African Linguistics School

12/17/2025

Wonderful opportunity to conduct research on West Nilotic languages and work with some great linguists!

The School of Philosophy, Psychology and Language Sciences is inviting applications for three postgraduate studentships that offer four years of funding and extensive associated resources.

10/02/2025

The outcome of our workshop at ALS6! A representation of the research of ALS students and faculty. Freely downloadable!

Just published "Cross-disciplinary approaches to Information Structure in Niger-Congo languages" edited by Akinbiyi Akinlabi, Sampson Korsah, Sharon Rose & Abdul-Razak Sulemana

https://langsci-press.org/catalog/book/505

This volume contains a selection of papers that were originally presented at a workshop ``Cross-disciplinary approaches to Information Structure in African languages", held in Porto-Novo, Benin in 2022. Eight papers explore information structure in Niger-Congo languages from different linguistic angles: phonetics, phonology, syntax and semantics. The papers address a range of topics in different Niger-Congo languages from both junior and senior scholars in the field of linguistics, reflecting both the diversity of languages and scholarship in African linguistics.

Chapter 1
Introduction
Akinbiyi Akinlabi, Sampson Korsah, Sharon Rose, Abdul-Razak Sulemana

Chapter 2
The syntax of focus in Ìkálẹ̀
Daniel Aremu

Chapter 3
Prosody of topic and focus in Tira
Nina Hagen Kaldhol, Sharon Rose, Mark Simmons

Chapter 4
Tone-intonation interactions in Ede Chaabe
Tajudeen Mamadou

Chapter 5
DP-internal focus affects agree
Insights from Bamileke Ngemba
Leonel Tadjo Fongang

Chapter 6
Definitely a question: Definiteness markers in Akan ex-situ questions
Augustina Owusu

Chapter 7
The descriptive and syntactic properties of the ànáá particle(s)
Comfort Ahenkorah

Chapter 8
Verb phrase ellipsis in Likpakpaanl
Samuel Owoahene Acheampong

Chapter 9
On the clausal syntax of Dschang predicate focus doubling
Colin Brown , Harold Torrence

03/17/2025

Please follow this link for an online course in the autumn in epistemicity, taught by Jenneke van der Wal! Applications are due May 17, 2025.

MapLE Masterclass Apply to participate in the online course by filling in this form. What is this course about?When people communicate, they not only exchange information, but they also indicate ho…

06/12/2024

We have made the selections for this year’s school and we are happy to welcome 71 students to ALS7 in Winneba, Ghana! See you in July!

02/20/2024

We are pleased to announce that ALS7 will take place at the University of Education, Winneba in Ghana from July 22 to August 2, 2024! Applications are now open!

ALS7 will be held at the University of Education, Winneba in Ghana from July 22 - August 2, 2024

12/11/2023

Theoretical Issues in Sign Language Research will be held at Addis Ababa University in 2025! ALS6 instructor Eyasu Hailu is one of the organizers. https://tislrethiopia.org/ (If you watch the welcome video, you will see some familiar faces at the end!)

Conference Theme: Using Sign Language is the Future; the Future is Using Sign Language Theoretical Issues in Sign Language Research 15 (TISLR 15)15ኛው የምልክት ቋንቋ ምርምር ዓለማቀፍ ጉባዔAddis Ababa University, EthiopiaJanuary 14 – 17, 2025 TISLR 15-Ethiopia-2025,Fir...

11/07/2023

Two University of California, Berkeley graduate students in linguistics (Akil Ismael and Rhosean Asmah) have created a Linguistics Application Review program to help review application materials for graduate programs in Linguistics in North America. The program is designed for students who come from communities underrepresented in linguistics, or whose work contributes to increasing the representation of underrepresented groups. If you are interested in applying to a program in North America and would like feedback on your application materials, please visit their site:

Access Google Forms with a personal Google account or Google Workspace account (for business use).

11/03/2023

A good opportunity at Leiden University in the Netherlands for a funded Masters!

Leiden University offers one full Leiden University Excellence Scholarship (LExS) to an African candidate interested in the two-year Research Master African Studies programme (ResMA AS); thus non-EEA/non-EFTA* applicants. LExS is a prestigious scholarship and includes a fee waiver up until the statu...

09/27/2023

PHD Fellowship for African students in the UK. Deadline is October 31!

The Department of Language and Linguistic Science is dedicated to fostering a diverse and inclusive research environment. We firmly believe that embracing diversity and inclusivity enhances the quality and reach of our research. With this commitment in mind, we are pleased to announce the opening of...

06/30/2023

ALS and LSA (Linguistic Society of America) hosted a workshop on June 28 at the LSA Institute at the University of Massachusetts. The in-person presenters were Augustina Owusu and Comfort Ahenkorah; Nkechi Ukaegbu; and Mark Baker. Presenting via Zoom were Mary Amaechi, Reggie Duah and Malte Zimmermann; Sampson Korsah; Abdul-Rasak Sulemana; Fridah Nickèse Gam A Belek; Kãmilah Kalidheen; Koukou Maldja; Emeka Onwuegbuzia; and Josue Akpoue. It was a great opportunity to show America what ALS and ALS-ers are doing.