On March 27th, 2025, David Kopa wa Kopa successfully defended his PhD dissertation “Phénomènes de contact linguistique dans le nord-est du bassin du Congo : cas de langues mokpá, ɛnyá, metóko et les autres langues du bas Lualaba”. In his dissertation, Dr. Kopa wa Kopa explores past and present language contact along the Lualaba south of Kisangani. He presents a detailed analysis of the linguistic situation of the area with a focus on language choices in Mokpa households, and uncovers parts of the region’s past thanks to the comparison of phonemes and lexicon.
Supervisors: Birgit Ricquier (Université libre de Bruxelles) and Charles Kumbatulu Sita Bangbasa (Université de Kisangani)
Jury: Philippe De Brabanter (Université libre de Bruxelles), Jacky Maniacky (RMCA/Tervuren), Nico Nassenstein (Gutenberg University) & Emmanuel Ngbanga Bandombele (Université de Kisangani)
President of the jury: Jürgen Jaspers (Université libre de Bruxelles).
