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In:Anthropological Linguistics: Perspectives from Africa
Edited by Andrea Hollington, Alice Mitchell and Nico Nassenstein
[Culture and Language Use 23] 2024
► pp. 1–28

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Chapter 1
Introduction

 | Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz
 | University of Cologne
 | Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz
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Available under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives (CC BY-NC-ND) 4.0 license.

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Published online: 1 February 2024
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https://doi.org/10.1075/clu.23.01nas
Abstract
The study of African languages, cultural practices and speakers’ conceptualizations is complex and multilayered. This introductory chapter provides an overview of the goals and scope of the volume. It also offers a short historical survey of anthropological linguistics as well as some reflections on the forms this field of enquiry has taken in relation to African languages. We discuss the structure of the volume, including chapter summaries and intersections, and conclude with some remarks on the future of the anthropological linguistics of Africa.
Article outline
  • 1.Goals and scope
  • 2.Anthropological linguistics in historical context
  • 3.Anthropological linguistics in African contexts
  • 4.Contents and organization of the volume
    • 4.1Time, space, and language
    • 4.2Personhood, sociality, and naming
    • 4.3Perception and classification
    • 4.4Sociocultural dimensions of discourse structure
  • 5.Whither anthropological linguistics?
  • Notes
  • References
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