Towards a grammar of the senses: perception in Lushese (Olussese)

The thesis presents the grammar of the Eastern African Bantu language Lushese (Olussese), spoken in Uganda, and gives information on the historical background that caused the today´s highly endangered status of the language (chapters 1 & 2). Focussing on the semantics of the verbs of perception, the thesis presents the use and meaning of various linguistic means for expressing perception in general and further for the expression of physical, sensory, emotional and cognitive experience in Lushese (chapters 3-5). The findings in Lushese provide insights of the use of language in the light of social interaction and include information on the ways cultural and social values impact the choice of linguistic means (chapter 6). With respect to the theoretical issues concerning the language of perception the data in Lushese show that the way people speak about the environment and use language to express categories of perception are rather a matter of innate cultural interpretation regarding the human body and the environment than a matter of the human body and the environment as given by biological and/or physical conditions.

A Grammar of Ts'ixa (Kalahari Khoe)

Ts’ixa is an endangered language of northern Botswana. It belongs to the Kalahari branch of the Khoe-Kwadi language family and is nowadays spoken by a small community of 200 individuals residing in the village of Mababe, Ngamiland. The internal affiliation of Ts’ixa within Kalahari Khoe is not clear, as the language displays affinities to both the western Kalahari Khoe language Khwe and the eastern Kalahari Khoe language Shua. The present work is the first attempt at providing a systematic description of Ts’ixa, based on phonological, morphological and syntactical features. Data from related Khoe languages, as well as from unrelated “Khoisan” languages of the Kx’a and Tuu families is used to locate Ts’ixa in both a genealogical and an areal framework. Findings suggest that Ts’ixa was shaped by a history of migration and contact between both related and unrelated languages, leading to a unique profile different from both Khwe and Shua, but with strong typological affinities to the Kalahari Basin as a linguistic area.