Nancy C. Kula is Professor and Chair of African Linguistics. Her research interests focus on a range of topics in African and General Linguistics with a focus on Bantu Languages investigating phonology, morphology, tone and their interfaces. She also works on Language Policy in Africa, specifically on the ways in which multilingualism can be harnessed in classroom instruction.

More information about Nancy Kula

Fields of interest

African Languages
Bantu Langauges
Phonology
Tone
Morphology
Languauge Policy
Multilingualism
Phonology-synatx interface

Research

I am interested in the way that African Languages and in particular Bantu languages help us understand the diversity and variation in language at a broader level but also at a macro level. I am interested in tonal systems and how they vary and how this prosody interacts with morphology and morphosyntax. Multilingualism in Africa is another area I find intriguing in how it helps us better understand how the linguistic repertoires of multilingual speakers are manipulated for daily communication and how these practices can be drawn on as a resource to navigate global issues such as equitable education and conflict resolution.    

Grants and awards

2023 - 2028: Multilingualism, Conflict and Conflict Resolution in Africa: Challenges and Opportunities of
Practiced Linguistic Diversity (Co-I). Funder: ESRC (Economic and Social Research Council)

2023 - 2024: Supporting Multilingualism in Practice: Resource co-creation in primary classrooms in
Tanzania (PI). Funder: British Academy

2021 - 2023: Dialectology in Bantu Languages: Variation in Bemba across phonology and morphosyntax (PI). Funder: British Academy

2019 - 2022: Bringing the outside in: Merging local language and literacy practices to enhance classroom learning and achievement (PI). Funder: British Academy

2012- 2013: A preliminary documentation of Siluyana: Comparing Mbowe and Mwenyi (PI). Funder: Hans Rausing   Endangered Language Documentation Programme.

2011- 2012: Tonal change in the evolution of a tense system. Funder: British Academy

2004 -2006 The Phonology-syntax interface in Bantu languages. Funder: VENI project, NWO

Curriculum Vitae

I did my PhD in Leiden in 2002 on the phonology of verbal derivation of a bantu language (Bemba) spoken in Zambia. I held a Veni post-doctoral position at LUCL and SOAS from 2004 to 2006. I joined the University of Essex on a permanent position in 2007 and became Professor in 2016. I rejoined Leiden in February 2024 as Professor and Chair of African Linguistics. You can see more information in my CV.

Activities