This book provides a description of Cuvok, a language spoken by about 10,000 people in the far north of Cameroon. The study of the linguistic elements addresses and provides an analysis of the... Show moreThis book provides a description of Cuvok, a language spoken by about 10,000 people in the far north of Cameroon. The study of the linguistic elements addresses and provides an analysis of the language through the examination of phonological and morphological aspects, as well as some notes on syntax and a bilingual lexicon.The issue of prosodies is central to the discussion of vowel segments. The harmonic domain of the word has a prominent place in the morpho-phonological discussion. The noun and the verb are the only grammatical categories that exhibit harmonic domains within which the features +palatalization and -palatalization are observed. All satellite elements of these two categories are either palatalized or non-palatalized depending on the opposition between the two phonemic vowels in the final position of the nominal or verbal complex. The perception of the Cuvok world is revealed through the study of prepositions, markers of temporal and spatial location. The expression of the four cardinal points shows a fixed orientation of the Tchouvok people.Particular emphasis was placed on the ethnolinguistic aspect, which deals with the role of the blacksmith as a key actor in the development of the society. This monographic section examines the role of the blacksmith in a society that is undergoing rapid change and is prey to new ideas and habits.The Cuvok grammar is a work that constitutes a decisive step towards the development and standardization of this language and hence of the central Chadic languages in general. Show less
This thesis offers a description of the Bouakako Sign Language (LaSiBo, Langues des Signes de Bouakako in French), that has emerged within a community comprising a majority of hearing members.... Show moreThis thesis offers a description of the Bouakako Sign Language (LaSiBo, Langues des Signes de Bouakako in French), that has emerged within a community comprising a majority of hearing members. LaSiBo is a young language that has developed within a group of hearing-impaired community members to fulfill their communication needs, but is also used by other members of the village. The aspects studied here are firstly the formal properties of LaSiBo and inter-personal variation in sign usage; as well as semantic domains such as kinship, colors and time. The size of the community, the age of the language, the influence of the spoken language and the absence of use in education are among the factors that influence the formation of LaSiBo. The comparisons carried out in this work highlight similarities and differences not only between sign languages (used in small communities in particular) – which, however different they may be, share the same modality (visio-gestural) –, but also between languages that are in contact with each other (the Dida language and LaSiBo) but use different modality (respectively audio-oral and visio-gestural). Show less
e livre est une étude pionnière portant sur l’analyse conceptuelle et la traductibilité des termes de maladie dioula jusqu’ici non abordées par les recherches antérieures. Le Dioula est une langue... Show moree livre est une étude pionnière portant sur l’analyse conceptuelle et la traductibilité des termes de maladie dioula jusqu’ici non abordées par les recherches antérieures. Le Dioula est une langue mandé parlée au Burkina Faso. L’étude présente les représentations de la santé, de la maladie et du corps dans la culture dioula, les entités nosologiques populaires et l’étude linguistique des noms de maladies dioula. Cette étude linguistique a pour but d’analyser les termes du corpus afin de souligner leurs particularités linguistiques. Cette analyse est d’autant plus utile qu’elle permet d’une part, de s’imprégner davantage des concepts et conceptions relatifs à la maladie et d’autre part, de mettre en évidence les difficultés que les traducteurs et interprètes sont susceptibles de rencontrer dans ce domaine et de proposer des solutions. Cette analyse vise à faciliter la tâche du traducteur ou de l’interprète qui pourra se référer rapidement aux suggestions proposées en cas de difficulté ou de doute. L’étude décrit la formation des termes de maladies puis les processus sémantiques ou les figures de style rentrant dans la construction de ces termes et enfin le discours de plainte du malade. En outre, cette étude examine dans quelle mesure le relativisme culturel et linguistique peut servir dans le processus de traduction au lieu d’impliquer son impossibilité. L'auteur décrit un certain nombre de phénomènes intéressants en ce qui concerne les entités nosologiques populaires dioula : Il se peut que le terme de maladie dioula exprime un concept qui est complètement inconnu dans la culture cible. Le concept en question peut être abstrait ou concret, il peut être relié aux croyances religieuses, à une coutume sociale. De tels concepts sont souvent qualifiés de concepts « spécifiquement culturels ». Un exemple d’un concept abstrait dioula qui est reconnu comme difficile à traduire en d’autres langues relevant d’autres cultures est celui exprimé par le mot kɔnɔ. Ce dernier revêt un concept typiquement « dioula » qui est rarement appréhendé par des gens provenant d’autres cultures. L'un des problèmes théoriques soulevés concerne la traductibilité des termes médicaux dioula, culturellement spécifiques. Il est ressorti de l’analyse que des expressions qui sont profondément enracinées dans la culture dioula présentent plus de difficultés de traduction car le concept qu’ils véhiculent est inconnu du français ou de la biomédecine. Des pistes de solutions sont fournies parmi lesquelles l’on peut noter la démarche suivante : Une traduction du terme de maladie dioula par un mot français accompagnée de commentaires sémantiques et/ou métalinguistiques.Les données ont été collectées sur quatorze mois en plusieurs étapes. Au regard des problèmes théoriques et analytiques abordés dans les différentes sections du livre, il est d’un grand intérêt pour les personnels de santé, pour les spécialistes de la communication interculturelle, pour les lexicographes et les terminologues, pour les anthropologues de la santé sans oublier les traducteurs. Show less
Emphasizing on the key role of polysemy in forming the lexicon is the main goal to be achieved in this dissertation. The paper suggests a qualitative evaluation of polysemy in comparing it with... Show moreEmphasizing on the key role of polysemy in forming the lexicon is the main goal to be achieved in this dissertation. The paper suggests a qualitative evaluation of polysemy in comparing it with other relations that form the lexicon. The research confirms that the polysemic links must not be modeled independently from derivation or conversion. This evaluation leads us to reveal that the boundary between polysemy and conversion is porous. The properties of analogy has been used to compare the relations. They are the links that connect lexis which form the objects of a comparison. Wolof, an Atlantic language in West-Africa, is studied. This language provides a fertile breeding ground for the explorations. A large scale of different morphological processes form the lexicon (like suffix derivation, derivations from consonant alternation and conversion by changes in nominal class morphemes). The descriptive contribution of this research is to explore the semantic fields of artifacts and emotions in Wolof lexicon. The methodology applied here is to describe both the meanings of the lexical units and the semantic links by which they are connected by a unique metalanguage. That unique metalanguage is called the Natural Semantic Metalanguage (NSM), which is applied here to Wolof. Show less
This descriptive and analytical study is based on two corpora of audiovisual data of monolingual and multilingual children’s babbling and first words gathered in Mali during a period of nearly a... Show moreThis descriptive and analytical study is based on two corpora of audiovisual data of monolingual and multilingual children’s babbling and first words gathered in Mali during a period of nearly a year. It is concerned with fundamental discussions about the development and acquisition of language such as the issue of the presence or absence of evidence of early specialization in children at the babbling stage, the continuity between babbling and first words, and the emergence and development of phonology in children Show less
