Tucker Archibald Norman. The non-Bantu languages of north-eastern Africa

Oxford University Press, 1956. — 213 p.This volume presents a survey of the non-Bantu languages in north-eastern Africa i e. the area extending south of the Sahara, from Lake Chad (approx.) to the Indian Qcean together with those of South Africa. It thus completes the study of the non-BANTU languages of Africa begun in Volumes I and II of the Handbook of African Languages.
In such a study the arrangement of the various sections is bound to be somewhat arbitrary. A purely geographical arrangement would not only be impossible, owing to the overlapping of some of the language areas, but if attempted would cut across important linguistic groupings. A purely linguistic arrangement is likewise impossible, owing to the very varied nature of the connexions between the different linguistic units; and the grouping together of linguistic units on the strength of a slight conjectural affinity would imply a degree of confidence in classification which the authors are far from feeling.
The arrangement adopted here is therefore primarily linguistic, inasmuch as larger units which show some indisputable affinities are where possible treated contiguously. Roughly speaking, languages in the centre of the total area are treated first, followed by those in the west, north, east, and finally south.
The method of classification used in the Handbook of African Languages is based on a technique devised for the purpose by the Linguistic Advisory Committee of the International African Institute.