A Descriptive Study of Minority Languages for Educational Materials Development and Language Maintenance in Southern Africa

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Yoneda collected data to describe the tonal system in Herero. Although it is said in previous studies that tonal form of nouns in Herero is determined by grammatical relations, it has been revealed through her analysis that it is not grammatical relations, but the location of the noun in the sentence and tense/aspect/mood of the sentence, that determine the tonal form.She also visited several Herero communities dotted around eastern Namibia and Botswana to collect data on regional differences. According to historical materials, the time and conditions of migration of Herero speakers are varied. In this project, we have only begun research on regional differences, and further investigation into the relationship between language difference and the historical/ environmental background of communities is definitely needed.Yoneda and Abe (kyoryoku-sha) collected data and materials about the situation of African languages, language policy in education and its implementation. We paid special attention to the result and effect of the Upgrading African Languages Project (a development project started in 2000 with support by GTZ), because 2007 was the last year of this project. Abe investigated the situation of diffusion and problems of current Herero orthography.Kamiya (kyoryoku-sha) investigated regional differences of verbal derivational suffixes, vocabulary and sound in Bhaca. Also he collected complementary data for completing the Bhaca dictionary.