Prof. Dr. Gabriele Sommer
African Linguistics
Academic Degrees
| 2003 | Habilitation: Faculty of Languages & Literature, University of Bayreuth |
| 1994 | Doctorate: Intercultural Relations in Africa, University of Bayreuth |
| 1988 | Magister degree in African Studies/ English Studies/ Phonetics, University of Cologne |
Professional Background
| Since 2008 | Professor at the Institute of African Studies I (Niger-Kongo languages), University of Bayreuth |
| 2001 | Visiting scholar at Lomonosov Moscow State University |
| 2000 | Visiting scholar, Institute of Oriental and African Languages, University of Göteborg |
| 2000 – 2007 | Research Fellow, Institute of African Studies II, University of Bayreuth |
| 1996 – 1999 | Research Associate in SFB 389 "Cultural and Environmental Change in Arid Africa", University of Cologne |
| 1994 – 1996 | Research Associate, Institute of African Linguistics, University of Frankfurt |
| 1991 – 1993 | Scholarship recipient, “Intercultural Relations in Africa”, University of Bayreuth |
| 1988 – 1990 | Research Associate, Institute of African Studies, University of Cologne |
Other
- Dean of Studies of the Faculty of Languages & Literature, University of Bayreuth
- Since 2015 Project coordinator for DAAD exchange programme with the University of Fort Hare, South Africa
- 2012 – 2016 Chairwoman, Fachverband Afrikanistik
- 2009 – 2011 Gender Representative, Bayreuth International Graduate School of African Studies (BIGSAS)
- Since 2009 Senior Fellow, Bayreuth International Graduate School of African Studies (BIGSAS)
- research visits in Southern Africa (Botswana, Namibia, South Africa)
- Contributor and sub-project coordinator:
- collaborative research centre 214, University of Bayreuth
- collaborative research centre 389, University of Bayreuth
- DFG project to stratify language contact in the Sahel-Sudan zone, University of Bayreuth, University of Frankfurt, Nizza
- DFG project to spread the Tswana language, University of Frankfurt
African Linguistics
Regional:
- Southern Africa
- Northeast Africa
Research Topics:
- language contact
- historical linguistics
- sociolinguistics
African Linguistics
Selected publications
2017
Sommer, Gabriele
Variation in Shiyeyi (Botswana/Namibia)
Mechthildian approaches to Afrikanistik : advances in language based research on Africa ; Festschrift für Mechthild Reh
Köln : Rüdiger Köppe, 2017. - page 321-337
Mapunda, Gastor; Sommer, Gabriele
When Shikamoo Mama/Baba replaces Tukuwoni Mawu/Dadi : an account of shifting access rituals amo ...
in Linguistik online volume 84 (2017) issue 5
doi:10.13092/lo.84.3847 ...
2013
Sommer, Gabriele
Bantu-Khoesan Language Contacts in Northern Botswana
The Khoesan Languages
London and New York : Routledge, 2013. - page 444-446
Sommer, Gabriele; Widlok, Thomas
The sociolinguistic situation of Khoesan languages today
The Khoesan Languages
London and New York : Routledge, 2013. - page 479-480
2012
Sommer, Gabriele; Lupapula, Abel
Comparing Address Forms and Systems : some Examples from Bantu
Selected Proceedings of the 42nd Annual Conference on African Linguistics : African Languages in Context
Somerville, MA : Cascadilla Proceedings Project, 2012. - page 266-277
Sommer, Gabriele
The concept of style/register shifting in multilingual African contexts
Proceedings of the 6th World Congress of African Linguistics, Cologne, 17 - 21 August 2009
Köln : Rüdiger Köppe, 2012. - page 611-622
2011
Speech Acts and Speech Events in African Languages
publ: Sommer, Gabriele; Vierke, Clarissa
Köln : Köppe, 2011 . - (Topics in Interdisciplinary African Studies; 23)
Vierke, Clarissa; Sommer, Gabriele
Speech Acts and Speech Events in African Languages
Speech Acts and Speech Events in African Languages
Köln : Köppe, 2011. - page 11-40 . - (Topics in Interdisciplinary African Studies; 23)
Fessler, Frank; Sommer, Gabriele
Zur Konzeptualisierung von Vergangenheit im Bantu : Areallinguistische Vergleiche im südlichen ...
Afrikanische Sprachen im Fokus : Linguistische Beiträge zum 19. Afrikanistentag, Mainz, 8.-10. April 2010
Köln : Rüdiger Köppe, 2011. - page 75-92
2006
Sommer, Gabriele
"Familiensache Höflichkeit" : Beobachtungen zum Ausdruck sozialer Distanz und Nähe in afrikanis ...
Zwischen Bantu und Burkina : Festschrift für Gudrun Miehe zum 65. Geburtstag
Köln : Rüdiger Köppe, 2006. - page 235-251
2003
Sommer, Gabriele
Western Savanna (K, R)
The Bantu Languages
London : Routledge, 2003. - page 566-580 . - (Routledge Language Family Series; 4)
2002
Brunk, Karsten; Ibriszimow, Dymitr; Sommer, Gabriele
Towards a comparative Study of Language Contacts and their Stratification in the Sahel and Suda ...
Nicolai, Robert ; Zima, Peter: Lexical and structural diffusion : interplay of internal and external factors of language developement in the West African Sahel
Nice : Univ. de Nice, Faculté des Lettres, 2002. - page 65-78 . - (Corpus; 1)
2001
Sommer, Gabriele
Feldbau im Schatten des „Fruchtbaren Halbmonds“ : ein Beitrag zur Kultur- und Wirtschaftsgeschi ...
Afrika im Wandel : Tagungsband des DFG Graduiertenkollegs "Interkulturelle Beziehungen in Afrika"
Berlin : Verlag für Wissenschaft und Forschung, 2001. - page 151-161
Sommer, Gabriele
Sprachhistorische Rekonstruktionen zu den Ursprüngen von Getreidenutzung und Gartenbau in Nordo ...
Köln : Rüdiger Köppe, 2001 . - (Sprache und Geschichte in Afrika : Beihefte; 11)
Sommer, Gabriele
Towards the limits of archaeolinguistic reconstruction or how to solve a major multidisciplinar ...
in Afrikanistische Arbeitspapiere volume 65 (2001) . - page 169-200
2000
Sommer, Gabriele
Aspects of Yeyi (R 41) verbal morphology
"Mehr als nur Worte ..." : Afrikanistische Beiträge zum 65. Geburtstag von Franz Rottland
Köln : Rüdiger Köppe, 2000. - page 622-638
Sommer, Gabriele; Vossen, Rainer
Language gain and language loss : the spread of Setswana in Ngamiland
Botswana : the Future of the Minority Languages
Frankfurt am Main : Peter Lang, 2000. - page 129-151 . - (Duisburger Arbeiten zur Sprach- und Kulturwissenschaft; 40)
1999
Sommer, Gabriele
Das Innere eines Ortes sehen : Dokumentation einer Sprachforschung in Botswana
Frankfurt am Main : Peter Lang, 1999 . - (Schriften zur Afrikanistik; 1)
1998
Sommer, Gabriele
Reconstructing the past : historical linguistics, contact-induced change, language shift and re ...
Endangered Languages in Africa
Köln : Rüdiger Köppe, 1998. - page 39-70
1997
Sommer, Gabriele
Sprachgewinn und Sprachverlust : zur Ausbreitung des Tswana in Ngamiland (Botswana)
Afrikanische Sprachen zwischen Gestern und Morgen : Beiträge zur Dokumentation, Klassifikation und Rekonstruktion
Köln : Rüdiger Köppe, 1997. - page 105-132 . - (Frankfurter afrikanistische Blätter; 8)
Sommer, Gabriele
Towards an ethnography of language shift : goals and methods
Language Choices : Conditions, Constraints, and Consequences
Amsterdam and Philadelphia : John Benjamins, 1997. - page 55-76 . - (IMPACT; 1)
1995
Sommer, Gabriele
Ethnographie des Sprachwechsels : Sozialer Wandel und Sprachverhalten bei den Yeyi (Botswana)
Köln, Köppe, 1995(dissertation, 1994,
)
Sommer, Gabriele; Vossen, Rainer
Linguistic Variation in Siyeyi
The Complete Linguist : Papers in memory of Patrick J. Dickens
Köln : Rüdiger Köppe, 1995. - page 407-479
Sommer, Gabriele
Sprachwechsel im südlichen Afrika : Fallbeispiele und Interpretationen
Sprachkulturelle und historische Forschungen in Afrika : Beiträge zum 11. Afrikanistentag, Köln, 19.-21. September 1994
Köln : Rüdiger Köppe, 1995. - page 305-326
1993
Sommer, Gabriele; Vossen, Rainer
Dialects, sociolects or simply lects? : the Maa language in time perspective
Being Maasai : Ethnicity and Identity in East Africa
London, Nairobi and Athens : James Currey, EAEP, Ohio University Press, 1993. - page 25-37
1992
Sommer, Gabriele; Vossen, Rainer
Schnalzwörter im Yei (R.41)
in Afrika und Übersee volume 75 (1992) . - page 1-42
Sommer, Gabriele
A survey on Language Death in Africa
Language Death : Factual and theoretical explorations with special reference to East Africa
Berlin and New York : Mouton de Gruyter, 1992. - page 301-418 . - (Contributions to the Sociology of Language; 64)
1991
Sommer, Gabriele
Gradueller Sprachwechsel in Ägypten und Botswana : zwei Fallbeispiele
Ägypten im afro-orientalischen Kontext : Aufsätze zur Archäologie, Geschichte und Sprache eines unbegrenzten Raumes ; Gedenkschrift Peter Behrens
Köln , 1991. - page 351-368 . - (Afrikanistische Arbeitspapiere; Sondernr. 1991)
Brenzinger, Matthias; Heine, Bernd; Sommer, Gabriele
Language death in Africa
Endangered Languages
Oxford and New York : Berg Publishers, 1991. - page 19-44
Sommer, Gabriele; Brenzinger, Matthias; Heine, Bernd
Language death in Africa
in Diogenes volume 39 (1991) issue 153. - page 19-44
doi:10.1177/039219219103915303 ...
1990
Sommer, Gabriele
International symposium on language death in East Africa, Bad Homburg, January 8-12, 1990
in Swahili Language and Society : Notes and News volume 7 (1990) . - page 38-39
African Linguistics
Prof. Dr. Gabriele Sommer
University of Bayreuth
Universitätsstr. 30
95440 Bayreuth
Phone: 0921 / 55-3557
E-mail: gabriele.sommer@uni-bayreuth.de
Homepage: Homepage of the Contributor