Norbert Cyffer (16 May 1943 – 12 March 2025) was a German-Austrian linguist and Professor Emeritus of African Studies at the

University of Vienna The University of Vienna (, ) is a public university, public research university in Vienna, Austria. Founded by Rudolf IV, Duke of Austria, Duke Rudolph IV in 1365, it is the oldest university in the German-speaking world and among the largest ...

. Cyffer was primarily interested in African languages and linguistics, particularly the

Saharan languages The Saharan languages are a small family of languages across parts of the eastern Sahara, extending from northwestern Sudan to southern Libya, north and central Chad, eastern Niger and northeastern Nigeria. Noted Saharan languages include Kanuri ...

of the

Sahel The Sahel region (; ), or Sahelian acacia savanna, is a Biogeography, biogeographical region in Africa. It is the Ecotone, transition zone between the more humid Sudanian savannas to its south and the drier Sahara to the north. The Sahel has a ...

ian region. His research areas include morphology, syntax, language contact, sociolinguistics, typology, and applied linguistics.

Background

Cyffer studied from 1965 to 1973 at the

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, ...

, where he focused on African studies, general linguistics, and ethnology. Over the course of two years, he performed two field trips in northeastern Nigeria to collect data for his dissertation. In 1974, he obtained his doctorate upon completing his dissertation on Kanuri syntax. Cyffer died on 12 March 2025, at the age of 81.

Career

From 1974 to 1981, Cyffer taught and performed research at

Ahmadu Bello University The Ahmadu Bello University (ABU) is a public research university located in Zaria, Nigeria, Zaria, Kaduna State, Nigeria. It was opened in 1962 as the University of Northern Nigeria. The university has four colleges, three schools, 18 faculties, ...

(

Zaria Zaria is a List of Nigerian cities by population, metropolitan city in Nigeria, located at present time within four local government areas in Kaduna State. It serves as the capital of the Zazzau Emirate Council and is one of the original sev ...

and

Kano Kano may refer to: Places *Kano State, a state in Northern Nigeria *Kano (city), a city in Nigeria, and the capital of Kano State ** Kingdom of Kano, a Hausa kingdom between the 10th and 14th centuries ** Sultanate of Kano, a Hausa kingdom betwee ...

) and the

University of Maiduguri The University of Maiduguri (UNIMAID) is a Federal higher institution located in Maiduguri, the capital city of Borno State in Northeast Nigeria. The university was created by the federal government of Nigeria in 1975, with the intention of its ...

Nigeria Nigeria, officially the Federal Republic of Nigeria, is a country in West Africa. It is situated between the Sahel to the north and the Gulf of Guinea in the Atlantic Ocean to the south. It covers an area of . With Demographics of Nigeria, ...

. After teaching and research in Nigeria, he worked as a professor at the

University of Mainz The Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz () is a public research university in Mainz, Rhineland Palatinate, Germany. It has been named after the printer Johannes Gutenberg since 1946. it had approximately 32,000 students enrolled in around 100 a ...

in 1982. In 1994, he was appointed full professor at the

, where he worked until retiring in 2011. Cyffer has been President of the Austrian-Nigerian Friendship Society since 2012. Cyffer was a visiting professor at the

University of Nice A university () is an institution of tertiary education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. ''University'' is derived from the Latin phrase , which roughly means "community of teachers and scholars". Univ ...

, University of Prague, and

over several decades.

Honours and awards

Norbert Cyffer was given the traditional title of Shettima in 2004 by the Shehu of Borno (the traditional leader of the Emirate of Borno). In 2013, he received the Educational Cooperation Award from the government of Nigeria.

Publications

* Cyffer, Norbert & John P. Hutchison. 1979. ''The Standard Kanuri Orthography''. Lagos: Thomas Nelson. * Cyffer, Norbert. 1989. Sprachwandel und idiolektale Variation im Kanuri. Günter Holtus and Edgar Radtke (eds.), ''Sprachlicher Substandard II''. Tübingen: Max Niemeyer. 114–130. * Cyffer, Norbert & John P. Hutchison. 1990. ''Dictionary of the Kanuri Language''. dorDrecht: Foris Publications. * Cyffer, Norbert. 1991. From basic linguistic research to the implementation of a mother-tongue in the Nigerian educational system: The Kanuri example. Norbert Cyffer et al., ''Language Standardization in Africa''. Hamurg: Helmut Buske. 135–144. * Cyffer, Norbert. 1991. ''We learn Kanuri''. Köln: Rüdiger Köppe. * Cyffer, Norbert. 1994. ''English–Kanuri Dictionary.'' Köln: Rüdiger Köppe. * Cyffer, Norbert. 1996. Die saharanischen Sprachen: Innere und äußere Beziehungen. Axel Fleisch and Dirk Otten (eds.), ''Sprachkulturelle und historische Forschungen in Afrika.'' Köln: Rüdiger Köppe. 103 – 118. * Cyffer, Norbert & Thomas Geider (eds.). 1997. ''Advances in Kanuri Scholarship''. Köln: Rüdiger Köppe. * Cyffer, Norbert. 1998. ''A Sketch of Kanuri''. Köln: Rüdiger Köppe. * Cyffer, Norbert. 2009. Negation patterns in Kanuri. Norbert Cyffer, Erwin Ebermann and Georg Ziegelmeyer (eds.), ''Negation Patterns in West African Languages and Beyond.'' Amsterdam: John Benjamins. 71–92. * Cyffer, Norbert. 2010. GA, RO and CO. Strategies of complementation and subordination in Kanuri. Georg Ziegelmeyer and Norbert Cyffer (eds.), ''Aspects of Co- and Subordination. Case Studies from African, Slavonic and Turkic Languages.'' Köln: Rüdiger Köppe. 189–211. * Cyffer, Norbert. 2011. Gibt es primitive Sprachen – oder ist Deutsch auch primitiv? Thomas Stolz et al. (eds.), Kolonialzeitliche Sprachforschung. ''Die Beschreibung afrikanischer und ozeanischer Sprachen zur Zeit deutscher Kolonialherrschaft.'' Berlin: Akademie Verlag. 55–74. * Cyffer, Norbert. 2017. Plurality and pluractionality in Kanuri. ''STUF – Sprachtypologie und Universalienforschung.'' 70.1: 93–116. * Cyffer, Norbert. 2020. Saharan. Rainer Vossen & Gerrit J. Dimmendaal (eds.), ''The Oxford Handbook of African Languages.'' Oxford: Oxford University Press. 383–391.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Cyffer, Norbert 1943 births 2025 deaths 20th-century German linguists Academic staff of the University of Vienna University of Hamburg alumni Linguists of Saharan languages People from Dortmund Academic staff of Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz 21st-century German linguists