A Pɛrɛ Sociocultural Dataset

Archive structure

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

A_Pere_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_Pere_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 Pɛrɛ are a majority community of Nigerian origin, multilingual (Fulfulde, Pɛrɛ and Mboum). Their language is spoken across Cameroon and in neighbouring countries. Social organization rests on the chefferie, with royalty. The community's name is attributed to père Kosmos.

Location & Social Organization

Governance rests on the chefferie (chief and kings). The kinship system is matrilineal. Social interaction is described as open and accessible. Marriage accommodates both endogamy and exogamy; Islamic norms now influence avoidance rules. Land belongs to the chief, who distributes parcels upon request.

Religious & Symbolic Life

Both ancestor cults and divinities are recognized. A sacred mountain, mbɛlańya, serves as a sacrificial site. Contact with the dead is considered sinful under Islamic influence, though dreams are an accepted channel of communication.

Economic & Cultural Life

Main activities are agriculture, commerce and artisanal trades (woodcutting, small-scale work). Staple foods include maïs, banana, yam, haricot, gurka (a dry-season crop), foléré and baobab. Traditional drinks include horejam, gbata, bili bili and porridge. Traditional dress includes the passi (a large thousand-pleated garment) and the jonta (a boubou-like robe). Musical traditions include kon, vam and olandan (all tam-tam forms).

Linguistic Note

The interview was conducted with the local expert speaking Pɛrɛ. The questionnaire elicited common bilingual expressions (rubrique 4, approximately 316 rows) and a numeral system (rubrique 5, approximately 18 entries). Together with the onomastic entries in rubrique 3 (approximately 164 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 Pɛrɛ 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: PERE_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 164 rows); common expressions (rubrique 4, approximately 316 rows); and numeral-system entries (rubrique 5, approximately 18 rows). Tabular data files will be added when transcription is complete.

Structure

This release comprises the PDF version of the filled questionnaire (A_Pere_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):

Ethnonyms (from 3_Onomastique.tsv):

Common expressions (from 4_Expressions_Usuelles.tsv):

Numeral system (from 5_Systeme_Numeral.tsv):