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Vol. 59, no. 4 (Winter 2017)

Contents

Abstracts

Miami-Illinois Word Order: Basic Constituent Order

David J. Costa
Myaamia Center at Miami University

Abstract. Miami-Illinois is a nonconfigurational language with what is often described as free word order. Word order is not used to distinguish subjects and objects; topical information is preverbal, while nontopical or backgrounded information is postverbal. Moreover, certain other grammatical categories almost always occur preverbally, other elements usually occur postverbally, and discontinuous constituents are common. Additionally, significant variation in word order is seen among the different speakers and time periods of the language. Taken together, these facts indicate that the concept of “basic word order” as it is applied to configurational languages is not useful in describing Miami-Illinois word order.

From the Hood to Public Discourse: The Social Spread of African Youth Languages

Andrea Hollington
University of Cologne

Nico Nassenstein
Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz

Abstract. Urban youth language in Africa is increasingly present in various public and family contexts, rather than being limited to marginalized urban identities—new contexts associated less with resistance than with openness, unboundedness, and inclusion. This implies changes of style, exclusiveness, identity marking, and domains of usage. Analysis of Yanké in Kinshasa and Yarada K’wank’wa in Addis Ababa shows that new unbounded identities of youth language speakers are associated with more fluid and accessible communities of practice, reflecting new modes of regulating ingroup boundaries and conveying language rights to outsiders (including older people from all social strata). This accompanies new developments in speakers’ ideologies and constructions of identity.

Proverbial Nicknames among Rural Youth in Nigeria

Eyo Mensah
University of Calabar, Nigeria

Abstract. Among rural youth in southern Cross River State, southeastern Nigeria, proverbial nicknames foreground dimensions of power relations, especially hegemonic masculinity, tell stories about past exploits, and accentuate locally relevant values that emphasize conformity to societal norms. Indexical and emblematic meanings of nicknames in the social contexts where they are given and used are investigated, as are the sources, social significance, and perception of these names with reference to Paul Leslie and James Skipper’s claim that nicknames reflect processes of social action that provide meaning and guide the transmission of cultural knowledge. Nicknames are not ordinary social emblems of identity, solidarity, and group dynamics; they also mirror cultural assumptions and reflect a wide range of value categories and moral codes in the rural space.

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