{{Short description|Malawian academic}} {{Infobox person | name = Alfred D. Mtenje | image = | caption = | birth_date = {{Birth date and age|1953|9|17}} | birth_place = [[Ntcheu district]], Malawi | occupation = Linguist, Professor | known_for = Work on the prosody of Malawian Bantu languages | education = M.A. [[Southern Illinois University]] PhD, [[University College London]] | employer = [[University of Malawi]] | title = Full Professor of African Languages and Linguistics | term = | predecessor = | successor = | spouse = Alice Mtenje | children = 2 | awards = [[Commonwealth Fellowship]] (1983) African Research Fellowship (1990) [[Fulbright Fellowship]] (1993) }}
'''Alfred (“Al”) D. Mtenje''' (born 17 September 1953 in [[Ntcheu District|Ntcheu district]], [[Malawi]]) is a professor of [[Linguistics]] at the [[University of Malawi]]. He is known for his work on the prosody of Malawian Bantu languages, as well as for his work in support of language policies promoting the native languages of Malawi.
== Education and career == Mtenje completed his M.A. in 1980 at Southern Illinois University with a thesis titled ''Aspects of [[Chewa language|Chichewa]] derivational phonology and [[syllable structure]]''. He went on to obtain his PhD in linguistics in 1986 at the [[University College London]].<ref>{{Cite web |title=PhD titles in UCL Phonetics and Linguistics |url=https://www.phon.ucl.ac.uk/home/wells/phd.htm |access-date=2022-09-09 |website=www.phon.ucl.ac.uk}}</ref> His PhD thesis, which was supervised by [[Neil Smith (linguist)|Neil Smith]], was titled ''Issues in the Non-linear Phonology of Chichewa''.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Alumni Statements |url=https://www.phon.ucl.ac.uk/home/alumni/proceedings1.htm |access-date=2022-09-09 |website=www.phon.ucl.ac.uk}}</ref>
Mtenje joined the University of Malawi as a [[Lecturer]] in 1980 and rose to the rank of a [[Professor|full professor]] of African languages and Linguistics in 2000. Mtenje has held a number of administrative positions in the University of Malawi, including: director of the Consultancy Bureau (2009–2012); pro [[vice-chancellor]] (academic affairs), (2013–2020); acting vice-chancellor (2020–2022).<ref>{{Cite web |title=University of Malawi {{!}} Pro-vice chancellors office |url=http://www.unima.mw/administration/pro-vice-chancellors-office |access-date=2022-09-09 |website=www.unima.mw}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Reporter |first=Maravi Post |date=2022-03-22 |title=Samson Sajidu is now University of Malawi Vice-Chancellor |url=https://www.maravipost.com/samson-sajidu-is-now-university-of-malawi-vice-chancellor/ |access-date=2022-09-09 |website=The Maravi Post |language=en-US}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=University Of Malawi Chancellor College |url=https://faq-courses.com/university-of-malawi-chancellor-college/ |access-date=2022-09-09 |website=faq-courses.com}}</ref>
== Contributions to Malawian linguistics == Mtenje is internationally known for his research and publications in the field of linguistics. His research has focused on the phonology of the [[Bantu languages]] of Malawi, particularly [[Prosody (linguistics)|prosodic]] aspects including the interface between [[Tone (linguistics)|tone]] on the one hand and [[Morphology (linguistics)|morphology]] and [[syntax]] on the other.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Al Mtenje - Google Scholar |url=https://scholar.google.com/scholar?hl=en&as_sdt=0,32&q=al+mtenje&btnG= |access-date=2022-09-09 |website=scholar.google.com}}</ref> In 2017, he co-authored, with [[Laura J. Downing|Laura Downing]], a book titled ''The Phonology of Chichewa,'' which was published by [[Oxford University Press]].<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Marlo |first1=Michael R. |last2=Frost |first2=Joshua |last3=Kujath |first3=Elizabeth |last4=Lawlor |first4=Cara |last5=Pribe |first5=Sarah |last6=Raney |first6=Emily |last7=Skrivan |first7=Patrick |last8=Thein |first8=Alexa |date=2018 |title=The phonology of Chichewa by Laura J. Downing and Al Mtenje |url=https://muse.jhu.edu/article/702692 |journal=Language |language=en |volume=94 |issue=3 |pages=714–717 |doi=10.1353/lan.2018.0042 |s2cid=149490714 |issn=1535-0665|url-access=subscription }}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal |last=Franich |first=Kathryn |date=2018 |title=Laura J. Downing and Al Mtenje (2018). The phonology of Chichewa. (The Phonology of the World's Languages.) Oxford: Oxford University Press. Pp. xvi+294. |url=https://www.cambridge.org/core/product/identifier/S0952675718000167/type/journal_article |journal=Phonology |language=en |volume=35 |issue=3 |pages=537–543 |doi=10.1017/S0952675718000167 |s2cid=70125906 |issn=0952-6757|url-access=subscription }}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |author=Staff Writer |date=2017-08-11 |title=Addressing gaps in Chichewa |url=https://mwnation.com/addressing-gaps-chichewa/ |access-date=2022-09-09 |website=The Nation Online |language=en-US}}</ref>
Mtenje served as the founding director of the Centre for Language Studies (CLS) at the University of Malawi from 1996 to 2008.<ref>{{Cite web |title=University of Malawi {{!}} Center for Language studies (CLS) |url=http://www.unima.mw/centers/chancellor+college/language-studies-cls |access-date=2022-09-09 |website=www.unima.mw}}</ref> Notable projects initiated during his time as director include, firstly, publication of a [[Linguistic atlas|Linguistic Atlas]] for Malawi. Prior to 2006, Malawi did not have official data on the number of languages spoken in the country and their geographical distribution. As a research center responsible for language issues, the CLS got a grant in 2006 from the [[Open Society Initiative for Southern Africa]] (OSISA) to carry out a language survey for Malawi and produce a language atlas. The project culminated in the production of the first linguistic atlas for the country in which detailed technical information about the language situation in Malawi was provided. This included data on the total number of languages (and their dialects), their geographical spread, demographic details about their speakers and recommendations to the Malawi government about the implication of the language information for education policy in Malawi.<ref>{{Cite web |title=LANGUAGE MAPPING SURVEY FOR NORTHERN MALAWI |url=http://unima-cls.org/Docs/MappingNorthernMalawi/lm-northernmalawi.pdf |access-date=2022-09-09 |archive-date=2021-04-13 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210413225347/http://unima-cls.org/Docs/MappingNorthernMalawi/lm-northernmalawi.pdf |url-status=dead }}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=LANGUAGE MAPPING SURVEY FOR THE SOUTHERN AND CENTRAL REGIONS OF MALAWI: LANGUAGES AND THEIR DIALECTS - PDF Free Download |url=https://educationdocbox.com/Language_Learning/66567852-Language-mapping-survey-for-the-southern-and-central-regions-of-malawi-languages-and-their-dialects.html |access-date=2022-09-09 |website=educationdocbox.com}}</ref>
Secondly, he initiated the development and publication of monolingual dictionaries for Malawian languages. Before the Centre for Language Studies was established, Malawi had a number of bilingual dictionaries (especially English-Chichewa dictionaries; e.g. Paas<ref>{{Cite book |last=Paas |first=Steven |title=English-Chichewa-Chinyanja dictionary |date=2003 |publisher=Christian Literature Association in Malawi |isbn=99908-16-50-6 |location=Blantyre |oclc=52312761}}</ref>). When the CLS was launched in 1996, one of its major projects was the production of monolingual dictionaries as a resource. Data was collected and in the early 2000s monolingual dictionaries for Ciyao<ref>{{Cite book |title=Mgopolela maloŵe jwa Ciyawo = Ciyawo dictionary. |date=2013 |others=University of Malawi. Centre for Language Studies, Dzuka Publishing Company Limited |isbn=978-99908-0-292-4 |location=Malawi |oclc=889325425}}</ref> and Chichewa<ref>{{Cite web |title=Chichewa monolingual online dictionary |url=http://unima-cls.org/printLexicon/ |access-date=2022-09-09 |website=unima-cls.org}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=CLS News volume 3 |url=http://www.sdnp.org.mw/research/cls/csl.html |access-date=2022-09-09 |website=www.sdnp.org.mw}}</ref> were produced. These have proved to be a useful resource for people working on the two languages as well as for teaching in the main native languages of Malawi, a language policy reform that Mtenje (2011) advocates for.<ref>{{Cite book |title=Multilingual education in Africa : lessons from the Juba language-in-education conference |date=2013 |publisher=British Council |others=Hamish McIlwraith |isbn=978-0-86355-703-3 |location=London |oclc=977938721}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=The impact of language policy and practice on children's learning: Evidence from Eastern and Southern Africa |url=https://www.unicef.org/esa/sites/unicef.org.esa/files/2018-09/UNICEF-2016-Language-and-Learning-Executive-Summary.pdf}}</ref>
== Academic honors and awards == Al Mtenje has received several academic awards and honors the most notable being:
*1983: Commonwealth Fellowship to support his PhD studies at UCL *1990: African research fellowship – [[Ohio State University]], Columbus, Ohio, US *1993: Fulbright Fellowship – [[University of California, Berkeley]], US<ref>{{Cite web |title=Al Mtenje {{!}} Fulbright Scholar Program |url=https://fulbrightscholars.org/grantee/al-mtenje |access-date=2022-09-09 |website=fulbrightscholars.org}}</ref>
In addition, Mtenje has presented numerous invited academic talks as a visiting research fellow and professor of linguistics at universities in Europe, US, Asia as well as Africa.
== Personal life == He is married to Alice Mtenje and together they have two daughters, Atikonda and Asante, both of whom are university Lecturers.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Dr Atikonda Mtenje-Mkochi – Malawi University of Science and Technology |url=https://www.must.ac.mw/staffs/dr-atikonda-mtenje-mkochi/ |access-date=2022-09-09}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Macheso |first=Wesley |date=2020-07-31 |title=Gender in African Literature Today: A Conversation with Asante Lucy Mtenje |url=https://www.africanwriter.com/gender-in-african-literature-today-a-conversation-with-asante-lucy-mtenje/ |access-date=2022-09-09 |website=AfricanWriter.com |language=en-US}}</ref>
== Selected publications == *[[Laura J. Downing]] and Al Mtenje. 2017. ''The Phonology of [[Chewa language|Chichewa]]''. Phonology of the World's Languages. Oxford: Oxford University Press. {{ISBN|978-0-19-872474-2}} {{doi|10.1093/oso/9780198724742.001.0001}} *Downing, Laura J. and Mtenje, Al. 2011. Prosodic phrasing of Chichewa relative clauses. ''[[Journal of African Languages and Linguistics|JALL]]'' 32, 65–112. {{doi|10.1515/jall.2011.003}} *[[Larry Hyman]] and Al Mtenje. 1999. Prosodic morphology and tone: the case of Chichewa. In [[Harry van der Hulst]], [[René Kager]] & Wim Zonneveld, eds., ''The prosody-morphology interface'', 90–133. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. *Charles Kisseberth and Al Mtenje. 2022. Melodic High Tones in Emihavani. In ''[[Stellenbosch Papers in Linguistics]] Plus'', vol 62, no. 2. DOI: {{doi|10.5842/62-2-893}} *Mtenje, Al D. 1985. Arguments for an autosegmental analysis of Chichewa vowel harmony. ''[[Lingua (journal)|Lingua]]'' 66, 21–52. {{doi|10.1016/S0024-3841(85)90248-7}} *Mtenje, Al D. 1987. Tone shift principles in the Chichewa verb: A Case for a Tone Lexicon. ''Lingua'' 72, 169–209. {{doi|10.1016/0024-3841(87)90033-7}} *Mtenje, Al. 1993. Verb structure and tone in Ciyao. In ''Topics in African Linguistics: Papers from the XXI Annual Conference on African Linguistics, University of Georgia, April 1990''. Edited by [[Salikoko S. Mufwene]] and Lioba Moshi. Amsterdam: John Benjamins. {{doi|10.1075/cilt.100.15mte}} *Mtenje, Al. 2006. Tone in Cindali. ''Special Issue, Language in Mind: A Tribute to Neil Smith On the Occasion of his Retirement''. ''Lingua'' 116, 1495–1506. {{doi|10.1016/j.lingua.2005.06.015}} *Mtenje, Al. 2007. On recent trends in phonology: vowel sequences in Bantu languages. ''[[SOAS Working Papers in Linguistics]]'' 15, 33–48.[https://www.soas.ac.uk/linguistics/research/workingpapers/volume-15/file37798.pdff] *Mtenje, Al. 2011. Developing a language policy in an African country: The case of Malawi. ''Globalisation and African Languages: Risks and Benefits'', edited by Katrin Bromber and Birgit Smieja, Berlin, New York: [[De Gruyter|De Gruyter Mouton]], pp. 147–162. {{doi|10.1515/9783110891614.147}}
== References == <references />
{{Authority control}} {{DEFAULTSORT:Mtenje, Al}} [[Category:1953 births]] [[Category:Phonologists]] [[Category:Linguists of Bantu languages]] [[Category:Academic staff of the University of Malawi]] [[Category:Alumni of University College London]] [[Category:Living people]] [[Category:Malawian academics]] [[Category:University of Malawi alumni]]