This volume presents the first book-length overview of the Atlantic
languages, a small family of languages spoken mainly on the Atlantic
coast of West Africa. Languages in this area have been used in diverse
multilingual societies with intense language contact for the whole of
their known history, and their genealogical relatedness and the impact
of language contact on their lexicon and grammar have been widely
debated. The book is divided into four parts. The first provides an
introduction to language ecologies in the area and includes two
accounts of the genealogical classification of Atlantic languages.
Chapters in the second part offer grammatical overviews of individual
languages, including the most important non-Atlantic contact languages
(Casamance Creole and Mandinka), while the third part explores
Atlantic languages from a typological perspective, with chapters that
explore formal and semantic aspects of their nominal classification
systems, nominalization strategies, their rich system of verbal
extensions, and the stem-initial consonant mutation that is attested
in a subset of languages. The final part of the book investigates
Atlantic languages in their social environments, including the
creation of creole identities, secret languages, Ajami writing
practices, language acquisition, the spread and use of Fula as a
lingua franca, digital language practices, and language ideologies.
The volume is an essential tool for linguists interested in the
languages of West Africa, language history and classification,
patterns of language use in Atlantic societies, and typology and
language contact more broadly.
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Produktdetaljer
ISBN
9780191056154
Publisert
2024
Utgave
1. utgave
Utgiver
Oxford University Press Academic UK
Språk
Product language
Engelsk
Format
Product format
Digital bok
Forfatter