FYI: Call for Book Chapter Proposals: Syllable Weight in African Languages
Syllable Weight in African Languages
Proposal Submission Deadline: November 1, 2014
Full Chapters Due: June 15, 2015
Proposed Publication Date: Early 2016
Editor: Paul Newman, Indiana University, USA
The introduction of the term “syllable weight” (Paul Newman, “Syllable weight as a phonological variable,” Studies in African Linguistics 3: 301-323 (1972)) and its elaboration (e.g., Larry M. Hyman, A Theory of Phonological Weight, Dordrecht: Foris (1985)) relied heavily on data from African languages. Over the years, the concept continued to be employed in a variety of phonological and morphological studies of African languages (e.g., Chris Collins, “Aspects of plurality in ǂHoan,” Language 77: 456-476 (2001)). What is lacking, however, is a single volume that focuses on the role of syllable weight in African languages. The aim of the proposed collection is to fill that void.
The intent of this volume is to provide an extensive discussion of syllable weight as found in African languages throughout the continent, including Arabic, Ethiopian Semitic, and Berber. The book will serve as an essential source for Africanist linguists whatever their subject specializations, as well as general phonologists whatever their language areas of interest. The proposed volume has been accepted for publication by an academic publisher with a well-established reputation for producing good quality and reasonably priced books. The editor is known as a taskmaster who adheres to deadlines and who thus can be counted on to get the volume out in good time.
Scholars in African linguistics are hereby invited to contribute proposals for chapters that describe and elucidate the syllable weight concept. The hope is that the collection will include papers dealing with a wide range of topics such as, but not limited to, the following:
- Syllable weight and gemination
- Syllable weight and tone
- Syllable weight and stress/accent
- Syllable weight in inflectional and derivational processes
- Syllable weight and pluractionality
- Syllable weight in ideophones
- Syllable weight in language games
- Syllable weight in verbal arts (proverbs, poetry, etc.)
- Syllable weight as a language family feature
- Syllable weight as an areal feature
- Syllable weight as a contact phenomenon
- Syllable weight and language death
- Syllable weight as a variable in the description of Language X, Y, or Z
Submission Procedure: Proposals, not to exceed one page, should be in Microsoft Word format. The proposal should contain the following information:
I. (a) Title of proposed chapter
(b) Name of authors(s)
(c) E-mail address and affiliation
II. (d) Name of language(s) treated with indication of classification and geographical location
(e) A brief description/abstract of the proposed chapter
Proposals should be submitted to Paul Newman (firstname.lastname@example.org) by November 1, 2014 at the latest. Acceptance of proposals will depend on the coherence of the proposal and on the projected balance of languages and topics covered. The final draft of chapters will be due by June 15, 2015. All papers shall be in English.
Enquiries regarding the volume may be sent to Paul Newman (email@example.com).