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Humanities and the arts
- Evolutionary linguistics
- Historical linguistics
- Laboratory phonetics and speech science
The proposed research project addresses the inadequately studied phonetic and phonological features of the "entre Congo-Ubangi" sector of Africa's Macro-Sudan Belt, in the Democratic Republic of Congo. The "entre Congo-Ubangi," rich in linguistic, anthropological, and genetic diversity, has drawn interdisciplinary attention but remains severely under-documented to this day. This area is of extraordinary importance for the study of the Macro-Sudan Belt as a whole, due to the fact that it hosts languages displaying so many of the area’s phonetic and phonological diagnostics, including labial-velars and implosives. The project aims to study the phonetics and phonology of labial-velars and implosives in the "entre Congo-Ubangi", shedding light on their behaviour, variation, and possible historical substrates. I will also examine their relationship with other local phonetic rarities such as retroflex flaps. By collecting and analysing primary lexical, acoustic, and articulatory data, the project aims to contribute to the fields of linguistic typology, phonetics, and phonology. Research objectives encompass detailed examinations of labial-velars and implosives, addressing questions about their articulation, phonological integration, and (micro-)variation across language communities. Understanding these unique phonetic phenomena is crucial to uncovering broader typological and historical implications, including contact dynamics and the possible influence of a "Pygmy" substrate.