Shangaji. A Maka or Swahili Language of Mozambique. Grammar, texts and wordlist

Maud Devos , Leiden University

Project Details:

Individual Postgraduate Fellowship. Duration: 2004-2006. £72,829

Project Summary:

The project aims at an extensive documentation of Shangaji, a Bantu language spoken in the Nampula province of Mozambique. Shangaji is an endangered language and hitherto undocumented. This project constitutes the final part of a larger documentation project involving the so-called Swahili languages of Mozambique. The existence of these languages related to both Swahili and languages of the interior proves that the early spread of Swahili reached far into Mozambique. The project is organised around the collection of primary data. To this end two fieldwork trips will be undertaken, together constituting a full annual cycle. During the fieldwork three types of data will be collected in cooperation with local consultants: texts reflecting a wide range of communicative events, wordlists with special attention to cultural specific terminology, and analytic material. All the data will be provided with metadata descriptions that include: information about the content, description of the specific context, and comments by speakers. The primary data including pictures, tapes, sound files and video footage will all be archived at ELAR. Moreover the documentation will result in products such as a dictionary, a collection of annotated texts and a grammatical sketch.