Dienstag, 06. Dezember 2016, 17:00 - 19:00 iCal

Afrika-Kolloquium

Tonal contrast in a predominantly non-tonal environment: the case of Mandinka in the Serekunda region in Gambia. Erwin Ebermann

Seminarraum 3, Institut für Afrikawissenschaften
Spitalgasse 2, Hof 5, 1090 Wien

Vortrag

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Mandinka is the westernmost variant of Mandenkan, a group of language variants considered to form a dialect continuum. Tonal contrast in minimal pairs is widespread and very functional in Mandenkan variants. Based on tone, Maukakan, a Mandenkan variant of North-Western Ivory Coast, distinguishes up to four lexical items, while most variants like Bambara in Mali or Maninka in Guinea will distinguish up to two different meanings. Mandinka, due to historical events, has been isolated for several centuries from the core Mandenkan area facing intensive language contact and exchange with mostly non-tonal languages belonging to the Atlantic group of languages. While undoubtedly still being a tonal language, this important language of wider communication in Gambia and Senegal reduced tonal contrast in minimal pairs considerably. In the region in and around the biggest Gambian city Serekunda, tonal contrast as a distinctive feature may be even be on the point of getting lost. Based on recent research in Gambia, we will discuss the logics of the loss of tonal contrast in a predominantly non-tonal environment and it’s compensation by other means.

 

Erwin Ebermann, Ph.D., is senior lecturer at the Department of African Studies at the University of Vienna. His research und publications focus mainly on African linguistics (specifically Mande languages like Bambara, Mandinka, Bozo, Samo) and on the integration of Africans in Austria.

Zur Webseite der Veranstaltung

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Veranstalter

Institut für Afrikawissenschaften

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Kontakt

Ulrike Auer
Institut für Afrikawissenschaften
43201
ulrike.auer@univie.ac.at

Erstellt am Montag, 28. November 2016, 10:49
Letzte Änderung am Montag, 28. November 2016, 15:40