Speaker: Prof. Tom Güldemann (Humboldt University, Berlin)
Time: Thursday 11 December 2025 @ 13:15
Venue: Aula im. Hrynakowskiego, Collegium Heliodori Święcicki, Grunwaldzka 6
Abstract
The Taa language complex (glottocode: taaa1242), spoken in southwestern Botswana and central-eastern Namibia, is the last surviving member of the isolated Tuu family, which is one of three lineages of the African convergence zone called Kalahari Basin area (KBA). Against the background of a generally marked typological profile of KBA languages, Taa displays a particularly exceptional set of quirky linguistic features. In my presentation, I showcase examples in three domains, namely a) the phonological system, which presumably is the most complex one globally, b) an intricate and ubiquitous system of syntactic agreement for person, gender, and number, featuring among other things the unique phenomenon of “Janus-headed” concord, and c) the profile of the lexically determined gender system, which not only involves variation due to extensive nominal morphology but also due to a considerable diversity across different Taa dialects. I close with a linguistic detail that shows that the investigation of minority languages like Taa can inform the historical analysis of major written languages.
