Overview

"This collection of papers, reprinted from ""Bantu Studies"" and ""African Studies"" treats a variety of topics relevant to the context and analysis of African languages. Tracing the development of African linguistics as an academic discipline within Southern Africa, the volume is thematically organized into five sections: terminology and general issues; linguistic historiography; language classification; linguistic analysis; and the social context of language use. The centrality of linguistics within the South African conception of African studies produced a wealth of early scholarship dealing with regional languages. The articles included within this anthology bear re-reading for several reasons. First, they remain core references for many of the subjects which were first treated here. In other cases, these articles led the field in new directions and are essential reading for the intellectual history of Southern African linguistics. They also provide a useful opportunity for the reader to see how language was affected by dominant themes in African scholarship over the nearly 50 year span of publication represented in this anthology. The list of contributors includes many of the most distinuished names in the history of the discipline, including C.M. Doke, G. Fortune, D.T. Cole, G.P. Lestrade, L.W. Lanham and N.J. van Warmelo. It is an appropriate time to consider the foundations of southern African linguistics as the discipline finds itself today at an important crossroads in its development. The prospect of new social and educational dispensations has entailed a heightened awareness of the language and various linguistic issues throughout South Africa and neighbouring countries. At the same time, the discipline of African linguistics is being transformed in order to respond to these new dispensations. Preparation for the future must involve an examination of the scholary past. This volume should facilitate such a retrospection by bringing readers to critically assess the relationship between the discipline's past, present and future."

Full Product Details

Author:   Robert K. Herbert
Publisher:   Wits University Press
Imprint:   Wits University Press
Volume:   Vol 1
ISBN:  

9781868142330

ISBN 10:   1868142337
Pages:   312
Publication Date:   27 January 1994
Audience:   College/higher education ,  Professional and scholarly ,  Undergraduate ,  Postgraduate, Research & Scholarly
Format:   Paperback
Publisher's Status:   Active
Availability:   Out of stock  
The supplier is temporarily out of stock of this item. It will be ordered for you on backorder and shipped when it becomes available.

Table of Contents

Part 1 General: The African Chapter in the History of Writing ( African Studies 2:178-192), O.F. Raum; A Note on the Term Bantu as First Used by W.H.I Bleek ( African Studies 27:211-212), R.O. Silverstein; The Spelling of Names of Bantu Languages and Tribes in English ( Bantu Studies 11:373-375), G.P. Lestrade. Part 2 Linguistic historiography: The Earliest Records of Bantu ( African Studies 19:26-32), C.M. Doke; Bantu Language Pioneers of the 19th Century ( African Studies 18:1-27), C.M. Doke; Some South African Language Pioneers of the 19th Century ( African Studies 14:171-173), S.A. Rochlin; The Ancestor of Tswana Grammars ( African Studies 17:192-197), A. Sandilands; The Growth of Comparative Bantu Philosophy ( African Studies 19:193-218), C.M. Doke; African Linguistic Studies 1943-1960 ( African Studies 19:219-22), D.T. Cole; Early Bantu Literature - the Age of Brusciotto ( African Studies 18:49-67), C.M. Doke. Part 3 Language classification: Doke's Classification of Bantu Languages - In Contributions to the history of Bantu Linguistics pp80-96, D.T. Cole; A Consolidated Classification of the Bantu Languages ( African Studies 30:213-236), A.T. Cope. Part 4 Linguistic analysis: Bantu Grammatical Classification and Linguistic Nomenclature ( Bantu Studies 10:57-65), G.P. Lestrade; Bantu Languages, Inflexional with a Tendency Towards Agglutination ( African Studies 9:1-19), C.M. Doke; Some Notes on Ideaphones and Ideaphonic Constructions in Shona ( African Studies 30:237-257), G. Fortune; Some Secret Languages of Children in South Africa ( African Studies 27:135-139), D. Gowlett. Part 5 The social context: European and Other Influences in Sotho ( Bantu Studies 3:405-421), N.J. Van Warmelo; Linguistic Relationships and Contacts Expressed in the Vocabulary of the Eastern Bushmen ( African Studies 15:45-48), L.W. Lanham and D.P. Hallowes; Fangalo and the Bantu Languages in South Africa ( African Studies 12:1-9, D.T. Cole; Courts and Court Speech in Venda ( African Studies 30:355-370), N.J. Van Warmelo.

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