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Raoul Zamponi

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Eastern Connecticut State University

University of Helsinki

Thomas Goldammer

None

University of California, Berkeley

Graduate Center of the City University of New York

Naomi Palosaari

University of Oklahoma

SOAS University of London

Dumbarton Oaks

Masoud Mohammadirad

University of Cambridge

Graham Thurgood

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Forthcoming publications by Raoul Zamponi

Zamponi, R. 2025 Gule. Routledge, London and New York.

Gule is a missing piece of the vast mosaic of African linguistics. Undescribed and poorly documen... more Gule is a missing piece of the vast mosaic of African linguistics. Undescribed and poorly documented, this extinct language of the southeastern corner of present-day Sudan is mentioned in very few studies and handbooks dedicated to the languages of Africa, and when it is cited, it is generally done to remind us how little is known about it. The available material of the Gule language is objectively scarce and mainly includes more or less long (or short) word lists. In addition to this lexical material, however, there is an old article of a dozen pages by Brenda Z. Seligman, appeared in 1912 in the second volume of the Zeitschrift für Kolonialsprachen, containing a significant number of (elicited) noun phrases and simple sentences in Gule, which allow us to grasp some of the main aspects of the structure of this language. The present monograph will be the first study of the available documentation of Gule. It will offer a tentative grammatical sketch of this language based primarily on the material collected by Seligman (inevitably incomplete due to the limited nature of the corpus; Chapters 2-5), areal-typological notes (Chapter 6), and a word list that gathers all the approximately 410 items occurring in the sources examined (Chapter 7). The image of Gule that will emerge from this book is that of a language that participates in some areal phenomena spread over a wide area of East Africa immediately south of the Sahel (e.g., contrastive tones, a decimal numeral system, and head-initial noun phrases) but with its own peculiar structure and a vocabulary that, apart from clear borrowings, appears totally dissimilar to that of any other known language and allows Gule to be assigned, without any hesitation, the status of a language isolate.

Zamponi, R. 2025 ‘Extinct lineages and unclassified languages of Greater Amazonia’. In Amazonian languages: An international handbook. Vol. 3: Smaller language families, ed. by P. Epps & L. Michael, Berlin and Boston, de Gruyter Mouton.

Selected publications by Raoul Zamponi

Comrie, B. & R. Zamponi 2024 ‘Akabea (Great Andamanese) as an anumeric language, and the problem of Akabea ordinals’. Italian Journal of Linguistics 36: 3-28.

by Raoul Zamponi and Bernard Comrie

Under embargo until June 2025

Zamponi, R. 2024 ‘Extinct lineages and unclassified languages of Mexico’. In Languages and linguistics of Mexico and Northern Central America: A comprehensive guide, ed. by S. Wichmann, Berlin and Boston, de Gruyter Mouton, pp. 99-157.

Zamponi, R. & N. Zair 2023 ‘L’iscrizione (sud)picena della stele di Mondolfo: Proposta di una nuova lettura’. Studi Etruschi 86: 394-399.

Zamponi, R. 2023 ‘Pour une nouvelle image du dictionnaire portugais-chinois attribué à Michele Ruggieri et Matteo Ricci’. Interculturalités Chine-France 9: 18-48.

Zamponi, R. 2023 ‘罗明坚与利玛窦的《葡汉辞典》新探’. 国际汉学译丛 2: 3-41.

Comrie, B. & R. Zamponi 2023 ‘Arguments and adjuncts in Akabea: Full noun phrases and personal pronouns’. In La praxis de la documentación del legado lingüístico y cultural, ed. by Z. Estrada Fernández et al., Hermosillo, Universidad de Sonora, pp. 48-69.

by Raoul Zamponi and Bernard Comrie

Zamponi, R. 2023 ‘Unclassified languages’. In The languages and linguistics of indigenous North America: A comprehensive guide. Vol. 2, ed. by C. Dagostino, M. Mithun & K. Rice, Berlin and Boston, de Gruyter Mouton, pp. 1627-1647.

Mosonyi, E. E. & R. Zamponi 2023 ‘Yaruro (Pumé)’. In Amazonian languages: An international handbook. Vol. 2 Language isolates II: Kanoé to Yurakaré, ed. by P. Epps & L. Michael, Berlin and Boston, de Gruyter Mouton, pp. 1283-1322.

Zamponi, R. & C. Rogers 2023 ‘Máku’. In Amazonian languages: An international handbook. Vol. 2 Language isolates II: Kanoé to Yurakaré, ed. by P. Epps & L. Michael, Berlin and Boston, de Gruyter Mouton, pp. 767-806.

Zamponi, R. 2023 ‘Betoi-Jirara’. In Amazonian languages: An international handbook. Vol. 1 Language isolates I: Aikanã to Kandozi-Shapra, ed. by P. Epps & L. Michael, Berlin and Boston, de Gruyter Mouton, pp. 223-261.

Zamponi R. 2022 ‘L’espressione del genere grammaticale per mezzo di vocali in (proto)lingue del Sudamerica’. In Tra Po e Tevere, e altre terre e altri mari: Studi di lingua e di culture, ed. by L. Giannelli, Bologna, Pendragon, pp. 407-441.

Zamponi, R. & B. Comrie 2021 A grammar of Akajeru: Fragments of a traditional North Andamanese dialect. London, UCL Press.

Comrie, B. & R. Zamponi 2021 ‘Expanding the boundaries of Asian linguistics: Great Andamanese languages’. Asian Languages and Linguistics 2(1): 1-23.

Zamponi, R. 2021 South Picene. Routledge, London and New York.

Comrie, B. & R. Zamponi 2021 ‘Resurrecting the linguistic past: What we can learn from Akabea (Andaman Islands)’. Cadernos de Linguística 2(1): 1-20.

Zamponi, R. 2020 ‘Some precontact widespread lexical forms in the languages of Greater Amazonia’. International Journal of American Linguistics 84: 527-573.

Zamponi, R. & B. Comrie 2020 A grammar of Akabea. Oxford University Press, Oxford.

Zamponi, R. 2019 ‘An outline of the South Picene language II: Morphology and syntax’. Italian Journal of Linguistics 31(2): 201-239.

Zamponi, R. 2025 Gule. Routledge, London and New York.

Gule is a missing piece of the vast mosaic of African linguistics. Undescribed and poorly documen... more Gule is a missing piece of the vast mosaic of African linguistics. Undescribed and poorly documented, this extinct language of the southeastern corner of present-day Sudan is mentioned in very few studies and handbooks dedicated to the languages of Africa, and when it is cited, it is generally done to remind us how little is known about it. The available material of the Gule language is objectively scarce and mainly includes more or less long (or short) word lists. In addition to this lexical material, however, there is an old article of a dozen pages by Brenda Z. Seligman, appeared in 1912 in the second volume of the Zeitschrift für Kolonialsprachen, containing a significant number of (elicited) noun phrases and simple sentences in Gule, which allow us to grasp some of the main aspects of the structure of this language. The present monograph will be the first study of the available documentation of Gule. It will offer a tentative grammatical sketch of this language based primarily on the material collected by Seligman (inevitably incomplete due to the limited nature of the corpus; Chapters 2-5), areal-typological notes (Chapter 6), and a word list that gathers all the approximately 410 items occurring in the sources examined (Chapter 7). The image of Gule that will emerge from this book is that of a language that participates in some areal phenomena spread over a wide area of East Africa immediately south of the Sahel (e.g., contrastive tones, a decimal numeral system, and head-initial noun phrases) but with its own peculiar structure and a vocabulary that, apart from clear borrowings, appears totally dissimilar to that of any other known language and allows Gule to be assigned, without any hesitation, the status of a language isolate.

Zamponi, R. 2025 ‘Extinct lineages and unclassified languages of Greater Amazonia’. In Amazonian languages: An international handbook. Vol. 3: Smaller language families, ed. by P. Epps & L. Michael, Berlin and Boston, de Gruyter Mouton.

Comrie, B. & R. Zamponi 2024 ‘Akabea (Great Andamanese) as an anumeric language, and the problem of Akabea ordinals’. Italian Journal of Linguistics 36: 3-28.

by Raoul Zamponi and Bernard Comrie

Under embargo until June 2025

Zamponi, R. 2024 ‘Extinct lineages and unclassified languages of Mexico’. In Languages and linguistics of Mexico and Northern Central America: A comprehensive guide, ed. by S. Wichmann, Berlin and Boston, de Gruyter Mouton, pp. 99-157.

Zamponi, R. & N. Zair 2023 ‘L’iscrizione (sud)picena della stele di Mondolfo: Proposta di una nuova lettura’. Studi Etruschi 86: 394-399.

Zamponi, R. 2023 ‘Pour une nouvelle image du dictionnaire portugais-chinois attribué à Michele Ruggieri et Matteo Ricci’. Interculturalités Chine-France 9: 18-48.

Zamponi, R. 2023 ‘罗明坚与利玛窦的《葡汉辞典》新探’. 国际汉学译丛 2: 3-41.

Comrie, B. & R. Zamponi 2023 ‘Arguments and adjuncts in Akabea: Full noun phrases and personal pronouns’. In La praxis de la documentación del legado lingüístico y cultural, ed. by Z. Estrada Fernández et al., Hermosillo, Universidad de Sonora, pp. 48-69.

by Raoul Zamponi and Bernard Comrie

Zamponi, R. 2023 ‘Unclassified languages’. In The languages and linguistics of indigenous North America: A comprehensive guide. Vol. 2, ed. by C. Dagostino, M. Mithun & K. Rice, Berlin and Boston, de Gruyter Mouton, pp. 1627-1647.

Mosonyi, E. E. & R. Zamponi 2023 ‘Yaruro (Pumé)’. In Amazonian languages: An international handbook. Vol. 2 Language isolates II: Kanoé to Yurakaré, ed. by P. Epps & L. Michael, Berlin and Boston, de Gruyter Mouton, pp. 1283-1322.

Zamponi, R. & C. Rogers 2023 ‘Máku’. In Amazonian languages: An international handbook. Vol. 2 Language isolates II: Kanoé to Yurakaré, ed. by P. Epps & L. Michael, Berlin and Boston, de Gruyter Mouton, pp. 767-806.

Zamponi, R. 2023 ‘Betoi-Jirara’. In Amazonian languages: An international handbook. Vol. 1 Language isolates I: Aikanã to Kandozi-Shapra, ed. by P. Epps & L. Michael, Berlin and Boston, de Gruyter Mouton, pp. 223-261.

Zamponi R. 2022 ‘L’espressione del genere grammaticale per mezzo di vocali in (proto)lingue del Sudamerica’. In Tra Po e Tevere, e altre terre e altri mari: Studi di lingua e di culture, ed. by L. Giannelli, Bologna, Pendragon, pp. 407-441.

Zamponi, R. & B. Comrie 2021 A grammar of Akajeru: Fragments of a traditional North Andamanese dialect. London, UCL Press.

Comrie, B. & R. Zamponi 2021 ‘Expanding the boundaries of Asian linguistics: Great Andamanese languages’. Asian Languages and Linguistics 2(1): 1-23.

Zamponi, R. 2021 South Picene. Routledge, London and New York.

Comrie, B. & R. Zamponi 2021 ‘Resurrecting the linguistic past: What we can learn from Akabea (Andaman Islands)’. Cadernos de Linguística 2(1): 1-20.

Zamponi, R. 2020 ‘Some precontact widespread lexical forms in the languages of Greater Amazonia’. International Journal of American Linguistics 84: 527-573.

Zamponi, R. & B. Comrie 2020 A grammar of Akabea. Oxford University Press, Oxford.

Zamponi, R. 2019 ‘An outline of the South Picene language II: Morphology and syntax’. Italian Journal of Linguistics 31(2): 201-239.

Zamponi, R. 2019 ‘An outline of the South Picene language I: Introduction and phonology’. Italian Journal of Linguistics 31(1): 193-222.

Comrie, B. & R. Zamponi 2019 ‘Verb root ellipsis’. In Morphological perspectives: Papers in honour of Greville G. Corbett, ed. by M. Baerman, O. Bond & A. Hippisley, Edinburgh, Edinburgh University Press, pp. 233-280.