What we speak, and how we speak are extraordinarily powerful markers of our identity. The steppe, belt of grassland that extends some 5,000 miles 8,000 kilometres from hungary in the west through ukraine and central asia to manchuria in the east. More detailed study of the linguistic geography of africa is. Africas linguistic diversity has been long underestimated given the. Linguistic intelligence, one of howard gardners eight multiple intelligences, involves the ability to understand and use spoken and written language. A linguistic geography of africa cambridge approaches to language contact pdf,, download ebookee alternative effective tips for a improve ebook reading experience.
The population of africa is over 900 million people making up 14% of the planets population. Teachers can test their students knowledge of african geography by using the numbered, blank map. It generally appears that the official language of a country is the one in which the laws of the country are made and publicised, whereas the national language is. Request pdf a linguistic geography of africa more than forty years ago it was demonstrated that the african continent can be divided into four distinct language families. The bantu languages, from the nigercongo language family, blend with arabic, creating a new language called swahili which become a widely spoken. The nature, dynamic, and development of the subject of african historiography have attracted the attention of many scholars. This can include expressing yourself effectively through speech or the written word as well as showing a facility for learning foreign tongues. Linguistic geography can also refer to studies of how people talk about the landscape. Reviewed by david appleyard, school of oriental and african studies, university of london there are around two thousand languages spoken in africa, almost a third of the. Research on african languages has accordingly been preoccupied with reconstructing and understanding similarities across these families. Language shapes our world view, both constraining and liberating what we can know and. Chavacano is interesting from both linguistic and historicalgeographical perspectives. It provides a broad perspective on africa as a linguistic area, as well as an analysis of specific linguistic regions.
One of the highlights of the association of american geographers meeting last week in seattle was the annual geography bowl. In order to have a better understanding of african languages, their structures, and their history, more information on these contactinduced relationships is essential to understanding africas linguistic geography, and to reconstructing its history and prehistory. Africa is a continent comprising 63 political territories, representing the largest of the great southward projections from the main mass of earths surface. Mutaka and tamanjis introduction to african linguistics, according to its preface, deals with the main features of languages as found mostly in subsaharan africa, and more particularly in bantu languages ix ch. Contact between speakers is most likely to happen when they are close in space, time, and social setting. The country is home to over 1738 different linguistic groups. A linguistic geography of africa edited by bernd heine. Afolayan 2005 provides us with a succinct chronological overview. French and english are the official languages of cameroon. Geocurrents is a forum dedicated to exploring the peoples, places, genes, and languages that are shaping current events around the world. The rise and fall of an atlantic power, 16301865, mark peterson. Jewsiewicki and newbury 1986 examines the sociopolitical conditions that shaped the development of historical writings in africa. To begin with, it is widely considered to be one of the worlds oldest creole tongues, with a. German has about 300,000 speakers and learners in the country.
By zelealem leyew, doctor department of linguistics, university of addis ababa, ethiopia. Africas physical geography, environment and resource s, and. The aim of geocurrents is not to take sides on any of these events, but to help foster an enriching and respectful exchange of information and ideas. Like the transfer of genetic variation through gene flow, language changes constantly as a result of its use in human interaction.
Historiography and methods of african history african. Cambridge approaches to language contact series, v. Buy a linguistic geography of africa cambridge approaches to language contact 1 by edited by bernd heine, derek nurse, bernd heine, derek nurse isbn. Which region in the world has political boundaries that most poorly represent the linguistic boundaries of the region. Linguistic geography the language we speak is the mos t important element of our culture. The continent includes the islands of cape verde, madagascar, mauritius, seychelles, and comoros.
Here, we investigated the role of geographical configuration in this process by studying linguistic diversity in japan, which comprises a large connected. Amanda briney is a professional geographer, writer, and scholar with three university degrees and. Within its regular outline, it comprises an area of 30,368,609 km 2 11,725,385 sq mi, excluding adjacent islands. Geographical axis effects in largescale linguistic distributions. This country used linguistic boundaries as a primary reason to establish their territory. Language geography is the branch of human geography that studies the geographic distribution of languages or its constituent elements. Student teams competed to answer all manner of geographical questions, including a few that were devilishly difficult. The australia flag is blue with the flag of the uk in the upper hoistside and a large sevenpointed star in the lower hoistside known as the commonwealth or federation star. Southern africa, southernmost region of the african continent, comprising the countries of angola, botswana, lesotho, malawi, mozambique, namibia, south africa, swaziland, zambia, and zimbabwe. From the precolonial to the modern day toyin falola and tyler fleming encyclopedia of life support systems eolss people have lived in africa for more than three million years, and thus it possesses a.
A linguistic geography of africa cambridge approaches to. Cameroon, a west african country, is often known as africa in miniature due to the incredible cultural and geological diversity of the country. A linguistic geography of africa bernd heine, derek. Africa, the secondlargest continent, is bounded by the mediterranean sea, the red sea, the indian ocean, and the atlantic ocean. Cavallisforza, piazza, menozzi, and mountain 1988 have shown that considerable similarity exists between canns tree of genetic relationships and the tree of language groups, which hypothesizes that all the worlds languages can be traced to africa.
A linguistic geography of africa cambridge approaches to language contact a linguistic geography of africa cambridge approaches to language contact more than forty years ago it was demonstrated that the african continent can be divided into four distinct language families. In northern niger, the air mountains punctuate the sahara desert with a series of nine massifs. A linguistic geography of africa cambridge approaches to language contact 9780521182690. Nigercongo or perhaps atlanticcongo languages bantu and nonbantu, the inclusion of mande and a few other groups is disputed are spoken in west, central, southeast and southern africa afroasiatic languages are spread throughout western asia, north africa, the horn of africa and parts of the sahel. A linguistic geography of africa request pdf researchgate. David appleyard anthropological linguistics university of nebraska. Among the 50 independent african countries there are vast population differences. Linguistic geography definition is local or regional variations of a language or dialect studied as a field of knowledge called also dialect geography. A linguistic geography of africa pdf free download epdf. Situated on the atlantic coast, the predominantly lowlying country is slightly hilly farther inland. Before turning to the linguistic macroareas in africa themsel ves, a few words about the concept of a linguistic area a. The language situation in africa today was a government primary school which had swahili medium upto the fourth grade. Download a linguistic geography of africa pdf genial. Its highest mountain is mount kilimanjaro, its largest lake is lake victoria.
In order to have a better understanding of african languages, their structures, and their history, more information on these contactinduced relationships is essential to understanding africa s linguistic geography, and to. Everyday low prices and free delivery on eligible orders. The highest point of the country, mont idoukalntaghes at 6,633 ft 2,022 m, is located in the south central region of the air mountains. A linguistic geography of africa edited by bernd heine and derek nurse. The focus of the first week is to familiarize students with africa, its nations, geography, and. The most impressive answer may have come in the final round, when the two remaining teams were asked. For a long time, the role of areal factors has been long neglected in african linguistics. The us africa connections worksheet t his activity is designed for middle school students who focus on finding peers who can answer yes to many of the bingo sheet questions, and then uncover how elements of their daily livesfood, music, language, games, etc. Using the results of the pca and finestructure analyses together with ethno linguistic classifications and geography, we defined seven groups of populations within africa supplementary file 1, which we refer to as ancestry regions shown on the left of figure 1d when describing geneflow across africa. The linguistic geography of the wikipedia geocurrents. Request pdf a linguistic geography of africa more than forty years ago it was demonstrated that the african continent can be divided into four distinct. The bantu speakers altered the linguistic patterns of subsaharan africa by spreading their language. West africa is a linguistic area based on morphosyntactic tone and other features. Areal features and linguistic reconstruction in africa.
Landscape ethnoecology, also known as ethnophysiography, is the study of landscape ontologies and how they are expressed. A linguistic geography of africa cambridge approaches to language contact. As the bantu migrated into eastern africa, they encountered territories under arabic influence. Mountain ranges interrupt the steppe, dividing it into distinct segments. A linguistic geography of africamore than forty years ago it was demonstrated that the african continent can be divid. A linguistic geography of africa more than forty years ago it was demonstrated that the african continent can be divided into four distinct language families. Their african eve conclusion may be supported by linguistic observations. Unesco eolss sample chapters world civilizations and history of human development african civilizations. Middle school resources interactive classroom activities. Linguistic geography definition of linguistic geography. It is divided in half almost equally by the equator. The island nation of madagascar is excluded because of its distinct language and cultural heritage. The languages of africa are divided into several major language families.
Southern africa history, countries, map, population. Students can prepare by using the downloadable map with country labels. Photo 1 shows a remarkably wellpreserved hippo from these excavations. African geography africa is the worlds second largest continent and also the second most populated country in the world. Cambridge approaches to language contact includes bibliographical references and index. With 52 countries, learning the geography of africa can be a challenge. In order to have a better understanding of african languages, their structures, and their history, more information on these contactinduced relationships is essential to understanding africas linguistic geography, and to.
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