In this paper, the political world of the Akan around 1500 A.D. is explored. By examining and comparing Portuguese & Arabic sources, this paper attempts to gain new insights on this shady...Show moreIn this paper, the political world of the Akan around 1500 A.D. is explored. By examining and comparing Portuguese & Arabic sources, this paper attempts to gain new insights on this shady period of Akan history. In particular, this paper explores the connections between the Akan and the wider West African world, with a specific focus on the possible influence of Mande traders & warriors in Ghana.Show less
This paper researches tone in Bobo Madare North, a Niger-Congo, Mande language (ISO 639-3: bbo), spoken in Mali and Burkina Faso, closely related to Sya. After examining its basic principles...Show moreThis paper researches tone in Bobo Madare North, a Niger-Congo, Mande language (ISO 639-3: bbo), spoken in Mali and Burkina Faso, closely related to Sya. After examining its basic principles regarding tone, a limited overview of tone in the verb system is given. The paper proceeds to investigate tone in the noun system. Morphologically simple nouns, inflection (pluralisation), some compounding and derivation, as well as tone processes happening across word boundaries (definite and possessive constructions) are investigated. The author makes use of her own research data, applying principles of autosegmental phonology for her analysis. Bobo Madare North has three underlying tones with automatic and non-automatic downstep, tone spreading and (local?) upstep.Show less
The political structure of the medieval Mande empires – namely ancient Ghāna and Mālī – are still largely shrouded in mystery. This paper analyzes the political structure of the Ghāna Empire. By...Show moreThe political structure of the medieval Mande empires – namely ancient Ghāna and Mālī – are still largely shrouded in mystery. This paper analyzes the political structure of the Ghāna Empire. By comparing the structural anthropological theory developed by prof. Jan Jansen with the remarks made by medieval Arab geographers such as al-Bakr ī and al-Idrīsī, (utilizing particularly Jansen’s description of the Mande status discourse) it becomes possible to look for Mande 'snippets' in the Arabic texts. This article particularly focuses on the political role of 'the younger brother' in the Ghāna polity. The research presented in this paper show that there are strong indications that the Ghāna Empire had a decentralized political structure in which the 'younger brother' played a leading role. Furthermore, it shows that the Arabic texts, despite their limitations, still proof to be our most valuable sources on the medieval Mande empires, especially when combined with new archeological data.Show less
