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Anthropological Linguistics
Perspectives from Africa
e-Book – Open Access 
ISBN 9789027249227
This collection presents new research on key topics in anthropological linguistics, with a focus on African languages. While Africanist linguists have long been concerned with sociocultural aspects of language structure and use, no comprehensive volume dedicated to the anthropological linguistics of Africa has yet been published. This volume seeks to fill this gap. The chapters address a broad range of topics in anthropological linguistics, including classic themes such as spatial reference, color, kin terms, and emotion, as well as emerging interests in the linguistic expression of personhood, sociality, and language ideology. All contributions are based on original empirical research and present insights into African language practices from a sociocultural perspective. The volume showcases research on dozens of African languages spoken across the continent, with particular emphasis on languages of East Africa. This book will be of interest to areal specialists as well as to anthropological linguists worldwide.
[Culture and Language Use, 23] 2024. xiii, 485 pp.
Publishing status: Available
Published online on 12 January 2024
Published online on 12 January 2024
© John Benjamins
Available under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives (CC BY-NC-ND) 4.0 license.
For any use beyond this license, please contact the publisher at rights@benjamins.nl.
Table of Contents
- List of figures | pp. vii–viii
- List of tables | pp. ix–x
- List of maps | pp. xi–xii
- Acknowledgments | pp. xiii–xiv
- Chapter 1. IntroductionNico Nassenstein, Alice Mitchell and Andrea Hollington | pp. 1–28
- Part 1. Time, space, and language
- Chapter 2. The cultural, linguistic and cognitive relativity of time conceptsThomas Widlok | pp. 30–48
- Chapter 3. A cautious approach to spatial orientation in TimaSuzan Alamin and Gertrud Schneider-Blum | pp. 49–82
- Chapter 4. Mouths, tongues, and ears: Source concepts for ‘language’ across AfricaAlice Mitchell and Nicola Zimmermann | pp. 83–103
- Chapter 5. Notes on glottonyms and ethnonyms in Ethiopian languagesZelealem Leyew | pp. 104–134
- Part 2. Personhood, sociality, and naming
- Chapter 6. Conceptions of the make-up of a human person in EweFelix K. Ameka | pp. 136–176
- Chapter 7. Utu as epistemology and conviviality in Kiswahili culture: Anthropological linguistic perspectives on living togetherAgnes Brühwiler and Andrea Hollington | pp. 177–201
- Chapter 8. “They look hostile from afar”: Language ideologies and representations of “Northernness” in UgandaJan Knipping | pp. 202–222
- Chapter 9. Kin-relational expressions of the Tima (Nuba Mountains, Sudan)Nataliya Veit and Gertrud Schneider-Blum | pp. 223–252
- Chapter 10. Tagoi birth names: A historical change from African to Islamic/Arabic namesAbeer M. A. Bashir and Osman M. O. Ali | pp. 253–276
- Part 3. Perception and classification
- Chapter 11. Catching and classifying fish among the DwangJames Essegbey | pp. 278–305
- Chapter 12. Perception and expression of color among the Wolof of SenegalAdjaratou Oumar Sall | pp. 306–330
- Chapter 13. “Show your feelings!”: On the expression of emotions in Rabai (Midzichenda)Laura Seel and Nico Nassenstein | pp. 331–366
- Chapter 14. Verbal lexicalization and cultural domains in ToposaHelga Schröder | pp. 367–392
- Part 4. Sociocultural dimensions of discourse structure
- Chapter 15. Tail-head linkage in Upper Guinea Coast languages: The areal diffusion of pragmatic-syntactic structures (Baïnounk, Joola and Creoles)Alexander Cobbinah | pp. 394–424
- Chapter 16. On politeness and taboo among the ZandeHelma Pasch and Faustin Dusa Gumekpala | pp. 425–452
- Chapter 17. The narrative of a witness: A conversation-analytic approach to SwahiliMaren Rüsch | pp. 453–478
- Index | pp. 479–485