Strategies for Representing Tone in African Writing Systems

1999 ◽  
Vol 2 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-44 ◽  
Author(s):  
Steven Bird
Keyword(s):  
Practical Experience ◽  
Sub Saharan Africa ◽  
Writing Systems ◽  
Tone Languages ◽  
Wide Range ◽  
Two Factors ◽  
Sub Saharan ◽  
Vernacular Literacy ◽  
Methodological Principles ◽  
As Stress

Tone languages provide some interesting challenges for the designers of new orthographies. One approach is to omit tone marks, just as stress is not marked in English (zero marking). Another approach is to do phonemic tone analysis, and then make heavy use of diacritic symbols to distinguish the "tonemes" (shallow marking). While orthographies based on either system have been successful, this may be thanks to our ability to manage inadequate orthographies, rather than to any intrinsic advantage which is afforded by one or the other approach. In many cases, practical experience with both kinds of orthography in sub-Saharan Africa has shown that people have not been able to attain the level of reading and writing fluency that we know to be possible for the orthographies of non-tonal languages. In some cases this can be attributed to a socio linguistic setting which does not favour vernacular literacy. In other cases, the orthography itself may be to blame. If the orthography of a tone language is difficult to use or to learn, then a good part of the reason may be that the designer either has not paid enough attention to the FUNCTION of tone in the language, or has not ensured that the information encoded in the orthography is ACCESSIBLE to the ordinary (non-linguist) user of the language. If the writing of tone is not going to continue to be a stumbling block to literacy efforts, then a fresh approach to tone orthography is required — one which assigns high priority to these two factors. This article describes the problems with orthographies that use too few or too many tone marks, and critically evaluates a wide range of creative intermediate solutions. I review the contributions made by phonology and reading theory, and provide some broad methodological principles to guide those who are seeking to represent tone in a writing system. The tone orthographies of several languages from sub-Saharan Africa are presented throughout the article, with particular emphasis on some tone languages of Cameroon.

Orthography and identity in Cameroon

2001 ◽  
Vol 4 (2) ◽  
pp. 131-162 ◽  
Author(s):  
Steven Bird
Keyword(s):  
Language Development ◽  
Sub Saharan Africa ◽  
Development Projects ◽  
Writing Systems ◽  
Tone Languages ◽  
European Languages ◽  
Nation States ◽  
The Creation ◽  
Sub Saharan ◽  
New Nation

The tone languages of sub-Saharan Africa raise challenging questions for the design of new writing systems. Marking too much or too little tone can have grave consequences for the usability of an orthography. Orthography development, past and present, rests on many sociolinguistic issues having little to do with the technical phonological concerns that usually preoccupy orthographers. Some of these issues are familiar from the spelling reforms which have taken place in European languages. However, many of the issues faced in sub-Saharan Africa are different, being concerned with the creation of new writing systems in a multi-ethnic context — involving residual colonial influences, the construction of new nation-states, detribalization vs. culture preservation and language reclamation. Language development projects which crucially rely on creating or revising orthographies may founder if they do not attend to the various layers of identity (colonial, national, ethnic, local, or individual) that are indexed by orthography. This study reviews the history and politics of orthography in Cameroon, with a focus on tone-marking. The article concludes by calling present-day orthographers to a deeper and broader understanding of orthographic issues.

scholarly journals Addressing Pediatric HIV Pretreatment Drug Resistance and Virologic Failure in Sub-Saharan Africa: A Cost-Effectiveness Analysis of Diagnostic-Based Strategies in Children ≥3 Years Old

Diagnostics ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (3) ◽  
pp. 567
Author(s):  
Mutita Siriruchatanon ◽  
Shan Liu ◽  
James G. Carlucci ◽  
Eva A. Enns ◽  
Horacio A. Duarte
Keyword(s):  
Drug Resistance ◽  
Cost Effectiveness ◽  
Virologic Failure ◽  
Pediatric Hiv ◽  
Sub Saharan Africa ◽  
Financial Investment ◽  
Switching Strategy ◽  
Wide Range ◽  
Sub Saharan ◽  
Living With Hiv

Improvement of antiretroviral therapy (ART) regimen switching practices and implementation of pretreatment drug resistance (PDR) testing are two potential approaches to improve health outcomes for children living with HIV. We developed a microsimulation model of disease progression and treatment focused on children with perinatally acquired HIV in sub-Saharan Africa who initiate ART at 3 years of age. We evaluated the cost-effectiveness of diagnostic-based strategies (improved switching and PDR testing), over a 10-year time horizon, in settings without and with pediatric dolutegravir (DTG) availability as first-line ART. The improved switching strategy increases the probability of switching to second-line ART when virologic failure is diagnosed through viral load testing. The PDR testing strategy involves a one-time PDR test prior to ART initiation to guide choice of initial regimen. When DTG is not available, PDR testing is dominated by the improved switching strategy, which has an incremental cost-effectiveness ratio (ICER) of USD 579/life-year gained (LY), relative to the status quo. If DTG is available, improved switching has a similar ICER (USD 591/LY) relative to the DTGstatus quo. Even when substantial financial investment is needed to achieve improved regimen switching practices, the improved switching strategy still has the potential to be cost-effective in a wide range of sub-Saharan African countries. Our analysis highlights the importance of strengthening existing laboratory monitoring systems to improve the health of children living with HIV.

Cassava Processing in Sub-Saharan Africa: the Implications for Expanding Cassava Production

1994 ◽  
Vol 23 (3) ◽  
pp. 197-205 ◽  
Author(s):  
Felix Izu Nweke
Keyword(s):  
Food Security ◽  
Water Supply ◽  
Sub Saharan Africa ◽  
Wide Range ◽  
Intensive Use ◽  
Cassava Production ◽  
Sub Saharan ◽  
Processing Techniques ◽  
Technical Solutions ◽  
Poor Soil

Cassava makes an important contribution to improving food security and rural incomes in sub-Saharan Africa, as it is tolerant of drought and poor soil and its cultivation does not require much labour. However, the fresh roots are bulky and perishable and need to be processed before they can be marketed; processing also removes the cyanogens which make many varieties poisonous in their raw form. Cassava roots are turned into granules, flours, pastes and chips, with a wide range of flavours and appearances for different areas and markets. Many different processing techniques are used, some of which make intensive use of fuelwood while others require a plentiful water supply. These requirements, as well as the need for a good transport and marketing infrastructure, limit the expansion of cassava production in sub-Saharan Africa, but technical solutions are being found.

scholarly journals Comparative Area Studies and the Study of the Global South

2020 ◽  
Vol 20 (2) ◽  
pp. 279-287
Author(s):  
Rudra Sil ◽  
Ariel I. Ahram
Keyword(s):  
Social Science ◽  
Science Inquiry ◽  
Global South ◽  
Sub Saharan Africa ◽  
Theory Building ◽  
Spatial And Temporal Variation ◽  
Area Studies ◽  
Wide Range ◽  
Range Theory ◽  
Sub Saharan

Comparative Area Studies (CAS) offers a template to bring the Global South back into the foreground of social science inquiry. CAS urges researchers to grapple directly with empirical variations derived from across the seemingly different global regions. CAS offers three comparative modes: intra-regional, cross-regional, and trans-regional. A number of scholars have used CAS’s comparative rubrics, even without knowing about the wider CAS agenda and program. CAS unsettles assumptions about discrete, fixed “regional” or civilizational blocks as well as about nomothetic theory-building aimed at universal or general laws. At the same time, CAS engages in the idea of medium-range theory-building, focusing empirical rigor and induction in order to create concepts and analyses that are portable yet contextualized. These macro-historical theories must be attentive to spatial and temporal variation in the social world. Claims of universalism are suspect. For the study of the Global South, in particular, CAS provides a path for aggregating and leveraging the wide range of observations and interpretations area specialists have to offer on regions as diverse as South Asia, the Middle East, Latin America, and sub-Saharan Africa. CAS thus changes the division of labor within social science to allow greater input for scholarship derived from and originating in the developing world.

scholarly journals Molecular Diversity of Nematode Parasites in Afrotropical Reed Frogs (Hyperolius spp.)

Diversity ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 12 (7) ◽  
pp. 265
Author(s):  
Ulrich Sinsch ◽  
J. Maximilian Dehling ◽  
Patrick Scheid ◽  
Carsten Balczun
Keyword(s):  
Dna Sequences ◽  
Nematode Species ◽  
Sub Saharan Africa ◽  
Parasitic Nematodes ◽  
Marker Genes ◽  
Nematode Parasites ◽  
Diversity Assessment ◽  
Wide Range ◽  
Nematode Diversity ◽  
Sub Saharan

The diversity of nematodes infecting amphibians is understudied in tropical Africa and unknown in Rwanda. Diversity assessment is hampered by the fact that species descriptions refer mostly to morphological features that are unlinked to DNA sequences of marker genes available in public databases. In this paper, we explore the abundance and diversity of parasitic nematodes in reed frogs Hyperolius kivuensis (n = 115), H. parallelus (n = 45) and H. viridiflavus (n = 100) collected in Rwanda. Five nematode species were identified morphologically as Orneoascaris chrysanthemoides, O. schoutedeni, Gendria leberrei, Aplectana chamaeleonis and Rhabdias collaris. Corresponding DNA sequences of 18S and COI genes were determined and subsequently deposited in GenBank. Aplectana chamaeleonis showed the highest prevalence (8.7%), but O. chrysanthemoides the highest mean intensity of infection (6.0) and largest number (24) of individuals in H. kivuensis. To the best of our knowledge, all amphibian hosts are new records for these nematode species, which are known to infect a wide range of amphibian and reptile species. Our findings suggest that nematode diversity is probably lower than previously assumed due to low host specificity. As morphological species identification is often challenging, our data facilitate molecular identification of adult and specifically larval nematodes found in amphibians of Sub-Saharan Africa.

scholarly journals Student-perceived criteria for assessing university relevance in community development

2016 ◽  
Vol Volume 112 (Number 11/12) ◽  
Author(s):  
Joseph Francis ◽  
Beata Kilonzo ◽  
Pertina Nyamukondiwa ◽  
◽  
◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Community Development ◽  
Rural Area ◽  
Undergraduate Students ◽  
Rural Areas ◽  
Sub Saharan Africa ◽  
Community Members ◽  
Sustainable Solutions ◽  
Wide Range ◽  
Perceptions Of Students ◽  
Sub Saharan

Abstract In sub-Saharan Africa, universities are increasingly being called upon to contribute more towards combating poverty and promoting development in rural areas. Yet, it is still argued that universities are ivory towers, and as a result, their contribution to finding sustainable solutions to issues hampering the realisation of improved quality of life of people in rural areas remains unsatisfactory. This perception emanates from the universities’ apparent failure to articulate and demonstrate how they can achieve the desired goal stated above. Moreover, there are no universally embraced criteria for assessing the relevance of a rural area based university to the community it serves. This study was therefore carried out to determine the perceptions of University of Venda undergraduate students on what they believed were appropriate criteria for assessing the relevance of a rural area based university in community development in South Africa. Reflection circles, anchored on participatory research techniques, were used to engage the students. The results of the engagement were organised into sub-themes. The most prominent perceptions were: ‘A university has active long-term community-based development initiatives’; ‘A university is continuously addressing the real needs of the communities in question’; ‘University initiatives are creating jobs for its graduates and community members’; and ‘Continuous community requests for university assistance in solving the challenges militating against development’. The wide range of perceptions of students observed in this study is a useful input into initiatives seeking to develop an objective tool for assessing the relevance of a rural area based university in community development.

Place Names as an Historical Source: An Introduction with Examples from Southern Senegambia and Germany

1992 ◽  
Vol 19 ◽  
pp. 45-101 ◽  
Author(s):  
Stephan Bühnen
Keyword(s):  
Fifteenth Century ◽  
Oral Tradition ◽  
Sub Saharan Africa ◽  
Place Names ◽  
Research Experience ◽  
Wide Range ◽  
History Of ◽  
Egg Shells ◽  
Sub Saharan ◽  
Written Sources

Written sources for the history of sub-Saharan Africa (with the exception of East Africa) only begin to appear with the inception of Arabic records from the ninth century onwards, and these are restricted to the Sahel and the northern part of the savanna belt. European sources begin in the mid-fifteenth century, first for Senegambia. They, in turn, confine themselves to the coast and its immediate hinterland, as well as the navigable courses of rivers, with few, and often vague, references to the interior. For the time before the early written sources and for those extensive areas which only much later entered the horizon of writing witnesses, other sources illuminating the past have to be traced and tapped. Among such non-written sources are the findings of anthropology and archeology, of research in oral tradition and place names. Because of their interdependence, working with different source types contributes to the reliability of results.So far little systematic use has been made of place names as a source for African history. Houis' 1958 dictum, “la toponymie ouest-africaine n'est pas encore sortie de l'oeuf,” has not yet been proven obsolete. In this paper I hope to stimulate the process of shedding the egg shells. It is intended as a short introduction to the potential historical treasures place names may yield, into their characteristics, and into some principles guiding their interpretation. With the aim at illustrating my arguments, I add examples of place names. These I have chosen from two areas which, at first sight, seem to have been selected rather randomly; southern Senegambia and Germany. In fact both areas share few features, both geographically and historically. Two reasons have led me to select them. First, they simply are the regions I know best. Secondly, the recourse to German place names is instructive, as research on place names has been undertaken there for more than a century, leading to a wide range of data and to the accumulation of rich research experience.

scholarly journals CLIPB10 is a Terminal Protease in the Regulatory Network That Controls Melanization in the African Malaria Mosquito Anopheles gambiae

2021 ◽  
Vol 10 ◽  
Author(s):  
Xin Zhang ◽  
Miao Li ◽  
Layla El Moussawi ◽  
Sally Saab ◽  
Shasha Zhang ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Anopheles Gambiae ◽  
Serine Proteases ◽  
Ex Vivo ◽  
Protein A ◽  
Tumor Formation ◽  
Sub Saharan Africa ◽  
Humoral Immune ◽  
Wide Range ◽  
Sub Saharan

Humoral immune responses in animals are often tightly controlled by regulated proteolysis. This proteolysis is exerted by extracellular protease cascades, whose activation culminates in the proteolytic cleavage of key immune proteins and enzymes. A model for such immune system regulation is the melanization reaction in insects, where the activation of prophenoxidase (proPO) leads to the rapid formation of eumelanin on the surface of foreign entities such as parasites, bacteria and fungi. ProPO activation is tightly regulated by a network of so-called clip domain serine proteases, their proteolytically inactive homologs, and their serpin inhibitors. In Anopheles gambiae, the major malaria vector in sub-Saharan Africa, manipulation of this protease network affects resistance to a wide range of microorganisms, as well as host survival. However, thus far, our understanding of the molecular make-up and regulation of the protease network in mosquitoes is limited. Here, we report the function of the clip domain serine protease CLIPB10 in this network, using a combination of genetic and biochemical assays. CLIPB10 knockdown partially reversed melanotic tumor formation induced by Serpin 2 silencing in the absence of infection. CLIPB10 was also partially required for the melanization of ookinete stages of the rodent malaria parasite Plasmodium berghei in a refractory mosquito genetic background. Recombinant serpin 2 protein, a key inhibitor of the proPO activation cascade in An. gambiae, formed a SDS-stable protein complex with activated recombinant CLIPB10, and efficiently inhibited CLIPB10 activity in vitro at a stoichiometry of 1.89:1. Recombinant activated CLIPB10 increased PO activity in Manduca sexta hemolymph ex vivo, and directly activated purified M. sexta proPO in vitro. Taken together, these data identify CLIPB10 as the second protease with prophenoloxidase-activating function in An. gambiae, in addition to the previously described CLIPB9, suggesting functional redundancy in the protease network that controls melanization. In addition, our data suggest that tissue melanization and humoral melanization of parasites are at least partially mediated by the same proteases.

scholarly journals The problem of economic growth in Sub-Saharan Africa

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Senanu Kwasi Klutse
Keyword(s):  
Economic Growth ◽  
Negative Relationship ◽  
Sustainable Growth ◽  
Sub Saharan Africa ◽  
Gdp Per Capita ◽  
Savings Rate ◽  
Wide Range ◽  
Per Capita ◽  
Sub Saharan ◽  
Determinants Of Economic Growth

A wide range of policy-related variables have a persistent influence on economic growth. This has consistently maintained the interest of economists on the determinants of economic growth over the years. There is consensus however that for countries to grow sustainably, a lot of stall must be placed on higher savings rate as this makes it easy for such countries to grow faster because they endogenously allocate more resources to inventive activities. Due to data difficulties in Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) it is nearly impossible for one to consider important variables such as accumulation of knowledge and human capital when analysing growth sustainability. Studying four lower middle-income countries in SSA – Ghana, Republic of Congo, Kenya and Lesotho – this study tests the hypothesis of sustainable growth by using a Dynamic Ordinary Least Square (DOLS) model to examine the relationship between savings, investment, budget deficit and the growth variable. The results showed that savings had a significant but negative relationship with the GDP per capita (PPP). A Granger Causality test conducted showed that savings does not granger cause GDP per capita (PPP), the HDI index, deficit and investment. This leads to the conclusion that growth in these countries are not sustainable. The study recommends that policy makers focus on the savings variable if these countries will want to achieve sustainable growth.

scholarly journals The Demographic, Social, and Economic Correlates of HIV Infection Status in Sub-Saharan Africa

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Eran Bendavid ◽  
Kajal Claypool ◽  
Eric Chow ◽  
Jake Chung ◽  
Don Mai ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Meta Analysis ◽  
Sub Saharan Africa ◽  
African Countries ◽  
Head Of Household ◽  
Wide Range ◽  
Statistical Support ◽  
Males And Females ◽  
Sub Saharan ◽  
Ownership Of Land ◽  
Country Specific

Background. Predisposition to HIV+ is influenced by a wide range of correlated economic, environmental, demographic, social, and behavioral factors. While evidence among a candidate handful have strong evidence, there is lack of a consensus among the vast array of variables measured in large surveys. Methods. We performed a comprehensive data-driven search for correlates of HIV positivity in >600,000 participants of the Demographic and Health Survey (DHS) across 29 sub-Saharan African countries from 2003 to 2017. We associated a total of 7,251 and of 6,288 unique variables with HIV+ in females and males respectively in each of the 50 surveys. We performed a meta-analysis within countries to attain 29 country-specific associations. Results. We identified 344 (5.4% out possible) and 373 (5.1%) associations with HIV+ in males and females, respectively, with robust statistical support. The identified associations are consistent in directionality across countries and sexes. The association sizes among individual correlates and their predictive capability was low to modest, but comparable to established factors. Among the identified associations, variables identifying being head of household among females was identified in 17 countries with a mean odds ratio (OR) of 2.5 (OR range: 1.1-3.5, R2 = 0.01). Other common associations were identified with marital status, education, age, and ownership of land or livestock. Conclusions. Our continent-wide search for variables has identified under-recognized variables associated with HIV+ that are consistent across the continent and sex. Many of the association sizes are as high as established risk factors for HIV+, including male circumcision.

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