Blog – Page 3 – BantuFirst: The first Bantu speakers south of the rainforest

Mandela Kaumba Mazanga defends her PhD thesis on Kongo pottery

On 6 September 2022, Mandela Kaumba Mazanga successfully defended in Brussels her PhD thesis titled Production et circulation de la céramique des trois derniers siècles dans l’aire kongo : une approche combinée des données ethnographiques, muséales et archéologiques. Her joint UGent-ULB PhD project co-supervised by Koen Bostoen (BantUGent), Pierre de Maret (ULB) and Olivier Gosselain (ULB) started as part of the ERC-funded KongoKing project, the predecessor of BantuFirst. Following her successful defense, Mandela Kaumba Mazanga resumed her professional activities at the Department of Historical Sciences of Lubumbashi University (DRC).

Sara Pacchiarotti and Koen Bostoen talk on Bantu Expansion at ISP-Gombe in Kinshasa

On August 29, 2022, Sara Pacchiarotti (BantUGent) and Koen Bostoen (BantUGent) were invited at the Institut Supérieur Pédagogique de la Gombe in Kinshasa to talk about BantUGent research on the Bantu Expansion. Their talk was titled “L’occupation ancienne de l’Afrique centrale par les Bantouphones: recherches linguistiques et archéologiques“. Prof. Jean-Pierre Donzo (ISP-Gombe & BantUGent associate) animated the talk and the lively debate that followed.

Venue at the central library of ISP-Gombe

Sara & Koen meeting with the Director-General Prof. Gertrude Ekombe Ekofo

Sara Pacchiarotti & Koen Bostoen on fieldwork and teaching mission in Kikwit (DRC)

From August 6 until August 30, 2022, Sara Pacchiarotti & Koen Bostoen are on a BantuFirst mission in the DRC. They mainly stay with Prof. Joseph Koni Muluwa (ISP Kikwit & BantUGent associate) in Kikwit where they are doing linguistic fieldwork on several West-Coastal Bantu languages, most notably Eastern and Western Ngwi (B861). They also teach classes in Methods in Linguistic Research (Sara) and Comparative Bantu Linguistics (Koen) at the MA1 students of the English and African Cultures program at the Institut Supérieur Pédagogique de Kikwit. In Kinshasa they work with Prof. Jean-Pierre Donzo Yugia (ISP-Gombe & BantUGent associate) on other West-Coastal Bantu languages, mainly Northern Boma (B82).

Sara Pacchiarotti teaching Methods in Linguistic Research at ISP-Kikwit

Home languages of students in Koen Bostoen’s Comparative Bantu class

Sara Pacchiarotti with some students of her Methods in Linguistic Research class at ISP-Kikwit

Eric Lamur, Freddy Empenge, and Alain Ntuntu (left-to-right) transcribing Ding, Ngwi and Lwer data respectively at Joseph Koni Muluwa’s house

New Teke fieldwork by Guy Kouarata in Congo-Kinshasa/Brazzaville

From June 28 until August 13, 2022, Guy Kouarata is doing again linguistic BantuFirst fieldwork on lesser known varieties of the Teke group (Bantu, B70), both in Congo-Kinshasa and Congo-Brazzaville. Just like during his 2021 fieldwork campaign, he will collect new data to feed several ongoing historical-comparative linguistic investigations aiming at a better understanding of their classification within West-Coastal Bantu.

New BantuFirst research in the Journal of Historical Linguistics

Sara Pacchiarotti (BantUGent) & Koen Bostoen (BantUGent) have a new article titled “Erratic velars in West-Coastal Bantu: Explaining irregular sound change in Central Africa” out in the Journal of Historical Linguistics.

Jessamy Doman reviews the Late Miocene and Earliest Pliocene Paleoecology of Africa

Jessamy Doman (BantuFirst) co-authors with Emily Goble Early a synthesis chapter titled “Late Miocene and Earliest Pliocene Paleoecology of Africa” in a new Cambridge University Press book on the African Paleoecology and Human Evolution co-edited by Sally C. Reynolds and René Bobe.

Koen Bostoen presents BantuFirst research at Humboldt University Berlin

On May 3 at 4.15 pm (CET), Koen Bostoen (BantUGent) gives a talk for the digital Colloquium of African Linguistics and Languages of the Humboldt University Berlin on the research he did with Sara Pacchiarotti as part of the BantuFirst project, i.e. “Erratic velars in West-Coastal Bantu: Explaining irregular sound change in Central Africa”. More info is available here.

BantUFirst research at the Faculty Research Day

The third Research Day of the Faculty of Philosophy of Arts whose central theme is ‘research valorisation’ takes place on Thursday April 28, 2022, in the Faculty Library. Peter Coutros, Jessamy Doman & Koen Bostoen are there with a poster on BantuFirst research.

Peter Coutros in Kinshasa to study BantuFirst archaeological data

Peter Coutros (BantuFirst) is in Kinshasa from March 21 to April 11 2022 to examine the archaeological data excavated as part of our project during three successive fieldwork campaigns in 2019, 2020, and 2021. This post-excavation analysis is done in close collaboration with Prof. Igor Matonda (UNIKIN) and Isidore Nkanu.

Joseph Koni Muluwa in Ghent for a 3-month BantuFirst research visit

From February 16 until May 15 2022, BantUGent associate Joseph Koni Muluwa (ISP Kikwit) will be in Ghent for a visit as a research fellow of the BantuFirst project to work on the languages spoken in the West-Coastal Bantu homeland area (Kwilu Province).