A linguistic and anthropological documentation of Tima

Supervisor

Prof. Dr. Gerrit J. Dimmendaal (University of Cologne)

Participants

Dr. Meike Meerpohl, Dr. Gertrud Schneider-Blum, Nico Nassenstein (University of Cologne)

Duration of the project

September 2009 – August 2011 · The project is sponsored by the Volkswagen Foundation program on endangered languages

Description

The current project is an extension of its predecessor, which was run under the name ‘A multi-media documentation of verbal communication among the Tima (Sudan)’. Whereas in the first phase the emphasis was put on documentation and description of the Tima language (t̪àmáá dùmùrík), the focus is now divided between the language and the culture of the Tima people.

During the first phase, texts of different genres have been collected (video- and audio-taped), transcribed and translated. With the collected data, two PhD-dissertations on phonetic/phonology and morphology could be drawn up by the Sudanese counterparts Dr. Suzan Al-Amin and Dr. Abeer Bashir. Within the extension, we plan to elaborate upon our insights into Tima grammar and at the same time we continue working on a multi-media dictionary. The ultimate goal in terms of capacity training among the speech community involved would be to train some people of the community concerning all the necessary steps in the compilation of a dictionary, i.e. finding new lemmata, identifying the root, entering both the root and the (extended) stem or word into the database and providing correct English and Sudanese Arabic translations. Also, where relevant, encyclopaedic knowledge should be added to such entries. First steps towards this end were carried out during two workshops, one in Khartoum in November 2008, the other one in the Nuba Mountains in February 2010.

The second core theme in this phase is the documentation and description of the Tima culture. An ethnographic overview with the description of the general setting, the social system and religion, the administrative structure, the economic system, and the history will provide the base for indebt studies of chosen topics. Here the desire of the people to concentrate on the endangered culture, on ‘what is getting lost and what the youth don’t know anymore’, will be specially considered. One of the Tima people’s favourite topic is the old traditions concerning their kujuurs (magicians). Although the Tima converted to Islam some 50 years ago, the elders still remember the old times and do not want this knowledge to get lost. But also other fields are concerned: e.g. marriage rituals have changed, and plays are neglected or have vanished already. Daily life in general does not stand still and documentation of these changes are high on the list of priorities.

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