• ILCAA Joint Research Project
• Visiting Researchers

Microvariation of youth languages in Bantu-speaking areas

ID: jrpf26001

KeywordYabacrâne; Congolese Swahili; Youth language in Africa; Variation in Swahili; language documentation

This research project aims to create a digital speech corpus of Yabacrâne based on video recordings collected in the field. Yabacrâne is an under-described youth language spoken in Goma, North Kivu Province, DR Congo. The project will provide in-depth description and analysis of linguistic features, spanning from phonetics to morphosyntax, observed in the urban youth code through comparison with its base language, Kivu Swahili, as well as other colloquial Swahili varieties spoken in different parts of East Africa. A stunning aspect of this project is a close collaboration with a Ghent University expert on Congolese Swahili, as well as a local language consultant through regular online sessions connecting three locations in different continents. Expected project outcomes include not only the digital corpus, which itself will be a unique contribution to the field, but also conference presentations and research articles addressing the anticipated findings based on the first hand materials

Date

2026.04.01～2026.07.31

Member

Coordinator : NASSENSTEIN Nico

Host Researchers : SHINAGAWA Daisuke