Missions

Postdoctoral contract in an ANR-funded research project AFROBEE - The language of beekeeping and honey hunting in Africa (Generic call for proposals 2025 CE01) : The position is attributed to a researcher specialized in the domain and aims at documenting the apicultural lexicon of an African language in its cultural and ecological context and at comparing its lexicon with that of related languages and/or contact languages in order to study the diachrony of apicultural terms.

Activités

The research activity concentrates on the documentation of the lexicon, of discursive practices and ethnographic aspects of traditional beekeeping in a genetic branch of languages or in a linguistic area in northern Africa or elsewhere in Africa. The employed researcher first produces a detailed description of the lexicon of beekeeping in an individual language of the selected branch/selected linguistic area, based on a corpus of recordings with traditional beekeepers and based on data collected with the help of questionnaires developed by the research project. The researcher then carries out a broader areal or comparative historical study of apicultural terms to determine which terms are cognates and which are borrowings, and develops hypotheses on the regional history of apicultural techniques. Furthermore, the researcher contributes (in close collaboration with other project members) to the cross-African study of colexifications of apicultural terms.

Compétences

- Doctorate in African Linguistics, Documentary Linguistics, Ethnolinguistics and/or Ecolinguistics ;
- Substantial research experience with in-depth knowledge in the domains of ethnolinguistics and historical linguistics ;
- Interest in traditional apiculture in Africa ;
- Broad fieldwork experience, knowledge of local plant world is desirable ;
- Good knowledge of methods, tools and ethical aspects of documentary linguistics ;
- Specialization on the languages of northern Africa (local varieties of Berber and Arabic) or, alternatively, on other African languages whose speakers have a rich apicultural tradition ;
- Ability to publish in international peer-reviewed journals ;
- Ability to present research findings at international conferences ;
- Communicative, coordinative, proactive work approach

Contexte de travail

The postdoctoral researcher has to take residence in France, in the Parisian area. S/he will be affiliated to the CNRS, the principal public research institution in France. S/he will become a member of the laboratory LLACAN, a dynamic group of researchers who are engaged in research on African languages at an international level. The LLACAN is located in the suburbs of Paris (accessible by metro or other means of public transport). More information on LLACAN – Langage, langues et cultures d'Afrique – is found on its website.

Contraintes et risques

Fieldtrips to Africa to be envisaged