Book contents
- A History of African Linguistics
- A History of African Linguistics
- Copyright page
- Contents
- Figures
- Tables
- Contributors
- Preface
- Abbreviations and Acronyms
- 1 The History of African Linguistics
- 2 Western Europe: African Linguistics and the Colonial Project
- 3 African Linguistics in Central and Eastern Europe, and in the Nordic Countries
- 4 African Linguistics in North Africa
- 5 The Study of African Languages and Linguistics in North-Eastern Africa
- 6 African Linguistics in Southern Africa
- 7 African Linguistics in Eastern Africa
- 8 African Linguistics in Official English-Speaking West Africa
- 9 African Linguistics in Official French-Speaking West and Central Africa
- 10 African Linguistics in Official Portuguese- and Spanish-Speaking Africa
- 11 African Linguistics in the Americas
- 12 African Linguistics in Asia and Australia
- References
- Index – African Languages
- Index – Countries
- Index – Keywords
- Index – Persons
8 - African Linguistics in Official English-Speaking West Africa
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 31 May 2019
- A History of African Linguistics
- A History of African Linguistics
- Copyright page
- Contents
- Figures
- Tables
- Contributors
- Preface
- Abbreviations and Acronyms
- 1 The History of African Linguistics
- 2 Western Europe: African Linguistics and the Colonial Project
- 3 African Linguistics in Central and Eastern Europe, and in the Nordic Countries
- 4 African Linguistics in North Africa
- 5 The Study of African Languages and Linguistics in North-Eastern Africa
- 6 African Linguistics in Southern Africa
- 7 African Linguistics in Eastern Africa
- 8 African Linguistics in Official English-Speaking West Africa
- 9 African Linguistics in Official French-Speaking West and Central Africa
- 10 African Linguistics in Official Portuguese- and Spanish-Speaking Africa
- 11 African Linguistics in the Americas
- 12 African Linguistics in Asia and Australia
- References
- Index – African Languages
- Index – Countries
- Index – Keywords
- Index – Persons
Summary
The focus is largely on the contributions African scholars have made to the development of linguistics in the region. This cannot be done without acknowledging the contributions of non-Africans to this development. Many of the most influential African linguists received their training abroad, while other ‘non’-African linguists spent sufficiently long periods of their careers in Africa as working linguists and training the early generation of African linguists. Language study in West Africa by African scholars predates the colonial period that established the Anglo/Francophone divide, at least in the person of Samuel Ajayi Crowther (1809-1891). Following the discussion of his work, the chapter looks briefly at other aspects of language study in Freetown, where he was situated, then to look at the true beginnings of modern linguistics in West Africa, with the contribution of the West African Language Survey, the establishment of the West African Linguistics Society/Socété Linguistique d‘Afrique Oriental and the growth of linguistics departments, especially, in Ghana and Nigeria.
- Type
- Chapter
- Information
- A History of African Linguistics , pp. 153 - 177Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 2019
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