Dissertation title:
„A grammar of Mbum, an Adamawa language of Northern Cameroon“
(FB07: Institut für Ethnologie und Afrikastudien, Univ.-Prof. Dr. Nico Nassenstein)
Education
Since 05/2023
Doctoral candidate in African languages and linguistics, Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz
10/2019 – 11/2022
Master of Arts in Empirical linguistics (major: African linguistics), Goethe University Frankfurt am Main
10/2019 – 09/2023
Explored coursework in Modern East Asian studies (Master of Art), Goethe University Frankfurt am Main
04/2016 – 02/2018
Japanese studies, Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz
04/2016 – 10/2019
Bachelor of Arts in (General and comparative) Linguistics, Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz
04/2014 – 10/2019
Bachelor of Arts in Cultural anthropology (Ethnologie), Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz
Memberships and academic engagement
Since 04/2024
Junior member of the Gutenberg Academy Honors Program, Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz
Since 01/2024
Establishment and lead of the research group “Afrikanisch-Europäische Wissenschafts¬beziehungen”, Gutenberg Graduate School of the Humanities and Social Sciences, Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz
Since 07/2023
Co-editor of the peer-reviewed online journal Afrikanistik-Ägyptologie-Online (AAeO)
Since 04/2023
Member of the Gutenberg Graduate School, Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz
04/2018 – 10/2019
Participant of the Studienprogramm Q+, Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz
Selected academic activities
02/2022 – 10/2023
Student assistant at the Institute of Anthropology and African Studies: Processing linguistic fieldwork data, implementation of workshops, etc., Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz
10/2021 – 04/2023
Student assistant in the DFG-project “Language use and linguistic variation in multi¬lingual speaker groups in Ngaoundéré (North-Cameroon) (II)”, Institute of African Studies, Goethe Univer¬sity Frankfurt am Main
03/2021 – 12/2021
Student assistant at the Institute of Anthropology and African Studies: Installation of the Leo-Stappers-Archive, Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz
01/2020 – 09/2020
Student assistant in the DFG-project “Language use and linguistic variation in multilin¬gual speaker groups in Ngaoundéré (North-Cameroon)”, Institute of African Studies, Goethe Univer¬sity Frankfurt am Main
Teaching experience
10/2020 – 02/2021
Tutor for the seminar “Introduction to general linguistics”, Institute of Empirical Linguistics, Goethe University Frankfurt am Main
11/2017 – 03/2018
Tutor for the seminar “Introduction to the language structures of the world”, Department of English and Linguistics, Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz
Stays abroad
03/2024 – 05/2024
Research stay at the Institut National des Langues et Civilisations Orientales, Paris, France
08/2023 – 09/2023
Research stay at Tokyo University of Foreign Studies, Japan
10/2022 and 03/2023 – 04/2023
Fieldwork stays in Cameroon on the Adamawa language Mbum
11/2021 – 12/2021
Fieldwork stay in Uganda on the Bantu language Bangala
03/2021 – 09/2021
Study abroad at Osaka University (Graduate School of Letters), Japan
08/2018 – 10/2018
Internship at Goethe Institute Tokyo, Japan
02/2017 – 07/2017
Study abroad at Nelson Mandela University, Gqeberha, South Africa
Publications
2024, in press
Theoretical considerations on linguistic innovation through new combination in African youth language practices: Exemplified in Yanké and Langila (DR Congo). Linguistics Vanguard. De Gruyter.
2023, in press
Nico Nassenstein & Janika Kunzmann (eds.): Lingala: Current topics / Sujets d’actualité. Mainzer Beiträge zur Afrikaforschung 47. Cologne: Köppe.
Janika Kunzmann & Nico Nassenstein: Bringing research perspectives together in the study of Lingala: A synopsis. In: N. Nassenstein & J. Kunzmann (eds.): Lingala: Current Topics / Sujets d’actualité. Mainzer Beiträge zur Afrikaforschung 47. Cologne: Köppe.
Passive and functionally equivalent constructions in the contact language Lingala. In: N. Nassenstein & J. Kunzmann (eds.): Lingala: Current Topics / Sujets d’actualité. Mainzer Beiträge zur Afrikaforschung 47. Cologne: Köppe.
2022
Klaus Beyer & Janika Kunzmann: Retracing labial-velar consonants in Mbum (Adamawa): Between genetic transmission and language contact. Afrika und Übersee 95. 26-48.
Book review: Meeuwis, Michael (2020): A grammatical overview of Lingála. Afrikanistik Ägyptologie online.
Diverging verb derivational strategies in the youth language Yanké (DR Congo). In: C. Groff, A. Hollington, E. Hurst-Harosh, N. Nassenstein, J. Nortier, H. Pasch & N. Yannuar (eds.): Global perspectives on youth language practices. 49-66. Berlin/Boston: De Gruyter.
Talks at workshops and conferences
2023
1st Osaka Contact Linguistics Colloquium, Osaka University, Japan: “Mbum (Adamawa, Cameroon) in areal contact: Salient segmental phonological features”
“A new perspective on descriptive linguistics in Africa based on the translingual ecology” international workshop at the Research Institute for Languages and Cultures of Asia and Africa, Tokyo University of Foreign Studies, Japan: “What is Mbum and what is not? Addressing multi- and translingualism in the creation of a reference grammar”
2nd Adamawa Conference in Paris, France (with Dr. Sören Zimmermann): “Form and function of reduplication in Mbum (Nganha and Ngaoundéré)”
Vielfaltslinguistik 5 in Hamburg, Germany: “ATR-harmonische Muster im Mbum (Adamawa, Kamerun)?”
Afrikanist*innentag 2023 in Leipzig, Germany: “Nominal composition and derivation in Mbum (Adamawa)”
2022
Phonology Colloquium at Goethe University Frankfurt am Main, Germany: “Describing an understudied language of Northern Cameroon: Prominent phonetic and phonological features of Mbum (Adamawa)”
Llacan Colloquium at the Institut National des Langues et Civilisations Orientales in Paris, France: “Preliminary findings on the phonology of Mbum (Adamawa)”
“What is innovation?” – Youth languages and morphosyntactic variation international workshop at Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz, Germany: “Innovative linguistic strategies: Innovation through new combination in African youth languages”
51st Colloquium of African Languages and Linguistics at Leiden University, Netherlands: “Mbum (Adamawa) nouns and verbs: Tone patterns and (puzzling) alternations”
9th International Conference on Bantu Languages in Blantyre, Malawi: “Verbal derivation in the youth language Yanké: Morphosyntactic deviation from Lingala”
Scholarships and grants
03/2024 – 05/2024
Empirical Foundations of Linguistics: Data, methods, models (Labex EFL): Scholarship for a 3 month stay at the Institut national des langues et civilisations orientales in Paris, France
08/2023 – 09/2023
Short stays abroad for Doctoral students in the humanities and social sciences by Gutenberg Graduate School of the Humanities and Social Sciences: Grant (travel expenses) for a research stay at Tokyo University of Foreign Studies, Japan
04/2023 – 09/2023
Gutenberg Graduate School of the Humanities and Social Sciences: Exposé-Stipendium
10/2022
Sulzmann-Stiftung: Grant (travel expenses) for a fieldwork stay in Cameroon
05/2021 – 09/2021
Japan Student Services Organization (JASSO): Grant for a study abroad at Osaka University, Japan
03/2021 – 09/2021
PROMOS (DAAD): Grant for a study abroad at Osaka University, Japan
04/2020
Fachverband Afrikanistik e.V.: Outstanding theses of 2019 in the field of African Studies: Award for the best thesis of the year 2019 in African linguistics in German speaking countries
08/2018 – 10/2018
Kurzstipendien für Praktika im Ausland für Studierende und Graduierte (DAAD): Grant for an internship at Goethe Institute in Tokyo, Japan
Project acquisition
BMBF project “Kontra-hegemoniale Stimmen in Musikarchiven” (Start: September 2023; duration: 4 years; partner institutions: JGU Mainz (UB, AMA und IfEAS), Hochschulbibliothek Hannover, Europäisches Zentrum für Jüdische Musik Hannover, Center for World Music Hildesheim; funding amount: ~€650,000)