African Languages Research Group
This research group brings together faculty and students interested in African languages, with a focus on the phonology-syntax interface. In our meetings, we explore language data from our own fieldwork and from the descriptive literature, discuss possible analyses, and contextualize the data within the current literature. Image: Mabi fishermen at the beach of Elabé, Cameroon
Recent and Ongoing Projects
Grammatical tone in the encoding of tense, aspect, mood, and polarity categories in Benue-Congo languages
In this project, we investigate a sample of different Benue-Congo languages, including Edoid, Akpes, Cross River, Grassfields and northwestern Bantu. We explore the types of TAMP categories present in the language and the role that tone plays in the encoding of these categories.
Syntactic tone and argument marking in Bantu
This project focuses on tonal phenomena targeting immediate-after-verb elements in northwestern Bantu, with a current focus on Gyeli. In the long run, we will compare our findings with possible systems of argument marking in Hausa and Laal.
Nadine Grimm with François Djiedjhie and Calvin Emmanuel Bimbvoung at the public market of Kribi, Cameroon