Tunen is a Bantu (Niger-Congo) language spoken in Cameroon in the Centre and Littoral provinces, with Guthrie classification A44 (Maho 2003, 2009). The language is typologically unusual in... Show moreTunen is a Bantu (Niger-Congo) language spoken in Cameroon in the Centre and Littoral provinces, with Guthrie classification A44 (Maho 2003, 2009). The language is typologically unusual in displaying SOV base word order, i.e. a head-final verb phrase (O V), while elsewhere being head initial (prepositions, Dem-N order). Dugast (1971) and Mous (1997) note that cardinal numerals appear postnominally (N NUM), with the exception of the form -mɔt̀ ɛ́ ‘one’, which can also appear before the noun in the plural. In this article, I investigate this puzzling prenominal case of -mɔt̀ ɛ́ and argue based on new data that it is not synchronically a numeral and has in fact grammaticalised to function as an indefinite determiner marking epistemic specificity. I use controlled elicitation to show semantic tests to support this and present syntactic arguments that prenominal -mɔt̀ ɛ́ appears in the position of a determiner rather than a numeral. I then investigate the marker’s likely grammaticalisation over time by considering the “seemingly universal” grammaticalisation path of numeral ‘one’ to (specific) indefinite markers that has been proposed in the typological literature (Givón 1981: 35); Heine (1995, 1997). I test the predictions of such an account by means of a corpus study of 61 folk tales (contes) published in Dugast (1975), and conclude by a brief survey of related Cameroonian languages. Show less
Globally, the goal of education in the developing world has moved from "Education for All," which was one of the Millenium Goals of the United Nations, to focus on "Quality Education" as... Show moreGlobally, the goal of education in the developing world has moved from "Education for All," which was one of the Millenium Goals of the United Nations, to focus on "Quality Education" as Sustainable Development Goal 4, formulated by the same United Nations. As the number of children going to school all over the world increased and the expected results of the reduction of extreme poverty and hunger materialised, governments and NGOs alike soon realised that the term "education" covers a wide range of activities and ways of schooling, not all of which contribute equally and in all circumstances to the continuing development goals of any particular country or region. Sustainable development can be attained only when individuals and groups have and are able to use the tools and can adapt to local circumstances. Education should provide learners with those tools and only education that does provide them and prepares its learners for their futures can be called "quality education." Rethinking how "education" can be put to use strategically for long term gain therefore assumes the utmost importance, and the focus must then turn to the quality of education. Good and sustainable education is understood to be education that prepares its participants for both social and professional life by equipping them with appropriate knowledge and skills. Hence the title of this volume: Education for Life in Africa. Show less
Een groot deel van de bevolking van Mali, Guinée en Gambia beschouwt zich als afstammelingen van de held Sunjata of van diens helpers. Het verhaal over Sunjata’s daden wordt al eeuwenlang van... Show moreEen groot deel van de bevolking van Mali, Guinée en Gambia beschouwt zich als afstammelingen van de held Sunjata of van diens helpers. Het verhaal over Sunjata’s daden wordt al eeuwenlang van generatie op generatie overgedragen; reeds in de veertiende eeuw hoorde de wereldreiziger Ibn Battuta hoe een griot een vorst bezong als afstammeling van Sunjata. Deze traditie over Sunjata is zodoende een unieke historische bron voor een deel van Afrika waarvoor geschreven bronnen zeer schaars zijn.De hier gepubliceerde versie is het erfgoed van de familie Diabate uit Kela, de griots van de vorsten van Kangaba. Kangaba was een zeer belangrijk politiek centrum in het Mali-rijk dat in de Middeleeuwen grote delen van West-Afrika omvatte. De versie van de familie Diabate uit Kela verweeft op een subtiele manier politieke claims van de vorsten van Kangaba in een zeer onderhoudende vertelling over Sunjata’s leven. Show less
