A History of African Linguistics

Description

Bringing together a team of leading scholars, this volume forms the first global history of African linguistics as an autonomous academic discipline, covering Africa, America, Asia, Australia, and Europe. Defining African linguistics, the volume describes its emergence from a 'colonial science' at the turn of the twentieth century in Europe, where it was first established mainly in academic institutions of former colonial powers. Its riddance from the 'colonial project' is traced, following its 'de-colonialisation' and subsequent spread from imperialist Europe across all inhabited continents, with particular reference to its academic establishment in the various regions of Africa. Providing inside views of African linguistic research and its ramifications over time, active researchers in its various subfields present highly informative accounts of current and past research priorities and achievements. The twenty-six authors are themselves representatives of the various regions of both the world and Africa, in which African linguistics has become entrenched in academic institutions.

H. Ekkehard Wolff is Professor Emeritus at Universitat Leipzig, where he retired from the Chair of African Linguistics (Afrikanistik) in 2009. He has taught extensively in Ethiopia, Niger, Nigeria, South Africa and Finland. He has published over twenty-five books, including The Cambridge Handbook of African Linguistics (Cambridge, forthcoming), Multilingualism and Intercultural Communication: A South African Perspective (2017) and Language and Development in Africa (Cambridge, 2016).