to the Labɨr [jku] or Jaku language, spoken in Bauchi State, Nigeria. Jak... more This is an introduction to the Labɨr [jku] or Jaku language, spoken in Bauchi State, Nigeria. Jaku is almost completely undocumented, with only short wordlists in the literature. Jaku is a Jarawan Bantu language, part of the branch of Bantu which migrated north and west. The paper presents a basic phonology, a brief grammar sketch. It includes recommendations for orthography. It should be used together with a lexicon of Jaku, presented separately.
A dictionary of Gura, a Jarawan Bantu language of Central Nigeria. To be used with the introducti... more A dictionary of Gura, a Jarawan Bantu language of Central Nigeria. To be used with the introduction to Gura, posted separately.
This paper provides a comparative dataset for the Ijoid numerals. Ijoid is spoken in the Niger De... more This paper provides a comparative dataset for the Ijoid numerals. Ijoid is spoken in the Niger Delta of Nigeria and is usually considered Niger-Congo. Preliminary reconstructions are presented. Higher numerals are usually composites and therefore are not independent of their components.
The broad association between the SE Asian Neolithic and the expansion of Austroasiatic is now un... more The broad association between the SE Asian Neolithic and the expansion of Austroasiatic is now uncontroversial. Reconstructions for Proto-Austroasiatic which depict a farming society with a continuing dependence on hunted and aquatic resources support this association. Material culture in mainland Southeast Asia is quite conservative and many forms remain widespread across the region up to the present.
The paper reviews the archaeological evidence for baskets and the distributional evidence from synchronic ethnography. The linguistic data focuses on the reconstruction of basket types. It then presents a series of quasi-reconstructions based on the comparative lexical evidence, and where possible ties these to particular types or basket. The reconstructions reflect close contact between core branches of Austroasiatic in the Vietnam/Laos/Cambodia area. Outlier branches, such as Munda and Nicobaric, virtually never show cognates, suggesting the process whereby they occupied their present territory was marked by a cultural bottleneck, which resulted in cultural loss.
The Nilo-Saharan phylum of African languages was introduced by Greenberg in 1963. Although widely... more The Nilo-Saharan phylum of African languages was introduced by Greenberg in 1963. Although widely accepted, recent decades have seen researchers both inside and outside the field, reject its coherence in whole or in part. The paper argues that at least twelve recognised branches do form a coherent phylum and provides some morphological and lexical evidence to support this claim. Three topics are examined in detail, three-term number marking, ATR vowel harmony and the use of t-, k- affixing. In addition, the evidence from personal pronouns is tabulated. The paper concludes with a new model of the internal configuration of Nilo-Saharan.
The chapter explores the Indigenous Knowledge (IK) systems of the peoples of Arunachal Pradesh, N... more The chapter explores the Indigenous Knowledge (IK) systems of the peoples of Arunachal Pradesh, NE India. Arunachal Pradesh is exceptional in the region both for its ethnic diversity and the relative conservation of the natural environment. The extremely mountainous topography has protected the region from the deforestation and poaching that has devastated similar environments elsewhere in the region. There are some fifty-two ethnolinguistic groups in Arunachal Pradesh with very little published about their language and culture. The cultural areas can be broadly divided into four, the Tibetan-influenced region in the west, the independent groups across the centre, and the Tai and Naga groups in the extreme east.
The major areas of Indigenous Knowledge which are relevant to this area are knowledge of plants and animals and concepts of disease. Arunachal Pradesh peoples are keen observers of the animals with which they share their environment and hunting remains a major source of protein for many populations. At the same time, specific animals are surrounded by ritual restrictions, in particular the tiger. Plants, which are hyper-diverse but still poorly explored botanically, serve as a source of food, medicine, craft and construction materials. However, they are also attributed spiritual natures, and their extraction and use a spiritual activity as well as resource exploitation. Diseases and epidemics, which were a major threat to the community prior to the advent of Western medicine, are typically conceptualised as the work of malevolent spirits, and are countered by characteristic ritual procedures.
The peoples of Arunachal Pradesh and their understanding of the natural environment capture many insights still unfamiliar to western science. However, the changing socio-economic context is allowing this knowledge to be lost without documentation. The paper concludes with a plea for greater in-depth documentation, based on more professional science-based approaches.
proceedings of Symposium Magic and Monotheism, 2024
Archaeology provides very limited evidence for the verbal culture of early humans. However, oral ... more Archaeology provides very limited evidence for the verbal culture of early humans. However, oral traditions, often dismissed pejoratively as folklore, show striking parallels between those recorded for Europe and accounts of ethnographic experience in Sub-Saharan Africa and NE India. The paper illustrates parallels between narratives of encounters with spirits in Nigeria and those in Ireland. In another striking example, the eschatology of the Idu in Arunachal Pradesh involves a ferryman carrying a dead soul across a river to the land of the dead, closely resembling the figure Charon in Greek mythology. Narratives of contests between shape-changers are embedded in European folk tales and songs and show strong similarities to the accounts of the contests of shamans in India. The argument is that this is neither convergence nor diffusion, that the parallels in these accounts go back to a period of shared culture, i.e. far back into the Palaeolithic. Case studies of tradition in aboriginal Australia show that oral tradition can be conserved over very long periods.
The years 2021-2024 have seen a seismic shift in the political map of West-Central Africa. The Fr... more The years 2021-2024 have seen a seismic shift in the political map of West-Central Africa. The Francophone countries, which have broadly maintained a consensus relationship with their former colonial rulers, underpinned by the Cfa which is tied to the Euro, have one by one thrown off the link to France. French troops have been asked to leave and there has been a re-orientation towards Russia, through its surrogate, the Wagner group. The three countries where ECOWAS membership was suspended following coups have no definitively left. Even where coups have no direct link to Russia, such as in Niger, pro-Russian statements have become part of the currency. Although the absence of analogous links between Britain and its former Anglophone colonies has impeded similar regime change, the overspill of insurgency from the Sahel and the unprepared and incompetent security services in these countries means that they will not be protected from instability.
The paper considers the roots of this rapid wave of change, as well as where things are likely to go in the next few years. As importantly, it argues that European governments have been seriously inept in their policy responses and that this will have consequences. The reason for this is the privileging of the endless to and fro of bloodshed in the Near East, most of which makes good television, but which has limited impact. The creation of a zone of freelance insurgency across the Sahel is likely to significantly increase the trade in weapons and drugs from the region to the Maghreb and thence into southern Europe. In addition, the Mediterranean ‘migrant crisis’ is already creating a highly effective channel for bad actors to enter the European crime and terrorism ecosystem. The paper makes a strong recommendation that greater in-depth and sophisticated analysis be applied to the region of West- Central Africa, and that far more effective policy responses be developed.
Conference: Magic & Monotheism: the archaeology of the persistence of folk ritual, 2023
Archaeology provides very limited evidence for the culture of early humans. However, oral traditi... more Archaeology provides very limited evidence for the culture of early humans. However, oral traditions, often dismissed pejoratively as folklore, show striking parallels between those recorded for Europe and accounts of ethnographic experience in Sub-Saharan Africa and NE India. The paper illustrates parallels between narratives of encounters with spirits in Nigeria and those in Ireland. In another striking example, the eschatology of the Idu in Arunachal Pradesh involves a ferryman carrying a dead soul across a river to the land of the dead, resembles closely the figure Charon in Greek mythology. The story of a context between shape-changers is embedded in European folk tales and songs and shows a strong similarity to the accounts of the contests of shamans in India. The argument is that this is neither convergence nor diffusion, that the parallels in these accounts go back to a period of shared culture, i.e. far back into the Palaeolithic. Case studies of tradition in aboriginal Australia show that oral tradition can be conserved over very long periods.
This is a guide to parts of speech as they occur in the languages of Central Nigeria. Some of the... more This is a guide to parts of speech as they occur in the languages of Central Nigeria. Some of them may be unfamiliar reflecting idiosyncratic usages which are not captured by usual grammar guides. Phonology and syntax are not generally covered.
This grammar is an expansion the introduction to a forthcoming Mada dictionary. It covers Mada ph... more This grammar is an expansion the introduction to a forthcoming Mada dictionary. It covers Mada phonology; current orthography and an outline of Mada grammar. My co-author died some years ago, and I regret it has taken this long to make our work available.
The paper is an overview of Pe, a Tarokoid language spoken in SE Plateau State, Central Nigeria. ... more The paper is an overview of Pe, a Tarokoid language spoken in SE Plateau State, Central Nigeria. It provides a phonology, analysis of the nominal classification system, hypotheses about a former system of verbal extensions, as well as a lengthy annotated wordlist. A revised internal classification of Tarokoid is included in a final section.
A major revolution in thinking about the ethnography of colour terms came with the publication of... more A major revolution in thinking about the ethnography of colour terms came with the publication of the Basic Colour Theory (BCT) of Berlin & Kay (1969). This is turn led to the World Colour Survey (WCS) which was intended to elicit global patterns through a large cross-cultural sample. Paradoxically, the outcome was the development of two opposed camps; those who consider colour categorisation intimately a function of physiology, and those who treat it as arbitrary and culturally determined. In recent years, comprehensive empirical data on individual languages has dwindled to a trickle, in favour of data mining, sometimes using highly unreliable sources. There is a striking absence of in-depth explorations of colour terms in African languages
Intensive lexical work on the languages of Central Nigeria over two decades has made it possible to compare the colour terminology of three contiguous languages of different affiliations, but inhabiting the same landscape. The findings can be summarised as follows;
a) All three languages have an elaborate set of colour terms, but even though the languages are contiguous these terms cannot be mapped against one another b) The great majority are underived with opaque etymologies and are not polysemous or colexified with known lexical items c) It is thus not possible to generate a hierarchy of term creation d) Colour terms in these languages are expressed by a wide variety of parts of speech, but are most typically stative verbs, with ideophonic adjectives derived by reduplication e) All languages distinguish black, white and red but these are not necessarily morphosyntactically distinct from other colours. Boze exceptionally, has three apparently identical trms for ‘black’ f) There is no evidence for the concept of ‘grue’ (green + blue) g) The mooted association between light and dark, warm and cool is not reflected in the data h) Polysemy varies markedly from one language to another, with no distinguishable common associations i) Salience of individual colours is also highly variable, with ‘yellow’ diversified in one language an d ‘blue’ in another j) All three languages have a set of secondary colours which are underived but are less elaborated in terms of morphosyntax. There are no correspondences between the three languages k) All languages have numerous underived colour intensifiers l) Boze has a striking diversity of words for multi-coloured, not matched in the other languages m) Peripheral colours and pattern/colour combinations in Berom and Mwaghavul, but not Boze, have a strong association with livestock, especially horses/ponies, which were introduced around 1500 years ago. n) Despite the presence of highly-coloured insects and birds throughout the region, their colours form no part of the descriptive lexicon
The paper presents preliminary lexical data on the recently reported Songlin language, (松林话), spo... more The paper presents preliminary lexical data on the recently reported Songlin language, (松林话), spoken by approximately 1,000 people in Songlin Village (松林村), Upper Chayu Town (上察隅镇), in Zayu County, Nyingchi Prefecture, Tibet. This is only known from a publication by Song (2018). The main part of the paper compares the Songlin lexicon with the neighbouring ‘Mishmi’ languages, Meyor, Idu, Kman and Tawrã. While there are some surprising similarities in the lower numerals, most of the rest of the lexicon shows only sporadic cognates, suggesting regional borrowing rather than genetic affiliation. The paper concludes provisionally that Songlin is a linguistic isolate, comparable to Burushaski and Kusunda.
Nigeria has more than five hundred languages, around 8% of the world’s languages. Three major phy... more Nigeria has more than five hundred languages, around 8% of the world’s languages. Three major phyla, Niger-Congo. Nilo-Saharan and Afroasiatic are represented. The presentation gives an overview of the different families and their main linguistic characteristics. A particular focus is on the unusual phonology of languages in Central Nigeria, challenging by global standards. The broad situation of language research in Nigeria is described, covering universities, missionary organisations and external individual work. The development of practical language orthographies, literacy and Bible translation is covered. Finally, prospects for the future are considered.
Roger Blench is a linguist, anthropologist and ethnomusicologist. He took his Ph.D. at the University of Cambridge in 1984 and remains associated with the McDonald Institute for Archaeological Research. He began research in Nigeria in 1979 and has visited the country every year since then. He has published on a wide variety of topics, and edited a large number of books on minority languages, as well as an overview of the relationship between archaeology and linguistics in Africa. He also works in NE India on language development and has recently begun some research in Brazil.
For such a large region of the world, Africa generally has a poor showing in fiction, both in lit... more For such a large region of the world, Africa generally has a poor showing in fiction, both in literary works and in popular novels. It is typically known to many readers by the brutalist thrillers of Wilbur Smith or the comic misrepresentations of Evelyn Waugh. African writers who have had popular success are few and far between, and mostly, such as those Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, are written from the safe perspective of expatriates. If you know and like Africa, this is disappointing, the experiencing is well worth committing to an imaginative framework.
What is worse, however, is that ‘serious’ writers who have featured Africa in their novels, such as Greene, Hemingway, Bellow and Updike, treat it with the utmost triviality. Either they recount their visits to kill animals, or they don’t bother to visit at all. The focus is entirely on the white expatriates, with Africans playing only walk-on parts, like the foil in a Platonic dialogue. We might quarrel with the characterisation of Asian characters in Forster’s A Passage to India or Orwell’s Burmese Days but they play an integral role in the narrative. It seemed perfectly acceptable for these writers that Africa simply be the focus of their fictions, freighted with implausible names and inexplicable motivations.
It is striking, however, that some of the popular writers who have featured African settings, are far better at giving a flavour of life on the continent. Their African characters appear to have a life of their own, rather than being simply backdrop to the existential angst of a white expatriate. Nearly all the popular writers spent considerable fractions of their personal life in Africa and this is evident from their descriptions. It suggests a paradox, that literary writers, who lurk in university courses and incomprehensible interpretations of modern literary critics are in many ways the worse novelists, unable to depict the world in which their fables are set with any type veracity.
... Page 4. The African Archaeology Series The African Archaeology Series offers comprehensive, u... more ... Page 4. The African Archaeology Series The African Archaeology Series offers comprehensive, up-to-date syntheses of current research on the African cultural past. ... (The African archaeology series; 10) Includes bibliographical references and index. ...
... Chapter looks at the disgracing of a Marinid official for embezzlement and the combination ... more ... Chapter looks at the disgracing of a Marinid official for embezzlement and the combination of ... pragmatic recruitment and dismissal nor recourse to customary methods of conflict resolution are specifically ... The final section looks at the Marinid approach to key Islamic institutions. ...
proposal. Chapter presents the theoretical framework with the appropriate modifications for adve... more proposal. Chapter presents the theoretical framework with the appropriate modifications for adverbial licensing via a spec-head or head-head relation. Chapter discusses some basic facts concerning word order in Greek and provides the basic functional structure (page for the IP layer and page for the CP). Chapter is restricted to temporal (complement) and aspectual (specifier) adverbs, which are licensed in Spec, TP and Spec, AspP, respectively. Assuming that Spec, TP is parametrised with respect to the occurrence of a ...
Workshop: Recent European research in later Southeast Asian later prehistory Paris, 8-9th Jul7, 2024, 2024
The dating and homeland of Austroasiatic has been the subject of much debate, in particular the o... more The dating and homeland of Austroasiatic has been the subject of much debate, in particular the opposition between models which propose a West to East direction and those which espouse the contrary view. These proposals have been made on rather general linguistic grounds. The last decade has seen a major expansion of our understanding of the SE Asian Neolithic, as well as improved reconstructions of proto-languages for most Austroasiatic subgroups. The paper presents a new model for Austroasiatic expansion, in particular looking at the evidence for a reversion to foraging from groups which may have originally had agriculture and the role of the Austronesians in facilitating maritime movement in the Bay of Bengal. It now appears the Munda peoples reached the east coast of India across the ocean rather than by a land route and the Nicobarese certainly arrived in their present homeland by sea. The absence of maritime culture in both these groups suggests strongly the ships which carried them were commanded by non-Austroasiatic speakers, presumably Austronesians. The overall picture is of a mosaic of farmers and foragers expanding rapidly some 4kya and for considerable fluidity in subsistence strategies.
The presentation concerns the documentation of the language and culture of the Sherdukpen people ... more The presentation concerns the documentation of the language and culture of the Sherdukpen people of Arunachal Pradesh. It first describes the main settlements of these people and the place of their language in a broader context. It then sets out the phonology and puts forward proposals for an orthography. The second part of the paper discusses the documentation of oral heritage materials, such as shamanic speech as well as material culture
The paper is a summary phonology and a study of aspects of the morphosyntax of the Yebu language ... more The paper is a summary phonology and a study of aspects of the morphosyntax of the Yebu language spoken in Kaltungo LGA, Gombe State, Nigeria. There have been no prior dedicated studies of the language, although a Reading and Writing Guide exists (2007). Yebu is an Adamawa language, part of the Tula-Waja group. Other related languages still partly conserve more complete noun class suffix alternations; these have almost disappeared in Yebu and been replaced by a universal number marker. The grammar sketch concentrates on the unusual verbal system and aspects of the pronominals.
Archaeology provides very limited evidence for the culture of early humans. However, oral traditi... more Archaeology provides very limited evidence for the culture of early humans. However, oral traditions, often dismissed pejoratively as folklore, show striking parallels between those recorded for Europe and accounts of ethnographic experience in Sub-Saharan Africa and NE India. The paper illustrates parallels between narratives of encounters with spirits in Nigeria and those in Ireland. In another striking example, the eschatology of the Idu in Arunachal Pradesh involves a ferryman carrying a dead soul across a river to the land of the dead, resembles closely the figure Charon in Greek mythology. The story of a context between shape-changers is embedded in European folk tales and songs and shows a strong similarity to the accounts of the contests of shamans in India. The argument is that this is neither convergence nor diffusion, that the parallels in these accounts go back to a period of shared culture, i.e. far back into the Palaeolithic. Case studies of tradition in aboriginal Australia show that oral tradition can be conserved over very long periods.
Central Nigeria is a region where languages of extremely different typologies appear to co-exist,... more Central Nigeria is a region where languages of extremely different typologies appear to co-exist, where speakers of languages with no nominal or verbal morphology (such as A3 Chadic) are geographically proximate to languages with complex morphology of this type. This is not to say they do not influence one another; if they did not, this paper would have no argument. But they do not converge; there is no long list of Central Nigerianisms, which exists across a wide variety of languages. Rather as each language diverges under the influence of multilingualism, it maintains its idiosyncrasies.
The structure of this paper is thus as follows. Three sections consider phonology, morphology and syntax, with a view to illustrating typological diversity in close neighbours. §6 is a case study of the Zora language, which was documented in 1970 and again in 2016. In this period it seems to have undergone massive typological shift, due to pervasive bilingualism with Hausa and loss of contact between residual speakers. If such changes can occur in the documented present, then they presumably occurred in the past, suggesting one of the pathways of typological change. §7 revisits some of the background in this section to develop hypotheses to explain what is at the least a rare situation. The conclusions look forward to a more comprehensive approach to linguistic diversity.
The concept of Nilo-Saharan in its modern form we owe to Joseph Greenberg (1963). Lionel Bender (... more The concept of Nilo-Saharan in its modern form we owe to Joseph Greenberg (1963). Lionel Bender (1934-2008) was its most consistent defender and his 1997 monograph remains the standard for the mainstream view. Nonetheless, the coherence of the phylum has frequently been attacked, both from outside (Dixon, Campbell, Hammarstrom) and from within the discipline (Guldemann, Dimmendaal). Some of these authors argue it is no phylum at all, merely a bundle of overlapping isoglosses, or else there is a ‘core’ Nilo-Saharan and other unrelated branches.
Defences of large-scale genetic units are deeply unfashionable. Even a conference series such this one rarely discusses the larger issues preferring to focus on individual languages. Some branches of Nilo-Saharan are rarely, if ever, the subject of papers. However, understanding large-scale patterns have important consequences for other perspectives on Africa. Archaeologists and geneticists are prone to make use of large-scale units without taking into account the nuanced views of linguists. So a more comprehensive understanding of Nilo-Saharan remains a priority.
It is important to recognise that the abovenamed sceptics have never presented any argument. They simply publish monographs or maps which exclude the branches of Nilo-Saharan they do not favour for opaque reasons. The present paper is a defence of the classic concept of Nilo-Saharan. It accepts that;
a) There is a core set of Nilo-Saharan branches, characterised by tripartite number marking and a variety of other morphosyntactic features. b) There is a primary outlier branch consisting of Koman and Gumuz, where many of these features are absent but which share a small sample of lexical and grammatical isoglosses c) There is a secondary outlier branch, consisting of Songhai and Saharan, which can in some cases can be shown to have lost the features which characterise the ‘core’ language set d) The Chabu (Shabo) language is not Nilo-Saharan but an isolate and resemblances are due to borrowing from Surmic
Arguments for many of these proposals have been made in scattered or not yet published papers by the author and are here put together in a coherent argument.
The paper discusses a pervasive feature of the morphology of the Kuliak languages, a branch of Ni... more The paper discusses a pervasive feature of the morphology of the Kuliak languages, a branch of Nilo-Saharan, consisting of two living languages, Ik and So. In the Kuliak lexicon, many syllables which are CV in cognate forms in other branches of Nilo-Saharan appear as VC in Kuliak, although this is not so consistent as to constitute a morphological rule. The paper provides an introduction to current knowledge of the Kuliak languages and then provides tables to support the hypothesis. The explanation proposes a chain of affix copying, subsequent partial erosion and then regularisation across the system as a possible explanation.
Several papers discussed the evidence for contact between Plateau and West Chadic in the 1970s. M... more Several papers discussed the evidence for contact between Plateau and West Chadic in the 1970s. More than four decades on, this situation in worth revisiting, since much new evidence is to hand. The paper focuses on the A3 West Chadic languages, which have undergone major restructuring compared with other branches of West Chadic A. They have;
a) lost almost all number marking b) lost all verb morphology c) have radically shortened nominal stems d) have complex systems of verbal plurality e) have a large percentage of lexicon with no discernible Chadic cognates.
Given that they are geographically intertwined with their Plateau neighbours, it is reasonable to propose that this distinctiveness arose through contact. Plateau is morphosyntactically very various, but some branches display all these features. However, there is little evidence for direct lexical borrowing. The paper therefore proposes two explanations;
a) that there were Plateau languages in the region where A3 languages are spoken today and that this must be the source of innovative lexical items b) there was extensive bilingualism with languages typologically similar to A3 languages, which resulted on morphosyntactic change through a process of metatypy.
The paper draws on a wide database of A3 languages as well as potential reconstructed forms collected since 2016 by the author and Michael Bulkaam to illustrate the argument.
Approches pour l’histoire de la langue berbère : Mise en perspective d’une langue a travers les ages, 2021
Although Berber music of certain traditions has become well-known in recent times, little researc... more Although Berber music of certain traditions has become well-known in recent times, little research has been done concerning its broader history. The music of many Berber communities, from Siwa to the Zenaga, has never been recorded or described. Instruments depicted in historical sources and in iconography have often disappeared, and been replaced by more modern types. Only the vertical flute and the frame-drum seem to have a pan-Berber distribution. Typically, Berber music is monodic and the scale system pentatonic, but there is considerable range from east to west. The paper proposes to combine linguistic and cultural evidence to propose a cultural repertory of Berber music, exploring musical styles, scale systems, musical instruments and social context.
The South Bauchi languages are West Chadic languages spoken around Bauchi town. Although there ar... more The South Bauchi languages are West Chadic languages spoken around Bauchi town. Although there are some forty languages, few have been studied by linguists and even fewer have any language development. The best-known languages are Zaar, Boghom, Geri and Zul. The talk reviews what is known and presents the results of fresh fieldwork undertaken in 2019. We found that some languages are down to the last few speakers and urgent research is required to document these languages before they disappear. South Bauchi languages are known for their complex phonologies, and as a consequence, there are many problems in developing effective writing systems. The presentation offers some suggestions for the priority research agenda.
Compared with Sub-Saharan Africa, ideophones in the languages of the Himalayas are little studied... more Compared with Sub-Saharan Africa, ideophones in the languages of the Himalayas are little studied. Although recorded extensively for languages such as Japanese and Khmer, dictionaries are a sparse resource and few journal publications deal with them. Despite this, they are extremely numerous in the languages of Arunachal Pradesh (and presumably in neighbouring regions). The paper looks in detail at the iconic expressions in two languages, Idu and Kman, which are claimed to be Trans-Himalayan, and extends the analysis to neighbouring languages where some documentation exists. In Idu and Kman, the following classification is adopted;
Onomatopoeic expressives are those which are claimed to mimic the sounds of realworld events. A subset of these are conventional animal noises Expressives/ideophones those which express states, emotions or sensations Paired collocations/echo expressives those where a two syllable first element is followed by one which resembles it segmentally and tonally
Onomatopoeic expressives are sometimes reduplicated or repeated many times, according to the pragmatic context. They can be extremely diverse morphologically following the perception of the entity imitated. The register where adults speak to children includes bogus onomatopoeia Expressives are usually reduplicated. This can be exact, exact except for tonal alternation, or with elements changed, typically the vowels. Paired collocations are usually not reduplicated exactly. These can either be transparent semantic sequences (e.g. road + bridge giving ‘communication’) or opaque, where the second element has no meaning, but the expression is felt ‘incomplete’ without it
As elsewhere, onomatopoeia is frequently heard in natural conversation. However, expressives are far more common in types of heightened speech, such as narrations and the many registers for which these languages are well-known. Paired collocations are typical of heightened speech, especially mediation language, hunting and shamanic registers. Kman has a poetic register, where these collocations are used in every stanza.
Ideophones usually fill the adverbial slot, preceding the verb they qualify. There are, however, exceptions, such as;
jȭ.õ̀õ̀ describes looking like an owl
which is neither reduplicated nor adverbial. Paired collocations are particularly challenging to assign to a specific part of speech, since they can be nouns, verbs, adjectives and adverbs, and for example a sequence of two verbs can be used to create a nominal. For example;
càcì làpē s.t. annoying fr. undermine + throw
The paper provides illustrations of all these classes of iconic expression and brief examples of their use in syntactic context, especially where they occur in heightened speech, for Idu and Kman. It then extends the discussion to other languages of Arunachal Pradesh, especially May (Sherdukpen) and Miji (Sajolang). A brief comparison with African ideophones is given, highlighting the contrast whereby reduplicated elements in African languages are usually associated with narrative. Finally it considers why these evidently salient aspects of spoken culture have been so little studied in SE Asia.
Highland Madagascar is well-known for its grassy biomes; their origin is however, highly controve... more Highland Madagascar is well-known for its grassy biomes; their origin is however, highly controversial. Some researchers (e.g. Bond et al.) have argued that these are ‘natural’, i.e. they represent climax vegetation. Alternatively, they were created by burning at the same period that megafaunal extinctions occur. The exponents of the ‘natural’ view do not explain the data presented by Burney and others concerning the rise in carbon ca. 2400 BP. More recent papers, e.g. Godfrey et al. (2019) espouse an anthropic origin based on the faunal evidence. This in turn relates to a crucial question. Exactly when was Madagascar first settled and by whom?
The current model of proto-Malayo-Polynesian (PMP) holds that a unitary language was spoken in th... more The current model of proto-Malayo-Polynesian (PMP) holds that a unitary language was spoken in the Luzon Straits roughly four thousand years ago and that this diversified into all the extra-Formosan languages and was responsible for the Neolithic settlement of Island Southeast Asia (ISEA) and Oceania. The paper suggests that this is supported by neither linguistics, archaeology nor the distribution of material culture. Archaeology of ISEA after 4000 BP points to near simultaneous settlement in a wide variety of sites, while analysis of individual lexical items points to geographically biased distributions, suggesting they were selectively carried to different regions. Distributions of material culture items associated exclusively with Austronesian culture show strong geographical biases. Recent phenotypic results from Remote Oceania suggests a direct connection with some populations of Taiwan and Northern Luzon, contrary to previous models of complex mixing at intermediate stages, calling into question elaborate nested models of Austronesian phylogeny. This points to a rather different model of time and place, here called the ‘boiling pot’ which assumes the Luzon Strait was an centre of innovative maritime technology and the starting point for voyages in canoes with multi-ethnic crews. This would then see PMP as a network of related subgroups, which can never fully reconstitute a unitary PMP, because no such entity existed.
By the time external written records begin, settlement patterns and economic structures in Centra... more By the time external written records begin, settlement patterns and economic structures in Central Nigeria had been drastically altered by the incursions of Hausa slavers from the north. Minority peoples had been forced to settle montane regions, or to build complex defensive architecture. Patterns of trade and exchange had been disrupted and complex social and marital arrangements restructured to respond to these security challenges. The paper aims to explore how we can reconstruct society and economy in the period immediately before the ramping up of the slave trade, which was driven both by increased demand from North Africa and greater access to guns and horses. Apart from the excavations in and around Nok, there has been little or no reliable archaeology in this region. Oral traditions typically refer to settlement in the mountains and have little to say about the period prior to the movement there. So other types of evidence must be brought to bear.
Central Nigeria is a zone of extreme ethnolinguistic diversity and the pattern of languages marked by exceptional fragmentation. The pattern of villages would have been far more dispersed than in the mountains due to the poor soil fertility in this region and it is likely the quest for better land was a significant driver of migration. In addition, elaborate patterns of linguistic exogamy and joking relationships point to mechanisms for embedding inter-ethnic relationships, and thus the functioning of trade routes. Crops from the Columbian exchange, such as cassava, maize and pawpaw, had reached central Nigeria from both the coast and the Maghreb, well before the first accounts of travellers. Imported iron from the coast had already spread inland by this period, leading to an expansion of metal tools which could also be repurposed as tokens in marital exchanges. Building on an array of different types of evidence, it is possible to begin build a picture of economy and society.
The Maban languages constitute one of the orphan groups of Nilo-Saharan; they are generally recog... more The Maban languages constitute one of the orphan groups of Nilo-Saharan; they are generally recognised as one of its branches, but their exact place remains to be determined. Data on Maban languages is extremely patchy; only one full-length grammar exists and no comprehensive dictionaries. The paper established the sources of data, and the internal structure of the Maban group. It makes proposals for the phonological inventory of proto-Maban. Maban languages mark number on nouns with suffixes and at least some nouns exhibit three-term plurality, as elsewhere in Nilo-Saharan. The paper puts forward a provisional reconstruction of the system of tripartite number marking on nominals. This is shown to be extremely similar to that occurring in the neighbouring East Sudanic family, especially Taman. This suggests the possibility that Maban is either the closest relative of Eastern Sudanic or indeed an unrecognised branch of Northeast Sudanic. Three Appendices provide a comparative wordlist with quasi-reconstructions, some short tables with examples of reconstructible forms, which indicate the possible shape of typical lexical items and some evidence for Maban cognates with wider Nilo-Saharan.
The musical forms of the Austronesian peoples are highly diverse but they are strikingly similar ... more The musical forms of the Austronesian peoples are highly diverse but they are strikingly similar to the internal divisions of the phylum. The music of Taiwan in particular is characterised by vocal polyphony, which is closely mapped to its multi-tongue jews’ harps. Most surviving groups on Taiwan who retain their language sing in a polyphonic fashion. The exception is Yami, which is related to the Bashiic languages spoken in the Luzon Strait.
However, in the Philippines, these polyphonic forms disappear completely and give rise to uniformly monodic compositions. This is the case throughout almost all of Island SE Asia. Polyphony is common among the non-Austronesian (Papuan) peoples. The other examples of polyphony in the Austronesian area are in Timor, and on Flores, where there is clear evidence of a Papuan substrate.
The paper argues that the discontinuities in the dispersal of Austronesian and its interaction with non-Austronesian languages closely map against music forms. A further example is given of the instrumental diversity apparent in the Philippines and islands further south, in striking contrast to the almost entirely vocal music of Taiwan.
By the time external written records begin, settlement patterns and economic structures in Centra... more By the time external written records begin, settlement patterns and economic structures in Central Nigeria were drastically altered by the incursions of Hausa slavers from the north. Minority peoples had been forced to settle montane regions, or to build complex defensive architecture. Patterns of trade and exchange had been disrupted and complex social and marital arrangements restructured to respond to these security challenges. The presentation aims to explore the methods we can use to reconstruct society and economy before the ramping up of the slave trade, which was driven both by increased demand from North Africa and greater access to guns and horses.
Three main disciplines can be brought to bear: history, linguistics and archaeology. Oral traditions typically refer to settlement in the mountains and have little to say about the period prior to the movement there. In recent years they have been bedevilled by an overlay of invented traditions, relating to Palestine or Kush. The main archaeology that is relevant is the excavations in and around Nok, which have produced a series of reliable dates, but also remarkable terracotta figurines, depicting daily life some 2500 years ago.
Central Nigeria is a zone of extreme ethnolinguistic diversity and the pattern of languages marked by exceptional fragmentation. The pattern of villages would have been far more dispersed than in the mountains due to the poor soil fertility in this region and it is likely the quest for better land was a significant driver of migration. In addition, elaborate patterns of linguistic exogamy and joking relationships point to mechanisms for embedding inter-ethnic relationships, and thus the functioning of trade routes.
Crops from the Columbian exchange, such as cassava, maize and pawpaw, had reached central Nigeria from both the coast and the Maghreb, well before the first accounts of travellers. Imported iron from the coast had already spread inland by this period, leading to an expansion of metal tools which could also be repurposed as tokens in marital exchanges. Building on an array of different types of evidence, it is possible to begin build a picture of economy and society.
To develop a richer picture of the history of Nigeria, we will need to explore methods which go beyond written documents. It is unfortunate that no ancient DNA has yet been recovered from this region, since this is providing important insights into the past for other regions of Africa.
There is little doubt a rich system of number marking must be reconstructed for West Chadic. Haus... more There is little doubt a rich system of number marking must be reconstructed for West Chadic. Hausa, the Ron languages and the North Bauchi languages all demonstrate this. Nonetheless, it has disappeared virtually without trace in some branches, notably the A3 languages, Ngas etc. and the South Bauchi languages. A few relics of number marking remain for nouns related to persons in these subgroups, but their lack of external cognacy suggests they are subsequent innovations.
The paper aims to summarise the systems of number marking in the subgroups of West Chadic and then to explore the mechanisms or trajectories by which these are lost in some families. There is little doubt of the generic influence of the Plateau languages with which these are in contact. Plateau languages have either no nominal marking or alternating prefixes, very different from the suffixing systems typical of Chadic. However, it is remarkable that the shortening process has led to the disappearance of even trace morphology. The paper will explore these patterns and advance hypotheses as to their pathways.
The Idu language, which may be Trans-Himalayan, is spoken in the extreme northeast of Arunachal P... more The Idu language, which may be Trans-Himalayan, is spoken in the extreme northeast of Arunachal Pradesh. Its traditional terrain stretched between the Tibetan Plateau and the plains of the Brahmaputra, unusually incorporating a wide variety of ecozones. The Idu traditionally lived in highly dispersed settlements, with only narrow paths connecting them. As a consequence, orientation was determined more by up versus down as well as by the sides of the many rivers which cross their area. The paper describes the lexicon of Idu in describing directions. The morphosyntax of directionals is quite mixed; some can be identified as deictics with up/down semantics, while others are best described as specialised adverbs. In addition there are verbs of motion which are mark directionality. All these forms incorporate the same semantic frame. There is probably no distinct morphosyntactic category of directional. The paper illustrates each term with example sentence contexts and represents visually directional oppositions as they appear to speakers. Historically, it seems unlikely that Idu recognised cardinal directions, North/South etc., but the existing lexicon has been interpreted in terms of modern terminology, which sometimes creates confusion for speakers.
The literature on directionals in this region of the world remains very sparse. Post (2011) describes ‘topographical deictics’ for the Tani languages and similar lexicon must be presumed for other regional languages. There are far richer discussions of directionals in Austronesian, but unfortunately the physical environment is so very different that there are few points of comparison.
Colloque: Approches pour l’histoire de la langue berbère, 2020
Although the Canary Archipelago was known to classical authors, the date and manner of its peopli... more Although the Canary Archipelago was known to classical authors, the date and manner of its peopling remains highly controversial. Remarkably, when the first maritime explorations from the Mediterranean reach the islands, they were still in the Neolithic. Despite extensive evidence for contact, metal technology was never transferred. Even more remarkably, the inhabitants, the Guanche, had no seagoing tradition, despite the evidence for inter-island cultural transfers. A lack of radiocarbon dates has meant that the chronology of the settlement of the Canaries has remained controversial, with wild guesses circulating in the literature. The genocide of the Guanche in the eighteenth century remains an unacknowledged moral stain on European colonial traditions.
The paper reviews the classical accounts, and the records of first contact from 1312 onwards. Linguistics points strongly to a connection with the Berbers of the Maghreb, although the extermination of the inhabitants before their language was properly recorded, makes this uncertain. Some types of cultural evidence, such as the granaries with door locks on Gran Canaria, point to Berber contact. However, other practices, such as mummification, log-coffins, body stamps and terracotta images of deities seem highly idiosyncratic. Although the Guanche practised minimalist agriculture from ca. 300 AD onwards, with barley, wheat, goats, sheep and pigs, some islands had reverted to foraging by the medieval era. Recent aDNA work has confirmed the North African connection but the results remain frustratingly unspecific.
Arguments about the proposed language groups which constitute valid members of Nilo-Saharan, cont... more Arguments about the proposed language groups which constitute valid members of Nilo-Saharan, continue. A recent trend, exemplified in the work of Gerrit Dimmendaal, is to simply exclude branches from overviews without any textual justification for their exclusion. The most comprehensive overview of Nilo-Saharan remains that of Bender (1997), who recognised thirteen branches. However, it is widely recognised that the evidence for the inclusion of some branches is tenuous, to say the least. This paper focuses on two branches, Shabo and Kadu, and explores the evidence for maintaining their affiliation.
On the face of it, continuing to recognise Kadu (=Kadugli-Krongo, the ‘Tumtum’ of Greenberg) is more obvious. The Kadu languages consist of nine distinct lects spoken in the Nuba Mountains. Kadu has many features associated with Nilo-Saharan morphology (despite its alternating affixes which appeared to link it to Niger-Congo), including a three-term number system with singulative in t- and plurative in k-, like much of East Sudanic. These were first explored in some detail by Roland Stevenson (1991) who also presented a series of morphological and lexical arguments for a Nilo-Saharan affiliation. Most of these remain valid and indeed can be extended in the light of a much expanded dataset. The paper will present the evidence for retaining Kadu within Nilo-Saharan.
A more problematic orphan language is Shabo [=Chabu], spoken by around 1000 near-hunter-gatherers in southwest Ethiopia. Until recently, grammatical and lexical data on this language has been scarce, and the basis for arguments about its affiliation correspondingly problematic. Moreover, it has come under heavy lexical influence from the neighbouring Majang, a Surmic language. However, in the light of the thesis by Tsehay (2015) it is now possible to see that Shabo is extremely different from other Nilo-Saharan languages in its grammar and that apparent lexical cognates are likely ot be deep-level borrowings. The paper argues that Shabo is probably a language isolate, and that apparent similarities with Nilo-Saharan are due to influence from Majang and Koman.
A confluence of new technology, greater energy and enthusiasm from minorities and a generation of... more A confluence of new technology, greater energy and enthusiasm from minorities and a generation of trained students makes possible a more streamlined approach Which would produce; A comprehensive sociolinguistic analysis prior to project initiation A sophisticated linguistic analysis which should pass international scrutiny Literacy and aural materials combined with an outline strategy of sustainability in a broader media environment Translation and preparation of written materials
This presentation will outline how this might be achieved
The current model of proto-Malayo-Polynesian (PMP) holds that a unitary language was spoken in th... more The current model of proto-Malayo-Polynesian (PMP) holds that a unitary language was spoken in the Luzon Straits roughly four thousand years ago and that this diversified into all the extra-Formosan languages and was responsible for the Neolithic settlement of Island Southeast Asia (ISEA) and Oceania. The paper suggests that this is supported by neither linguistics, archaeology nor the distribution of material culture. Archaeology of ISEA after 4000 BP points to near simultaneous settlement in a wide variety of sites, while analysis of individual lexical items points to geographically biased distributions, suggesting they were selectively carried to different regions. Distributions of material culture items associated exclusively with Austronesian culture show strong geographical biases. Recent phenotypic results from Remote Oceania suggests a direct connection with some populations of Taiwan and Northern Luzon, contrary to previous models of complex mixing at intermediate stages, calling into question elaborate nested models of Austronesian phylogeny. This points to a rather different model of time and place, here called the ‘boiling pot’ which assumes the Luzon Strait was an centre of innovative maritime technology and the starting point for voyages in canoes with multi-ethnic crews. This would then see PMP as a network of related subgroups, which can never fully reconstitute a unitary PMP, because no such entity existed.
This is an annotated wordlist of the Dɔ̃ language, spoken in Dong village in Taraba State, Nigeri... more This is an annotated wordlist of the Dɔ̃ language, spoken in Dong village in Taraba State, Nigeria. Dong is some 25 km. south-east of Monkin and directly due east of Yoro. The wordlist was collected by Roger Blench from Peter Dong in Jos in July 1993. Some ...
This is a preliminary dictionary the Fɨran language [fir], which is spoken in Kwakwi and surround... more This is a preliminary dictionary the Fɨran language [fir], which is spoken in Kwakwi and surrounding hamlets in Ganawuri District, Riyom LGA, Plateau State, in central Nigeria. Fɨran is an Izeric language, one of the subgroups of Plateau and ultimately of Benue-Congo. Fɨran is a noun class language with alternating prefixes marking number.
This is a concise dictionary of Sajolang (~Miji) [sjl], a language of Western Arunachal Pradesh, ... more This is a concise dictionary of Sajolang (~Miji) [sjl], a language of Western Arunachal Pradesh, Northeast India. The dialect represented here is that of Nafra, i.e. Western Sajolang. Eastern Sajolang, spoken in Lada circle, is sufficiently different as to be regarded as a separate language. It should be used together with the introduction which provides a concise grammar sketch, including some sentence examples. Uploaded under papers. It should be emphasised that this is a preliminary document; there are many unresolved questions.
This is a dictionary of Ogba, an Igboid language spoken in Southern Nigeria. It is based on a man... more This is a dictionary of Ogba, an Igboid language spoken in Southern Nigeria. It is based on a manuscript prepared in the 1990s for Kay Williamson, among whose papers it was found after her death. It was converted to Unicode and Flex in 2024, and the text and other aspects, such as scientific names, added, as well as the English-Ogba. Various aspects of it remain incomplete, but it [provides extremely rich data in an otherwise unstudied language, so it is disseminated provisionally.
This is a dictionary of the Kịrịkẹ language, an East-Ịjọ language spoken on Okrika Island in Rive... more This is a dictionary of the Kịrịkẹ language, an East-Ịjọ language spoken on Okrika Island in Rivers State, Nigeria. It is based on the work of the late Mr. Levi Sika but supplemented with other lexical sources. The dictionary itself has been edited by Roger Blench. The analysis of Kịrịkẹ language includes phonology and some basic morphological processes.
This is a dictionary of the Jibu language, spoken in southeastern Nigeria. Jibu is most closely r... more This is a dictionary of the Jibu language, spoken in southeastern Nigeria. Jibu is most closely related to Waphan, the language of the Jukun of Wukari, and ultimately part of the Jukunoid branch of Benue-Congo. It is based on materials left by SIL teams, including Julia van Dyken, Virginia Bradley and Perry and Anne Priest and has been converted first into a Word file and then into Flex, which allowed for more elaborate reversals and cross-referencing. The introductory materials were written by Roger Blench.
This is a new edition of the dictionary of the Momi [=Vere] language spoken in Adamawa State, nor... more This is a new edition of the dictionary of the Momi [=Vere] language spoken in Adamawa State, northeastern Nigeria, first published in 1988. Momi is an Adamawa language, part of the Samba Duru group. It is characterised by complex noun-class morphology.
This is a draft dictionary of the Yebu [=Awak] language spoken in Kaltungo LGA, Gombe State, Nige... more This is a draft dictionary of the Yebu [=Awak] language spoken in Kaltungo LGA, Gombe State, Nigeria. It was prepared in June 2021.
This is a preliminary dictionary of the Tal language, spoken southeast of Jos in Plateau State, C... more This is a preliminary dictionary of the Tal language, spoken southeast of Jos in Plateau State, Central Nigeria. Tal is a West Chadic language of the A3 cluster, and bears some similarities to Mwaghavul, Ngas and Goemai. However, it is marked by a phonology rich in contrasts, unlike other related languages. The dictionary provides both orthographic representation and strict International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA)-like forms. This version has so far few example sentences, as these will be added in a further edition. It is also being circulated as an Android phone app.
This document is a dictionary of Kman [=Miju], a language spoken around Tezu in Arunachal Pradesh... more This document is a dictionary of Kman [=Miju], a language spoken around Tezu in Arunachal Pradesh. Miju is a complex tone-language of an isolating type, similar to Tibeto-Burman languages. A separate grammar sketch deals with phonology and morphology in detail and includes a review of existing literature.
This is a dictionary of Mono, an Adamawa language of Cameroun, edited from a ms. left by the lat... more This is a dictionary of Mono, an Adamawa language of Cameroun, edited from a ms. left by the late Stefan Elders
Bulletin of The School of Oriental and African Studies-university of London, 1997
... numbers of blacks for the Atlantic slave trade, the volume of the trans-Saharan slave trade, ... more ... numbers of blacks for the Atlantic slave trade, the volume of the trans-Saharan slave trade, closely connected ... only in the early nineteenth century, with the abolition of the Atlantic slave trade and the ... con-trolled the principal acacia groves, but it also intensified the trade in grain ...
... The source of this idea is Jones (1971) and Nicholas (1957) although Jones did not claim that... more ... The source of this idea is Jones (1971) and Nicholas (1957) although Jones did not claim that the ancestors of the Malagasy were involved. However, this cannot be detected from the book itself, but only through checking back into the references of Ehret (1995). ...
Accusations of Islamophobia swirl around every time there is a bad reaction to yet another terror... more Accusations of Islamophobia swirl around every time there is a bad reaction to yet another terrorist attack. The right goes into a frenzy of stereotyping, the liberal establishment (a bit on the back foot, it must be said) adduces various arguments for ‘not lumping all Muslims together’ or condemning racism. Many arguments on both sides seem to me quite incoherent, so this is an attempt to think through the issues.
Research Reports in Belizean Archaeology Volume 11, 2014
Investigations at the ancient Maya site of Pacbitun (Belize) in 1986 and 1987 unearthed a range o... more Investigations at the ancient Maya site of Pacbitun (Belize) in 1986 and 1987 unearthed a range of well-preserved musical instruments from Late Classic period elite and royal burials. Excavations in 2010 recovered additional, ceramic, sound-producing instruments associated with Late Classic interments in the North Group of the Epicenter at Pacbitun. In this paper the Classic Maya sound devices are described, including insights to their archaeological context, production, and meaning. A report is provided on the analysis of the construction and acoustics of the Pacbitun aerophones. Finally, a discussion is offered about the function of, and likely roles played by, music in ancient Maya society.
The broad association between the SE Asian Neolithic and the expansion of Austroasiatic is now un... more The broad association between the SE Asian Neolithic and the expansion of Austroasiatic is now uncontroversial. Reconstructions for Proto-Austroasiatic which depict a farming society with a continuing dependence on hunted and aquatic resources support this association. Material culture in mainland Southeast Asia is quite conservative and many forms remain widespread across the region up to the present.
The paper reviews the archaeological evidence for baskets and the distributional evidence from synchronic ethnography. The linguistic data focuses on the reconstruction of basket types. It then presents a series of quasi-reconstructions based on the comparative lexical evidence, and where possible ties these to particular types or basket. The reconstructions reflect close contact between core branches of Austroasiatic in the Vietnam/Laos/Cambodia area. Outlier branches, such as Munda and Nicobaric, virtually never show cognates, suggesting the process whereby they occupied their present territory was marked by a cultural bottleneck, which resulted in cultural loss.
The paper discusses recent discoveries in phonology and morphology which makes it likely that Pro... more The paper discusses recent discoveries in phonology and morphology which makes it likely that Proto-Benue-Congo, despite being very different at the surface level, may have resembled proto-Bantu
The presentation brings together recent research on Naga languages together with material culture... more The presentation brings together recent research on Naga languages together with material culture, to argue that we can reconstruct proto-Naga culture.
The name Jarawan Bantu suggests that this group of languages is part of Bantu, but it is excluded... more The name Jarawan Bantu suggests that this group of languages is part of Bantu, but it is excluded from maps and overviews of Bantu and generally, if rarely, discussed under Bantoid. It has a remarkable distribution, with relic and presumed extinct populations in Cameroun and lively communities in eastern and central Nigeria. Recent years have seen significant amount of new data on these languages, almost all of it unpublished or semi-published. Various authors have argued for the position of Jarawan in different places in the Bantu/Bantoid continuum, often with limited evidence. The purpose of the paper is to set out the material that now exists and to contribute to situating it.
During the years 2016-2017, MISEREOR commissioned an extensive national survey in Nigeria on the ... more During the years 2016-2017, MISEREOR commissioned an extensive national survey in Nigeria on the state of herder/farmer relations. This resulted in a series of five reports which became the basis for JDP projects in this area. As well as a booklet summarising the results overall. This workshop provides an occasion to review the situation some five years on and to evaluate successes and failures. However, projects do not take place in a vacuum; they have a political and economic context which may affect their trajectories and impact. In this presentation, I want to look at some of these changes and consider how we might want to take these on board in project design and implementation. Briefly, these are;. The development of political lobbying to present extremely one-sided views of the situation. The effective use of social media to ramp up hatred and to spread false stories and images. The co-opting of religious ideologies into what underlyingly is an issue of demographics and access to land. The dramatic changes in the external economy, which has in turn affected the economics of agricultural production. Resource capture by a whole ecosystem of slick but useless peacebuilding NGOs developed to capture donor money. Although their results are negligible since the conflicts are not about whether people are nice ot one another, money continues to be passed to them. The developing alibi of ‘climate change’ which is used to justify human land mismanagement and shift the blame to unquantifiable external factors.
Among the Idu people of Arunachal Pradesh, shamans, igu, represent the basis of traditional relig... more Among the Idu people of Arunachal Pradesh, shamans, igu, represent the basis of traditional religion. They validate all types of ceremonies, including the Rẽ cycle, healing and various transitions. Their particular expertise lies in the recitation of immensely lengthy chants in a language which is incomprehensible to speakers of everyday Idu. This language is not ‘secret’ but it is extremely difficult to transcribe and translate. The origin of this language is much-debated, since similar shamanic speech is documented across Arunachal Pradesh and into Nepal.
The paper presents the background to shamanism among the Idu and a classification of the types of chant they perform. It then undertakes an analysis of a sample of the lexicon, demonstrating how periphrastic expressions are used, drawing on the paired collocations of ‘four-term’ phrases typical of SE Asia. Finally, it compares the shamanic register with the other six registers Idu also possesses.
It has been assumed since Sten Konow that the isolated languages of Arunachal Pradesh are Trans-H... more It has been assumed since Sten Konow that the isolated languages of Arunachal Pradesh are Trans-Himalayan, (i.e. Sino-Tibetan) but without any real evidence. Certain families, such as the Tani and the East Bodish languages almost certainly are part of the phylum. However, languages such as Bugun, Mey, Puroik, Mijiic, Hruso, Koro, Idu, Tawrã, Kman and Meyor show remarkably few similarities with one another, let alone with Trans-Himalayan. Data from these languages is conspicuous by its absence in recent mathematical models of the phylum which are claimed to support various homeland hypotheses.
The author has collected field data from all of these languages and the paper argues that;
a) similarities to one another are due to contact rather than genuine genetic affiliation b) and that therefore recent claims for entities such as ‘Kho-Bwa’ and ‘Hrusish’ are extremely shaky c) that lexical similarities to common Trans-Himalayan roots may well be the result of contact not genetic affiliation
Our knowledge of the morphosyntax of these languages is far less rich than their lexicon, but none of it provides convincing links to any branch of Trans-Himalayan. The paper concludes that the situation of the languages of Arunachal Pradesh is thus more similar to Siberia or the Amazon Basin than to well-ordered branches of the Trans-Himalayan phylum.
The paper describes the language situation in Arunachal Pradesh and progress in archiving data on... more The paper describes the language situation in Arunachal Pradesh and progress in archiving data on these languages as well as research prospects
The paper describes the metrological system of the Idu, a minority people of Arunachal Pradesh, N... more The paper describes the metrological system of the Idu, a minority people of Arunachal Pradesh, Northeast India. Measurement systems include time, distance, weight/volume of dry and liquid substances, field size. Some of these seem quite idiosyncratic when compared to more obvious measurement systems. For example, a key measure of a journey is the distance a pig can be carried in a day. The paper tabulates the names and etymologies of different measures used by the Idu and provides images of some physical items, such as baskets and bamboo tubes. Neighbouring peoples, notably the Kman and Tawrã, also have a similar system, and they are possibly found in the wider area, since a parallel description of the Aoheng in Borneo bears strong general similarities. However, the contrast with other comparable areas of the world, such as Sub-Saharan Africa and Melanesia is palpable; these areas conspicuously lack such systems. The paper concludes with some possible explanations for the elaboration of metrology in small-scale societies.
A major revolution in thinking about colour came with the publication of the Basic Colour Theory ... more A major revolution in thinking about colour came with the publication of the Basic Colour Theory (BCT) of Berlin & Kay (1969). This is turn led to the World Colour Survey (WCS) which was intended to provide a large cross-cultural sample. However, the outcome was the development of two opposed camps; those who consider colour categorisation intimately a function of physiology, and those who treat it as arbitrary and culturally determined. Intensive lexical work on the languages of Central Nigeria over two decades has made it possible to compare the colour terminology of three adjacent languages of different affiliation, but inhabiting the same landscape.
a) There is a striking absence of in-depth explorations of colour terms in African languages b) All three languages have an elaborate set of colour terms c) Even though the languages are contiguous their colour terms can only be weakly mapped against one another d) Colour terms in these languages are refercnced by a wide variety of parts of speech e) Most are underived and not polysemous with everyday objects f) Hence trying to establish a hierarchy of term creation is a problematic exercise g) All languages distinguish black, white and red but these are not necessarily morphosyntactically distinct from other colours h) The wide concept of ‘grue’ (green + blue) is not supported i) A mooted association between light and dark, warm and cool is not borne out by the data j) Boze has a striking diversity of words for multi-coloured, not matched in the other languages k) All languages have a variety of underived colour intensifiers
The South Bauchi languages are West Chadic languages spoken around Bauchi town. Although there ar... more The South Bauchi languages are West Chadic languages spoken around Bauchi town. Although there are some forty languages, few have been studied by linguists and even fewer have any language development. The best-known languages are Zaar, Boghom, Geri and Zul. The talk reviews what is known and presents the results of fresh fieldwork undertaken in 2019. We found that some languages are down to the last few speakers and urgent research is required to document these languages before they disappear. South Bauchi languages are known for their complex phonologies, and as a consequence, there are many problems in developing effective writing systems. The presentation offers some suggestions for the priority research agenda.
Abstract for LAGB 2021: Particles in African languages
Mwaghavul, a West Chadic A3 language, has... more Abstract for LAGB 2021: Particles in African languages
Mwaghavul, a West Chadic A3 language, has a multifunctional nasal particle which precedes both nouns and verbs in a wide variety of contexts. In some cases it is homorganic, being realised as /n/, /m/ and /ŋ/ according to the following consonant. It bears a tone, invariably low, regardless of the tone of the stem following. It is written in the current orthographic system with a hyphen following to distinguish it from the stem, since Mwaghavul words can have initial ŋ-. The meanings so far listed for this particle include;
A scatter of other nouns in the Mwaghavul lexicon exhibit this optional nasal marker.
Verbs
Irrealis/future. A preposed nasal marks future;
tár ɗi[n] ǹ.ji month that FUT.come the coming month
The morphology and syntax of related A3 languages is poorly known, although grammatical materials exist for Ngas and Goemai. The same functions for the nasal particle are attested in both these languages, at least for Irrealis/future, Locative, Dative and animal names, so it is suggested these uses can be reconstructed for the branch of West Chadic. A3 languages in particular have been heavily influenced by the neighbouring Plateau languages, with which they are geographically entwined. Since some of the same functions are attested in, for example, Izere and Berom, it is suggested that contact has played a role in the genesis of this multi-functional particle.
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Videos by Roger Blench
The paper aims to summarise the systems of number marking in the subgroups of West Chadic and then to explore the mechanisms or trajectories by which these are lost in some families. There is little doubt of the generic influence of the Plateau languages with which these are in contact. Plateau languages have either no nominal marking or alternating prefixes, very different from the suffixing systems typical of Chadic. However, it is remarkable that the shortening process has led to the disappearance of even trace mo
Central Nigeria is a zone of
Developing the agro- and ethno-botany of minority communities requires a long-term iterative commitment to communities which almost directly opposed to the dogma-driven, short funding cycle approach which inevitably dominates large institutions. Indeed many typical methodologies actively spread misinformation.
The paper describes a two decades long project to document the ethnobotany of Central Nigeria and strategies to make the results available to the communities. The output combines botany, linguistics and anthropology. This involves collaboration with knowledgeable individuals over a long period, as well as an iterative produced involving the distribution of preliminary documents. The field material is entered in a database which can be regularly updated and export to an app for Android phones.
Nominal markers Evidentiality
Locative
Exclusion
Animal names
Dative
Verbal markers Future
The morphology and syntax of related A3 languages is poorly known, although grammatical materials exist for Ngas and Goemai. The same functions for the nasal particle are attested in both these languages, at least for Irrealis/future, Locative, Dative and animal names, so it is suggested these uses can be reconstructed for the branch of West Chadic. A3 languages in partic
Some researchers (e.g. Bond et al.) have argued that these are ‘natural’, i.e. they represent climax vegetation
Alternatively, they were created by burning at the same period that megafaunal extinctions occur
The exponents of the ‘natural’ view do not explain the data presented by Burney and others concerning the rise in carbon ca. 2400 BP.
More recent papers, e.g. Godfrey et al. (2019) espouse an anthropic origin based on the faunal evidence
This in turn relates to a crucial question. Exactly when was Madagascar first settled and by whom?
Papers by Roger Blench
The paper reviews the archaeological evidence for baskets and the distributional evidence from synchronic ethnography. The linguistic data focuses on the reconstruction of basket types. It then presents a series of quasi-reconstructions based on the comparative lexical evidence, and where possible ties these to particular types or basket. The reconstructions reflect close contact between core branches of Austroasiatic in the Vietnam/Laos/Cambodia area. Outlier branches, such as Munda and Nicobaric, virtually never show cognates, suggesting the process whereby they occupied their present territory was marked by a cultural bottleneck, which resulted in cultural loss.
The major areas of Indigenous Knowledge which are relevant to this area are knowledge of plants and animals and concepts of disease. Arunachal Pradesh peoples are keen observers of the animals with which they share their environment and hunting remains a major source of protein for many populations. At the same time, specific animals are surrounded by ritual restrictions, in particular the tiger. Plants, which are hyper-diverse but still poorly explored botanically, serve as a source of food, medicine, craft and construction materials. However, they are also attributed spiritual natures, and their extraction and use a spiritual activity as well as resource exploitation. Diseases and epidemics, which were a major threat to the community prior to the advent of Western medicine, are typically conceptualised as the work of malevolent spirits, and are countered by characteristic ritual procedures.
The peoples of Arunachal Pradesh and their understanding of the natural environment capture many insights still unfamiliar to western science. However, the changing socio-economic context is allowing this knowledge to be lost without documentation. The paper concludes with a plea for greater in-depth documentation, based on more professional science-based approaches.
The paper considers the roots of this rapid wave of change, as well as where things are likely to go in the next few years. As importantly, it argues that European governments have been seriously inept in their policy responses and that this will have consequences. The reason for this is the privileging of the endless to and fro of bloodshed in the Near East, most of which makes good television, but which has limited impact. The creation of a zone of freelance insurgency across the Sahel is likely to significantly increase the trade in weapons and drugs from the region to the Maghreb and thence into southern Europe. In addition, the Mediterranean ‘migrant crisis’ is already creating a highly effective channel for bad actors to enter the European crime and terrorism ecosystem. The paper makes a strong recommendation that greater in-depth and sophisticated analysis be applied to the region of West- Central Africa, and that far more effective policy responses be developed.
The paper aims to summarise the systems of number marking in the subgroups of West Chadic and then to explore the mechanisms or trajectories by which these are lost in some families. There is little doubt of the generic influence of the Plateau languages with which these are in contact. Plateau languages have either no nominal marking or alternating prefixes, very different from the suffixing systems typical of Chadic. However, it is remarkable that the shortening process has led to the disappearance of even trace mo
Central Nigeria is a zone of
Developing the agro- and ethno-botany of minority communities requires a long-term iterative commitment to communities which almost directly opposed to the dogma-driven, short funding cycle approach which inevitably dominates large institutions. Indeed many typical methodologies actively spread misinformation.
The paper describes a two decades long project to document the ethnobotany of Central Nigeria and strategies to make the results available to the communities. The output combines botany, linguistics and anthropology. This involves collaboration with knowledgeable individuals over a long period, as well as an iterative produced involving the distribution of preliminary documents. The field material is entered in a database which can be regularly updated and export to an app for Android phones.
Nominal markers Evidentiality
Locative
Exclusion
Animal names
Dative
Verbal markers Future
The morphology and syntax of related A3 languages is poorly known, although grammatical materials exist for Ngas and Goemai. The same functions for the nasal particle are attested in both these languages, at least for Irrealis/future, Locative, Dative and animal names, so it is suggested these uses can be reconstructed for the branch of West Chadic. A3 languages in partic
Some researchers (e.g. Bond et al.) have argued that these are ‘natural’, i.e. they represent climax vegetation
Alternatively, they were created by burning at the same period that megafaunal extinctions occur
The exponents of the ‘natural’ view do not explain the data presented by Burney and others concerning the rise in carbon ca. 2400 BP.
More recent papers, e.g. Godfrey et al. (2019) espouse an anthropic origin based on the faunal evidence
This in turn relates to a crucial question. Exactly when was Madagascar first settled and by whom?
The paper reviews the archaeological evidence for baskets and the distributional evidence from synchronic ethnography. The linguistic data focuses on the reconstruction of basket types. It then presents a series of quasi-reconstructions based on the comparative lexical evidence, and where possible ties these to particular types or basket. The reconstructions reflect close contact between core branches of Austroasiatic in the Vietnam/Laos/Cambodia area. Outlier branches, such as Munda and Nicobaric, virtually never show cognates, suggesting the process whereby they occupied their present territory was marked by a cultural bottleneck, which resulted in cultural loss.
The major areas of Indigenous Knowledge which are relevant to this area are knowledge of plants and animals and concepts of disease. Arunachal Pradesh peoples are keen observers of the animals with which they share their environment and hunting remains a major source of protein for many populations. At the same time, specific animals are surrounded by ritual restrictions, in particular the tiger. Plants, which are hyper-diverse but still poorly explored botanically, serve as a source of food, medicine, craft and construction materials. However, they are also attributed spiritual natures, and their extraction and use a spiritual activity as well as resource exploitation. Diseases and epidemics, which were a major threat to the community prior to the advent of Western medicine, are typically conceptualised as the work of malevolent spirits, and are countered by characteristic ritual procedures.
The peoples of Arunachal Pradesh and their understanding of the natural environment capture many insights still unfamiliar to western science. However, the changing socio-economic context is allowing this knowledge to be lost without documentation. The paper concludes with a plea for greater in-depth documentation, based on more professional science-based approaches.
The paper considers the roots of this rapid wave of change, as well as where things are likely to go in the next few years. As importantly, it argues that European governments have been seriously inept in their policy responses and that this will have consequences. The reason for this is the privileging of the endless to and fro of bloodshed in the Near East, most of which makes good television, but which has limited impact. The creation of a zone of freelance insurgency across the Sahel is likely to significantly increase the trade in weapons and drugs from the region to the Maghreb and thence into southern Europe. In addition, the Mediterranean ‘migrant crisis’ is already creating a highly effective channel for bad actors to enter the European crime and terrorism ecosystem. The paper makes a strong recommendation that greater in-depth and sophisticated analysis be applied to the region of West- Central Africa, and that far more effective policy responses be developed.
Intensive lexical work on the languages of Central Nigeria over two decades has made it possible to compare the colour terminology of three contiguous languages of different affiliations, but inhabiting the same landscape. The findings can be summarised as follows;
a) All three languages have an elaborate set of colour terms, but even though the languages are contiguous these terms cannot be mapped against one another
b) The great majority are underived with opaque etymologies and are not polysemous or colexified with known lexical items
c) It is thus not possible to generate a hierarchy of term creation
d) Colour terms in these languages are expressed by a wide variety of parts of speech, but are most typically stative verbs, with ideophonic adjectives derived by reduplication
e) All languages distinguish black, white and red but these are not necessarily morphosyntactically distinct from other colours. Boze exceptionally, has three apparently identical trms for ‘black’
f) There is no evidence for the concept of ‘grue’ (green + blue)
g) The mooted association between light and dark, warm and cool is not reflected in the data
h) Polysemy varies markedly from one language to another, with no distinguishable common associations
i) Salience of individual colours is also highly variable, with ‘yellow’ diversified in one language an d ‘blue’ in another
j) All three languages have a set of secondary colours which are underived but are less elaborated in terms of morphosyntax. There are no correspondences between the three languages
k) All languages have numerous underived colour intensifiers
l) Boze has a striking diversity of words for multi-coloured, not matched in the other languages
m) Peripheral colours and pattern/colour combinations in Berom and Mwaghavul, but not Boze, have a strong association with livestock, especially horses/ponies, which were introduced around 1500 years ago.
n) Despite the presence of highly-coloured insects and birds throughout the region, their colours form no part of the descriptive lexicon
Roger Blench is a linguist, anthropologist and ethnomusicologist. He took his Ph.D. at the University of Cambridge in 1984 and remains associated with the McDonald Institute for Archaeological Research. He began research in Nigeria in 1979 and has visited the country every year since then. He has published on a wide variety of topics, and edited a large number of books on minority languages, as well as an overview of the relationship between archaeology and linguistics in Africa. He also works in NE India on language development and has recently begun some research in Brazil.
What is worse, however, is that ‘serious’ writers who have featured Africa in their novels, such as Greene, Hemingway, Bellow and Updike, treat it with the utmost triviality. Either they recount their visits to kill animals, or they don’t bother to visit at all. The focus is entirely on the white expatriates, with Africans playing only walk-on parts, like the foil in a Platonic dialogue. We might quarrel with the characterisation of Asian characters in Forster’s A Passage to India or Orwell’s Burmese Days but they play an integral role in the narrative. It seemed perfectly acceptable for these writers that Africa simply be the focus of their fictions, freighted with implausible names and inexplicable motivations.
It is striking, however, that some of the popular writers who have featured African settings, are far better at giving a flavour of life on the continent. Their African characters appear to have a life of their own, rather than being simply backdrop to the existential angst of a white expatriate. Nearly all the popular writers spent considerable fractions of their personal life in Africa and this is evident from their descriptions. It suggests a paradox, that literary writers, who lurk in university courses and incomprehensible interpretations of modern literary critics are in many ways the worse novelists, unable to depict the world in which their fables are set with any type veracity.
The structure of this paper is thus as follows. Three sections consider phonology, morphology and syntax, with a view to illustrating typological diversity in close neighbours. §6 is a case study of the Zora language, which was documented in 1970 and again in 2016. In this period it seems to have undergone massive typological shift, due to pervasive bilingualism with Hausa and loss of contact between residual speakers. If such changes can occur in the documented present, then they presumably occurred in the past, suggesting one of the pathways of typological change. §7 revisits some of the background in this section to develop hypotheses to explain what is at the least a rare situation. The conclusions look forward to a more comprehensive approach to linguistic diversity.
Defences of large-scale genetic units are deeply unfashionable. Even a conference series such this one rarely discusses the larger issues preferring to focus on individual languages. Some branches of Nilo-Saharan are rarely, if ever, the subject of papers. However, understanding large-scale patterns have important consequences for other perspectives on Africa. Archaeologists and geneticists are prone to make use of large-scale units without taking into account the nuanced views of linguists. So a more comprehensive understanding of Nilo-Saharan remains a priority.
It is important to recognise that the abovenamed sceptics have never presented any argument. They simply publish monographs or maps which exclude the branches of Nilo-Saharan they do not favour for opaque reasons. The present paper is a defence of the classic concept of Nilo-Saharan. It accepts that;
a) There is a core set of Nilo-Saharan branches, characterised by tripartite number marking and a variety of other morphosyntactic features.
b) There is a primary outlier branch consisting of Koman and Gumuz, where many of these features are absent but which share a small sample of lexical and grammatical isoglosses
c) There is a secondary outlier branch, consisting of Songhai and Saharan, which can in some cases can be shown to have lost the features which characterise the ‘core’ language set
d) The Chabu (Shabo) language is not Nilo-Saharan but an isolate and resemblances are due to borrowing from Surmic
Arguments for many of these proposals have been made in scattered or not yet published papers by the author and are here put together in a coherent argument.
a) lost almost all number marking
b) lost all verb morphology
c) have radically shortened nominal stems
d) have complex systems of verbal plurality
e) have a large percentage of lexicon with no discernible Chadic cognates.
Given that they are geographically intertwined with their Plateau neighbours, it is reasonable to propose that this distinctiveness arose through contact. Plateau is morphosyntactically very various, but some branches display all these features. However, there is little evidence for direct lexical borrowing. The paper therefore proposes two explanations;
a) that there were Plateau languages in the region where A3 languages are spoken today and that this must be the source of innovative lexical items
b) there was extensive bilingualism with languages typologically similar to A3 languages, which resulted on morphosyntactic change through a process of metatypy.
The paper draws on a wide database of A3 languages as well as potential reconstructed forms collected since 2016 by the author and Michael Bulkaam to illustrate the argument.
Onomatopoeic expressives are those which are claimed to mimic the sounds of realworld events. A subset of these are conventional animal noises
Expressives/ideophones those which express states, emotions or sensations
Paired collocations/echo expressives those where a two syllable first element is followed by one which resembles it segmentally and tonally
Onomatopoeic expressives are sometimes reduplicated or repeated many times, according to the pragmatic context. They can be extremely diverse morphologically following the perception of the entity imitated. The register where adults speak to children includes bogus onomatopoeia
Expressives are usually reduplicated. This can be exact, exact except for tonal alternation, or with elements changed, typically the vowels.
Paired collocations are usually not reduplicated exactly. These can either be transparent semantic sequences (e.g. road + bridge giving ‘communication’) or opaque, where the second element has no meaning, but the expression is felt ‘incomplete’ without it
As elsewhere, onomatopoeia is frequently heard in natural conversation. However, expressives are far more common in types of heightened speech, such as narrations and the many registers for which these languages are well-known. Paired collocations are typical of heightened speech, especially mediation language, hunting and shamanic registers. Kman has a poetic register, where these collocations are used in every stanza.
Ideophones usually fill the adverbial slot, preceding the verb they qualify. There are, however, exceptions, such as;
jȭ.õ̀õ̀ describes looking like an owl
which is neither reduplicated nor adverbial. Paired collocations are particularly challenging to assign to a specific part of speech, since they can be nouns, verbs, adjectives and adverbs, and for example a sequence of two verbs can be used to create a nominal. For example;
càcì làpē s.t. annoying fr. undermine + throw
The paper provides illustrations of all these classes of iconic expression and brief examples of their use in syntactic context, especially where they occur in heightened speech, for Idu and Kman. It then extends the discussion to other languages of Arunachal Pradesh, especially May (Sherdukpen) and Miji (Sajolang). A brief comparison with African ideophones is given, highlighting the contrast whereby reduplicated elements in African languages are usually associated with narrative. Finally it considers why these evidently salient aspects of spoken culture have been so little studied in SE Asia.
Central Nigeria is a zone of extreme ethnolinguistic diversity and the pattern of languages marked by exceptional fragmentation. The pattern of villages would have been far more dispersed than in the mountains due to the poor soil fertility in this region and it is likely the quest for better land was a significant driver of migration. In addition, elaborate patterns of linguistic exogamy and joking relationships point to mechanisms for embedding inter-ethnic relationships, and thus the functioning of trade routes. Crops from the Columbian exchange, such as cassava, maize and pawpaw, had reached central Nigeria from both the coast and the Maghreb, well before the first accounts of travellers. Imported iron from the coast had already spread inland by this period, leading to an expansion of metal tools which could also be repurposed as tokens in marital exchanges. Building on an array of different types of evidence, it is possible to begin build a picture of economy and society.
However, in the Philippines, these polyphonic forms disappear completely and give rise to uniformly monodic compositions. This is the case throughout almost all of Island SE Asia. Polyphony is common among the non-Austronesian (Papuan) peoples. The other examples of polyphony in the Austronesian area are in Timor, and on Flores, where there is clear evidence of a Papuan substrate.
The paper argues that the discontinuities in the dispersal of Austronesian and its interaction with non-Austronesian languages closely map against music forms. A further example is given of the instrumental diversity apparent in the Philippines and islands further south, in striking contrast to the almost entirely vocal music of Taiwan.
Three main disciplines can be brought to bear: history, linguistics and archaeology. Oral traditions typically refer to settlement in the mountains and have little to say about the period prior to the movement there. In recent years they have been bedevilled by an overlay of invented traditions, relating to Palestine or Kush. The main archaeology that is relevant is the excavations in and around Nok, which have produced a series of reliable dates, but also remarkable terracotta figurines, depicting daily life some 2500 years ago.
Central Nigeria is a zone of extreme ethnolinguistic diversity and the pattern of languages marked by exceptional fragmentation. The pattern of villages would have been far more dispersed than in the mountains due to the poor soil fertility in this region and it is likely the quest for better land was a significant driver of migration. In addition, elaborate patterns of linguistic exogamy and joking relationships point to mechanisms for embedding inter-ethnic relationships, and thus the functioning of trade routes.
Crops from the Columbian exchange, such as cassava, maize and pawpaw, had reached central Nigeria from both the coast and the Maghreb, well before the first accounts of travellers. Imported iron from the coast had already spread inland by this period, leading to an expansion of metal tools which could also be repurposed as tokens in marital exchanges. Building on an array of different types of evidence, it is possible to begin build a picture of economy and society.
To develop a richer picture of the history of Nigeria, we will need to explore methods which go beyond written documents. It is unfortunate that no ancient DNA has yet been recovered from this region, since this is providing important insights into the past for other regions of Africa.
The paper aims to summarise the systems of number marking in the subgroups of West Chadic and then to explore the mechanisms or trajectories by which these are lost in some families. There is little doubt of the generic influence of the Plateau languages with which these are in contact. Plateau languages have either no nominal marking or alternating prefixes, very different from the suffixing systems typical of Chadic. However, it is remarkable that the shortening process has led to the disappearance of even trace morphology. The paper will explore these patterns and advance hypotheses as to their pathways.
The literature on directionals in this region of the world remains very sparse. Post (2011) describes ‘topographical deictics’ for the Tani languages and similar lexicon must be presumed for other regional languages. There are far richer discussions of directionals in Austronesian, but unfortunately the physical environment is so very different that there are few points of comparison.
The paper reviews the classical accounts, and the records of first contact from 1312 onwards. Linguistics points strongly to a connection with the Berbers of the Maghreb, although the extermination of the inhabitants before their language was properly recorded, makes this uncertain. Some types of cultural evidence, such as the granaries with door locks on Gran Canaria, point to Berber contact. However, other practices, such as mummification, log-coffins, body stamps and terracotta images of deities seem highly idiosyncratic. Although the Guanche practised minimalist agriculture from ca. 300 AD onwards, with barley, wheat, goats, sheep and pigs, some islands had reverted to foraging by the medieval era. Recent aDNA work has confirmed the North African connection but the results remain frustratingly unspecific.
On the face of it, continuing to recognise Kadu (=Kadugli-Krongo, the ‘Tumtum’ of Greenberg) is more obvious. The Kadu languages consist of nine distinct lects spoken in the Nuba Mountains. Kadu has many features associated with Nilo-Saharan morphology (despite its alternating affixes which appeared to link it to Niger-Congo), including a three-term number system with singulative in t- and plurative in k-, like much of East Sudanic. These were first explored in some detail by Roland Stevenson (1991) who also presented a series of morphological and lexical arguments for a Nilo-Saharan affiliation. Most of these remain valid and indeed can be extended in the light of a much expanded dataset. The paper will present the evidence for retaining Kadu within Nilo-Saharan.
A more problematic orphan language is Shabo [=Chabu], spoken by around 1000 near-hunter-gatherers in southwest Ethiopia. Until recently, grammatical and lexical data on this language has been scarce, and the basis for arguments about its affiliation correspondingly problematic. Moreover, it has come under heavy lexical influence from the neighbouring Majang, a Surmic language. However, in the light of the thesis by Tsehay (2015) it is now possible to see that Shabo is extremely different from other Nilo-Saharan languages in its grammar and that apparent lexical cognates are likely ot be deep-level borrowings. The paper argues that Shabo is probably a language isolate, and that apparent similarities with Nilo-Saharan are due to influence from Majang and Koman.
Which would produce;
A comprehensive sociolinguistic analysis prior to project initiation
A sophisticated linguistic analysis which should pass international scrutiny
Literacy and aural materials combined with an outline strategy of sustainability in a broader media environment
Translation and preparation of written materials
This presentation will outline how this might be achieved
The paper reviews the archaeological evidence for baskets and the distributional evidence from synchronic ethnography. The linguistic data focuses on the reconstruction of basket types. It then presents a series of quasi-reconstructions based on the comparative lexical evidence, and where possible ties these to particular types or basket. The reconstructions reflect close contact between core branches of Austroasiatic in the Vietnam/Laos/Cambodia area. Outlier branches, such as Munda and Nicobaric, virtually never show cognates, suggesting the process whereby they occupied their present territory was marked by a cultural bottleneck, which resulted in cultural loss.
The paper presents the background to shamanism among the Idu and a classification of the types of chant they perform. It then undertakes an analysis of a sample of the lexicon, demonstrating how periphrastic expressions are used, drawing on the paired collocations of ‘four-term’ phrases typical of SE Asia. Finally, it compares the shamanic register with the other six registers Idu also possesses.
The author has collected field data from all of these languages and the paper argues that;
a) similarities to one another are due to contact rather than genuine genetic affiliation
b) and that therefore recent claims for entities such as ‘Kho-Bwa’ and ‘Hrusish’ are extremely shaky
c) that lexical similarities to common Trans-Himalayan roots may well be the result of contact not genetic affiliation
Our knowledge of the morphosyntax of these languages is far less rich than their lexicon, but none of it provides convincing links to any branch of Trans-Himalayan. The paper concludes that the situation of the languages of Arunachal Pradesh is thus more similar to Siberia or the Amazon Basin than to well-ordered branches of the Trans-Himalayan phylum.
a) There is a striking absence of in-depth explorations of colour terms in African languages
b) All three languages have an elaborate set of colour terms
c) Even though the languages are contiguous their colour terms can only be weakly mapped against one another
d) Colour terms in these languages are refercnced by a wide variety of parts of speech
e) Most are underived and not polysemous with everyday objects
f) Hence trying to establish a hierarchy of term creation is a problematic exercise
g) All languages distinguish black, white and red but these are not necessarily morphosyntactically distinct from other colours
h) The wide concept of ‘grue’ (green + blue) is not supported
i) A mooted association between light and dark, warm and cool is not borne out by the data
j) Boze has a striking diversity of words for multi-coloured, not matched in the other languages
k) All languages have a variety of underived colour intensifiers
Mwaghavul, a West Chadic A3 language, has a multifunctional nasal particle which precedes both nouns and verbs in a wide variety of contexts. In some cases it is homorganic, being realised as /n/, /m/ and /ŋ/ according to the following consonant. It bears a tone, invariably low, regardless of the tone of the stem following. It is written in the current orthographic system with a hyphen following to distinguish it from the stem, since Mwaghavul words can have initial ŋ-. The meanings so far listed for this particle include;
Nominal markers Evidentiality
Locative
Exclusion
Animal names
Dative
Verbal markers Future
Brief examples are as follows;
Evidentiality. The nasal is prefixed to the noun about which there is uncertainty;
ā cín ā ǹgùrùm góng mo yē
you give you people how many pl. QM
How many people of the group are actually doing the work?
Locative. A nasal prefix can substitute for a locative marker.
Panzum ǹ.lú
Panzum LOC.room
Panzum is in the room
Exclusion. The exclusion marker, ǹɗîn ‘without’ triggers prenasalisation of the noun it governs;
rǐ sē mbiise ǹɗîn ǹ.lwaa
he eat food without meat
he ate food without meat
Dative. A dative marker can be replaced with prenasalisation.
rǎ séét léé ǹ.Jantu
she buy cloth for-Jantu
she bought clothes for Jantu
Animal names. Mwaghavul animal names are usually prenasalised, but this can be deleted without loss of grammaticality;
Mwaghavul Gloss
m.būl dove, pigeon
m.bwóór lion
m.pɨ́rámpās dragonfly
n.còkméél grasshopper sp.
n.dàl small, striped rat
n.fyéém hawk
A scatter of other nouns in the Mwaghavul lexicon exhibit this optional nasal marker.
Verbs
Irrealis/future. A preposed nasal marks future;
tár ɗi[n] ǹ.ji
month that FUT.come
the coming month
The morphology and syntax of related A3 languages is poorly known, although grammatical materials exist for Ngas and Goemai. The same functions for the nasal particle are attested in both these languages, at least for Irrealis/future, Locative, Dative and animal names, so it is suggested these uses can be reconstructed for the branch of West Chadic. A3 languages in particular have been heavily influenced by the neighbouring Plateau languages, with which they are geographically entwined. Since some of the same functions are attested in, for example, Izere and Berom, it is suggested that contact has played a role in the genesis of this multi-functional particle.