Abstract
In the present chapter a bird’s-eye view of some problems associated with contri butions to the linguistic history (or prehistory, as some would say) of Africa is offered. It has been stimulated by recent contributions on linguistic methodology, especially by attempts to relate linguistic findings to more general observations on the evolution of the human species. The conclusion reached is that contact induced language change and the implications it has for language classification in Africa are still largely a terra incognita.