Hounkpati B Christophe Capo (born January 1, 1953Capo, Hounkpati B. C. (Hounkpati Bamikpo Christophe)
at ''lccn.loc.gov'') is a Beninese

linguist Linguistics is the scientific study of human language. It is called a scientific study because it entails a comprehensive, systematic, objective, and precise analysis of all aspects of language, particularly its nature and structure. Linguis ...

, and professor of

linguistics Linguistics is the scientific study of human language. It is called a scientific study because it entails a comprehensive, systematic, objective, and precise analysis of all aspects of language, particularly its nature and structure. Linguis ...

at the

Université d'Abomey-Calavi The University of Abomey-Calavi ''(french: Université d'Abomey-Calavi)'' is the principal public university in the west African country of Benin. The university is located in the city of Abomey-Calavi in the south of the country. The school i ...

in the

Republic of Benin Benin ( , ; french: Bénin , ff, Benen), officially the Republic of Benin (french: République du Bénin), and formerly Republic of Dahomey, Dahomey, is a country in West Africa. It is bordered by Togo to the west, Nigeria to the east, Burki ...

Biography

Hounkpati B Christophe Capo has a humanities degree (1974) and a master's degree in linguistics (1977) from the

National University of Benin The University of Abomey-Calavi ''(french: Université d'Abomey-Calavi)'' is the principal public university in the west African country of Benin. The university is located in the city of Abomey-Calavi in the south of the country. The school i ...

(UNB), a

Master of Arts A Master of Arts ( la, Magister Artium or ''Artium Magister''; abbreviated MA, M.A., AM, or A.M.) is the holder of a master's degree awarded by universities in many countries. The degree is usually contrasted with that of Master of Science. Tho ...

(1977) and a

Ph.D. A Doctor of Philosophy (PhD, Ph.D., or DPhil; Latin: or ') is the most common degree at the highest academic level awarded following a course of study. PhDs are awarded for programs across the whole breadth of academic fields. Because it is ...

in linguistics from the

University of Ghana The University of Ghana is a public university located in Accra, Ghana. It the oldest and largest of the thirteen Ghanaian national public universities. The university was founded in 1948 as the University College of the Gold Coast in the Br ...

(1981). He taught and collaborated at several universities in West Africa, notably the universities of

Benin City Benin City is the capital and largest city of Edo State, Edo State, Nigeria. It is the fourth-largest city in Nigeria according to the 2006 census, after Lagos, Kano (city), Kano, and Ibadan, with a population estimate of about 3,500,000 as of ...

and

Ilorin Ilorin is the List of capitals of states of Nigeria, capital city of Kwara State in Western Nigeria.. Retrieved 18 February 2007 As of the 2006 census, it had a population of 777,667, making it the List of Nigerian cities by population, 7th ...

in Nigeria in 1978. Hired as an assistant professor in 1986 at the

, he was then promoted several times within the Conseil africain et malgache de l'enseignement supérieur (CAMES). Permanent interim secretary of the scientific council of the National University of Benin from 1994 to 1999, he was decorated as a knight of the national order of Benin in 1995 and became an officer of national order of Benin in 2008. Married with five children, reputed research professor, scientific director of Labo-Gbe, international laboratory of Gbe languages (Gadomè, Bénin), he has written seven books, thirteen book chapters and more than fifty articles in scientific reviews. He is a member of several learned societies including the Société Linguistique de l'Afrique de l'Ouest (SLAO) (Linguistic Society of West Africa) and the Institut International de Recherche et de Formation (INIREF) (International Institute of Research and Training) in

Cotonou Cotonou (; fon, Kútɔ̀nú) is a city in Benin. Its official population count was 679,012 inhabitants in 2012; however, over two million people live in the larger urban area. The urban area continues to expand, notably toward the west. The ci ...

, Benin and an editor or assistant editor of several international scientific journals. He has guided several doctoral theses in Benin and elsewhere and contributed to the promotions of several colleagues in his department. Capo is the assistant director of the doctoral multidisciplinary school of the Faculty of Letters, Arts and Social Sciences of

Aplahoué Aplahoué is a town and arrondissement in Benin, and is the capital of the Kouffo Department Kouffo or Couffo is one of the twelve departments of Benin. Kouffo borders the country of Togo and the departments of Mono, Zou and Atlantique. Since ...

in Kouffo Department in southwest Benin, an entity of the university of

Abomey-Calavi Abomey-Calavi is a city, arrondissement, and commune located in the Atlantique Department of Benin. It is now essentially a suburb of Cotonou and at its closest it begins approximately 18 km from the city centre of Cotonou. The main cities o ...

. Hounkpati B Christophe Capo conducted research and taught in the linguistics departments and centers for

african studies African studies is the study of Africa, especially the continent's cultures and societies (as opposed to its geology, geography, zoology, etc.). The field includes the study of Africa's history (pre-colonial, colonial, post-colonial), demography ...

at several universities :

University of Cologne The University of Cologne (german: Universität zu Köln) is a university in Cologne, Germany. It was established in the year 1388 and is one of the most prestigious and research intensive universities in Germany. It was the sixth university to ...

(Germany),

Cornell University Cornell University is a private statutory land-grant research university based in Ithaca, New York. It is a member of the Ivy League. Founded in 1865 by Ezra Cornell and Andrew Dickson White, Cornell was founded with the intention to teach an ...

(US), University of Gainesville (US),

Ohio State University The Ohio State University, commonly called Ohio State or OSU, is a public land-grant research university in Columbus, Ohio. A member of the University System of Ohio, it has been ranked by major institutional rankings among the best publ ...

(US),

Massachusetts Institute of Technology The Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) is a private land-grant research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Established in 1861, MIT has played a key role in the development of modern technology and science, and is one of the ...

(US),

Université du Québec à Montréal The Université du Québec à Montréal (English: University of Quebec in Montreal), also known as UQAM, is a French-language public university based in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. It is the largest constituent element of the Université du Québe ...

(Canada), CASAS South Africa, University of Ghana (Lagon),

University of Hamburg The University of Hamburg (german: link=no, Universität Hamburg, also referred to as UHH) is a public research university in Hamburg, Germany. It was founded on 28 March 1919 by combining the previous General Lecture System ('' Allgemeines Vor ...

(Germany), University of Frankfurt (Germany),

University of Bayreuth A university () is an institution of higher (or tertiary) education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. Universities typically offer both undergraduate and postgraduate programs. In the United States, the ...

(Germany), University of Bremen (Germany). He has been associated with the development association of Comé since 2002 and is a sitting councillor there as well.

Works

Hounkpati B Christophe Capo has worked on the rehabilitation of the languages of the Gbe dialectal continuum, previously known as the Aja-Eve languages of the Gulf of Benin in West Africa. Beginning in 1930, publications on the

Gbe language The Gbe languages (pronounced ) form a cluster of about twenty related languages stretching across the area between eastern Ghana and western Nigeria. The total number of speakers of Gbe languages is between four and eight million. The most widel ...

s rapidly appeared, the vast majority on individual Gbe languages. Capo set out a classification of the Gbe languages and a reconstruction of the

phonology Phonology is the branch of linguistics that studies how languages or dialects systematically organize their sounds or, for sign languages, their constituent parts of signs. The term can also refer specifically to the sound or sign system of a ...

of proto-Gbe. Much of the comparative research for this classification was carried out by Capo in the 1970s, and partial results were published in the 1970s and early 1980s as articles on specific

phonological Phonology is the branch of linguistics that studies how languages or dialects systematically organize their sounds or, for sign languages, their constituent parts of signs. The term can also refer specifically to the sound or sign system of a ...

developments in various branches of the Gbe

dialectal The term dialect (from Latin , , from the Ancient Greek word , 'discourse', from , 'through' and , 'I speak') can refer to either of two distinctly different types of linguistic phenomena: One usage refers to a variety of a language that is a ...

continuum, and notably as a standard spelling for Gbe languages. His first major work, ''Renaissance du Gbe'' (1988), published a classification of the Gbe languages for the first time. In 1991, he published ''Comparative phonology of Gbe''. In this period, he also founded the Labo Gbe (Int.), the ''Laboratoire de recherche sur les langues Gbe'' (Research Laboratory on Gbe Languages) based in Benin, which promotes research and has published several articles and documents on Gbe languages. The Labo Gbe, in Gadomè on the

Lomé Lomé is the capital and largest city of Togo. It has an urban population of 837,437

road 40 km from Cotonou, has an impressive collection of documentation and a scientific journal titled Etudes Gbe – Gbe Studies.

Publications

* 1982: Hounkpati B.C. Capo : « Le Gbe est une langue unique » (Gbe Is A Unique Language), Africa,

Journal of the International African Institute ''Africa'' is a quarterly peer-reviewed academic journal published by Cambridge University Press on behalf of the International African Institute. The journal takes an interdisciplinary approach considering the humanities, social sciences, and env ...

; London. * 1988: Hounkpati B.C. Capo : ''Dix ans de publications en linguistique (1977-1987) (Ten Years of Publications in Linguistics (1977-1987))'', Garome, Laboratoire international des parlers Gbe (International Laboratory of Gbe Speakers), * 1988: Hounkpati B.C. Capo : ''Renaissance du Gbe (réflexions critiques et constructives sur L'Eve, le Fon, le Gen, l'Aja, le Gun, etc.)'', Hamburg: Helmut Buske Verlag . * 1989: Hounkpati B.C. Capo : ''Linguistique Constructive en Afrique Noire'', Hamburg, Helmut Buske Verlag . * 1989: Hounkpati B.C. Capo : ''Précis phonologique du gbe: une perspective comparative''. AAP- Afrikanistische Arbeitspapiere, No 19 (Cologne.) * 1991: Hounkpati B.C. Capo : ''A Comparative Phonology of Gbe'', Publications in African Languages and Linguistics, 14. Berlin/New York: Foris Publications and Garome, Bénin: Labo Gbe (Int.) * 1998: Hounkpati B.C. Capo : ''A classification of the languages of Benin'', Florida Hills, Vivlia * 2000: Hounkpati B.C. Capo : ''The New Ewe Orthography: Based on the Gbe Uniform Standard Orthography (GUSO),'' The Centre for Advanced Studies of African Society (CASAS), South Africa . * 2002: Hounkpati B.C. Capo : The pan-dialectal approach to orthographic conventions: the case of the Gbe languages of West Africa, in PRAH, Kwesi Kwaa. 2002. Writing African : the harmonisation of orthographic conventions in African languages. Cape Town : Centre for Advanced Studies of African Society (CASAS). * 2005: Hounkpati B.C. Capo, Bedou-Jondoh Edith, Bolouvi Lebene-Philippe, Gagnon Daniel, Gbeto Flavien, Gnamiato Victorie, Kinhou Severin-Marie, Semadegbe Jules, Tohoun Benjamin. L'orthographe harmonisée des langues Gbe du Ghana, du Togo, du Benin et du Nigeria. Cape Town : Centre for Advanced Studies of African Society (CASAS), 31 p. . * 2009: Hounkpati B.C. Capo, Flavien Gbéto et Adrien Huannou : ''Langues africaines dans l'enseignement au Bénin : problèmes et perspectives'', Cape Town, Centre for Advanced Studies of African Society (CASAS) - Garome, Laboratoire international gbe (LABO GBE) .

Publications

Capo has published articles in the following journals : *Language et Devenir (Benin) *Cahiers d'Études Linguistiques (Benin) *

Journal of West African Languages The ''Journal of West African Languages'' is a peer-reviewed academic journal dedicated to the study of West African languages. It is the official publication of the West African Linguistic Society. History The journal was established in 1964 a ...

(USA) *Journal of African Languages and Linguistics *Linguistique Africaine (Paris) *Études Gbe – Gbe Studies (Benin) *Annales de l'Université d'Abidjan (Ivory Coast) *Revue québécoise de linguistique (Canada) *Studies in African Linguistics *Afrika und Übersee (Germany) *AAP: Afrikanistische Arbeitspapiere (Cologne) *SUGIA Sprache un Geschichte in Afrika (Cologne) *Africa,

. (London).

Notes and references

{{DEFAULTSORT:Capo, Hounkpati B Christophe 1953 births Living people University of Abomey-Calavi faculty Linguists

Biography

Works

Publications

Publications

See also

Notes and references