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Mapping biological and cultural transfersin the western Indian Ocean:New directions for interdisciplinary research
Martin WalshDepartment of Social Anthropology
University of Cambridge
East Africa in the Indian Ocean:The Emergence of maritime
subsistence, contact and trade on the
East African coast
Department of Archaeology, University of
York, 28 November 2008
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Contents
Introduction
Defining problems
Finding the evidence
Before the Sabaki
The Swahili diaspora
Comorian origins
Malagasy migrations
Other directions
Conclusion
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Introduction
Historical & ethnobiological linguisticsBiogeography & comparative ethnography
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The internal classification of Northeast Coast Bantu and Sabaki
after Nurse and Hinnebusch 1993
Proto-NORTHEAST COAST BANTU
Proto-SABAKI
Elwana
Swahili
Comorian
Mwani Lower Pokomo
Mijikenda
Historical
development
of theSABAKI
languages
Defining problems
N Swahili
S Swahili
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minimal data some data available
Louette 1988; 2004
(compilation)
NEC Bantu bird names
and identifications
Finding the evidence
Moreau 1940-41
Mafia
Pakenham 1959
Brain 1980
Sacleux 1891; 1939
Krapf 1882; Binns 1925
Dakatcha IBA
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click substratum
Before the Sabaki
Sample vocabulary from the
click substratum in Dahalo
(Ehret et al. 1989)
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PEMBA
old continental island
first settlement?
UNGUJA & MAFIA
continuous settlement?
Before the Sabaki
CHIFUNDI & VUMBA
language shift from Mijikenda
ZANZIBAR archipelago
settled by NEC Bantu?
MAFIA archipelago
settled by Rufiji-Ruvuma speakers?
Pemba dialect vocabulary
(Whiteley 1958)
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The Swahili diaspora
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The Swahili diaspora
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Comorian origins
Kae (Makunduchi)
Chifundi
Vumba
Proto-NORTHEAST COAST BANTU
Lower Pokomo
proto-Comorian
Mijikenda
Comorian
Swahili
Elwana
Proto-SABAKI
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Comorian origins
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Malagasy migrations
?
?
Recent observations on the historical origins of Malagasy make it possible to develop a more definite model for the
origin of Bantu loanwords. Blench (in press a) focuses on the terminology for domestic and translocated animals, and
considers some other areas of vocabulary in less detail. Another element in the Malagasy lexicon is the development
of vocabulary to reflect a wholly unfamiliar natural environment. Walsh (pers.comm.) has recently studied the
Malagasy terms for wild animals and it appears that the great majoritysome derive, not from Austronesian, but from
Bantu languages. As with livestock names, almost all are from Swahili and languages of the Sabaki group, not, forexample, from the Bantu languages nearest to Madagascar, those in Mozambique. (Blench 2007: 76-77)
antsanga
antsangy
*nkomba ankomba
Unguja kitanga
< *-canga
?
?Mijikenda tsanje
Bondei sangi
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Wild banana, Musa acuminata
Typhonodorum lindleyanum
Malagasy
migrations
bie viha ~ via
Shambaa: huti
?
Swahili: puti
*punti
Malagasy: fontsy
?
mgomba-tumbili
mgomba-kofi
tongonya
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Other directions
?
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Conclusion
Mammals
Domesticated
*Data quality (NEC Bantu)
Birds
Reptiles
Fish / marine
Generally
inadequateInvertebrates
ANIMALS
Fair in some
cases
Cultivated
Good in some
casesWild plants
PLANTS
ETHNOG.LING.BIOLOGYLIFE FORM
*a quick, qualitative overview
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Basi!