37.3613, Books: A Word Geography of Faunal Terminology in Maa (East Africa): Vossen, Meißner, and Zürn (2025)

[The LINGUIST List]

LINGUIST List: Vol-37-3613. Tue 03 Nov 2026. ISSN: 1069 - 4875.

Subject: 37.3613, Books: A Word Geography of Faunal Terminology in Maa (East Africa): Vossen, Meißner, and Zürn (2025)

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Date: 02-Nov-2026
From: Peter Lang Group [marketing at peterlang.com]
Subject: A Word Geography of Faunal Terminology in Maa (East Africa): Vossen, Meißner, and Zürn (2025)


Title: A Word Geography of Faunal Terminology in Maa (East Africa)
Series Title: Schriften zur Afrikanistik / Research in African Studies
Publication Year: 2025

Publisher: Peter Lang AG
           http://www.peterlang.com
Book URL: https://www.peterlang.com/document/1586720

Author(s): Rainer Vossen, Antje Meißner, and Carlotta Zürn

Abstract:

This book is an attempt at a selective word geography of Maa
(“Maasai”) varieties as spoken in Kenya and Tanzania, an area
extending, from north to south, over a distance of approximately 1,000
kilometres. Maa is a member of the Eastern branch of Nilotic and as
such belongs within the so-called Nilo-Saharan language phylum. The
study meticulously describes the geographical distribution of a set of
faunal terms: animals, both wild and domestic, as well as
fauna-related items and concepts. Word geographies not only contribute
decisively to the reconstruction of language-internal history but also
shed light on ethno-historical processes and events. The study is
based on elicited data that had been collected almost fifty years ago.
It therefore represents, first of all, the situation of that time.
Over decades, semantic change may have altered that state to some
degree.

Linguistic Field(s): General Linguistics
                     Lexicography

Written In: English (eng, stan1293)


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