Linguistic Diversity and Human Migrations in Gabon

2021 ◽  
pp. 99-114
Author(s):  
Franz Manni ◽  
John Nerbonne
Keyword(s):  
Linguistic Diversity ◽  
Sub Saharan Africa ◽  
Levenshtein Distance ◽  
Data Sets ◽  
Bantu Languages ◽  
Sub Saharan ◽  
Linguistic Groups ◽  
Almost All ◽  
Lexical Data ◽  
Linguistic Methods

Gabon is an African country located very close to the homeland of Bantu languages (Cameroon). Starting about 5,000 years ago, Bantu-speaking populations diffused into almost all sub-Saharan Africa. By processing with computational linguistic methods (Levenshtein distance) two independently collected lexical data sets recording the pronunciation of 88 and 158 words in more than 50 linguistic varieties spoken in Gabon, we obtained a numerical classification of the major linguistic groups. We compared this classification to those available based on historical linguistics methods (cognate-sharing defined by experts), and found them to overlap, which indicates that the two methods capture the same signal of linguistic difference (and relatedness). To focus on the historical relatedness between major linguistic clusters, we controlled for the linguistic similarity related to contact, proportional to geographic vicinity, and suggested that the first Bantu-speaking groups to people Gabon where those speaking KOTA-KELE (B20) languages. The other varieties concern five different immigration waves (B10, B30, B40, B50-B60-B70—Guthrie nomenclature) that penetrated Gabon later in history. To conclude, we suggest a peopling scenario that incorporates available paleoclimatic, archaeological, and population genetic evidence.

scholarly journals Linguistic Fractionalization and Health Information in Sub-Saharan Africa

2019 ◽  
Vol 34 (Supplement_1) ◽  
pp. S20-S25 ◽  
Author(s):  
Joseph Flavian Gomes
Keyword(s):  
Health Information ◽  
Linguistic Diversity ◽  
Sub Saharan Africa ◽  
Demographic And Health Surveys ◽  
African Countries ◽  
Oral Rehydration ◽  
Individual Level ◽  
Individual Woman ◽  
Sub Saharan ◽  
Linguistic Groups

Abstract This paper explores the relationship between linguistic diversity and the stock of health information in society. Information is measured using individual-level knowledge about the oral rehydration product for treating children with diarrhea. Exploiting an individual woman-level dataset from the Demographic and Health Surveys for 14 sub-Saharan African countries combined with a novel high-resolution dataset on the spatial distribution of linguistic groups at a 1 km × 1 km level, this study shows that linguistic diversity has an inverted U-shaped relationship with the stock of information in society.

scholarly journals Multiple Mammarenaviruses Circulating in Angolan Rodents

Viruses ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (6) ◽  
pp. 982
Author(s):  
Jana Těšíková ◽  
Jarmila Krásová ◽  
Joëlle Goüy de Bellocq
Keyword(s):  
Geographical Area ◽  
Sub Saharan Africa ◽  
Virus Diversity ◽  
High Prevalence ◽  
Biogeographical Regions ◽  
Sub Saharan ◽  
Rodent Community ◽  
High Virus ◽  
Almost All ◽  
Virus Genomes

Rodents are a speciose group of mammals with strong zoonotic potential. Some parts of Africa are still underexplored for the occurrence of rodent-borne pathogens, despite this high potential. Angola is at the convergence of three major biogeographical regions of sub-Saharan Africa, each harbouring a specific rodent community. This rodent-rich area is, therefore, strategic for studying the diversity and evolution of rodent-borne viruses. In this study we examined 290 small mammals, almost all rodents, for the presence of mammarenavirus and hantavirus RNA. While no hantavirus was detected, we found three rodent species positive for distinct mammarenaviruses with a particularly high prevalence in Namaqua rock rats (Micaelamys namaquensis). We characterised four complete virus genomes, which showed typical mammarenavirus organisation. Phylogenetic and genetic distance analyses revealed: (i) the presence of a significantly divergent strain of Luna virus in Angolan representatives of the ubiquitous Natal multimammate mouse (Mastomys natalensis), (ii) a novel Okahandja-related virus associated with the Angolan lineage of Micaelamys namaquensis for which we propose the name Bitu virus (BITV) and (iii) the occurrence of a novel Mobala-like mammarenavirus in the grey-bellied pygmy mouse (Mus triton) for which we propose the name Kwanza virus (KWAV). This high virus diversity in a limited host sample size and in a relatively small geographical area supports the idea that Angola is a hotspot for mammarenavirus diversity.

Governance and Regional Variation of Homicide Rates

2016 ◽  
Vol 61 (1) ◽  
pp. 25-45 ◽  
Author(s):  
Liqun Cao ◽  
Yan Zhang
Keyword(s):  
Spatial Regression ◽  
Sub Saharan Africa ◽  
Development Economic ◽  
Data Sets ◽  
Asian Countries ◽  
Ceteris Paribus ◽  
Region Data ◽  
Sub Saharan ◽  
Criminological Theories ◽  
Cross National

Criminological theories of cross-national studies of homicide have underestimated the effects of quality governance of liberal democracy and region. Data sets from several sources are combined and a comprehensive model of homicide is proposed. Results of the spatial regression model, which controls for the effect of spatial autocorrelation, show that quality governance, human development, economic inequality, and ethnic heterogeneity are statistically significant in predicting homicide. In addition, regions of Latin America and non-Muslim Sub-Saharan Africa have significantly higher rates of homicides ceteris paribus while the effects of East Asian countries and Islamic societies are not statistically significant. These findings are consistent with the expectation of the new modernization and regional theories.

scholarly journals Continuing high levels of HIV diagnoses in men who have sex with men in the United Kingdom

2008 ◽  
Vol 13 (14) ◽  
pp. 3-4
Author(s):  
B Rice ◽  
A Nardone ◽  
N Gill ◽  
V Delpech
Keyword(s):  
United Kingdom ◽  
Confidence Intervals ◽  
Sub Saharan Africa ◽  
Newly Diagnosed ◽  
The United Kingdom ◽  
Reporting Delays ◽  
Sub Saharan ◽  
Sex With Men ◽  
The Uk ◽  
Almost All

The latest HIV data for 2007 has recently been published for the United Kingdom (UK). During the year, an estimated 6,840 (95% confidence intervals 6,600-7,050) persons (adjusted for reporting delays) were newly diagnosed with HIV in the UK. This represents a 12% decline from a peak of new HIV diagnoses reported in 2005 (7,800). Almost all this decline in new HIV diagnoses was in HIV-infected heterosexuals from sub-Saharan Africa who were probably infected in their country of origin.

Malaria

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Angelina Jayakumar ◽  
Zahir Osman Eltahir Babiker
Keyword(s):  
Southeast Asia ◽  
Red Blood Cells ◽  
Blood Cells ◽  
Parasitic Infection ◽  
Sub Saharan Africa ◽  
Anopheline Mosquito ◽  
Sub Saharan ◽  
The Uk ◽  
Almost All ◽  
Human Infections

Malaria is a tropical parasitic infection of the red blood cells caused by the protozoal species Plasmodium falciparum, P. vivax, P. ovale, P. malariae, and P. knowlesi. It is transmitted through the bite of the female Anopheles mosquito. The average incubation period is twelve to fourteen days. Congenital and blood-borne transmissions can also occur. P. falciparum and P. vivax account for most human infections but almost all deaths are caused by P. falciparum, with children under five years of age bearing the brunt of morbidity and mortality in endemic countries. P. falciparum is dominant in sub-Saharan Africa whereas P. vivax predominates in Southeast Asia and the Western Pacific. P. ovalae and P. malaria are less common and are mainly found in sub-Saharan Africa. P. knowlesi primarily causes malaria in macaques and is geographically restricted to southeast Asia. While taking a blood meal, the female anopheline mosquito injects motile sporozoites into the bloodstream. Within half an hour, the sporozoites invade the hepatocytes and start dividing to form tissue schizonts. In P. vivax and P. ovale, some of the sporozoites that reach the liver develop into hypnozoites and stay dormant within the hepatocytes for months to years after the original infection. The schizonts eventually rupture releasing daughter merozoites into the bloodstream. The merozoites develop within the red blood cells into ring forms, trophozoites, and eventually mature schizont. This part of the life cycle takes twenty-four hours for P. knowlesi; forty-eight hours for P. falciparum, P. vivax, P. ovale; and seventy-two hours for P. malariae. In P. vivax and P. ovale, some of the sporozoites that reach the liver develop into hypnozoites and stay dormant within the hepatocytes for months to years after the original infection. The hallmark of malaria pathogenesis is parasite sequestration in major organs leading to cytoadherence, endothelial injury, coagulopathy, vascular leakage, pro-inflammatory cytokine production, and tissue inflammation. Malaria is the most frequently imported tropical disease in the UK with an annual case load of around 2000. P. falciparum is the predominant imported species, and failure to take chemoprophylaxis is the commonest risk factor.

scholarly journals Admixture into and within sub-Saharan Africa

eLife ◽  
2016 ◽  
Vol 5 ◽  
Author(s):  
George BJ Busby ◽  
Gavin Band ◽  
Quang Si Le ◽  
Muminatou Jallow ◽  
Edith Bougama ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Gene Flow ◽  
Geographic Region ◽  
Sub Saharan Africa ◽  
Genome Wide ◽  
A Genome ◽  
Depth Analysis ◽  
Shared Ancestry ◽  
Sub Saharan ◽  
Linguistic Groups ◽  
Insight Into

Similarity between two individuals in the combination of genetic markers along their chromosomes indicates shared ancestry and can be used to identify historical connections between different population groups due to admixture. We use a genome-wide, haplotype-based, analysis to characterise the structure of genetic diversity and gene-flow in a collection of 48 sub-Saharan African groups. We show that coastal populations experienced an influx of Eurasian haplotypes over the last 7000 years, and that Eastern and Southern Niger-Congo speaking groups share ancestry with Central West Africans as a result of recent population expansions. In fact, most sub-Saharan populations share ancestry with groups from outside of their current geographic region as a result of gene-flow within the last 4000 years. Our in-depth analysis provides insight into haplotype sharing across different ethno-linguistic groups and the recent movement of alleles into new environments, both of which are relevant to studies of genetic epidemiology.

Vernacular architecture in eastern Senegal: Chaînes opératoires and technical choices

2020 ◽  
Vol 25 (3) ◽  
pp. 348-378
Author(s):  
Thomas Pelmoine ◽  
Anne Mayor
Keyword(s):  
Material Culture ◽  
Vernacular Architecture ◽  
Sub Saharan Africa ◽  
Transfer Of Knowledge ◽  
Construction Techniques ◽  
Heritage Studies ◽  
Environmental Adaptations ◽  
Sub Saharan ◽  
Linguistic Groups

Architecture is an important component of cultural identity, but knowledge regarding construction techniques using local materials is gradually disappearing, and this subject has rarely been studied in sub-Saharan Africa. This ethno-archaeological study of current vernacular architecture and its evolution during the past three centuries in eastern Senegal therefore brings innovative results that are interesting on different levels. In relation to West Africa, the authors aim to provide new knowledge useful for archaeologists lacking references for interpreting past remains, as well as an archive for historical and heritage studies. More widely, the study constitutes a reference for the description of various mud-building techniques and an attempt to understand the mechanisms explaining their transformations, which should concern all scientists interested in vernacular architecture, in Africa and beyond. More precisely, this article accounts for the variability of techniques used for constructing walls and roofs of dwellings in the Faleme valley among different ethno-linguistic groups, while considering the environmental, cultural and socio-economic factors at play. The authors’ methodology is based on a description of the chaînes opératoires of construction, interviews, mapping and statistical analysis. The patterns observed facilitate a discussion on the evolution of techniques, environmental adaptations, the transfer of knowledge and the role of history in material culture dynamics.

Niger-congo, with a Special Focus on Benue-congo

2020 ◽  
pp. 137-160
Author(s):  
Jeff Good
Keyword(s):  
Morphological Character ◽  
Sub Saharan Africa ◽  
Special Focus ◽  
Large Core ◽  
Bantu Languages ◽  
Class System ◽  
Core Set ◽  
The Family ◽  
Distinctive Type ◽  
Sub Saharan

Niger-Congo is the largest referential language group in Africa. The extent to which it represents a true genealogical grouping is not established, though there is a large core set of members of the family that all specialists currently accept as related. These languages spread across sub-Saharan Africa, and their most significant common feature from a comparative perspective is a distinctive type of noun class system. The largest subgroup of Niger-Congo is Benue-Congo, which includes the Bantu languages that dominate the southern part of the continent. From a typological perspective, Niger-Congo languages are quite varied, especially with respect to their degree of morphological elaboration. This is also true of Benue-Congo, with some of its languages having an isolating morphological character and others showing extensive agglutinating morphology. Future comparative work on the family would likely benefit from greater integration of the results of sociolinguistic investigations into models of its historical development.

Molecular Perspectives on the Bantu Expansion: A Synthesis

2011 ◽  
Vol 1 (1) ◽  
pp. 50-88 ◽  
Author(s):  
Brigitte Pakendorf ◽  
Cesare de Filippo ◽  
Koen Bostoen
Keyword(s):  
Molecular Data ◽  
Sub Saharan Africa ◽  
Language And Culture ◽  
Bantu Languages ◽  
Culture Shift ◽  
Actual Movement ◽  
Sociocultural Practices ◽  
Demographic Processes ◽  
Sub Saharan ◽  
Cultural Expansion

AbstractThe expansion of Bantu-speaking peoples over large parts of sub-Saharan Africa is still a matter of debate—not only with respect to the propelling force behind it and the route(s) taken, but, also, in terms of the question whether there actually was a demographic expansion of peoples, rather than just a cultural expansion involving the spread of languages and technologies. In this paper, we provide a critical review of the extant linguistic and molecular anthropological data on Africa and discuss the insights they provide concerning the expansion itself as well as the demographic processes involved in it. Contrary to some assumptions by historians and cultural anthropologists, the genetic data speak in favor of an actual movement of peoples during the expansion of the Bantu languages over Africa, rather than a spread through language and culture shift. Furthermore, the molecular data indicate that sociocultural practices such as patrilocality and possibly even polygyny played a role in shaping the genetic diversity of Bantu-speaking peoples. These sociocultural practices might explain why, in Africa, there is a correlation between Y-chromosomal (i.e., paternal) lineages and linguistic affiliation, but not between mtDNA (maternal) lineages and language.

scholarly journals Finnish Official Development Aid for Sexual and Reproductive Health and Rights in Sub-Saharan Africa

2010 ◽  
pp. 143-170
Author(s):  
Riikka Shemeikka
Keyword(s):  
Reproductive Health ◽  
Development Policy ◽  
Sexual And Reproductive Health ◽  
Health Sector ◽  
Development Aid ◽  
Sub Saharan Africa ◽  
Sub Saharan ◽  
And Gender ◽  
Almost All ◽  
Hiv Aids

Finland is one of the donor countries that is most supportive in family planning (FP), Sexual and Reproductive Health and Rights (SRHR) and gender issues. This study examines Finnish ODA for FP and SRHR: its decision-making structure, other stakeholders and funding levels. Data consists of documents from the Ministry for Foreign Affairs (MFA) and interviews conducted at the MFA and with other experts. While Parliament decides on the overall level of ODA funding, the Minister for Foreign Trade and Development has considerable autonomy. Other stakeholders such as the All-Party Parliamentary Group on Population and Development and the Family Federation of Finland (Vestliitto) engage in advocacy work and have influenced development policy. Although the Development Policy 2007 mentions the importance of health and SRHR issues and HIV/AIDS is a cross-cutting issue, interviewees stated that the importance of health and SRHR in ODA has declined and that the implementation of cross-cutting issues is challenging. Multilateral funding for UNFPA, UNAIDS and GFATM, and thus the proportion of SRHR funding within the health sector, is however currently rising. Funding for population-related activities has increased and represented 4.8% of Finlands total ODA in 2009. Almost all of this funding is directed towards basic reproductive health and HIV/AIDS issues and the majority is directed through multilateral channels (78% in 2009), mainly UNFPA and UNAIDS. IPPF, Ipas and Marie Stopes International also receive support.

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document