The Cambridge Handbook of African Linguistics

Description

This book provides an in-depth and comprehensive state-of-the-art study of 'African languages' and 'language in Africa' since its beginnings as a 'colonial science' at the turn of the twentieth century in Europe. Compiled by 56 internationally renowned scholars, this ground breaking study looks at past and current research on 'African languages' and 'language in Africa' under the impact of paradigmatic changes from 'colonial' to 'postcolonial' perspectives. It addresses current trends in the study of the role and functions of language, African and other, in pre- and postcolonial African societies. Highlighting the central role that the 'language factor' plays in postcolonial transformation processes of sociocultural modernization and economic development, it also addresses more recent, particularly urban, patterns of communication, and outlines applied dimensions of digitalization and human language technology.

H. Ekkehard Wolff is Emeritus Professor and Chair of African Linguistics at Universitat Leipzig. He publishes widely on descriptive, typological, comparative, and applied linguistics and sociolinguistics of African languages, and on oral literatures. He's published over 25 books including Language and Development in Africa (Cambridge, 2016), Multilingual Education for Africa: Concepts and Practices (2017) and Multilingualism and Intercultural Communication: A South African Perspective (2017).