Journal of African Languages and Literatures

Front matter

Wed, 04 Sep 2024 11:37:28 +0000

An element-based analysis of nasal-glide assimilation in the Taqbaylit prepositional phrase

Amazigh Bedar, Amel Chergui — Mon, 15 Jul 2024 00:00:00 +0000

In this paper we aim to describe and analyze the different phonetic realizations resulting from nasal-glide assimilations in some dialects of Taqbaylit Berber. Specifically, we aim to study the assimilation of the nasal-approximant /n-w/ which yield to different labial(ized) realizations [ww, pp, pp^w, bb^w, gg^w], and the nasal-yod /n-j/ that result in palatal segments [jj, kk, gg] depending on the dialect. While these facts are well documented, most works are limited to descriptive accounts and rarer are the attempts to theoretically explain their phonological derivation. Our analysis is couched in Element Theory (Kaye et al. 1985, 1990, Harris 1990, 1994, among others) and proposes to analyze the internal structure of the surface segments and their link to the underlying forms and explain their distribution in Taqbaylit dialects. Our analysis also contributes to the theoretical debates on the link between voicing and nasality and their element-representation.

The pragmatic particle ’áda in Kambaata (Cushitic)

Temesgen Senbeto Wadolo, Shimelis Mazengia — Wed, 14 Aug 2024 07:22:26 +0000

This study investigates the morphological makeup, syntactic features and pragmatic functions of ’áda, a pragmatic marker (pm) in Kambaata (Cushitic). The data were drawn from a corpus of two hours of recorded, transcribed and annotated spontaneous speech. The pragmatic marker is a freestanding word. As a particle, it does not take any affixes except another pragmatically deter-mined suffix ‑be, which is used for negating one’s own or an interlocutor’s intention. The pm appears before or after a simple sentence and a complement clause. It may also come after the matrix clause, which follows the complement clause. An interrogative sentence preceded by the pm changes into a rhetorical one. With a cleft sentence, the pm occurs either preceding or following the first focused (copula) clause. In all cases, it is separated with a pause from the rest of the words and phrases in the syntactic structure. Thus, it is an unintegrated extra-sentential unit. The historical origin and the potential source from which the particle was grammaticalized could not be determined. Its functions include signaling repair, surprise, apology, noticing and turn yielding. In some contexts, more than one of the preceding functions can overlap.

Literary aesthetics of Klama lyrics: An exploration of allusion

Rebecca Gberki Angmor, William Dautey — Wed, 14 Aug 2024 00:00:00 +0000

Folk songs have been a major part of ceremonies in most African societies of which the Krobo in Ghana are no exception. One striking type of folk music of the Krobo is Klama. Klama songs serve as a platform to instruct, entertain, educate as well as chastise wrong doers. In the belly of these songs are buried aesthetic devices which need to be unearthed. This study, therefore, sets out to investigate the use of allusion as an aesthetic device in Klama songs. It also aims at establishing and identifying the types of allusion in the songs. The study seeks to examine the effective use of Klama lyrics in communicating the history and beliefs of the Krobo. The study is anchored on the Infracultural framework of folklore analysis as the conceptual framework. The framework acknowledges that oral texts are deeply rooted in the culture and tradition of the performer and that the interpretation of an oral text must be situated within the cultural context. Data was collected through in-depth interviews, participant observation and information gathered from ethnographic records. The study reveals that biblical and historical allusions are important literary devices in Klama songs. It argues that allusion is heavily dwelt upon by Klama cantors to communicate the history and the beliefs of the Krobo ethnolinguistic group. This study documents Klama songs and contributes to the teaching of poetry and oral literature. It also brings Klama songs to the lime light for scholarly attention.

The one replaced by a crow An Amazigh tale from Eastern Kabylia (Tasahlit/English)

Massinissa Garaoun — Mon, 15 Jul 2024 00:00:00 +0000

This tale was recorded in December 2022 in Melbou (Aït Segoual confederation, Aït Bouhafan fraction, Eastern Kabylia, Algeria) by Youdas N’ Saâdi Lbuhfani from his mother Tabaâmrant. It’s told in Tasahlit, a northern Amazigh language, precisely in the Aït Segoual variety, called Tasegwalit, which is one of the Tasahlit dialects studied in my doctoral thesis (Garaoun 2024). It is a marvelous tale composed of several episodes, many of which are already known in the North African oral literature, although I have not come across a published version that closely resembles it. The recorded oral version lasts 12,35 minutes. The English translation of the story is literal. I have only taken liberties with the punctuation in certain places (placing a few commas where the storyteller has not paused) so that certain sentences remain understandable to non-Amazigh speakers. Tasahlit is spoken in the Babor Mountains by around 200,000 people. The Tasegwalit variety is spoken along the massif’s coastline, in a region of coasts, peninsulas and hills. Tasahlit is a little-described Amazigh language, belonging to the Afroasiatic phylum. Tales transcribed in Tasahlit and translated in French are available in studies by Genevoix (1955) for the Aït Smaïl variety, and Berkaï (2014) for the Aït Mhend, Aït Bouaïsi and Aït Waret Ou Ali varieties.

A note on the early Kushi rulers

Gian Claudio Batic — Mon, 15 Jul 2024 00:00:00 +0000