Hounkpati B Christophe Capo
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Hounkpati B Christophe Capo (born January 1, 1953Capo, Hounkpati B. C. (Hounkpati Bamikpo Christophe)
at ''lccn.loc.gov'') is a Beninese
linguist Linguistics is the scientific study of language. The areas of linguistic analysis are syntax (rules governing the structure of sentences), semantics (meaning), Morphology (linguistics), morphology (structure of words), phonetics (speech sounds ...
, and professor of
linguistics Linguistics is the scientific study of language. The areas of linguistic analysis are syntax (rules governing the structure of sentences), semantics (meaning), Morphology (linguistics), morphology (structure of words), phonetics (speech sounds ...
at the University of Abomey-Calavi in the
Republic of Benin Benin, officially the Republic of Benin, is a country in West Africa. It was formerly known as Dahomey. It is bordered by Togo to the west, Nigeria to the east, Burkina Faso to the north-west, and Niger to the north-east. The majority of its po ...
.


Biography

Hounkpati B Christophe Capo has a humanities degree (1974) and a master's degree in linguistics (1977) from the
National University of Benin The University of Abomey-Calavi ''()'' is the principal public university in the west African West Africa, also known as Western Africa, is the westernmost region of Africa. The United Nations defines Western Africa as the 16 countries of ...
(UNB), a
Master of Arts A Master of Arts ( or ''Artium Magister''; abbreviated MA or AM) is the holder of a master's degree awarded by universities in many countries. The degree is usually contrasted with that of Master of Science. Those admitted to the degree have ...
(1977) and a Ph.D. in linguistics from the
University of Ghana The University of Ghana is a public university located in Accra, Ghana. It is the oldest public university in the country. The university was founded in 1948 as the University College of the Gold Coast in the British colony of the Gold Coast ...
(1981). He taught and collaborated at several universities in West Africa, notably the universities of
Benin City Benin City serves as the Capital city, capital and largest Metropolitan area, metropolitan centre of Edo State, situated in Nigeria, southern Nigeria. It ranks as the List of Nigerian cities by population, fourth-most populous city in Niger ...
and
Ilorin Ilorin is the capital city of Kwara State located in the Western region of Nigeria. The city is a major hub for transportation and commerce in the region. . Retrieved 18 February 2007 Although Ilorin is classified under the North-Central g ...
in Nigeria in 1978. Hired as an assistant professor in 1986 at the National University of Benin, he was then promoted several times within the Conseil africain et malgache de l'enseignement supérieur (CAMES). Permanent interim secretary of the scientific council of the National University of Benin from 1994 to 1999, he was decorated as a knight of the national order of Benin in 1995 and became an officer of national order of Benin in 2008. Married with five children, reputed research professor, scientific director of Labo-Gbe, international laboratory of Gbe languages (Gadomè, Bénin), he has written seven books, thirteen book chapters and more than fifty articles in scientific reviews. He is a member of several learned societies including the Société Linguistique de l'Afrique de l'Ouest (SLAO) (Linguistic Society of West Africa) and the Institut International de Recherche et de Formation (INIREF) (International Institute of Research and Training) in
Cotonou Cotonou (; ) is the largest city in Benin. Its official population count was 679,012 inhabitants in 2012; however, over two million people live in the larger urban area. The urban area continues to expand, notably toward the west. The city lies ...
, Benin and an editor or assistant editor of several international scientific journals. He has guided several doctoral theses in Benin and elsewhere and contributed to the promotions of several colleagues in his department. Capo is the assistant director of the doctoral multidisciplinary school of the Faculty of Letters, Arts and Social Sciences of
Aplahoué Aplahoué is a town and arrondissement in Benin Benin, officially the Republic of Benin, is a country in West Africa. It was formerly known as Dahomey. It is bordered by Togo to the west, Nigeria to the east, Burkina Faso to the north-west, ...
in
Kouffo Department Kouffo or Couffo is one of the twelve departments of Benin. Kouffo borders the country of Togo and the departments of Mono, Zou and Atlantique. Since 2008, the department's capital has been Aplahoué. The department of Kouffo was created i ...
in southwest Benin, an entity of the university of
Abomey-Calavi Abomey-Calavi is a city, Arrondissements of Benin, arrondissement, and Communes of Benin, commune located in the Atlantique Department of Benin. It is now essentially a suburb of Cotonou and at its closest it begins approximately 18 km from ...
. Hounkpati B Christophe Capo conducted research and taught in the linguistics departments and centers for
african studies African studies is the study of Africa, especially the continent's cultures and societies (as opposed to its geology, geography, zoology, etc.). The field includes the study of Africa's History of Africa, history (pre-colonial, Colonisation of Af ...
at several universities :
University of Cologne The University of Cologne () is a university in Cologne, Germany. It was established in 1388. It closed in 1798 before being re-established in 1919. It is now one of the largest universities in Germany with around 45,187 students. The Universit ...
(Germany),
Cornell University Cornell University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university based in Ithaca, New York, United States. The university was co-founded by American philanthropist Ezra Cornell and historian and educator Andrew Dickson W ...
(US), University of Gainesville (US),
Ohio State University The Ohio State University (Ohio State or OSU) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Columbus, Ohio, United States. A member of the University System of Ohio, it was founded in 1870. It is one ...
(US),
Massachusetts Institute of Technology The Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) is a Private university, private research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. Established in 1861, MIT has played a significant role in the development of many areas of moder ...
(US),
Université du Québec à Montréal The (UQAM; ), is a French language, French-language public university, public research university based in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. It is the largest constituent element of the system. UQAM was founded on April 9, 1969, by the government o ...
(Canada), CASAS South Africa, University of Ghana (Lagon),
University of Hamburg The University of Hamburg (, also referred to as UHH) is a public university, public research university in Hamburg, Germany. It was founded on 28 March 1919 by combining the previous General Lecture System ('':de:Allgemeines Vorlesungswesen, ...
(Germany), University of Frankfurt (Germany),
University of Bayreuth The University of Bayreuth (German: Universität Bayreuth) is a public research university located in Bayreuth, Germany. It is one of the youngest German universities. It is broadly organized into seven undergraduate and graduate faculties, with ...
(Germany), University of Bremen (Germany). He has been associated with the development association of Comé since 2002 and is a sitting councillor there as well.


Works

Hounkpati B Christophe Capo has worked on the rehabilitation of the languages of the Gbe dialectal continuum, previously known as the Aja-Eve languages of the Gulf of Benin in West Africa. Beginning in 1930, publications on the
Gbe language The Gbe languages (pronounced ) form a cluster of about twenty related languages stretching across the area between eastern Ghana and western Nigeria. The total number of speakers of Gbe languages is between four and eight million. The most widel ...
s rapidly appeared, the vast majority on individual Gbe languages. Capo set out a classification of the Gbe languages and a reconstruction of the
phonology Phonology (formerly also phonemics or phonematics: "phonemics ''n.'' 'obsolescent''1. Any procedure for identifying the phonemes of a language from a corpus of data. 2. (formerly also phonematics) A former synonym for phonology, often pre ...
of proto-Gbe. Much of the comparative research for this classification was carried out by Capo in the 1970s, and partial results were published in the 1970s and early 1980s as articles on specific
phonological Phonology (formerly also phonemics or phonematics: "phonemics ''n.'' 'obsolescent''1. Any procedure for identifying the phonemes of a language from a corpus of data. 2. (formerly also phonematics) A former synonym for phonology, often prefer ...
developments in various branches of the Gbe
dialectal A dialect is a variety of language spoken by a particular group of people. This may include dominant and standardized varieties as well as vernacular, unwritten, or non-standardized varieties, such as those used in developing countries or iso ...
continuum, and notably as a standard spelling for Gbe languages. His first major work, ''Renaissance du Gbe'' (1988), published a classification of the Gbe languages for the first time. In 1991, he published ''Comparative phonology of Gbe''. In this period, he also founded the Labo Gbe (Int.), the ''Laboratoire de recherche sur les langues Gbe'' (Research Laboratory on Gbe Languages) based in Benin, which promotes research and has published several articles and documents on Gbe languages. The Labo Gbe, in Gadomè on the
Cotonou Cotonou (; ) is the largest city in Benin. Its official population count was 679,012 inhabitants in 2012; however, over two million people live in the larger urban area. The urban area continues to expand, notably toward the west. The city lies ...
-
Lomé Lomé ( , ) is the Capital (political), capital and List of cities in Togo, largest city of Togo. It has an urban population of 837,437
road 40 km from Cotonou, has an impressive collection of documentation and a scientific journal titled Etudes Gbe – Gbe Studies.


Publications

* 1982: Hounkpati B.C. Capo : « Le Gbe est une langue unique » (Gbe Is A Unique Language), Africa, Journal of the International African Institute ; London. * 1988: Hounkpati B.C. Capo : ''Dix ans de publications en linguistique (1977-1987) (Ten Years of Publications in Linguistics (1977-1987))'', Garome, Laboratoire international des parlers Gbe (International Laboratory of Gbe Speakers), * 1988: Hounkpati B.C. Capo : ''Renaissance du Gbe (réflexions critiques et constructives sur L'Eve, le Fon, le Gen, l'Aja, le Gun, etc.)'', Hamburg: Helmut Buske Verlag . * 1989: Hounkpati B.C. Capo : ''Linguistique Constructive en Afrique Noire'', Hamburg, Helmut Buske Verlag . * 1989: Hounkpati B.C. Capo : ''Précis phonologique du gbe: une perspective comparative''. AAP- Afrikanistische Arbeitspapiere, No 19 (Cologne.) * 1991: Hounkpati B.C. Capo : ''A Comparative Phonology of Gbe'', Publications in African Languages and Linguistics, 14. Berlin/New York: Foris Publications and Garome, Bénin: Labo Gbe (Int.) * 1998: Hounkpati B.C. Capo : ''A classification of the languages of Benin'', Florida Hills, Vivlia * 2000: Hounkpati B.C. Capo : ''The New Ewe Orthography: Based on the Gbe Uniform Standard Orthography (GUSO),'' The Centre for Advanced Studies of African Society (CASAS), South Africa . * 2002: Hounkpati B.C. Capo : The pan-dialectal approach to orthographic conventions: the case of the Gbe languages of West Africa, in PRAH, Kwesi Kwaa. 2002. Writing African : the harmonisation of orthographic conventions in African languages. Cape Town : Centre for Advanced Studies of African Society (CASAS). * 2005: Hounkpati B.C. Capo, Bedou-Jondoh Edith, Bolouvi Lebene-Philippe, Gagnon Daniel, Gbeto Flavien, Gnamiato Victorie, Kinhou Severin-Marie, Semadegbe Jules, Tohoun Benjamin. L'orthographe harmonisée des langues Gbe du Ghana, du Togo, du Benin et du Nigeria. Cape Town : Centre for Advanced Studies of African Society (CASAS), 31 p. . * 2009: Hounkpati B.C. Capo, Flavien Gbéto et Adrien Huannou : ''Langues africaines dans l'enseignement au Bénin : problèmes et perspectives'', Cape Town, Centre for Advanced Studies of African Society (CASAS) - Garome, Laboratoire international gbe (LABO GBE) .


Publications

Capo has published articles in the following journals : *Language et Devenir (Benin) *Cahiers d'Études Linguistiques (Benin) * Journal of West African Languages (USA) *Journal of African Languages and Linguistics *Linguistique Africaine (Paris) *Études Gbe – Gbe Studies (Benin) *Annales de l'Université d'Abidjan (Ivory Coast) *Revue québécoise de linguistique (Canada) *Studies in African Linguistics *Afrika und Übersee (Germany) *AAP: Afrikanistische Arbeitspapiere (Cologne) *SUGIA Sprache un Geschichte in Afrika (Cologne) *Africa, Journal of the International African Institute. (London).


See also

* Ayizo language *
Gbe languages The Gbe languages (pronounced ) form a cluster of about twenty related languages stretching across the area between eastern Ghana and western Nigeria. The total number of speakers of Gbe languages is between four and eight million. The most widel ...
*
Phla–Pherá languages The Phla–Pherá (''Xwla–Xwela'') languages form a possible group of Gbe languages spoken mainly in southeastern and southwestern Benin; some communities are found in southeastern Togo and southwestern Nigeria. The group, comprising about ten ...
*


Notes and references

{{DEFAULTSORT:Capo, Hounkpati B Christophe 1953 births Living people Academic staff of the University of Abomey-Calavi 21st-century linguists Linguists from Benin