A study of Emai, an Edoid language of south-central Nigeria, focuses on the system of constraints governing tonal processes. Specifically, it examines the ways in which general processes of low tone raising and high tone lowering are realized in domains constructed by verbs and by preverbal auxiliary and adverbial constituents. Sequentially…

This book is intended as a practical introduction to the study of the Gwari language. Therefore, the descriptive analysis of the grammar of Gwari is made without recourse to technical language. The book is divided into 5 sections, dealing with: (1) phonology; (2) the noun phrase; (3) the verb phrase; (4) the sentence; and (5) vocabulary, in the…

This introduction to elementary Yoruba is divided into two parts. The first section is on sound drills, and the second section concerns Yoruba greetings. The first part includes exercises to enable the student to master the Yoruba sound system. Emphasis is on pronunciation and recognition of the sounds and tones, but not memorization. A tape is…

This volume contains a selection of 27 papers presented at the Sixth Conference on African Linguistics. The papers cover a very wide range of topics, and are organized into three sections: (1) Historical and Comparative Studies; (2) Phonology; and (3) Syntax. The conference program, the program of the symposium on African language, culture and…

A completely revised edition of "A Modern Grammar of Spoken Amharic," this book is presented as a practical text for the student of the language. The 43 chapters of the text present a descriptive analysis of the sound system and grammar. Except for verbal prefixes and suffixes and partially Semitic vocabulary, the structure of Amharic is…

This analysis of Ibo is not intended as a definitive work, but rather represents a novel approach to the description of the phonology and grammar of this language. The analysis is organized under the following headings: (1) "Sounds"; (2) "Tones"; (3) "Words Beginning in a Consonant"; (4) "Plurals"; (5) "Possessives"; (6) "As To"; (7) "Numerals";…

This instructional guide for Sesotho (spoken in several areas of Africa by about 6 million people) is designed for the training of Peace Corps volunteers in Africa. The first two chapters outline Sesotho phonology (phonetics, articulation, and speech sounds and patterns not present in English) and tone and length, grammatical structure (class and…

This is an introductory text for the Swazi language, siSwati. Spoken by nearly a half million people in Swaziland, siSwati is one of the Nguni languages of the southeastern branch of the Bantu languages. Each of the 25 lessons in this text covers one or more basic grammatical structures. The first five lessons present the sound system in detail,…

This document consists of the three 1988 issues of the normally quarterly journal "Notes on Linguistics." These issues include the following significant articles: "The Role of the Field Linguist" (Bernard Comrie); "Relational Grammar: An Update Report" (Stephen A. Marlett); "Tone and Stress Analysis by…