at Google ScholarTitle data
Beer, Samuel J. ; Harvey, Andrew ; Mous, Maarten ; Rapold, Christian J. ; Schrock, Terrill ; Sosal, Ahmed:
Lateral obstruents in East Africa from an areal and historical perspective : a case for contactinduced non-change.
In: Darquennes, Jeroen ; Salmons, Joseph C. ; Vandenbussche, Wim
(ed.):
Language Contact : An International Handbook. Volume 2. -
Berlin
: de Gruyter
,
2025
. - pp. 9-26
ISBN 9783110442915
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1515/9783110443011-002
Abstract in another language
The Southern Cushitic languages in Tanzania have in their sound inventories two lateral obstruents: a voiceless lateral fricative and an ejective lateral affricate. Both sounds can be shown to be inherited from Cushitic and Afroasiatic and are reconstructed with lateral fricative pronunciation. Yet the Southern Cushitic languages are the only Cushitic languages that maintain the lateral fricative pronunciation. In the area where these languages are and were spoken, there are a number of other unrelated languages with these lateral sounds: Hadza (isolate) has a voiceless and voiced lateral affricate and a lateral fricative, Sandawe (unclassified) likewise has a lateral fricative and a lateral affricate, and Southern Nilotic has been reconstructed with a lateral fricative that is only documented in a now extinct primary branch. The feature has been proposed as one diagnostic of the Tanzanian Rift Valley as a linguistic area. In such a scenario, the presence of laterals in the area could be interpreted as contact-supported retention of otherwise versatile sounds. Additional language groups in East Africa in which laterals are attested are Kuliak (Nilo Saharan or unclassified) in Uganda, consisting of three languages, and Taita Bantu languages in Kenya. In their case, the challenge is to determine the origin of the sounds (inheritance, contact, or innovation). This paper investigates the historical processes within language contact that resulted in the areal distribution of lateral obstruents in East Africa.
Further data
| Item Type: | Article in a book |
|---|---|
| Refereed: | Yes |
| Keywords: | lateral obstruents; contact-supported retention; areal linguistics; Tanzanian Rift Valley language area |
| Institutions of the University: | Faculties > Faculty of Languages and Literature > Junior Professor African Languages and the Construction of Knowledge Faculties > Faculty of Languages and Literature > Junior Professor African Languages and the Construction of Knowledge > Junior Professor African Languages and the Construction of Knowledge - Juniorprof. Dr. Andrew Harvey |
| Result of work at the UBT: | Yes |
| DDC Subjects: | 400 Language > 410 Linguistics |
| Date Deposited: | 09 Jan 2026 06:29 |
| Last Modified: | 09 Jan 2026 06:29 |
| URI: | https://eref.uni-bayreuth.de/id/eprint/95565 |