African Linguistics School 2011

New York University, New York NY

Investigators

Abstract

The languages of Africa have long been a source of important theoretical and empirical discoveries across linguistics. However, the insights to be gained about language from the investigation of African languages have been limited by the comparatively small number of African scholars who are participating in the formulation of linguistic theory. This project funds a two-week school in theoretical and descriptive linguistics in the West African nation of Benin during the summer of 2011 which will address this shortage. The African Linguistics School (ALS) will focus on syntax, semantics, phonology, language contact, sign language and field methods. Courses will range from the introductory to the advanced. The ALS will bolster the field of linguistics in Africa by supporting existing programs on the continent in five ways: The first is that simply having an organized international gathering of linguists calls attention to the field and increases its legitimacy in the eyes of policy makers and the public. Secondly, even in the age of the Internet, there is often a time lag between developments in linguistic theory in North America and Europe and their dissemination in Africa; the ALS will heighten contact. Third, the ALS will help both to identify and to encourage promising young African linguists and thereby increase their opportunities for graduate study in the United States (as well as Canada, Europe, and Australia). Fourth, the school will permit the students to build professional relationships and social networks (with the professors and their fellow students) needed to do collaborative research and to be successful in linguistics. Fifth, ALS will directly contribute to the creation and development of original research on African languages by African students, via discussions between the ALS students and faculty, the presentations that students give in their courses, and collaborative work among students.