| 释义 |
Volˈtaic, n. and a.2
[f. the name of the West African river Volta + -ic.]
A. n.
a. A group of Niger-Congo languages of West Africa.
b. A speaker of one of these languages; a citizen of the Republic of Upper Volta.
B. adj. Of or pertaining to this group of languages, or to this republic or its citizens. Cf. Upper Voltan a. and n.
1939L. H. Gray Foundations of Lang. xii. 402 The divisions of Sudano-Guinean, according to Delafosse, may now be enumerated:..Voltaic (fifty-three languages)..apparently possessing inclusive and exclusive pronouns for the first person plural. 1949L. Homburger Negro-African Languages i. 22 The people who speak Voltaic languages number about 3,000,000. 1967M. Schlauch Language ii. 39 Suffixes are also used to indicate nominal classes (e.g. in Voltaic). 1969[see Senufo]. 1970P. Oliver Savannah Syncopators 66 The use of a drone or continuous humming between sung phrases is also a vocal feature shared by Voltaic peoples and some blues singers. 1976New Society 11 Nov. 293/3 Doing their military service by teaching in Voltaic schools. Ibid. 294/3 Educated Voltaics like to discount the cia theory with one of their own. 1979Observer (Colour Suppl.) 17 June 56/3 France for example in 1976 exported 64 million dollars worth of goods to Upper Volta (43 per cent of Voltaic imports). 1984Chicago Sun-Times 9 Jan. 18 The government is treated with some skepticism by older Voltaics. |