Giorgio Banti, born 4th February 1949, email gb040249@gmail.com, and gibanti@unior.it, has been a full professor (It. professore ordinario) at the University of Naples “L’Orientale” since 1997, until his retirement in October 2019. He has taught General and Historical Linguistics there and, from 2009-2010 to 2018-2019, also Somali Language and Literature.
His main topics of research are:
i.) Somali linguistics, literature and culture;
ii.) Oromo linguistics, literature and culture;
iii.) Saho linguistics, literature and culture;
iv.) Old Harari linguistics and literature;
v.) Nara linguistics, literature and culture;
vi.) Cushitic languages and literatures;
vii.) Afroasiatic historical linguistics;
viii.) Indo-European historical linguistics;
ix.) Theory of historical linguistics;
x.) Language typology;
xi.) Theory of information structure;
xii.) Ethnolinguistics (aka Anthropological linguistics);
xiii.) Comparative poetry;
xiv.) Ajami writing systems in Africa;
xv.) Development of literacy for unwritten languages;
xvi.) Language development;
xvii.) Language documentation.
xviii.) Forensic linguistics.
From 1978 to 1989, he has been part of a project funded by the Italian Ministry of Foreign Affairs for developing the Somali language. For this reason, he has been in Somalia several times (October-December 1979, August 1908-January 1981, April-May 1981, January-May 1982, August-October 1983, November 1984-February 1985, July-October 1986, July-September 1987, December 1988-February 1989, June-July 1989).
He has also taken part or directed several other research projects funded by the Italian CNR, the Italian Ministries of Universities and Scientific Research and of Foreign Affairs, the IsIAO (Italian Institute for Africa and the East), the University of Rome I, the University of Potenza, and the University of Naples “L’Orientale”, as well as by the French CNRS on several topics related to the languages and cultures of the Horn of Africa and, more widely, of Sub-Saharan Africa, to language typology and historical linguistics.
He has done field research in northern, central and eastern Ethiopia (Tigray, Shewa, Harar Region, and the Somali Region) in 1993-94, September 1998, August-September 2000, November 2000, August-September 2004, January 2006, September 2008, and October 2014.
He has also been for field research in Djibouti (December 2007, September 2008, January 2011, April 2012, December 2012, April 2013), in central Eritrea (February 2004, January-February 2008 and January-February 2011), in Somaliland (August 2013, December 2014) and in eastern Sudan (November 2013).
He is a member of the following scientific societies and associations:
– Società Italiana di Glottologia (Italian Society of Historical Linguistics),
– Istituto per gli Studi sul Mediterraneo e l’Oriente (ISMEO – Institute for the study of the Mediterranean and the Orient),
– Ururka Cilmi-Baarista Soomaaliyeed (Somali Studies Association).
He has held lectures on his research topics both in Italy and abroad, at national and international conferences, and taught in the following universities:
– University of Rome “La Sapienza”,
– Third University of Rome,
– University of Cassino,
– University of Basilicata,
– University of Naples “L’Orientale”,
– University of Hamburg (Germany),
– University of Zurich (Swizerland),
– Jaamacadda Ummadda Soomaaliyeed (National University of Somalia, Mogadishu),
– University of Addis Ababa (Ethiopia),
– University of Djibouti (Djibouti).
Member of the Board of Administration of the University of Potenza in the years 1995-97.
Since 1997, he has been a member of the Scientific Board of the IsIAO (Italian Institute for Africa and the Orient).
President of the Curriculum (Corso di Laurea) in Comparative Studies of his University from December 1998 to November 2002, and again from July 2008 until October 2012.
He has been Director of the Department for Studies and Research on Africa and the Arab Countries in the University of Naples “L’Orientale” from 2002 to 2008.
Member of the Board of Administration of the University of Naples “L’Orientale” from December 2006 to July 2012. Member of the Senate of the University of Naples “L’Orientale” from July 2012.
From November 2014 to October 2019 he has been the Vice-President of the University of Naples “L’Orientale”.
He has been granted the 2001 Award “Giorgio Maria Sangiorgi” for the History and Ethnology of Africa by the Accademia Nazionale dei Lincei on June 20, 2001.
Since 2020 he is a member of the Board of Directors of the ISMEO (International Association for Mediterranean and Oriental Studies).
In July 2021 he has been awarded the title of Professore emerito by the Italian Minister of the University and Scientific Research.
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Some of his major publications are:
1. Banti, G., 1980, "I clitici antico-indiani". In Berrettoni, P., ed., Problemi di analisi linguistica: 9-42. Rome: Cadmo Editore.
2. Banti, G., 1981, "Problemi di lessicografia somala", Atti del Sodalizio Glottologico Milanese 21: 34-57.
3. Banti, G., 1984a, "The morphology of the Nominative case in Somali". In Dressler, W.U., Pfeiffer, O.E., & J.R. Rennison, eds., Discussion papers for the Fifth International Phonology Meeting, Wiener Linguistische Gazette, Beiheft 3: 27-31.
4. Banti, G., 1984b, On the morphology of Vedic gender-distinguishing pronominals. Rome: Dipartimento di Studi Glottoantropologici.
5. Banti, G., 1984c, "Possessive affixes in the Somali area". In Labahn, Th., ed., Linguistics and literature. Proceedings of the Second International Congress of Somali Studies, Bd. 1: 135-154. Hamburg: Helmut Buske Verlag.
6. Banti, G., 1988a, "Reflections on derivation from prefix-conjugated verbs in Somali". In Puglielli, A., ed., Proceedings of the Third International Congress of Somali Studies: 43-59. Rome: Il Pensiero Scientifico.
7. Banti, G., 1988b, "Two Cushitic systems: Somali and Oromo nouns". In Hulst, H. van der, & N. Smith, a cura di, Autosegmental studies on pitch accent: 11-49. Dordrecht: Foris Publications.
8. Banti, G., 1990, "Introduzione", translation and notes of Xuseen Sh. Axmed "Kaddare", Waasuge e Warsame (Un viaggio di 30 giorni). Rome: Bagatto Libri.
9. Banti, G., 1991, "L'immigrazione africana a Roma: alcune note linguistiche e culturali", La ricerca folklorica 24: 131-136.
10. Banti, G., & Cabdalla Cumar Mansuur, 1993, introduction, translation and notes of the short story "Soo Haabo" by Gamuute Axmed Gamuute, Linea d'Ombra 82 (May 1993): 47-50.
11. Banti, G., 1994a, "Parti del discorso controverse". In Lingua, pensiero scientifico e interculturalità: l'esperienza dell'interazione universitaria in Somalia (Atti dei Convegni Lincei 107), pp. 53-82. Rome: Accademia Nazionale dei Lincei.
12. Banti, G., 1994b, “Bogumil Witalis Andrzejewski “Goosh” (1922-1994)”, Rassegna di Studi Etiopici 36: 143-150, 152-160.
13. Banti, G., 1996a, "Tradizione e innovazione nella letteratura orale dei Somali", Africa 51/2: 174-202.
14. Banti, G., 1996b, “Cabdi Muxumud Amiin: una voce critica dalla Somalia”, Africa e Mediterraneo 1996/3: 24-29.
15. Banti, G., & F. Giannattasio, 1996, "Music and metre in Somali poetry". In Hayward, R. J., & I. M. Lewis, eds., Voice and power: Essays in honour of B. W. Andrzejewski (African Languages and Cultures, supplement 3), pp. 83-127. London: School of Oriental and African Studies.
16. Banti, G., & R. Contini, 1997, “Names of aromata in Semitic and Cushitic languages”. In Avanzini, A., ed., Profumi d’Arabia, pp. 169-192. Rome: «L’Erma» di Bretschneider.
17. Banti, G., 1999, “Meter”. In A. Duranti, ed., Language matters in Anthropology: a lexicon for the new millennium, special issue of Journal of Linguistic Anthropology 9/1-2: 155-158. [Reprinted as: A. Duranti, ed. (2001) Key terms in language and culture. Malden (Mass.) & Oxford: Blackwell Publishers. Pp. 150-153.]
18. Banti, G., 2000a, “Arabic script for languages other than Arabic around the Mediterranean (with the exception of the Balkans)”. In S. Cristofaro & I. Putzu, eds., Languages in the Mediterranean area: Typology and Convergence, pp. 19-41. Milan, Franco Angeli.
19. Banti, G., 2000b, “Notes on Somali camel terminology”. In R. Vossen, A. Mietzner & A. Meißner, (eds.), „Mehr als nur Worte ...“. Afrikanistische Beiträge zum 65. Geburtstag von Franz Rottland, pp. 45-62. Köln: Rüdiger Köppe Verlag.
20. Banti, G., & Ciise Maxamed Siyaad, 2000, “Two little-known poems by Sheekh Axmad «Gabyow»”. Afrika und Übersee 83:181-207.
21. Banti, G. 2001a, “New perspectives on the Cushitic verbal system”. In A. Simpson, ed., Proceedings of the 27th Annual Meeting of the Berkeley Linguistic Society - Special Session on Afroasiatic Languages, pp. 1-48. Berkeley: Berkeley Linguistics Society.
22. Banti G., 2001b, “Tradizioni storiche e linguistiche del Banaadir”. In Mohamed Abbas Sufi (ed.), “I banaadiri, un popolo e un’identità negati – I Convegno Nazionale dei banaadiri in Italia”, Africa e Mediterraneo 37:69b-70b.
23. Banti, G., 2004, “Comparative notes on the Cushitic imperative”. In Bogdan Burtea, Josef Tropper & Helen Younansardaroud (eds.), Studia semitica et semitohamitica - Festschrift für Rainer M. Voigt anläßlich seines 60. Geburtstages am 17. Januar 2004. Pp. 55-91. Münster: Ugarit-Verlag.
24. Banti, G., & F. Giannattasio, 2004, “Poetry”. In A. Duranti, ed., A companion to linguistic anthropology. Pp. 290-320. Malden (Mass.): Blackwell Publishing.
25. Banti, G., 2005a “Remarks about the orthography of the earliest cajamī texts in Harari”. In M. Bernardini & N. Tornesello (eds.), Scritti in onore di Giovanni M. D’Erme, vol. I, pp. 75-102. Naples: Università degli Studi di Napoli “L’Orientale”.
26. Banti, G., 2005b, “Folktales in Oromiffa”. In Uhlig, S., ed., Encyclopaedia Aethiopica, Vol. 2, pp. 559b-560b. Wiesbaden: Harrassowitz.
27. Banti, G., 2005c, “Girirra”. In Uhlig, S., ed., Encyclopaedia Aethiopica, Vol. 2, pp. 808b-809a. Wiesbaden: Harrassowitz.
28. Banti, G., 2005d, “Harari literature”. In Uhlig, S., ed., Encyclopaedia Aethiopica, Vol. 2, pp. 1028a-1030a. Wiesbaden: Harrassowitz. ”.
29. Banti, G., 2005e, “Harla”. In Uhlig, S., ed., Encyclopaedia Aethiopica, Vol. 2, pp. 1034a-1034b. Wiesbaden: Harrassowitz.
30. Banti, G., 2005f, “Comparative notes on the Cushitic imperative”. In Bogdan Burtea, Josef Tropper & Helen Younansardaroud (eds.), Studia semitica et semitohamitica - Festschrift für Rainer M. Voigt anläßlich seines 60. Geburtstages am 17. Januar 2004. Pp. 55-91. Münster: Ugarit-Verlag. [pdf file]
31. Banti, G., & M. Vergari, 2005, “A sketch of Saho grammar”, Journal of Eritrean Studies 4/1-2: 100-131.
32. Banti, G., 2007a, “Trends in the diachronic development of Semitic verbal morphology”. In Ramat, P., & E. Roma, eds., Europe and the Mediterranean as linguistic areas - Convergencies from a historical and typological perspective, pp. 1-23. Amsterdam & Philadephia: John Benjamins Publishing Company. ”.
33. Banti, G., 2007b, “Maanso”. In Uhlig, S. (ed.), Encyclopaedia Aethiopica, Vol. 3: 610a-612b. Wiesbaden: Harrassowitz.
34. Banti, G., 2007c, “Masnoy”. In Uhlig, S., ed., Encyclopaedia Aethiopica, Vol. 3: 389a-389b. Wiesbaden: Harrassowitz.
35. Banti G. 2007d. May. In Uhlig, S., ed., Encyclopaedia Aethiopica, Vol. 3: 880b-881b. Wiesbaden: Harrassowitz.
36. Banti, G., & M. Vergari, 2008, “Italianismi lessicali in saho”, Ethnorêma 4: 67-93.
37. Banti, G., 2009, “Introduction”, Ethnorêma 5: 1-10.
38. Banti, G., & Axmadsacad Maxamad Cumar, 2009, “A few Saho texts about bees and honey”, Ethnorêma 5: 89-108.
39. Banti, G., 2010a. “The literature of Harar until the end of the 19th century”. Civiltà del Mediterraneo, 16-17: 149-181.
40. Banti, G., 2010b, “Remarks on the typology of converbs and their functional equivalents in East Cushitic”. In: Voellmin, S., Azeb Amha, Rapold Ch., & S. Zaugg-Coretti, eds., Converbs, medial verbs, clause chaining and related issues (Frankfurter Afrikanistische Blaetter 19 [2007]): 31--80. Cologne: Ruediger Koeppe.
41. Banti, G., & M. Vergari, 2010, “The Saho of Eritrea and the documentation of their language and cultural heritage”. In Lusini, G.F., ed., Proceedings of the Giornata Internazionale di Studi sull’Eritrea (Naples, 13 May, 2010). Naples: UniOr.
42. Banti, G., 2011a, “Internally-headed relative clauses in literary Somali?”. In Frascarelli M. (ed.), A country called Somalia: culture, language and society of a vanishing state (Studi Somali 14): p. 32-47. Torino: L'Harmattan Italia.
43. Banti, G., 2011b, “Oral literature”. In Uhlig, S., ed., Encyclopaedia Aethiopica, Vol. 4: 38b-42a. Wiesbaden: Harrassowitz.
44. Banti, G., 2011c, “Oromiffaa”. In Uhlig, S., ed., Encyclopaedia Aethiopica, Vol. 4. Wiesbaden: Harrassowitz.
45. Banti, G., 2011d, “Oromo oral literature”. In Uhlig, S., ed., Encyclopaedia Aethiopica, Vol. 4. Wiesbaden: Harrassowitz.
46. Banti, G., 2011e, “Somali language”. In Uhlig, S. (ed.), Encyclopaedia Aethiopica, Vol. 4: 693a-696b. Wiesbaden: Harrassowitz.
47. Banti, G., 2011f, “Somali oral literature”. In Uhlig, S. (ed.), Encyclopaedia Aethiopica, Vol. 4: 697a-698b. Wiesbaden: Harrassowitz.
48. Banti, G., 2011g, “An Oromo folktale (Ethiopia)”. Ethnorêma 7: 61-68.
49. Banti, G., & D. Morin, 2011, “(Somali) folktales and modern written literature”. In Uhlig, S. (ed.), Encyclopaedia Aethiopica, Vol. 4: 700a-701b. Wiesbaden: Harrassowitz.
50. Banti, G., & M. Vergari, 2011, “Saho language”. In Uhlig, S., ed., Encyclopaedia Aethiopica, Vol. 4: 468b-471a. Wiesbaden: Harrassowitz.
51. Banti, G. 2013a, “Strata in loanwords from Arabic and other Semitic languages in Northern Somali”. In Lafkioui, M., ed., African Arabic: approaches to dialectology. (Trends in Linguistics. Studies and Monographs, vol. 258): 185-210. Berlin: Walter De Gruyter.
52. Banti, G. 2013b, “Clefts, epexegetic focus constructions and Information Structure in Classical and Koine Greek”. In Mancini, M., & L. Lorenzetti, eds., Le lingue del Mediterraneo antico: culture, mutamenti, contatti. (Lingue e Letterature Carocci, 160): 37-67. Roma: Carocci.
53. Banti, G., & M. Vergari, 2013, “The Saho of Eritrea and the documentation of their language and cultural heritage”. In Lusini, G., ed., Current trends in Eritrean studies. (Annali, vol. 70 [2010]): 83-108.
54. Banti, G., 2014, Review article of J. CRASS & R. MEYER (eds.), Language Contact and Language Change in Ethiopia, Koeln, Ruediger Koeppe Verlag, 2009”. Aethiopica 17: 227-36.
55. Banti, G., & M. Vergari, 2014, “The nazme: a genre of religious poetry of the Eritrean Saho”. Incontri Linguistici 37: 123-34.
56. Banti, G., & Abdirachid M. Ismaïl, 2015, “Some issues in Somali orthography. Habqorista af-soomaaligu si habboon ma u xasili kartaa?” In Abdirashiid M. Ismaaciil, Cabdalla C.Mansuur, & Saynab A. Sharci, eds., Afmaal. Proceedings of the Conference on the 40th Anniversary of Somaliu Orthography (Djibouti 17th-21st December 2012: 36-48. Djibouti: AGA – The Intergovernmental Academy of Somali Language.
57. Banti G. 2017. “In memoriam Didier Morin (1947–2016)”. Aethiopica 20, pp. 245-55. [ISSN: 14301938].
58. Banti G., & Vergari M., 2017, “Aspects of Saho dialectology”. In A. Agostini, & M. G. Amadasi Guzzo, eds., Afroasiatica Romana “Proceedings of the 15th Meeting of Afroasiatic Linguistics” (17-19 September 2014, Rome), Quaderni di Vicino Oriente XII (2017), pp. 65-81. [ISSN 1127-6037, e-ISSN 2532-5175].
59. Banti G. 2018a. “Oromo-Literatur”.. In S. Uhlig, D. Appleyard, A. Bausi, W. Hahn, & S. Kaplan, eds., Aethiopien. Geschichte, Kultur, Herausforderungen, , pp. 198-205. Wiesbaden: Otto Harrassowitz. [ISBN 978-3-447-11095-2].
60. Banti G. 2018b. Review article of M. TOSCO, ed. (2018) Afroasiatic - Data and perspectives (Amsterdam & Philadelphia: John Benjamins). Ethnorêma 14, pp. 129-34. [ISSN: 1826-8803].
61. Banti G. 2019. “The footprints of the Companions - A Somali short travelogue by Jama Musse Jama, With translation and comments by Giorgio Banti”. Ethnorêma 15: 149-57. [ISSN 1826-8803].
62. Banti G. 2020. “Some further remarks on the Old Harari Kitāb alfarāyiḍ”. East and West 1 n.s. (60): 255-84. [ISSN 0012-8376; ISBN 9788866871927]
63. Banti G., & Tarsitani S. 2020. “An Oromo religious hymn from Harar on the creation of the universe”. In: Adamo G., & Giuriati G., eds., Verso una musicologia transculturale - Scritti in onore di Francesco Giannattasio. (Quaderni di Etnografie Sonore), pp. 203-23. Roma: NEOCLASSICA SRL. [ISBN 978-88-9374-035-7]
64. Banti G., & Savà G. 2021. “Nara phonology”. Rassegna di Studi Etiopici 5 (3a serie, LII): 235-68. [ISSN 0390-0096]