The Making of a Mixed Language

The case of Ma’a/Mbugu

Author
ORCID logoMaarten Mous | Leiden University
HardboundAvailable
ISBN 9789027252487 (Eur) | EUR 130.00
ISBN 9781588114891 (USA) | USD 195.00
 
e-Book
ISBN 9789027275240 | EUR 130.00 | USD 195.00
 
Google Play logo
The Mbugu (or Ma'á) language (Tanzania) is one of the few genuine mixed languages, reputedly combining Bantu grammar with Cushitic vocabulary. In fact the people speak two languages: one mixed and one closely related to the Bantu language Pare. This book is the first comprehensive description of these languages. It shows that these two languages share one grammar while their lexicon is parallel. In the distant past the people shifted from a Cushitic to a Bantu language and in the process rebuilt a language of their own that expresses their separate ethnic identity in a Bantu environment. This linguistic history is explained in the context of the intricate history of the people. The discussion of the processes that were involved in the formation of Ma'a/Mbugu is extremely relevant for both creole studies and for contact linguistics in general.
[Creole Language Library, 26] 2003.  xx, 322 pp.
Publishing status: Available
Table of Contents
“This book is a valuable contribution, as it contains by far the most comprehensive descriptive analysis of a fascinating language. Mous is a genuine authority on the language; the book will surely become the standard source. The status and history of this language are highly controversial in language contact studies, so that the availability of a richly documented grammar will be welcomed by many researchers (as well as by specialists in Bantu and other languages of that part of East Africa). The book has no competitors, and it is a 'must-read' for anyone interested in mixed languages. Scholarly interest in language contact has been booming for some years now, and mixed languages have proved especially intriguing.”
“Maarten Mous has produced a solid study of the creation of the mixed language Ma'a, parallel to the Bantu language Mbugu spoken among members of the same ethnic group. His analysis is of great interest to all students of language contact, historical linguistics, ethnogenesis, and the deliberate manipulation of languages.”
“The present book is a wealth of data and information concerning the language under question. In fact it is a complete descriptive grammar of not only the mixed language Ma'a/Inner Mbugu, but also simultaneously the ''matrix'' language Normal Mbugu, showing the close relationship between the languages, something that Mous argues strongly for.”
“This is a remarkable book. I found this book so extraordinarily interesting, so gripping that I just read and read, from start to finish. Mous sets out an array of possible interpretations, examines each of them, states the pros and cons, and says where he stands. He proposes to enlarge the standard interpretation of the Comparative method, via his conscious manipulation. All this is of general interest. A balanced presentation; a pleasure to read. I predict scholars from different backgrounds will like this book: those interested in mixed languages, and those interesting in language contact, language change, language genesis, and language manipulation.”
“This book makes an invaluable contribution to contact linguistics. Apart from Africanists and scholars working on language contact, this book is of great relevance to general historical linguists.”
“It is clear that for many years to come this will be the central source on the strange case of Mbugu. Its importance for the study of language change cannot be overestimated, and previous attempts to classify the language have shown that without proper information such attempts are bound to be futile.”
“This volume offers significant new insights, thanks in part to its thorough and detailed analysis. The book also marks a minor change from Mous's earlier work (e.g., Mous, 1994), where Ma'a is categorized as merely a lexical register of (Normal) Mbugu. The making of a mixed langage provides much detail, and as such it may be a relatively tough read for the uninitiated generalist. But Banto scholars, Africanists, and those interested in mixed languages in particular will welcome Mous's in-depth discussion, and find the book challenging and informative.”
Cited by

Cited by 45 other publications

Aboh, Enoch O.
2020. Lessons From Neuro-(a)-Typical Brains: Universal Multilingualism, Code-Mixing, Recombination, and Executive Functions. Frontiers in Psychology 11 DOI logo
Peter K. Austin & Julia Sallabank
1999. The Cambridge Handbook of Endangered Languages, DOI logo
Bakker, Peter
2017. Typology of Mixed Languages. In The Cambridge Handbook of Linguistic Typology,  pp. 217 ff. DOI logo
Bakker, Peter
2020. Contact and Mixed Languages. In The Handbook of Language Contact,  pp. 201 ff. DOI logo
Benítez-Torres, Carlos M. & Anthony P. Grant
2017. On the origin of some Northern Songhay mixed languages. Journal of Pidgin and Creole Languages 32:2  pp. 263 ff. DOI logo
Beyer, Klaus
2020. Contact among African Languages. In The Handbook of Language Contact,  pp. 649 ff. DOI logo
Bond, Oliver, Helen Sims‐Williams & Matthew Baerman
2020. Contact and Linguistic Typology. In The Handbook of Language Contact,  pp. 129 ff. DOI logo
Brenzinger, Matthias
Childs, G. Tucker
2019. Chapter 12. Ideophones as a measure of multilingualism*. In Ideophones, Mimetics and Expressives [Iconicity in Language and Literature, 16],  pp. 303 ff. DOI logo
Connell, Bruce, David Zeitlyn, Sascha Griffiths, Laura Hayward & Marieke Martin
2021. Language ecology, language endangerment, and relict languages: Case studies from Adamawa (Cameroon-Nigeria). Open Linguistics 7:1  pp. 244 ff. DOI logo
Creissels, Denis
Demo, Šime
2021. Artificial fusion: The curious case of Macaronic Latin. International Journal of Bilingualism 25:2  pp. 369 ff. DOI logo
du Plessis, Menán
2019. The Khoisan Languages of Southern Africa: Facts, Theories and Confusions. Critical Arts 33:4-5  pp. 33 ff. DOI logo
Good, Jeff
2009. Review of Childs (2003): An Introduction to African Languages. Studies in Language 33:1  pp. 215 ff. DOI logo
Good, Jeff
2017. Niger-Congo Languages. In The Cambridge Handbook of Areal Linguistics,  pp. 471 ff. DOI logo
Grant, Anthony P.
Kheir, Afifa Eve
2022. Passing the Test of Split: Israbic-A New Mixed Language. Journal of Language Contact 15:1  pp. 110 ff. DOI logo
Kressing, Frank
2016. Lateral and Vertical Transfer in Biology, Linguistics and Anthropology: An Account of Widely Neglected Ideas in the Formation of Evolutionary Theories. Evolutionary Biology 43:4  pp. 474 ff. DOI logo
Lee, Nala H.
2020. The Status of Endangered Contact Languages of the World. Annual Review of Linguistics 6:1  pp. 301 ff. DOI logo
Lipski, John M
2020. Reconstructing the life-cycle of a mixed language: An exploration of Ecuadoran Media Lengua. International Journal of Bilingualism 24:2  pp. 410 ff. DOI logo
Lipski, John M.
2020. Can a bilingual lexicon be sustained by phonotactics alone?. The Mental Lexicon 15:2  pp. 330 ff. DOI logo
McConvell, Patrick & Felicity Meakins
2005. Gurindji Kriol: A Mixed Language Emerges from Code-switching. Australian Journal of Linguistics 25:1  pp. 9 ff. DOI logo
Meakins, Felicity & Jesse Stewart
2022. Mixed Languages. In The Cambridge Handbook of Language Contact,  pp. 310 ff. DOI logo
Meeuwis, Michael & Jan-Ola Östman
2009. Contact linguistics. In Handbook of Pragmatics,  pp. 1 ff. DOI logo
Meeuwis, Michael & Jan-Ola Östman
2022. Contact linguistics. In Handbook of Pragmatics [Handbook of Pragmatics, ],  pp. 325 ff. DOI logo
Mojeiko, Marina A.
2022. Bilingualism in culturological projection: the phenomenon of open thinking. Journal of the Belarusian State University. Sociology :3  pp. 81 ff. DOI logo
Nurse, Derek, Lidwien Kapteijns, Tim Stapleton, Sabrina H. B. Hardenbergh, Greg Queyranne, Brian J. Peterson, Gail Presbey, Sean Redding, Matthews A. Ojo, Allen F. Roberts, Gary Kynoch, David E. Torrance, Amal Ghazal, Denis-Constant Martin & Julie Laplante
2012. Book Reviews. Canadian Journal of African Studies / Revue canadienne des études africaines 46:1  pp. 145 ff. DOI logo
Onwukwe, Chimaobi & Nkechinyere Iwe
2021. Diphthongs in Igbo? Language Contact in the Igbo and Anaang Borderlands. Language Matters 52:2  pp. 96 ff. DOI logo
O’Grady Walshe, Clare
2019. The Core Dilemma: Seed Sovereignty and Globalisation. In Globalisation and Seed Sovereignty in Sub-Saharan Africa [International Political Economy Series, ],  pp. 1 ff. DOI logo
O’Shannessy, Carmel
Pawlak, Nina
2010. Języki afrykańskie, DOI logo
Pawlak, Nina
2015. Wkład afrykanistyki do rozwoju ogólnej teorii językoznawstwa. In Orientalistyka. Rozważania o nauce, DOI logo
Reershemius, Gertrud
2011. A new role for Low German? Language insertion as bilingual practice in the process of language shift. Journal of Sociolinguistics 15:3  pp. 383 ff. DOI logo
Salaberri, Iker
2022. A cross-linguistic study of emphatic negative coordination. Studies in Language 46:3  pp. 647 ff. DOI logo
Sands, Bonny
2009. Africa's Linguistic Diversity. Language and Linguistics Compass 3:2  pp. 559 ff. DOI logo
Sands, Bonny
2022. Tracing Language Contact in Africa’s Past. In The Cambridge Handbook of Language Contact,  pp. 84 ff. DOI logo
Seifart, Frank
2017. Patterns of affix borrowing in a sample of 100 languages. Journal of Historical Linguistics 7:3  pp. 389 ff. DOI logo
Storoshenko, Dennis Ryan
2016. The Shona reflexive as covert anaphora. Canadian Journal of Linguistics/Revue canadienne de linguistique 61:2  pp. 156 ff. DOI logo
Uzum, Melike, Nurettin Demir & Metin Bagriacik
2023. Recycling a Mixed Language: Posha in Turkey. Languages 8:1  pp. 52 ff. DOI logo
van Gelderen, Elly
2019. Are uninterpretable features vulnerable?. Theoretical Linguistics 45:3-4  pp. 275 ff. DOI logo
H. Ekkehard Wolff
2019. A History of African Linguistics, DOI logo
Wong Gonzales, Wilkinson Daniel & Rebecca Lurie Starr
2020. Vowel system or vowel systems?. Journal of Pidgin and Creole Languages 35:2  pp. 253 ff. DOI logo
[no author supplied]
2022. Language Contact and Genetic Linguistics. In The Cambridge Handbook of Language Contact,  pp. 41 ff. DOI logo
[no author supplied]
2022. Contact, Emergence, and Language Classification. In The Cambridge Handbook of Language Contact,  pp. 255 ff. DOI logo

This list is based on CrossRef data as of 16 march 2024. Please note that it may not be complete. Sources presented here have been supplied by the respective publishers. Any errors therein should be reported to them.

Subjects

Main BIC Subject

CF: Linguistics

Main BISAC Subject

LAN009000: LANGUAGE ARTS & DISCIPLINES / Linguistics / General
ONIX Metadata
ONIX 2.1
ONIX 3.0
U.S. Library of Congress Control Number:  2003063773 | Marc record