Prof. Dr. Gerrit J. Dimmendaal
Professor of African linguistics
Postal address:
Institute for African Studies
University of Cologne
Albertus-Magnus-Platz
50923 Cologne
Germany
Office address:
Meister-Ekkehart-Str. 7
1st floor
E-mail: Gerrit J. Dimmendaal
Phone: +49 (0)221 470 5762
Secretary: +49 (0)221 470 3504
Fax: +49 (0)221 470 5158
Office hours: by arrangement per e-mail
Most Relevant Publications
- Dimmendaal, Gerrit J. 2015. The Leopard’s Spots: Essays on Language, Cognition, and Culture. Leiden: Brill.
- Dimmendaal, Gerrit J. 2015. Semantic categorization and cognition. In Nancy Bonvillain (ed.), The Handbook of Linguistic Anthropology, 13-25. London: Taylor and Francis.
- Dimmendaal, Gerrit J. 2017. Areal contact in Nilo-Saharan. In Raymond Hackley (ed.), Cambridge Handbook of Areal Linguistics, pp. 446-470. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Most Relevant Research Topics
- Comparative linguistics
- Language typology
- Anthropological linguistics
Academic Education
- 1973-1978 African studies, History, Arabic, Comparative literature, Leiden University (the Netherlands)
- 1982 PhD The Turkana Language, Leiden University (the Netherlands)
Academic Assignments
- 1984-2000 Lecturer Department of African linguistics, Leiden University (the Netherlands)
- 1990: Fulbright scholar, Dept. of Linguistics, University of California at Berkeley (USA)
- 1995-1997: Visiting Professor African Studies, University Ghent (Belgium)
- 1998: Visiting scholar, Research Centre for Linguistic Typology, Australian National University, Canberra
- 12/2005-04/2006: Distinguished visiting scholar, Institute for Advanced Studies and Research Centre for Linguistic Typology, La Trobe University, Melbourne (Australia)
- 2000-present: Professor of African Studies, University of Cologne
Current Projects
2017-2020: Collaborative Research Centre 1252 Prominence in Language, University of Cologne, (funded by the DFG)
- Area B - Prominence in morpho-syntax and semantics
- B02 - Split ergativity in Tima
With Prof. Birgit Hellwig, Dr. Gertrud Schneider-Blum, Dr. Isabel Compes and Tatjana Schnellinger - B03 - Agent prominence and the diachrony of predication in Indo-Aryan
With Dr. Uta Reinöhl, Dr. Antje Casaretto, and Simon Fries.
- B02 - Split ergativity in Tima
Finished Projects
- 2006-2011: Susan Alamin, Abeer Bashir, Meike Meerpohl, Abdelrahim Mugaddam, Gertrud Schneider-Blum. A multi-media documentation of Tima (Volkswagen-Stiftung)
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2009-2011: Beniam Mitiku. The Harari Language (German Academic Exchange Service)
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2009-2012: John Vanderelst. The Dagik Language (Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft)
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2011-2014: Mumin, Meikal . The Chimwiini Language (Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft)
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2011-2013: Birgit Hellwig, Gertrud Schneider-Blum. Documenting Tabaq: a Hill Nubian language of the Sudan, in its sociolinguistic context (The Hans Rausing Endangered Languages Project, London)
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2012-2015: Nico Nassenstein. The Rufumbira Language (DAAD, Cusanuswerk)
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2013-2016: Bastian Persohn. The Verb in Nyakyusa (a.r.t.e.s Graduate School for the Humanities, Universität zu Köln)
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2013-2016: Steffen Lorenz. Multilingual Communication and Social Diversification: Urbanization and Language Change in Gulu, Northern Uganda (Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung)
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2014-2017: Maren Rüsch. Conversational Strategies in Acholi (Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft)
Research Focus
- Comparative study of African languages
- Anthropological linguistics
- Descriptive and documentary linguistics
- Language typology
Supervision of Doctoral Dissertations
| Rüsch, Maren | A Conversational Anaysis of Acholi | 2018 · completed |
| Lorenz, Steffen | Multilingual Communication and Social Diversification: Urbanization and Language Change in Gulu, Northern Uganda | 2018 · completed |
| Nassenstein, Nico | Speaking with a Difference: Border Thinking in Rufumbira | 2016 · completed |
| Barasa, David | Ateso Grammar: A Descriptive Account of an Eastern Nilotic Language | 2016 · Appeared 2017 with LINCOM Munich |
| Persohn, Bastian | The Verb in Nyakyusa: a Focus on Tense, Aspect, and Modality | 2016 · Appeared 2017 with Language Science Press |
| Kröger, Oliver | Personenreferenz und Textorganisation in Erzählungen des mosambikanischen Ngoni | 2016 · KUPS (University of Cologne) |
| Vanderelst, John | Beschreibung der Dagik Sprache (Kordofanisch, Sudan) mit Schwerpunkt auf Informationsstruktur und unter Berücksichtigung arealer Phänomene | 2016 · Rüdiger Köppe Verlag |
| Mitiku, Beniam | The Harari Language | 2014 · completed |
| Alamin, Suzan | The Nominal and Verbal Morphology of Tima – a Niger-Congo Language Spoken in the Nuba Mountains | 2012 · Rüdiger Köppe Verlag |
| Mbaye, Saliou | Nebensatz und Verbstellung im Wolof und im Deutschen. Ein Beitrag zur kontrastiven Grammatik | 2012 · Akademische Verlagsgemeinschaft München |
| Abdu Eldawi, Maha | The Verb in Zaghawa | 2010 · completed |
| Bashir, Abeer | A phonetic and phonological study of Tima | 2010 · completed |
| Waag, Christine | The Fur Verb and its Context | 2010 · Rüdiger Köppe Verlag |
| Weiss, Doris | Phonologie et morphosyntaxe du maba | 2009 · Université Lumière Lyon |
| Treis, Yvonne | A Grammar of Kambaata Part 1 | 2008 · Rüdiger Köppe Verlag |
| Sall, Adjaratou | La phrase complexe wolof | 2008 · VDM Verlag Dr. Müller |
| Schneider-Blum, Gertrud | A Grammar of Alaaba | 2007 · Rüdiger Köppe Verlag |
| Woldemariam, Hirut | Comparative Morphology of Haro | 2005 · completed |
| Cammenga, Jelle | Igikuria Phonology and Morphology | 2004 · Rüdiger Köppe Verlag |
| Amha, Azeb | The Maale Language | 2001 · Universität Leiden |
| Yigezu, Moges | A Comparative Phonetic and Phonological Study of Surmic | 2001 · Université Libre Bruxelles |
| Ikoro, Suanu | The Kana Language | 1996 · Universität Leiden |
| Fransen, Margo | Morphology and Syntax of Limbum | 1995 · Freie Universität Amsterdam |
Awards
- 2005: Honorary Member of the Linguistic Society of America
- 2013: Corresponding Member of the Académie Royale des Sciences d’Outre-Mer, Belgium
- 2013: Leo Spitzer Prize for excellent research, University of Cologne
Publications
Dimmendaal, Gerrit J.
- 2007. The Wadi Howar diaspora: Linking linguistic diffusion to palaeoclimatological and archaeological findings. In: Olaf Bubenzer, Andreas Bolten, and Frank Darius (eds.), Atlas of Cultural and Environmental Change in Arid Africa, pp. 148-149. Cologne: Heinrich-Barth-Institut.
- 2007. Africa?s verb-final languages. In: Bernd Heine and Derek Nurse (eds.), A Linguistic Geography of Africa, pp. 271-307. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
- 2007. Historical linguistics. In John Middleton and Joseph C. Miller (eds.), New Encyclopedia of Africa Vol. 3, pp. 312-315. Farmington Hills, MI: Charles Scribner?s Sons.
- 2007. Nyangatom. In Siegert Uhlig et al. (eds.), Encyclopaedia Aethiopica.III, pp. 1131-1132. Wiesbaden: Harrassowitz.
- 2007. Nilo-Saharan. In Siegert Uhlig et al. (eds.), Encyclopaedia Aethiopica.III, pp. 1182-118. Wiesbaden: Harrassowitz.
- 2007. Nilotic. In Siegert Uhlig et al. (eds.), Encyclopaedia Aethiopica.III, pp. 1185-1186 . Wiesbaden: Harrassowitz.
- 2007. Nuer. In Siegert Uhlig et al. (eds.), Encyclopaedia Aethiopica.III, pp. 1197-1199. Wiesbaden: Harrassowitz.
- 2007. Eastern Sudanic and the Wadi Howar and Wadi El Milk diaspora. Sprache und Geschichte in Afrika 18:37-67.
- 2008. Language ecology and linguistic diversity on the African continent. Language and Linguistics Compass 2(5): 840-858.
- 2008. The historical development of Nilotic: A testcase for cladistic and rhizotic models of language change. Sprache und Geschichte in Afrika 19:31-66.
- 2008. But Steven Pinker said … In Theresa Hanske, Dejan Matic, and Christoph Benden (eds.), Studies in Ugabuga. Festschrift for Hans-Jürgen Sasse, pp. 67-70. Cologne: Institut für Linguistik, Universität zu Köln.
- 2009 (ed.). Coding Participant Marking: Construction Types in Twelve African African Languages. Amsterdam and Philadelphia: John Benjamins.
- 2009. Introduction. In Gerrit J. Dimmendaal (ed.), Coding Participant Marking. Construction Types in Twelve African Languages , pp. 1-22. Amsterdam and Philadelphia: John Benjamins.
- 2009. Tama. In Dimmendaal (ed.),Coding Participant Marking: Construction Types in Twelve African Languages , pp. 307-331. Amsterdam and Philadelphia: John Benjamins.
- 2009. Tima. In Dimmendaal (ed.), Coding Participant Marking: Construction Types in Twelve African Languages, pp. 338-355. Amsterdam and Philadelphia: John Benjamins.
- 2009. Datives in Nilotic in a typological perspective. Afrikanistik-Online.
- 2010. Esoterogeny and localist strategies in a Nuba Mountain community Sprache und Geschichte in Afrika 20. 75-95.
- 2010. On the origin of ergativity in Tima. In Frank Floricic (ed.), Essais de typologie et de linguistique générale: Mélanges offerts à Denis Creissels, pp. 233-239. Lyon: Presses Universitaires de l?École Normale Superieure.
- 2010. Differential Object Marking in Nilo-Saharan. Journal of African Languages and Linguistics 31: 13-46.
- 2010. Turkana. In Siegert Uhlig et al. (eds.), Encyclopaedia Aethiopica IV, pp. 1003-1004. Wiesbaden: Harrassowitz.
- 2010. Perception and the invisible hand among Teso-Turkana groups. Sprache und Geschichte in Afrika 21: 35-49.
- 2010. Language description and ?the new paradigm?: What linguists may learn from ethnocinematographers. Language Documentation and Conservation 4: 152-158.
- 2010. Ditransitive constructions in Tima. In Bernard Comrie, Martin Haspelmath and Andrej Melchikov (eds.), Studies in Ditransitive Constructions: A Comparative Handbook, pp. 204-220. Berlin: Mouton de Gruyter.
- 2011. Le turkana. In Emilio Bonvini, Joeálle Busuttil et Alain Peyraube(eds.), Dictionnaire des langues, pp. 213-224. Paris: Presses Universitaires de France.
- 2011. Historical Linguistics and the Comparative Study of African Languages. Amsterdam and Philadelphia: John Benjamins.
- 2012. Übersetzen. A.R.T.E.S Jahrbuch 2011: 67-71.
- 2012. Metrical structures: A neglected property of Nilotic (and other African language families). Studies in Nilotic Linguistics 5: 1-26.
- 2012. Marked nominative systems in Eastern Sudanic and their historical origin. Afrikanistik Online
- 2013. Where have all the noun classes gone in Tima? In Carole de Feral, Maarten Kossmann, and Mauro Tosco (eds.), In and Out of Africa. Languages in Question in Honour of Robert Nicola? Vol. 2: Contact and Language Change in Africa, pp. 103-125. Louvain-la-Neuve: Peeters.
- 2014. Attitude markers in Nilotic in a cross-linguistic perspective. Studies in Nilotic Linguistics 7.
- 2014. The grammar of knowledge in Tima. In Alexandra Y. Aikhenvald and R. M. W. Dixon (ed.), The Grammar of Knowledge, pp. 217-249. Leiden: Brill.
- 2014. Pluractionality and the distribution of number marking across categories. In Anne Storch and Gerrit J. Dimmendaal (eds.), Number: Constructions and Semantics. Case studies from Africa, Amazonia, India and Oceania, pp. 57-75. Amsterdam and Philadelphia: John Benjamins.
- 2014. Derivation in Nilo-Saharan. In Rochel Lieber and Pavol Štekauer (eds.), Oxford Handbook of Derivation. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
- 2015. The Leopard’s Spots: Essays on Language, Cognition, and Culture. Leiden: Brill.
- 2015. Different cultures, different attitudes – but how different is “the African situation” really? In James Essegbey, Brent Hendersen, and Fiona McLaughlin (eds.), Language Documentation and Endangerment in Africa, pp. 37-57. Amsterdam and Philadelphia: John Benjamins.
- 2015. Alloying as an economy principle in morphology. SKASE Journal of Theoretical Linguistics 13(2): 2-14. ISSN 1336- 782X
- 2015. Comments on “Middle to Late Holocene paleoclimatic change and the early Bantu expansion in the rain forests of Western Central Africa” by Koen Bostoen et al. Current Anthropology 56(3): 368-369.
- 2015. Language cognition and categorisation. In Nancy Bonvillain (ed.), Handbook of Linguistic Anthropology, pp. 13-26. London: Routledge.
- 2016. A note on the spreading of Afroasiatic. In Rainer Voigt (ed.), 5000 Years Semitohamitic Languages in Asia and Africa. Aachen: Shaker Verlag.
- 2017. Areal contact in Nilo-Saharan. In Raymond Hickey (ed.), Cambridge Handbook of Areal Linguistics, pp. 446-470. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
- 2018. On stable and unstable features in Nilo-Saharan. In Helga Schröder and Prisca Jerono (eds.), Nilo-Saharan Issues and Perspectives, pp. 9-23. Cologne: Rüdiger Köppe.
- 2018. On word-final voicing in Nilotic and beyond. In Klaus Beyer, Gertrud Boden, Bernard Köhler, and Ulrike Zoch (eds.), 40 Jahre Afrikanistik - Festschrift für Rainer Vossen. Cologne: Rüdiger Köppe.
- 2018. Historical linguistics in an African context: A brief state of the art. In Augustine Agwuele and Adams Bodomo (eds.), Routledge Handbook of African Linguistics, pp. 33-54. London: Routledge.
- 2018. Reconstructing Proto-Katloid and deconstructing Kordofanian. In Gertrud Schneider-Blum, Birgit Hellwig, and Gerrit J. Dimmendaal (eds.), Nuba Mountain Languages Studies: New Insights, pp. 383-415. Cologne: Rüdiger Köppe.
- 2018. Introduction. In Gertrud Schneider-Blum, Birgit Hellwig, and Gerrit J. Dimmendaal(eds.), Nuba Mountain Languages Studies: New Insights, pp. 1-11. Cologne: Rüdiger Köppe.
- 2019. Comparative linguistics. In Ekkehard Wolff (ed.), Cambridge Handbook of African Languages, pp. 326-381. Cambridge: CUP.
- 2019. A typological perspective on the morphology of Nilo-Saharan languages. Oxford Research Encyclopedia of Linguistics. DOI: 10.1093/acrefore/9780199384655.013.531
- 2020. Dimmendaal, Gerrit J., and Rainer Vossen. Introduction. In Rainer Vossen and Gerrit J. Dimmendaal (eds.). 2020. The Handbook of African Languages, pp. 3-10. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
- 2020. Dimmendaal, Gerrit J.. Nilo-Saharan and its limits. In Rainer Vossen and Gerrit J. Dimmendaal (eds.), The Handbook of African Languages, pp. 364-382. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
- 2020. Dimmendaal, Gerrit J., and Angelika Jakobi. Eastern Sudanic. In Rainer Vossen and Gerrit J. Dimmendaal (ed.), The Handbook of African Languages, pp. 392-407. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
- 2020. Dimmendaal, Gerrit J. Linguistic isolates. In Rainer Vossen and Gerrit J. Dimmendaal (eds.), The Handbook of African Languages, pp. 428-436. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
- 2020. Dimmendaal, Gerrit J.. Baale. In Rainer Vossen and Gerrit J. Dimmendaal (ed.), The Handbook of African Languages, pp. 630-643. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
- 2020. Vossen, Rainer, and Gerrit J. Dimmendaal (eds.). The Handbook of African Languages. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
- To appear. Language diversification and contact in Africa. In Mily Crevelt, Jean-Marie Hombert and Pieter Muysken (eds.), Language Dispersal, Diversification and Contact. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
- To appear. Nilo-Saharan: An overview.” In: Bedilu Wakjira, Ronny Meyer, and Zelealem Leyew (eds.), The Oxford Handbook of Ethiopian Languages. London: Oxford University Press.
- To appear. Endangered languages of Africa and the Middle East. In Chris Moseley (ed.), Encyclopaedia of the World’s Endangered Languages, 2nd revised edition. London: Routledge
- To appear. The comparative method and language change in accretion zones: A view from the Nuba Mountains. In Epps, Patience, Danny Law and Na’ama Pat-El (eds.), Historical Linguistics and Endangered Languages: Exploring diversity in language change. London: Routledge.
Co-authorship
- 2007. Creissels, Denis, Gerrit J. Dimmendaal, Zygmunt Frajzyngier, Christa König. Africa as a morphosyntactic area. In: Bernd Heine and Derek Nurse (eds.), A Linguistic Geography of Africa, pp. 86-150. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
- 2007. Dimmendaal, Gerrit J. and F.K. Erhard Voeltz. Endangered languages of Africa and the Middle East. In: Chris Moseley (ed.), Encyclopaedia of the World's Endangered Languages, pp. 579-634. London: Routledge.
- 2012. Alamin, Suzan, Dimmendaal, Gerrit J., Gertrud Schneider-Blum. Finding your way in Tima. In Angelika Mietzner and Ulrike Claudi (eds.), Directionality in Grammar and Discourse: Case Studies from Africa, pp. 9-33. Cologne: Rüdiger Köppe.
- 2013. Schneider-Blum, Gertrud, and Gerrit J. Dimmendaal. Excite your senses: Glances into the world of perception and cognition in Tima. In Alexandra Y. Aikhenvald and Anne Storch (eds.), Perception and Cognition, pp. 215-250. Leiden: Brill.
- 2014. Storch, Anne and Gerrit J. Dimmendaal (eds.). Number: Constructions and Semantics. Case Studies from Africa, Amazonia, India and Oceania. Amsterdam and Philadelphia: John Benjamins.
- 2014. Storch, Anne and Gerrit J. Dimmendaal. One size fits all? On the grammar and semantics of singularity and plurality. In Storch and Dimmendaal (eds.), Number: Constructions and Semantics. Case studies from Africa, Amazonia, India and Oceania, pp. 1-32. Amsterdam and Philadelphia: John Benjamins.
- 2015. Dimmendaal, Gerrit J. and Anne Storch. Niger-Congo: A brief state of the art. In Sarah Grey Thomason (ed.), Oxford Handbooks Online in Linguistics. New York: Oxford University Press.
- 2018. Schneider-Blum, Gerrit J., Birgit Hellwig, and Gerrit J. Dimmendaal (eds.), Nuba Mountain Language Studies: New Insights. Cologne: Rüdiger Köppe.
- 2018. Dimmendaal, Gerrit J., & Gertrud Schneider-Blum. Transitivity in Tima. In Rose-Juliet Anyanwu (ed.), Transitivity in African Languages, pp.125-146. Köln: Rüdiger Köppe.
- 2019. Dimmendaal, Gerrit J., Colleen Ahland, Angelika Jakobi, and Constance Kutsch Lojenga. Linguistic features and typologies in languages commonly referred to as ‘Nilo-Saharan’. In Ekkehard Wolff (ed.), Cambridge Handbook of African Languages, pp. 326-381. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
- 2019. Mumin, Meikal, and Gerrit J. Dimmendaal. A brief sketch of Chimiini with special focus on contact-induced phenomena. Swahili Forum 26.
- 2019. Nassenstein, Nico, and Gerrit J. Dimmendaal. Restructuring in Bunia Swahili and emblematic language use. Journal of Language Contact 12(3): 823-855.
- 2020. Casaretto, Antje, Gerrit J. Dimmendaal, Birgit Hellwig, Uta Reinöhl & Gertrud Schneider-Blum. Roots of ergativity in Africa (and beyond). Studies in African Linguistics 49(1), 108-137.
- To appear. Schneider-Blum, Gertrud, and Gerrit J. Dimmendaal. Lexicography of endangered languages in Africa. In Patrick Hanks and Gilles-Maurice de Schryer (eds.), International Handbook of Modern Lexis and Lexicography. New York: Springer.
- To appear. Dimmendaal, Gerrit J., Mily Crevelt, and Pieter Muysken. Patterns of dispersal and diversification in Africa. In Mily Crevelt, Jean-Marie Hombert and Pieter Muysken (eds.), Language Dispersal, Diversification and Contact. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
- To appear. Jakobi, Angelika, and Gerrit J. Dimmendaal. Karko. In Paolo Acquaviva and Michael Daniel (eds.), Handbook of Number. Berlin: Mouton de Gruyter.