Lee Pratchett

• PhD
• Wissenschaftlicher Mitarbeiter at Kiel University

This paper provides an exhaustive description of the gender system in the Tsumkwe Juǀ’hoan variety of Ju (Kx’a), a gender system that is largely insensitive to number and natural sex distinctions. The paper also highlights some important points of divergence in a closely related variety due to contact interference while nevertheless maintaining cul...

This article reports some results of the first large-scale, comprehensive survey of the phonological systems of the Khoisan languages of the Kalahari Basin Area. These languages are famous for their large sets of click phonemes, a typologically rare characteristic otherwise found only in a limited number of languages worldwide. They are also unique...

This study contributes to the documentation and description of the diversity of Kalahari Khoe languages in eastern Botswana. Kalahari Khoe languages have highly complex pronominal systems with extensive paradigms of portmanteau morphemes encoding person, gender, and number categories. This study focuses on Thabala Tchoe, an entirely undocumented Ka...

Multi-verb constructions are an areal feature of Kalahari Basin Area languages ("Khoisan"), a Sprachbund comprising the Kx'a, Tuu, and Khoe-Kwadi families. Presently, these languages are characterised by two distinct multi-verb constructions with specific distributions: strictly contiguous serial verb constructions in Kx'a and Tuu correspond to mul...

Languages of the Kalahari Basin contact area share a feature whereby a special type of particle occurs in clause-second position, often after the S/A constituent. Previous accounts have used a wide range of labels such as declarative , indicative, emphatic nominative, or topic, which point to a diverse but insufficiently understood functional array...

This article concludes the special issue of Stellenbosch Papers in Linguistics Plus dedicated to the diachrony of Serial Verb Constructions. The authors of the ten contributions included in the volume discuss the most important results of their studies and suggest the possible lines for future research.

In linguistics as in popular culture, “the periphery” is making its way to the centre stage. The internationally acclaimed RuPaul’s Drag Race (RPDR) has been widely applauded for its contribution to the mainstream visibility of Drag (and LGBT+) subculture over the last decade. In linguistics, certain sounds and words that were long considered margi...

This paper describes the past, present, and future of a remotely-sited, community-based language documentation project near the border between Namibia and Botswana, where the Ju|’hoan (ktz) and ǂX’ao-||’aen (aue) languages are spoken. The paper presents an example of reignited linguistic pride within a community which speaks an indigenous language...