| Abstract
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In most African countries, former colonial languages are still used as languages of instruction in the school system, especially for science courses in secondary schools and in universities, although, ironically, proficiency in former colonial languages is dwindling. At the same time, however, African languages lack in specialized terminology to accommodate teaching. Empowering African languages is therefore becoming urgent, so that teachers can use them efficiently as languages of instruction. My PhD work strives to provide a solution to that problem by finding tools for the empowerment of the vocabulary and scientific discourse of Lingála, as well as its validation and diffusion among teachers and students of Kinshasa. This is why my PhD work aims at analyzing morpho-semantics of derivatives (verbs, deverbal nouns, nominals), since in Bantu languages, as widely established, derivation and compounding are very productive. I have systematically extracted general meanings from each combination of affixes (nominal prefix-verbal extension-final vowel). While doing so, I have created a derivative generator, i.e. a table where, by replacing a certain verbal stem, a list of nouns and verbs candidates is generated, alongside a brief definition allowing a terminologist to link a certain term to a certain scientific concept the specific definition of which best fits the general definition. The ultimate goal is the coinage of scientific terms. Creating specialty terms is useful, but fining those terms in a discourse also needs characterization of the language syntax requirements and limits. Therefore, I have then moved on to analyzing and describing noun phrases and verb phrases structures. Following that, I have then worked on verifying if the terms coined really fit in natural Lingála language, through tests designed to identify and distinguish verb and sentence complements. Having theorized the morpho-semantics and the syntax of Lingála, I have applied it in writing chemistry text in Lingála. I have conducted all of my PhD work in Lingála, which means I have conceived and written my PhD work in Lingála. Doing so has also allowed me to coin linguistics terms and discourse in Lingála. In most African countries, former colonial languages are still used as languages of instruction in the school system, especially for science courses in secondary schools and in universities, although, ironically, proficiency in former colonial languages is dwindling. At the same time, however, African languages lack in specialized terminology to accommodate teaching. Empowering African languages is therefore becoming urgent, so that teachers can use them efficiently as languages of instruction. My PhD work strives to provide a solution to that problem by finding tools for the empowerment of the vocabulary and scientific discourse of Lingála, as well as its validation and diffusion among teachers and students of Kinshasa. This is why my PhD work aims at analyzing morpho-semantics of derivatives (verbs, deverbal nouns, nominals), since in Bantu languages, as widely established, derivation and compounding are very productive. I have systematically extracted general meanings from each combination of affixes (nominal prefix-verbal extension-final vowel). While doing so, I have created a derivative generator, i.e. a table where, by replacing a certain verbal stem, a list of nouns and verbs candidates is generated, alongside a brief definition allowing a terminologist to link a certain term to a certain scientific concept the specific definition of which best fits the general definition. The ultimate goal is the coinage of scientific terms. Creating specialty terms is useful, but fining those terms in a discourse also needs characterization of the language syntax requirements and limits. Therefore, I have then moved on to analyzing and describing noun phrases and verb phrases structures. Following that, I have then worked on verifying if the terms coined really fit in natural Lingála language, through tests designed to identify and distinguish verb and sentence complements. Having theorized the morpho-semantics and the syntax of Lingála, I have applied it in writing chemistry text in Lingála. I have conducted all of my PhD work in Lingála, which means I have conceived and written my PhD work in Lingála. Doing so has also allowed me to coin linguistics terms and discourse in Lingála.
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