A Maka Sociocultural Dataset

Archive structure

This dataset is distributed as a .tar.gz archive (A_Maka_Sociocultural_Dataset.tar.gz) with the following contents:

A_Maka_Sociocultural_Dataset/
├── 1_Metadonnees_Enquete.tsv      — administrative metadata (1 row)
├── 2_Reponses_Ouvertes.tsv        — open-ended narrative Q&A responses
├── 3_Onomastique.tsv              — onomastic entries (anthroponyms, ethnonyms, toponyms)
├── 4_Expressions_Usuelles.tsv     — common bilingual expressions
├── 5_Systeme_Numeral.tsv          — numeral system entries
├── 6_Annexe_Primitifs.tsv         — NSM semantic primitives reference table (16 groups)
└── A_Maka_Sociocultural_Dataset.pdf — PDF version of the questionnaire

Note: The fieldwork interview audio recording is not yet included in this release. It will be added in a subsequent update. Recordings were collected on the fieldwork sites and document the interaction between the interviewer and the interviewee.

Community

The Maka trace their origins to the Adamaoua. Their kinship system is both patrilineal and matrilineal; marriage is exogamous. The founding ancestor is Bebend.

Location & Social Organization

Marriage is exogamous; grooms observe avoidance rules with respect to their in-laws. Clan rites remain active alongside modern administrative structures.

Religious & Symbolic Life

Incest is the principal recognized taboo and is believed to cause elephantiasis.

Economic & Cultural Life

Staple foods include ndengue and kpwem. Musical traditions include Alenga and Akoultang.

Linguistic Note

The interview was conducted with the local expert speaking Maka. The questionnaire elicited common bilingual expressions (rubrique 4, approximately 370 rows) and a numeral system (rubrique 5, approximately 19 entries). Together with the onomastic entries in rubrique 3 (approximately 216 rows), these fields constitute the dataset's linguistic component. No tabular data files (TSV) are included in this release; they will be added when the dataset transcription is complete. No audio recording is included in this release; it will be added in a subsequent update.

Source

The dataset was collected through a questionnaire designed to gather sociocultural and onomastic information about the Maka community. This was done during the pilot data-collection phase (March-April 2020) of the "Projet de confection d'un didacticiel sur la composition des peuplements au Cameroun," coordinated by Prof. Emmanuel Ngue Um for CERDOTOLA (Centre International des Civilisations Bantu / Institution Inter-Etats de cooperation scientifique pour la preservation, la diffusion et la mise en valeur du patrimoine africain), in partnership with the Ecole normale superieure de Bertoua. Record identifier: MAKA_2020_001.

Domain

The dataset represents a sociocultural and onomastic questionnaire designed to elicit the identity, history, social organisation, religious life, economy and material culture of a named community in Cameroon, together with a structured record of its personal names, ethnic names and place names, common bilingual expressions, and numeral system. The questionnaire was developed for the pilot phase of a project building educational ("didacticiel") material on the composition of Cameroon's settled peoples; unlike a purely linguistic questionnaire, its entry point and primary unit of documentation is the community, not its language or dialect, although a linguistic component (onomastics, common expressions, numeral system) is elicited throughout in the community's own speech.

Size

The dataset comprises narrative question/answer entries (rubriques 2 and 3.1-3.6); onomastic entries (rubrique 3, approximately 216 rows); common expressions (rubrique 4, approximately 370 rows); and numeral-system entries (rubrique 5, approximately 19 rows). Tabular data files will be added when transcription is complete.

Structure

This release comprises the PDF version of the filled questionnaire (A_Maka_Sociocultural_Dataset.pdf). When the dataset transcription is complete, the release will be updated to include six related tables as separate tab-separated-value (TSV) files:

• 1_Metadonnees_Enquete.tsv: Administrative metadata (one row).

• 2_Reponses_Ouvertes.tsv: Question/answer pairs for the open-ended narrative sub-sections.

• 3_Onomastique.tsv: Onomastic entries (anthroponyms, ethnonyms, toponyms).

• 4_Expressions_Usuelles.tsv: Common bilingual expressions.

• 5_Systeme_Numeral.tsv: Numeral system entries.

• 6_Annexe_Primitifs.tsv: NSM semantic primitives reference table (65 items).

Sample

Anthroponyms (from 3_Onomastique.tsv):

Toponyms (from 3_Onomastique.tsv):

Common expressions (from 4_Expressions_Usuelles.tsv):

Numeral system (from 5_Systeme_Numeral.tsv):