Documentation of Minority Languages and the Dynamism of Ethiopian Languages

2017 Fiscal Year Final Research Report

• Project/Area Number: 26300022
• Research Category: Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research (B)
• Allocation Type: Partial Multi-year Fund
• Section: 海外学術
• Research Field: Linguistics
• Research Institution: Yamaguchi University
• Principal Investigator: Hideyuki Inui 山口大学, 人文学部, 准教授 (10241754)
• Co-Investigator(Kenkyū-buntansha): 小脇 光男 京都産業大学, 外国語学部, 教授 (30136030) ; 池田 潤 筑波大学, 人文社会系, 教授 (60288850) ; 高橋 洋成 東京外国語大学, アジア・アフリカ言語文化研究所, 研究員 (90647702)
• Co-Investigator(Renkei-kenkyūsha): TSUGE Yoichi 金沢大学, 名誉教授 (50092276) ; NAKAO Syuichiro 大阪大学, 言語文化研究科, 助教 (10750359)
• Research Collaborator: NINOMIYA Takashi ; IWATSUKI Shinya ; YOSHINO Hiroshi ; HARA Shogo ; Yigezu Moges ; Mendisu Binyam Sisay ; Seyoum Mulugeta
• Project Period (FY): 2014-04-01 – 2018-03-31
• Keywords: 少数言語 / エチオピア / ドキュメンテーション / 言語ダイナミズム / GIS

Outline of Final Research Achievements

With Ethiopian researchers of Addis Ababa University we conducted research on minority languages in Ethiopia. We collected video and audio documentation of oral literature and folklore in Omotic (Basketo, Dime, Hamar and Kara), Semitic (Mesqan), Cushitic (Arbore, Hadiyya and 'Ale) and Nilo-Saharan (Nyangatom, Kowegu and Berta) languages, described their grammars, and made transcriptions, glosses and translations using ELAN which is a professional tool for the creation of complex annotations of video and audio resources.
We analysed language dynamism in Ethiopia and made a database of minority languages, by collecting literature on them from the library of the Institute of Ethiopian Studies in Addis Ababa University and by researching mother tongue education in them in Ethiopia.

Free Research Field

人文学