Mauro Tosco
Biographic Data
| ID | 156306 |
|---|---|
| NAME | Mauro Tosco |
| GIVEN NAMES | Mauro |
| FAMILY NAME | Tosco |
| SIGNATURE | TOSCO M |
| AFFILIATIONS | University of Naples - L'Orientale |
| VERIFIED | No |
| TOTAL WORKS | 19 |
| TOTAL CITATIONS | 17 |
| AUTHOR COUNT | 19 |
| EDITOR COUNT | 0 |
| FIRST PUBLICATION YEAR | 1993 |
| LATEST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2023 |
| H-INDEX | 2 |
Gawwada
This chapter focuses on the dialect spoken in the town of Gawwada and the neighbouring villages—Gawwada. It stresses that it is a member of the so-called Dullay variety spoken in the town of Gawwada and the neighbouring villages in southwest Ethiopia. Dullay is a direct offspring of East Cushitic, although an alternative classification grouping Dullay and Yaaku together has been proposed and further substantiated. I propose to call the groups mad…
General overview of Cushitic
This chapter gives a general overview of Cushitic. According to current classifications and sources, there are at least 30 living Cushitic languages. The Cushitic languages are spoken primarily in the modern nation states of Sudan, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Djibouti, Somalia, Kenya, and Tanzania. The chapter discusses the relationship with Omotic, and elaborates on the four branches of Cushitic: North, Central, East, and South. However, almost every det…
Juba Arabic (Arabi Juba)
This article explores the official discourse behind the regimentation of the linguistic situation of South Sudan and assesses its impact on local linguistic practices against the backdrop of a sociolinguistic survey and interviews with government officials. After a presentation of the language situation of the country, the article focuses on Juba Arabic and its unrecognized status as the only lingua franca of South Sudan. The Constitution of the …
From Elmolo to Gura Pau: A remembered Cushitic language of Lake Turkana and its possible revitalization
This article discusses the “extinct” Elmolo language of the Lake Turkana area in Kenya. A surprisingly large amount of the vocabulary of this Cushitic language (whose community shifted to Nilotic Samburu in the 20th century), far from being lost and forgotten, is still known and is, to a certain extent, still used. The Cushitic material contains both specialized vocabulary (for the most part related to fishing) and miscellaneous and general words…
The morphosyntax and prosody of topic and focus in Juba Arabic
The article discusses the information structure of Juba Arabic, an Arabic-based pidgincreole of South Sudan, showing how the expression of topic and focus is the result of a complex interaction of morphosyntactic and prosodic means. While the lexical elements used in the expression of topic and focus are Arabic-derived, no such influence can be found in the prosody. Both topic- and focus-marked utterances can be opposed to neutral ones. Topics ar…
Harold C. Fleming: Ongota: a Decisive Language in African Prehistory
Review Article
In memoriam Alan S. Kaye (1944–2007)
Obituary
Le nom des langues III. Le nom des langues en Afrique sub-saharienne: Pratiques, dénominations, catégorisations/Naming languages in Sub-Saharan Africa: Practices, Names, Categorisations
What to Do when You are Unhappy with Language Areas but You do not Want to Quit
The article deals with the concept of "linguistic area" and its problems.Section 1. deals with the history of the concept, as originally formulated by Trubetzkoy in 1923, showing how logical problems were present since the very beginning.In Section 2. a few possible preconditions for a scientifically sound definition of "area" are proposed and discussed, and their application is exemplified in Section 3. with the case of the languages of Northern…
Ex Uno Plura: The uneasy road of Ethiopian languages toward standardization
The history of Ethiopia has witnessed a constant struggle between centralizing forces and regional powers. Since 1991 the pendulum has swung clearly toward a policy of “ethnic federalism.” Nevertheless, to date only a few of the about eighty ethnic groups of Ethiopia have implemented the right to fully develop their own language and use it in education and administration, as enshrined in the new federal constitution. Actually, only Oromo (the sec…
Introduction: Ausbau is everywhere
1. A (rather longish) introduction to the introduction An Ausbau language, to repeat Kloss's (1967: 30) original definition, is a language that has “deliberately been reshaped so as to become a vehicle of variegated literary expression.” It is a language because “it has been made” such. Its opposite is an Abstand language, a language that is there, so to speak, “by nature,” and that would be recognized as such “no matter what” by virtue of its in…
Feature-geometry and diachrony: The development of the subject clitics in Cushitic and Romance
Several East and South Cushitic languages of East Africa have a preverbal series of subject markers. They are generally clitics, sometimes phonologically independent words. Like the subject clitics of many Romance varieties, these markers display characteristic restrictions: their paradigm is often incomplete, or the same morpheme may be shared by two or more persons. In this article, the subject markers of Cushitic are first compared with the Ro…
Between zero and nothing: Transitivity and noun incorporation in Somali
The article analyzes the expression of understood objects in Somali. There is no object pronoun of 3rd person in Somali; this gap is usually interpreted as a “full Ø”, which saturates the valency of a transitive verb and forces a reading with an anaphoric object. The article shows that this is empirically incorrect: in certain configurations, Somali transitive verbs admit either an anaphoric or a generic reading even in the absence of either an o…
The case for a laissez-faire language policy
When clitics collide: On to have in Piedmontese
The paper deals with a few aspects of the morphosyntax of clitics in Piedmontese (Western Romance) and their historical development. In Piedmontese an element =l= (orthographically l’ ) is obligatorily inserted between the Subject Clitics and all and only the inflected forms of “to have”; in several varieties of Piedmontese this element has a double interpretation synchronically, either as a semantically null element or as an Object Clitic of 3rd…
A whole lotta focusin' goin' on information packaging in Somali texts
The article deals with the pragmatics of focus marking in Somali written texts. The use of the nominal focus markers baa and ayaa, of clefts, of noun incor-poration and of the particle waa is analyzed. Concerning the latter, it is argued that the verbal-focus effect often associated with it is more the result of the absence of nominal focus than an inherent property of this particle, thereby confirming Saeed's analysis of waa as a "declarative cl…
A sketch of Ongota a dying language of southwest Ethiopia
The article provides a grammatical sketch of Ongota, a language on the brink of extinction (actively used by eight out of an ethnic group of nearly one hundred) spoken in the South Omo Zone of Southwestern Ethiopia. The language has now been largely superseded by Ts'amakko, a neighboring East Cushitic language, and code-switching in Ts'arnakko occurs extensively in the data. A peculiar characteristic of Ongota is that tense distinctions on the ve…
Somali ideophones
The paper presents the first systematic account of a substantial number of Somali ideophones. The ideophones are first defined according to a number of phonological and morphosyntactic criteria, followed by a discussion of the semantic fields covered by ideophones in Somali compared with other African languages (Section 1). The ideophones themselves are then categorized according to basic semantic fields (Section 2), and finally arranged and pres…
The preverbal particles of a Southern Somali dialect∗
(1993). The preverbal particles of a Southern Somali dialect. African Languages and Cultures: Vol. 6, No. 2, pp. 161-178
Somali ideophones
The paper presents the first systematic account of a substantial number of Somali ideophones. The ideophones are first defined according to a number of phonological and morphosyntactic criteria, followed by a discussion of the semantic fields covered by ideophones in Somali compared with other African languages (Section 1). The ideophones themselves are then categorized according to basic semantic fields (Section 2), and finally arranged and pres…
Introduction: Ausbau is everywhere
1. A (rather longish) introduction to the introduction An Ausbau language, to repeat Kloss's (1967: 30) original definition, is a language that has “deliberately been reshaped so as to become a vehicle of variegated literary expression.” It is a language because “it has been made” such. Its opposite is an Abstand language, a language that is there, so to speak, “by nature,” and that would be recognized as such “no matter what” by virtue of its in…
What to Do when You are Unhappy with Language Areas but You do not Want to Quit
The article deals with the concept of "linguistic area" and its problems.Section 1. deals with the history of the concept, as originally formulated by Trubetzkoy in 1923, showing how logical problems were present since the very beginning.In Section 2. a few possible preconditions for a scientifically sound definition of "area" are proposed and discussed, and their application is exemplified in Section 3. with the case of the languages of Northern…
Feature-geometry and diachrony: The development of the subject clitics in Cushitic and Romance
Several East and South Cushitic languages of East Africa have a preverbal series of subject markers. They are generally clitics, sometimes phonologically independent words. Like the subject clitics of many Romance varieties, these markers display characteristic restrictions: their paradigm is often incomplete, or the same morpheme may be shared by two or more persons. In this article, the subject markers of Cushitic are first compared with the Ro…
Juba Arabic (Arabi Juba)
This article explores the official discourse behind the regimentation of the linguistic situation of South Sudan and assesses its impact on local linguistic practices against the backdrop of a sociolinguistic survey and interviews with government officials. After a presentation of the language situation of the country, the article focuses on Juba Arabic and its unrecognized status as the only lingua franca of South Sudan. The Constitution of the …
From Elmolo to Gura Pau: A remembered Cushitic language of Lake Turkana and its possible revitalization
This article discusses the “extinct” Elmolo language of the Lake Turkana area in Kenya. A surprisingly large amount of the vocabulary of this Cushitic language (whose community shifted to Nilotic Samburu in the 20th century), far from being lost and forgotten, is still known and is, to a certain extent, still used. The Cushitic material contains both specialized vocabulary (for the most part related to fishing) and miscellaneous and general words…
A whole lotta focusin' goin' on information packaging in Somali texts
The article deals with the pragmatics of focus marking in Somali written texts. The use of the nominal focus markers baa and ayaa, of clefts, of noun incor-poration and of the particle waa is analyzed. Concerning the latter, it is argued that the verbal-focus effect often associated with it is more the result of the absence of nominal focus than an inherent property of this particle, thereby confirming Saeed's analysis of waa as a "declarative cl…
A sketch of Ongota a dying language of southwest Ethiopia
The article provides a grammatical sketch of Ongota, a language on the brink of extinction (actively used by eight out of an ethnic group of nearly one hundred) spoken in the South Omo Zone of Southwestern Ethiopia. The language has now been largely superseded by Ts'amakko, a neighboring East Cushitic language, and code-switching in Ts'arnakko occurs extensively in the data. A peculiar characteristic of Ongota is that tense distinctions on the ve…
The preverbal particles of a Southern Somali dialect∗
(1993). The preverbal particles of a Southern Somali dialect. African Languages and Cultures: Vol. 6, No. 2, pp. 161-178
Somali ideophones
The paper presents the first systematic account of a substantial number of Somali ideophones. The ideophones are first defined according to a number of phonological and morphosyntactic criteria, followed by a discussion of the semantic fields covered by ideophones in Somali compared with other African languages (Section 1). The ideophones themselves are then categorized according to basic semantic fields (Section 2), and finally arranged and pres…
A sketch of Ongota a dying language of southwest Ethiopia
The article provides a grammatical sketch of Ongota, a language on the brink of extinction (actively used by eight out of an ethnic group of nearly one hundred) spoken in the South Omo Zone of Southwestern Ethiopia. The language has now been largely superseded by Ts'amakko, a neighboring East Cushitic language, and code-switching in Ts'arnakko occurs extensively in the data. A peculiar characteristic of Ongota is that tense distinctions on the ve…
When clitics collide: On to have in Piedmontese
The paper deals with a few aspects of the morphosyntax of clitics in Piedmontese (Western Romance) and their historical development. In Piedmontese an element =l= (orthographically l’ ) is obligatorily inserted between the Subject Clitics and all and only the inflected forms of “to have”; in several varieties of Piedmontese this element has a double interpretation synchronically, either as a semantically null element or as an Object Clitic of 3rd…
A whole lotta focusin' goin' on information packaging in Somali texts
The article deals with the pragmatics of focus marking in Somali written texts. The use of the nominal focus markers baa and ayaa, of clefts, of noun incor-poration and of the particle waa is analyzed. Concerning the latter, it is argued that the verbal-focus effect often associated with it is more the result of the absence of nominal focus than an inherent property of this particle, thereby confirming Saeed's analysis of waa as a "declarative cl…
Between zero and nothing: Transitivity and noun incorporation in Somali
The article analyzes the expression of understood objects in Somali. There is no object pronoun of 3rd person in Somali; this gap is usually interpreted as a “full Ø”, which saturates the valency of a transitive verb and forces a reading with an anaphoric object. The article shows that this is empirically incorrect: in certain configurations, Somali transitive verbs admit either an anaphoric or a generic reading even in the absence of either an o…
The case for a laissez-faire language policy
Feature-geometry and diachrony: The development of the subject clitics in Cushitic and Romance
Several East and South Cushitic languages of East Africa have a preverbal series of subject markers. They are generally clitics, sometimes phonologically independent words. Like the subject clitics of many Romance varieties, these markers display characteristic restrictions: their paradigm is often incomplete, or the same morpheme may be shared by two or more persons. In this article, the subject markers of Cushitic are first compared with the Ro…
What to Do when You are Unhappy with Language Areas but You do not Want to Quit
The article deals with the concept of "linguistic area" and its problems.Section 1. deals with the history of the concept, as originally formulated by Trubetzkoy in 1923, showing how logical problems were present since the very beginning.In Section 2. a few possible preconditions for a scientifically sound definition of "area" are proposed and discussed, and their application is exemplified in Section 3. with the case of the languages of Northern…
Ex Uno Plura: The uneasy road of Ethiopian languages toward standardization
The history of Ethiopia has witnessed a constant struggle between centralizing forces and regional powers. Since 1991 the pendulum has swung clearly toward a policy of “ethnic federalism.” Nevertheless, to date only a few of the about eighty ethnic groups of Ethiopia have implemented the right to fully develop their own language and use it in education and administration, as enshrined in the new federal constitution. Actually, only Oromo (the sec…
Introduction: Ausbau is everywhere
1. A (rather longish) introduction to the introduction An Ausbau language, to repeat Kloss's (1967: 30) original definition, is a language that has “deliberately been reshaped so as to become a vehicle of variegated literary expression.” It is a language because “it has been made” such. Its opposite is an Abstand language, a language that is there, so to speak, “by nature,” and that would be recognized as such “no matter what” by virtue of its in…
In memoriam Alan S. Kaye (1944–2007)
Obituary
Le nom des langues III. Le nom des langues en Afrique sub-saharienne: Pratiques, dénominations, catégorisations/Naming languages in Sub-Saharan Africa: Practices, Names, Categorisations
Harold C. Fleming: Ongota: a Decisive Language in African Prehistory
Review Article
The morphosyntax and prosody of topic and focus in Juba Arabic
The article discusses the information structure of Juba Arabic, an Arabic-based pidgincreole of South Sudan, showing how the expression of topic and focus is the result of a complex interaction of morphosyntactic and prosodic means. While the lexical elements used in the expression of topic and focus are Arabic-derived, no such influence can be found in the prosody. Both topic- and focus-marked utterances can be opposed to neutral ones. Topics ar…
From Elmolo to Gura Pau: A remembered Cushitic language of Lake Turkana and its possible revitalization
This article discusses the “extinct” Elmolo language of the Lake Turkana area in Kenya. A surprisingly large amount of the vocabulary of this Cushitic language (whose community shifted to Nilotic Samburu in the 20th century), far from being lost and forgotten, is still known and is, to a certain extent, still used. The Cushitic material contains both specialized vocabulary (for the most part related to fishing) and miscellaneous and general words…
Juba Arabic (Arabi Juba)
This article explores the official discourse behind the regimentation of the linguistic situation of South Sudan and assesses its impact on local linguistic practices against the backdrop of a sociolinguistic survey and interviews with government officials. After a presentation of the language situation of the country, the article focuses on Juba Arabic and its unrecognized status as the only lingua franca of South Sudan. The Constitution of the …
Gawwada
This chapter focuses on the dialect spoken in the town of Gawwada and the neighbouring villages—Gawwada. It stresses that it is a member of the so-called Dullay variety spoken in the town of Gawwada and the neighbouring villages in southwest Ethiopia. Dullay is a direct offspring of East Cushitic, although an alternative classification grouping Dullay and Yaaku together has been proposed and further substantiated. I propose to call the groups mad…
General overview of Cushitic
This chapter gives a general overview of Cushitic. According to current classifications and sources, there are at least 30 living Cushitic languages. The Cushitic languages are spoken primarily in the modern nation states of Sudan, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Djibouti, Somalia, Kenya, and Tanzania. The chapter discusses the relationship with Omotic, and elaborates on the four branches of Cushitic: North, Central, East, and South. However, almost every det…
Linguistics (16 works) · Philosophy (14 works) · Computer Science (9 works) · Multilingual Education and Policy (8 works) · Philosophy (7 works) · African history and culture analysis (6 works) · History (6 works) · Sociology (6 works) · Language, Linguistics, Cultural Analysis (5 works) · Geography (4 works)