LINGUIST List 10.869

Tue Jun 8 1999

Books: African

Editor for this issue: Anthony Rodrigues Aristar <aristarlinguistlist.org>

Links to the websites of all LINGUIST's supporting publishers are available at the end of this issue.

Directory

LINCOM EUROPA, African Ling: Barawa Lexicon

LINCOM EUROPA, African Ling: Dictionary of Mbay

LINCOM EUROPA, African Ling: Reference Grammar of Mbay

LINCOM EUROPA, African Ling: Cyclicity in the...Phonology of Kivunjo Chaga

LINCOM EUROPA, African Ling: langues du Gabon et du Congo-Brazzaville

LINCOM EUROPA, African Ling: Mbay Texts, Tales, etc.

Message 1: African Ling: Barawa Lexicon

Date: Sat, 05 Jun 1999 10:19:09 +0200
From: LINCOM EUROPA <LINCOM.EUROPAt-online.de>
Subject: African Ling: Barawa Lexicon

BARAWA LEXICON. A Wordlist of Eight South Bauchi (West Chadic) Languages: Boghom, Buli, Dott, Geji, Jimi, Polci, Sayanci and Zul

Ronald Cosper, Saint Mary's University, Canada, and Bayero University Kano, Nigeria

The South Bauchi group of languages, spoken in northern Nigeria is the least studied subfamily of West Chadic. The body of this document consists of a lexicon of 852 words from eight South Bauchi (Barawa) languages: Jimi, Zul, Geji, Polci, Dott, Sayanci, Buli and Boghom. Most of these languages could be called endangered; only Sayanci, the largest, is relatively secure, and some of the languages have only a few hundred speakers. Nearly all speakers are bilingual in Hausa, which has had a considerable influence on the lexicons and grammars of these languages. For scholars interested in comparative linguistics, these languages should be of maximal use, as they represent geographic extremes of the family. Items in the lexicon are organized according to semantic and syntactic categories: semantic categories of nouns are followed by adjectives, numerals, pronouns, prepositions, conjunctions and a number of categories of verb. This organization reflects a cognitive structure useful in fieldwork with native speakers, and academic and general users of these wordlists should also find this topical mode of presentation helpful. The wordlists are preceded by an introduction and outline of the phonologies of the languages.

ISBN 3 89586 931 7. LINCOM Studies in African Linguistics 39. USD 52 / DM 80 / pound sterling 28.

Ordering information for individuals: Please give us your creditcard no. / expiry date or send us a cheque. Prices in this information include shipment worldwide by airmail. LINCOM EUROPA, Paul-Preuss-Str. 25, D-80995 Muenchen, Germany; FAX +49 89 3148909; New titles: http://home.t-online.de/home/LINCOM.EUROPA/new1.htm; LINCOM.EUROPAt-online.de.

Message 2: African Ling: Dictionary of Mbay

Date: Sat, 05 Jun 1999 11:55:20 +0200
From: LINCOM EUROPA <LINCOM.EUROPAt-online.de>
Subject: African Ling: Dictionary of Mbay

DICTIONARY OF MBAY John Keegan compiled with Nangbaye Marcel and Manadji Tolkom Bertin

Mbay is a Central Sudanic language spoken in southern Chad near the border with Central Africa. There are an estimated 80,000 speakers of Mbay in the subprefecture of Moissala. It is a Sara language, and is most closely related to Sar (Madjingay), Ngam and Nar. The work is based on materials gathered in Chad during the periods 1977-1979 and 1988-1990. The dictionary attempts to provide a description of the Mbay language and the people who speak it as viewed from the lexicon. The scope is broad, incorporating more information, both linguistic and cultural, than is commonly contained in a work of this type. The goal has been to describe the lexicon in a fashion that is not only acurate, but also revealing of how the words are used by the Mbay in their daily life. In addition to the meanings, expressions, and idioms found to be associated with a word, sample sentences illustrating that meaning in a typical context have been provided.

ISBN 3 89586 052 2. Languages of the World/Dictionaries 03. 610 pp. Ca. 300 illustrations. USD 131 / DM 196 / pound sterling 79.

Ordering information for individuals: Please give us your creditcard no. / expiry date or send us a cheque. Prices in this information include shipment worldwide by airmail. A standing order for this series is available. LINCOM EUROPA, Paul-Preuss-Str. 25, D-80995 Muenchen, Germany; FAX +49 89 3148909; New titles: http://home.t-online.de/home/LINCOM.EUROPA/new1.htm; LINCOM.EUROPAt-online.de.

Message 3: African Ling: Reference Grammar of Mbay

Date: Sat, 05 Jun 1999 11:52:20 +0200
From: LINCOM EUROPA <LINCOM.EUROPAt-online.de>
Subject: African Ling: Reference Grammar of Mbay

A REFERENCE GRAMMAR OF MBAY John Keegan

A Reference Grammar of Mbay provides a solid introduction to the grammars of Mbay, a Central-Sudanic languuge of the Sara family described in a Dictionary of Mbay by the same author. It is based on extensive field research among the Mbay in Chad during the period data for the dictionary was collected. The grammar is diveded into eight sections. The first five describe the phonology and morphology. First. segmental phonology is described, and a thorough explanation and justification of the writing system is provided, followed by a description of tone and vowel length. The second section treats morpheme structure, with emphasis on the canonical and harmonic constraints which limit the shape of Mbay morphemes. The inflectional paradigms are described in the third section, and this is followed in the fourth by an explanation of the phonological change associated with inflection, with emphasis on a description of the different types of tonal change. Section five treats the limited word formation processes found in the language. Section six through eight treat Mbay syntax. Section six describes the structure and uses of the different categories and subcategories, and includes descriptions of alienable/inalienable nouns, verb aspect, serial verbs, adjectival uses of verbs and nouns, and the various uses of ideophones, specifiers and compleentizers. Section seven deals with word order, describing sentence order as well as the structure of the noun, verb and prepositional phrase. Included in this section are a number of special structures and expressions. In general, the description contained in these sections attempts to be broad in scope, and includes explanatations of how to express common concepts (e.g. existence, impersonal expression, comparison, superlative, etx.) as well as interesting aspects of Mbay syntax which transcend individual categories (eg. the notion of 'standing/sitting/lying'). Section eight deals with the rules governing the mandatory subject and object reference affices. The grammatical descriptions are accompanied by abundant examples, and in many cases word for word translation are given in addition to a more conventional translation.

ISBN 3 89586 173 1. LINCOM Studies in African Linguistics 14. 240pp. Photographs. USD 75 / DM 117/ pound sterling 46.

Ordering information for individuals: Please give us your creditcard no. / expiry date or send us a cheque. Prices in this information include shipment worldwide by airmail. A standing order for this series is available. LINCOM EUROPA, Paul-Preuss-Str. 25, D-80995 Muenchen, Germany; FAX +49 89 3148909; New titles: http://home.t-online.de/home/LINCOM.EUROPA/new1.htm; LINCOM.EUROPAt-online.de.

Message 4: African Ling: Cyclicity in the...Phonology of Kivunjo Chaga

Date: Sat, 05 Jun 1999 10:29:39 +0200
From: LINCOM EUROPA <LINCOM.EUROPAt-online.de>
Subject: African Ling: Cyclicity in the...Phonology of Kivunjo Chaga

CYCLICITY IN THE PHRASAL PHONOLOGY OF KIVUNJO CHAGA Brian McHugh, Temple University

This work is a pre-OT study of cyclicity and suprasegmentals in the phrasal (postlexical) phonology of KiVunjo Chaga, a Bantu language of Tanzania. In it, my primary aim is to lend support to Prosodic Hierarchy theory, with one controversial modification: cyclic application of phrasing- sensitive rules. My empirical base consists of the elaborate KiVunjo Chaga tone sandhi paradigm, which reflects not only a full range of lexical tone contrasts ("etymological tone", in Bantuist parlance), but also a variable, metrically assigned accent that attracts phrase-final boundary tone features, with the result that the underlying tonal inventory of high and low is enriched to include superhigh, downstepped high, and downstepped superhigh tones. In addition, an across-the-board, phrase-level tone shift contributes to the complexity of this paradigm (and to the argument for cyclicity) by introducing contour tones in domain-final position. In analyzing the mechanics of phrasal tone-accent rules in KiVunjo Chaga, I also argue for (a) underspecification of tone features and (b) a hierarchical representation of tone and accent as daughters of a single suprasegmental root tier, which serves the dual function of providing tone-bearing units and bottom-line grid marks for accent and stress.

ISBN 3 89586 042 5. LINCOM Studies in African Linguistics 03. Ca. 240 pp. USD 67 / DM 94 / pound sterling 43.

Ordering information for individuals: Please give us your creditcard no. / expiry date or send us a cheque. Prices in this information include shipment worldwide by airmail. LINCOM EUROPA, Paul-Preuss-Str. 25, D-80995 Muenchen, Germany; FAX +49 89 3148909; New titles: http://home.t-online.de/home/LINCOM.EUROPA/new1.htm; LINCOM.EUROPAt-online.de.

Message 5: African Ling: langues du Gabon et du Congo-Brazzaville

Date: Sat, 05 Jun 1999 12:28:33 +0200
From: LINCOM EUROPA <LINCOM.EUROPAt-online.de>
Subject: African Ling: langues du Gabon et du Congo-Brazzaville

Douze �tudes sur les langues du Gabon et du Congo-Brazzaville Jean Alain Blanchon, Universit� Lumi�re-Lyon 2

Le pr�sent recueil, compos� de douze articles parus entre 1984 et 1993 dans Pholia, revue du Centre de Recherches Linguistiques et Semiologiques de l'Universit� Lumi�re-Lyon 2, traite de divers aspects de la morphologie et de la tonologie d'une dizaine de langues bantoues des zones B et H : mpongw�, eshira, massango, pounou, loumbou, nz�bi, obamba, vili, yoombi et laari. Bien entendu, toutes les langues de la r�gion n'ont pas �t� examin�es et seules les questions les plus interessantes ont �t� retenues. Les choix qui ont �t� faits ont parfois �t� dict�s par d'heureuses rencontres avec tel ou tel informateur ou collaborateur. Cependant, un projet coh�rent sous-tend tout de m�me la diversit� de ces �tudes : guid� par la conviction que la solution � un probl�me linguistique donn� peut souvent se d�couvrir plus facilement, et se formuler de fa�on plus int�ressante, si l'on examine les langues voisines, il s'agissait d'essayer de mieux comprendre les problemes ardus pos�s par le groupe B.40, et tout particuli�rement par le pounou (B.43) en �tendant l'analyse de proche en proche. Cette m�thode continue a guider les travaux plus r�cents de l'auteur. Les langues du Gabon et du Congo-Brazzaville sont encore mal connues, malgr� les apports r�cents de chercheurs africains et europ�ens. L'ambition des travaux publi�s ici �tait de fournir quelques bases solides pour des �tudes dont beaucoup sont encore � venir.

ISBN 3 89586 605 9. LINCOM Studies in African Linguistics 33. Ca. 200 pp. USD 58 / DM 88 / pound sterling 33.

Ordering information for individuals: Please give us your creditcard no. / expiry date or send us a cheque. Prices in this information include shipment worldwide by airmail. A standing order for this series is available with special discounts offered to individual subscribers. LINCOM EUROPA, Paul-Preuss-Str. 25, D-80995 Muenchen, Germany; FAX +49 89 3148909; New titles: http://home.t-online.de/home/LINCOM.EUROPA/new1.htm; LINCOM.EUROPAt-online.de.

Message 6: African Ling: Mbay Texts, Tales, etc.

Date: Sat, 05 Jun 1999 11:49:37 +0200
From: LINCOM EUROPA <LINCOM.EUROPAt-online.de>
Subject: African Ling: Mbay Texts, Tales, etc.

MBAY TEXTS TALES, RECIPES, GAMES AND RIDDLES John M. Keegan

Djiblo Ngarramadji, Nangbaye Marcel, Yankal Kindomkoul, Serge Koidere, Souangar Mahamat Ngonsay, M. Djimadoumnar. Edited and Translated by John M. Keegan

This collection of Mbay texts was gathered during the periods 1977-1979 and 1988-1990 as part of the research for the Dictionary of Mbay and A Reference Grammar of Mbay by the same author. The collection contains approximately 30 texts of various types. It includes a selection of typical Mbay tales and riddles, a few recipes for typical foods (e.g. 'boule' and 'long sauce'), descriptions of games (e.g. 'jacks' and 'warriors'), several 'how to' descriptions of typical Mbay activities (e.g. 'how to make a mud house' and 'how to make soap'), and a few descriptions of cultural phenomena (e.g. 'lion-men' and 'returned spirits'). The texts are written with the same transcription used in the Dictionary of Mbay, and there is a morpheme-by-morpheme translation of each line followed by a more colloquial translation.

ISBN 3 929075 93 8. Languages of the World/ Text- Collections 16. Ca. 100 pp. USD 44 / DM 64 / pound sterling 24. June 1999.

Ordering information for individuals: Please give us your creditcard no. / expiry date or send us a cheque. Prices in this information include shipment worldwide by airmail. A standing order for this series is available. LINCOM EUROPA, Paul-Preuss-Str. 25, D-80995 Muenchen, Germany; FAX +49 89 3148909; New titles: http://home.t-online.de/home/LINCOM.EUROPA/new1.htm; LINCOM.EUROPAt-online.de.

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