Koen Bostoen – Page 2 – BantUGent – UGent Centre for Bantu Studies

Lorenzo Maselli awarded prestigious Marie Skłodowska-Curie Global Fellowship

We are delighted to share that Dr. Lorenzo Maselli has been awarded a Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions (MSCA) Global Fellowship, one of the most competitive individual fellowships funded by the European Union. Lorenzo’s project, “NGBU – Non-explosion and Glottalisation in the Basin of the Ubangi”, was selected with an exceptional evaluation score of 97.4%, placing it among the very top-ranked proposals in this year’s call.

MSCA Global Fellowships support outstanding postdoctoral researchers and allow fellows to undertake advanced research and training through an international mobility scheme, involving an outgoing phase outside Europe and a return phase at a European host institution.

NGBU investigates the phonetic, phonological, and historical dynamics of glottalisation and non-explosion in speech, focusing on the languages of the Ubangi River Basin in Central Africa. The project combines: instrumental phonetics (acoustics, electroglottography, aerodynamics, static palatography),
phonological modelling, microvariationist typology, and historical-comparative reconstruction, integrated with insights from archaeology and population genetics.

During the outgoing phase, Lorenzo will be hosted at The Research Institute for Languages and Cultures of Asia and Africa at Tokyo University of Foreign Studies, working under the supervision of Prof. Daisuke Shinagawa, a leading specialist in African linguistics and typological microvariation and long-standing friend of BantUGent.

The return phase will take place at Ghent University, within the BantUGent, under the supervision of Prof. Sara Pacchiarotti, whose ERC-funded “CongUbangi” project on the Congo-Ubangi region provides a strong interdisciplinary framework for the project’s diachronic component.

Congratulations to all parties involved in the project!

Sara Pacchiarotti strenghtens BantUGent collaboration in Central African Republic

From January 15 to 31, Sara Pacchiarotti, PI of the ERC-funded CongUbangi project, visited the Central African Republic to meet with several authorities at Bangui University and the Ministery of Higher Education, Scientific Research and Technological Innovation. During her stay, Sara was interviewed about the CongUbangi project by Radio Ndeke Luka. The interview was broadcasted locally and online on Sunday February 1 as part of the “Magazine de Culture”, broadcast “100% Culture”. For more info, check here.

Sara with Prof Augustin Kongatoua Kossonzo, chief inspector of public education (first from left), Prof. Bernard Simiti, history and archaeology professor (second from left), and Prof. Jean Kokidé, Chief of Staff of the Ministry of Higher Education, Scientific Research, and Technological Innovation

Sara interviewed on the CongUbangi project at Radio Ndeke Luka

Hilde Gunnink and Nina van der Vlugt at the 13th Southern African Microlinguistics Workshop

The 13^th edition of the Southern African Microlinguistics Workshop (SAMWOP) took place 26-28 November 2025 in Makhanda, South Africa. Hilde Gunnink and Nina van der Vlugt gave the following talks:

Hilde Gunnink – “The prehistoric distribution of Khoe languages in Southern Africa”

Nina van der Vlugt – “The diachrony of whistled fricatives in Shona languages”

Peter Coutros and Koen Bostoen talk to the Kongo Academy

On Saturday December 6, 2025, at 4pm CET, Peter Coutros and Koen Bostoen give an online talk titled “Re-probing the Past of the Kwilu–Kasai Region Half a Century after Jan Vansina” to the Kongo Academy.

Koen Bostoen talks at Heinrich-Heine-University, Düsseldorf (Germany)

On November 7, 2025, Koen Bostoen (BantUGent) gave a talk titled “Reprobing the deep past of the languages, peoples, cultures and environments in the Kwilu-Kasai region of the Democratic Republic of the Congo” at the African languages colloquium of the Heinrich-Heine-University in Düsseldorf.

Lis Kerr gives talk at Bayreuth Tunen workshop (Germany)

is Kerr gave an invited talk at a workshop on Tunen language and indigenous law held from 23^rd – 24^th October at Bayreuth University, speaking on “The Tunen language: Classification and key characteristics”. The workshop was organised as part of the postdoctoral research of Endurence Dissake on language use within customary court proceedings of the Banen of Cameroon.

BantUGent at conference on Angolan Language Ecologies in Vairão (Portugal)

From October 9 till 11, 2025, a conference titled Angolan Language Ecologies was held in the Research Center in Biodiversity and Genetic Resources (CIBIO) in Vairão near Porto in Portugal. Amongst others, BantUGent member Heidi Goes (Nature and evolution of Portuguese loanwords in South West Kikongo language varieties) and BantUGent associate member Rozenn Guérois (Negation in Angola’s linguistic mosaic: A study of form, function, and variation) presented their research.
The conference is the third meeting following two workshops in Germany in January 2024 and January 2025 and seeks to gather both Romanists and Bantuists doing research in Angola. Research subjects ranged from discussing the possibility of a standardized Angolan Portuguese to influences from Bantu languages on Portuguese and vice versa regarding morphosyntax, phonetics and lexicon. The talks were followed each day by think tank sessions.

Participants (Photo: Anna Maria Fehn)

Heidi Goes during Q&A (Photo: Miguel Guttiérez Maté)

Welcome to ‘Angolan Language ecologies’ (Photo: Heidi Goes)

BantUGent talks at CALL54 (Leiden, Netherlands) and SLE58 (Bordeaux, France)

BantUGent was represented at the 54^th Colloquium on African Languages and Linguistics (CALL54) held 25^th–27^th August at Leiden University and the 58^th Annual Meeting of the Societas Linguistica Europaea (SLE58) held 26^th–29^th August at Université Bordeaux Montaigne, with the following presentations:

Elisabeth Kerr: ‘Optional’ vowel harmony and the phonological word. (CALL54)
Nina van der Vlugt: A diachronic typology of diminutives in Shona varieties. (CALL54)
Elisabeth Kerr: Mbam wordhood and Niger-Congo morphosyntactic reconstruction. (SLE58)
Maud Devos, Rasmus Bernander, and Jacky Maniacky: Bantu connective negation in the shadow of main clause negation (SLE58)

Lis Kerr co-organises Atomb orthography workshop at CERDOTOLA in Yaoundé (Cameroon)

On August 13-14, 2025, a community workshop was held at the Centre International de Recherche et de Documentation sur les Traditions et les Langues Africaines (CERDOTOLA) in Yaoundé for the development of an orthography of the Atɔmb language (Bantu A461 [ttf]; Atomb/Tuotomb/Boneck) as part of Lis Kerr’s FWO-MBAM project. The workshop was organised by Lis Kerr (BantUGent), Emmanuel-Moselly Makasso (CERDOTOLA), Gilbert Palemagna Korot (Atomb linguistic committee), and Justine Dihenou Djahappi (Université d’Ebolowa), with financial support from a small grant from the Foundation for Endangered Languages (FEL) and a Language Legacies grant from the Endangered Language Fund (ELF).

During the workshop, Atomb community members decided on an alphabet for their language based on discussion of contrastive sounds, with guidance from the linguist facilitators. The workshop ended with planning the next steps of the documentation and revitalisation project funded by FEL and ELF, with the community members inputting the first entries into the Living Dictionaries online dictionary platform based on their transcriptions in the new community alphabet.

BantUGent will host 11th International Conference on Bantu Languages (Bantu11) in August 2026

The BantUGent team is happy to welcome you to the city of Ghent (Belgium) for the 11^th International Conference on Bantu Languages (Bantu11). It will take place from August 18 to August 21, 2026, just before the 54^thColloquium on African Languages and Linguistics (CALL 2025) in Leiden (Netherlands) from August 24 till August 26, 2026. A first call for papers and workshops will follow early September 2025. All questions can be sent to Bantu11@UGent.be.

[Kiswahili]

Timu ya BantUGent ina furaha kukukaribisheni katika jiji la Ghent (Ubelgiji) kwa Kongamano la 11 la Kimataifa la Lugha za Kibantu (Bantu11). Litafanyika kuanzia Agosti 18 hadi Agosti 21, 2026, kabla tu ya Kongamano la 54 la Lugha na Isimu za Kiafrika (CALL 2025) huko Leiden (Uholanzi) kuanzia Agosti 24 hadi Agosti 26, 2026. Wito wa kwanza wa mawasilisho na warsha utafuata mwanzoni mwa Septemba 2025. Mkiwa na maswali tafadhali mtumie anwani ifuatayo: Bantu11@UGent.be.

[Lingála]

Ekipi ya BantUGent ezali na esengo ya koyamba bino na engumba ya Gand (Belgique) mpo na Likita ya 11 ya mikili nyonso ya minoko ya Bantu (Bantu11). Likita yango ekosalema wuto 18 kino 21 août, 2026, mwa moke liboso ya CALL 2025 oyo ekosalema na Leiden (Pays-Bas) wuto 24 kino 26 août, 2026. Libenga ya yambo mpo na kotinda mikanda mpe ba-ateliers ekobanda na ebandeli ya septembre 2025. Mituna nyonso ekoki kotindama na Bantu11@UGent.be.

[français]

L’équipe BantUGent est heureuse de vous accueillir dans la ville de Gand (Belgique) pour la 11^e Conférence internationale sur les langues bantoues (Bantu11). Elle aura lieu du 18 au 21 août 2026, juste avant le 54^eColloque sur les langues et la linguistique africaines (CALL 2025) à Leyde (Pays-Bas) du 24 au 26 août 2026. Un premier appel à communications et à ateliers sera lancé début septembre 2025. Toutes les questions peuvent être envoyées à Bantu11@UGent.be.

[português]

A equipa do BantUGent tem o prazer de vos dar as boas-vindas à cidade de Ghent (Bélgica) para a 11ª Conferência Internacional sobre Línguas Bantu (Bantu11). Terá lugar de 18 a 21 de agosto de 2026, imediatamente antes do 54º Colóquio sobre Línguas e Linguística Africanas (CALL 2025) em Leiden (Países Baixos) de 24 a 26 de agosto de 2026. No início de setembro de 2025, será lançado um primeiro convite à apresentação de comunicações e de workshops. Todas as questões podem ser enviadas para Bantu11@UGent.be.