Documenting communicative practices of customary court proceedings: The case of Tunen native-speakers of the Ndikbiakat Canton

The Endangered Language Documentation Programme (ELDP) provides grants worldwide for the documentation of endangered languages and knowledge. Grantees create audiovisual collections with transcription and translations of endangered languages and practices. These collections are preserved and made freely available through the Endangered Languages Archive (ELAR).

The aim of this project is to document the traditional communicative practices specific to customary court proceedings within the Banen community. Their language,Tunen, is a Narrow Bantu (A.44) spoken by close to 40,000 people in the Centre and Littoral Regions of Cameroon. Focus is put on customary court debates, deliberations, and judgement. Legal terms and customary law speech acts are highly endangered in this community due the lack of intergenerational transmission. Consequently, this documentation work is of utmost importance to safeguard, thanks to sound archiving, the ancestral practices peculiar to traditional courts in the Banen community. Primary investigator: Koumassol Midinette Endurence Dissake

Project Details


Location: Cameroon, Middle Africa, Africa Organiser(s): Endangered Languages Documentation Programme Project partner(s): University of Buea Funder(s): Arcadia Funding received: £6,800.00 Commencement Date: 01/2015 Project Status: Active
Project owner? Update this project



Related Projects

ELDP

Kalmyk/Oirat; development of teaching materials for Kalmyk national schools; comparative studies of Kalmyk and Oirat

The Endangered Language Documentation Programme (ELDP) provides grants worldwide for the documentation of endangered languages and knowledge. Grantees create audiovisual colle…

Explore project
Arcadia Logo high res

Documenting the contemporary history of science in India

To collect, preserve and make available online endangered cultural artefacts related to the contemporary (~200 years) history of science in South Asia. It will also develop a …

Explore project
Arcadia Logo high res

Digital Preservation of Kerala Archives

To survey and digitize some of the most important collections of palm-leaf manuscripts in the Thrissur and Ernakulam districts, Kerala, India in both institutional and family …

Explore project