The Cambridge Handbook of African Linguistics

This book presents an in-depth and comprehensive state-of-the-art account of the study of ‘African languages’ and ‘language in Africa’ since its beginnings as a ‘colonial science’ at the turn of the 20th century in Europe. Compiled by 55 internationally renowned scholars, this groundbreaking account looks at past and current research on ‘African languages’ and ‘language in Africa’ under the impact of paradigmatic changes from ‘colonial’ to ‘postcolonial’ perspectives. It addresses current trends in the study of the role and functions of language, African and other, in pre- and postcolonial African societies. Highlighting the central role that the ‘language factor’ plays in postcolonial transformation processes of sociocultural modernization and economic development, it also addresses more recent, particularly urban, patterns of communication and outlines applied dimensions of digitalization and human language technology.