Canal-U

Lecture 4 : « Language families in space and time »

« Areal linguistics in Africa before a new approach to its genealogical language classification », Lecture 4 : « Language families in space and time », Tom Güldemann (Humboldt University – Berlin) LABEX EFL SEMINAR

Chaire Internationale 2019 : Le Labex accueille le Professeur Tom Güldemann - Université de Humboldt (Berlin)

It is well known that the modern profile of genealogical language groups is shaped by both family-internal dynamics and external factors relating to their geographical setting and the associated contact with unrelated languages. At the same time, it is not yet common practice to model the history of language families in a holistic way by taking both internal and external factors systematically into account. This lecture discusses several linguistic lineages in Africa that are argued to be better assessed historically as soon as their diverse macro-areal alliances are considered in order to trace their historical trajectories and structural diversification through space and time.