| Since 2025 Research associate at Ghent University, Belgium |
| Since 2023 Doctoral candidate in African languages and linguistics at JGU Mainz, Germany |
| 2021 Study abroad at Osaka University (Graduate School of Letters), Japan |
| 2019-2022 Master of Arts in Empirical linguistics at Goethe University Frankfurt, Germany |
| 2019-2023 Explored coursework in the Master of Arts Modern East Asian studies at Goethe University Frankfurt |
| 2017 Study abroad at Nelson Mandela University in Gqeberha, South Africa |
| 2016-2018 Japanese studies at JGU Mainz, Germany |
| 2016-2019 Bachelor of Arts in Linguistics at JGU Mainz, Germany |
| 2014-2019 Bachelor of Arts in Ethnology at JGU Mainz, Germany |
Publications at a glance
| Editorial work |
|---|
| 2025. (with Nico Nassenstein): Lingala: Current topics / Sujets d’actualité. Mainzer Beiträge zur Afrikaforschung 47. Cologne: Köppe. |
| Articles in journals and anthologies (peer-reviewed) |
|---|
| 2026. Contact-induced change on the Adamawa Plateau: Mbum in contact with Fulfulde. In: Daisuke Shinagawa (ed.): Describing linguistic dynamism in Africa. Tokyo: Research Institute for Languages and Cultures of Asia and Africa. |
| 2025. (with Nico Nassenstein): Bringing research perspectives together in the study of Lingala: A synopsis. In: Nico Nassenstein & Janika Kunzmann (eds.): Lingala: Current Topics / Sujets d’actualité. Mainzer Beiträge zur Afrikaforschung 47. Cologne: Köppe, 15-36. |
| 2025. Passive and functionally equivalent constructions in the contact language Lingala. In: Nico Nassenstein & Janika Kunzmann (eds.): Lingala: Current Topics / Sujets d’actualité. Mainzer Beiträge zur Afrikaforschung 47. Cologne: Köppe, 151-170. |
| 2024. Theoretical considerations on linguistic innovation through new combination in African youth language practices: Exemplified in Yanké and Langila (DR Congo). Linguistics Vanguard. De Gruyter. https://doi.org/10.1515/lingvan-2022-0146 |
| 2022. (with Klaus Beyer): Retracing labial-velar consonants in Mbum (Adamawa): Between genetic transmission and language contact. Africa and Overseas 95. 26-48. https://journals.sub.uni-hamburg.de/hup1/afrikaunduebersee/article/view/270 |
| 2022. Diverging verb derivational strategies in the youth language Yanké (DR Congo). In: C. Groff, A. Hollington, E. Hurst-Harosh, N. Nassenstein, J. Nortier, H. Pasch & N. Yannuar (eds.): Global perspectives on youth language practices. 49-66. Berlin/Boston: De Gruyter. https://doi.org/10.1515/9781501514685-004 |
| Other |
| forthcoming. (with Helma Pasch): The study of language and culture in Central Africa. In: H. Nesi & P. Milin (eds.): International Encyclopedia of Language and Linguistics (3rd Edition). Elsevier. |
| 2025. Lexical data of Mbum language (Adamawa, Cameroon) in FLEx format [Data set]. Zenodo. https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.15020329 |
| 2022. Book review: Meeuwis, Michael (2020): A grammatical overview of Lingála. Afrikanistik Ägyptologie online. https://doi.org/10.18716/ojs/aaeo/2022_3485 |
| 2022. Japanische Familiennamen. [‘Japanese family names’]. In: Digital Dictionary of Surnames in Germany (DFD). http://www.namenforschung.net/id/thema/17/1 |
| 2019. Namenartikel japanischer Familiennamen in Deutschland (Digitales Familiennamenwörterbuch Deutschlands): https://www.namenforschung.net/dfd/woerterbuch/liste |
Janika Kunzmann
Forum universitatis 6
55099 Mainz
E-mail: jakunzma@uni-mainz.de