Author: Koen Bostoen

BantuGent research at the Francqui International Professorship Symposium in Antwerp

On December 9, 2022, Antwerp University organises the Francqui International Professorship Symposium on “Diversity and Documentation of Speech Sounds in Languages of the World“. This symposium celebrates the International Francqui Professorship of Prof. Dr Bruce Connell and explores the diversity in languages of the world and the need for their documentation. The contributions focus on both the segmental and suprasegmental aspects. The symposium programma also includes several BantUGent talks: 
  • Labial-velar consonants in Sakata (Bantu C34): preliminary phonetic and phonological observations by Lorenzo Maselli
  • Retroflex nasals in the Mai-Ndombe (DRC): the case of nasals in North Boma B82 and Nunu B822 by Lorenzo Maselli, Véronique Delvaux, Jean-Pierre Donzo, Sara Pacchiarotti, Koen Bostoen
  • Shared phonetic features in newly documented hunter-gatherer Bantu languages  in the southern fringe of the Congo rainforest (DRC) by Jean-Pierre Donzo, Lorenzo Maselli, Marie-Faustine Beloko, Sara Pacchiarotti & Koen Bostoen

For more info, see https://www.phonetics.expert/programme.

Lorenzo Maselli gives a talk at the Tokyo African Linguistics Knot on November 14, 2022

Within the program of his exchange research stay in Tokyo as part of the FWO-JSPS-funded collaborative project between ILCAA and BantUGent on “The Past and Present of Bantu Languages: Integrating Micro-Typology, Historical-Comparative Linguistics and Lexicography“, Lorenzo Maselli (BantUGent) gives a talk on his PhD research at the Tokyo African Linguistics Knot.

Date and time: Nov 14, 2022, 18:00-19:00 (JST), 10:00-11:00 (CET)Title: Phonetic and phonological reconnaissance of the Mai-Ndombe (DRC): case studies into close-quarter sound variation
Zoom: to be obtained via Daisuke Shinagawa (ds@aa.tufs.ac.jp)

BantuGent research presented for Kinshasa University delegation at UGent

Prof P. Kapagama & Prof G. Mvumbi Lelo in charge of international partnerships at Kinshasa University visited Ghent University for a meet and greet at Het Pand on Thursday 20 October  2022 from 14h-16h30. Peter Coutros (BantUGent), Guy Kouarata (BantUGent), and Koen Bostoen (BantUGent) briefly presented ongoing BantuFirst research in the DRC in close collaboration with Prof. Igor Matonda from Kinshasa University (UNIKIN). Vicky Van Bockhaven from the African Studies Department also talked about the ongoing Afrisurge and Congolines projects she is supervising in collaboration with Congolese universities (e.a. Université de l’Uélé).