Languages of African rainforest « pygmy » hunter-gatherers: language shifts without cultural admixture

Serge Bahuchet (1)

1 EAE - Eco-Anthropologie et Ethnobiologie

The aim of this paper is first to point out the diversity of the situations, thus resulting from various historical processes. There is not one single type of « Pygmy » group, nor an archetype of relationship between « the » Pygmies and « the » Farmers – there is even not a typical community of farmers ! The history is complex, and much rich. Second, this paper will underline the great gaps in the available documentation.

Keywords: hunter-gatherers; central Africa; rainforest Pygmies; ethnolinguistics; interethnic relationship

Domains: Social Anthropology and ethnology; Linguistics

Serge Bahuchet. Languages of African rainforest « pygmy » hunter-gatherers: language shifts without cultural admixture. Historical linguistics and hunter-gatherers populations in global perspective - (Max-Planck Inst., Leipzig), Aug 2006, Leipzig, Germany. ⟨hal-00548207⟩