Typological diversity in sub-Saharan Africa: An introduction
University of Cologne
The African continent is sometimes seen as a hotbed for noun classes and serial verbs, but in actual fact there are many more genetic and areal features. After a brief introduction to the genetic classification of African languages, the course will concentrate on typological features less known apparently among a wider public. These include: Marked Nominative case systems, split ergativity, split-S and fluid-S systems, verbal compounding, and verbal classifiers. (If there is an interest in the discussion of phonological typologies as well, these can be discussed outside the course.)
Reflecting upon methodological issues involved in data gathering and typological comparison is a second aim of the proposed course. Apart from obvious steps, such as investigating the literature on specific language families so far, these include: a proper understanding of the phonological structure of (newly investigated) languages, knowledge about the social background of speakers (including patterns of multilingualism in expansion and accretion zones), but also potential links between language use and culture in different speech communities.
Finally, parallel development of grammatical systems through self-organisation will be discussed in order to explain typological similarities between languages as an alternative to genetic inheritance and areal spreading.