The Kalahari Basin area: a 'Sprachbund' on the verge of extinction - "The Central Kalahari area with a focus on Hoan (Ju-Hoan family): language contact and population genetics"

• Applicant: Professorin Dr. Brigitte Pakendorf
• Subject Area: General and Comparative Linguistics, Experimental Linguistics, Typology, Non-European Languages
• Term: from 2009 to 2012
• Project identifier: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 135269454

This Individual Project aims at combining both molecular anthropological and linguistic investigations to gain an understanding of the factors involved in the emergence of the Kalahari Basin as a linguistic area. The processes involved in the emergence of linguistic areas are still not fully understood, and the deeper the time depth the more difficult it is to unravel them. Given the fact that the Khoisan languages spoken in South Africa may have a very deep history (cf. Traill & Nakagawa 2000: 1-2), linguistic investigations alone may not be sufficient to provide insights into the sociocultural factors that played a role in the emergence of shared traits. A multidisciplinary approach is clearly needed to gain an understanding of processes involved in language contact and areal diffusion of linguistic features.

• DFG Programme: Research Grants
• International Connection: Denmark, Netherlands, United Kingdom
• Participating Persons: Professor Dr. Alan Barnard; Professor Dr. Tom Güldemann; Professor Dr. William McGregor; Professor Dr. Maarten Mous