Micro-variation approaches to Bantu language varieties

Abstract Originating in historical-comparative studies with the aim of classifying Bantu languages and reconstructing African history, comparative work expanded to include studies of different morphosyntactic constructions across the language family. As the scope of this work narrowed to focus on minute differences between often closely related varieties, a micro-variation approach to comparative studies developed. This chapter outlines this development and gives an overview of past and current initiatives in Bantu linguistic research that adopt a micro-variation approach. The methods used in two such recent studies are discussed as an illustration: firstly, the languages of the Greater Ruvu group in Tanzania, and secondly, the varieties within the Xhosa dialect cluster. These case studies exemplify different approaches to micro-variation, since there are varying levels of previous description as well as differing sociolinguistic situations, while both studies stress that it is necessary to adjust the methods used to each particular situation.