Africanist

Part of speech: noun, adjective

Definitions

1. A specialist who studies African languages, cultures or history ; an advocate who promotes African identity and perspectives in scholarship or politics
2. A researcher devoted to the study of Africa's peoples and tongues ; a supporter of African-centred thought and self-determination
3. An expert on African societies and languages ; a person who champions African heritage and viewpoints as a cause

Etymology: The word "africanist" is a plain formation: the adjective-forming base "African" with the agent suffix "-ist" attached. The suffix has a long pedigree. It descends from the Ancient Greek "-istēs", which marked a person who practises or follows a trade or belief, and that Greek form itself grew out of the verb-forming "-izein" family. The Greeks passed it to Latin as "-ista", which spread through Old French as "-iste" and entered English as "-ist" in Middle English, so an "africanist" is, in the end, someone who practises or adheres to all things African. Because the suffix is so productive, English has long been able to attach it to almost any noun. The same pattern gives us "Marxist", "scientist" and "pianist", each built on a base word with the same ending. The attached "African" is itself a borrowing from Latin "Africanus", meaning "of Africa", which is how the adjective came into English.