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Language ecology, language endangerment, and relict languages: Case studies from Adamawa (Cameroon-Nigeria)
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In: Open Linguistics, Vol 7, Iss 1, Pp 244-300 (2021) (2021)
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Abstract:
As a contribution to the more general discussion on causes of language endangerment and death, we describe the language ecologies of four related languages (Bà Mambila [mzk]/[mcu], Sombә (Somyev or Kila) [kgt], Oumyari Wawa [www], Njanga (Kwanja) [knp]) of the Cameroon-Nigeria borderland to reach an understanding of the factors and circumstances that have brought two of these languages, Sombә and Njanga, to the brink of extinction; a third, Oumyari, is unstable/eroded, while Bà Mambila is stable. Other related languages of the area, also endangered and in one case extinct, fit into our discussion, though with less focus. We argue that an understanding of the language ecology of a region (or of a given language) leads to an understanding of the vitality of a language. Language ecology seen as a multilayered phenomenon can help explain why the four languages of our case studies have different degrees of vitality. This has implications for how language change is conceptualised: we see multilingualism and change (sometimes including extinction) as normative.
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Keyword:
language shift; linguistic evolution; mambiloid languages; P1-1091; Philology. Linguistics
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URL: https://doaj.org/article/2ef53f2441ca438e9484192b86815f03 https://doi.org/10.1515/opli-2021-0011
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African linguistics in North-Eastern and so-called Anglophone Africa
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In: The Cambridge handbook of African linguistics ; https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-02047231 ; Wolff, H. Ekkehard. The Cambridge handbook of African linguistics, pp.73-97, 2019, The Cambridge handbook of African linguistics (2019)
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African linguistics in North-Eastern and so-called Anglophone Africa
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In: The Cambridge handbook of African linguistics ; https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-02047231 ; Wolff, H. Ekkehard. The Cambridge handbook of African linguistics, pp.73-97, 2019, The Cambridge handbook of African linguistics (2019)
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Little genetic differentiation as assessed by uniparental markers in the presence of substantial language variation in peoples of the Cross River region of Nigeria
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In: Veeramah, Krishna R; Connell, Bruce A; Pour, Naser; Powell, Adam; Plaster, Christopher A; Zeitlyn, David; et al.(2010). Little genetic differentiation as assessed by uniparental markers in the presence of substantial language variation in peoples of the Cross River region of Nigeria. BMC Evolutionary Biology, 10(1), 92. doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.1186/1471-2148-10-92. Retrieved from: http://www.escholarship.org/uc/item/3jt104pd (2010)
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Sex-Specific Genetic Data Supports One of Two Alternative Versions of the Foundation of the Ruling Dynasty of the Nso in Cameroon
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Sex-Specific Genetic Data Support One of Two Alternative Versions of the Foundation of the Ruling Dynasty of the Nso′ in Cameroon
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