ABSTRACT
This chapter presents a brief survey of methods used in order to arrive at a genetic classification of African languages, and more specifically of multilateral or mass comparisons (the second section), as well as the comparative method (the third section). The study of dialect variation is another approach that has led to new insights into genetic diversification and the spreading of linguistic innovations (the fourth section). Language change involves not only divergence but also convergence between languages and other types of contact-induced change, depending on the social conditions involved (the fifth section). As with biological systems, phylogenetic relationships between languages have been represented metaphorically by means of family trees in historical-comparative linguistics. Parallel to more recent developments in biological sciences, rhizotic representations are now favored by some comparative linguists, as these latter models represent not only historical divergence but also convergence between genetically related languages (the sixth section). The present contribution also addresses language ecology, and more specifically the degree of genetic diversity in different parts of the continent, as well as the issue of accretion and spread zones in Africa (the seventh section). The chapter concludes with some suggestions for future comparative studies of African language families (the eighth section).
