Friederike Lüpke
Friederike Lüpke took up the position of Professor of African Studies at the University of Helsinki in 2019. She is also a research associate at SOAS, University of London, where she held the position of Professor of Language Description and Documentation.
Her research and teaching focus on the description and documentation of West African languages in their cultural contexts. She is a member of AfriStadi, the network for Africanist linguists at the University of Helsinki. She specialises in the study of Mande and Atlantic languages, particularly in verbal argument structure and nominal classification, and has written a grammar of argument structure of the Mande language Jalonke spoken in Guinea, which also contains its first sketch grammar.
Currently, she is conducting research on the Atlantic language Baïnounk Gujaher, a language of the Nyun cluster spoken in Senegal and Guinea Bissau. She is one of the pioneers of the emerging inter- and multidisciplinary field of small-scale multilingualism studies.
Since becoming aware of the exographic writing practice of Jalonke speakers in the Futa Jalon, many of whom write “Fula Ajami”, she has developed an interest in writing from a social perspective, especially regarding grassroots practices and writing choices in multilingual settings. This focus continues to inform action research related to her current research on the sociohistorical and linguistic aspects of small-scale multilingualism in village – and polity-based settings in Southern Senegal and West Africa.
Together with a local team of transcribers, researchers and members of the association LILIEMA (“Language-independent literacies for inclusive education in multilingual areas”), she has developed a repertoire-based literacy programme for highly multilingual situations that is currently expanding on the request of several local communities and community associations. LILIEMA is providing COVID-19 health information in the area of Senegal where LILIEMA classes are run.
