Editing Carl Meinhof (section)

==Works==
His most notable work was developing comparative [[grammar]] studies of the [[Bantu languages]], building on the pioneering work of [[Wilhelm Heinrich Immanuel Bleek|Wilhelm Bleek]]. In his work, Meinhof looked at the common [[Bantu languages]] such as [[Swahili language|Swahili]] and [[Zulu language|Zulu]] to determine similarities and differences.

In his work, Meinhof looked at [[noun class]]es with all Bantu languages having at least 10 classes and with 22 classes of nouns existing throughout the Bantu languages, though his definition of noun class differs slightly from the accepted one, considering the plural form of a word as belonging to a different class from the singular form (thus leading, for example, to consider a language like French as having four classes instead of two). While no language has all 22 (later: 23) classes active, [[Venda language|Venda]] has 20, [[Lozi language|Lozi]] has 18, and [[Ganda language#Noun classes|Ganda]] has 16 or 17 (depending on whether the locative class 23 ''e-'' is included). All Bantu languages have a noun class specifically for humans (sometimes including other animate beings).

Meinhof also examined other African languages, including groups classified at the time as [[Kordofanian languages|Kordofanian]], [[Khoisan languages|Bushman]], [[Khoikhoi]], and [[Hamitic languages|Hamitic]].

Meinhof developed a comprehensive classification scheme for African languages. His classification was the standard one for many years (Greenberg 1955:3). It was replaced by those of [[Joseph Greenberg]] in 1955 and in 1963.  His ideas influenced the notation of African-language phonetics as advanced in the mid-nineteenth century by the Egyptologist [[Karl Richard Lepsius]] and gave rise to what some called the "Meinhof-Lepsius system" of [[Diacritic|diacritical]] markers.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Bendor-Samuel |first=John |title="African Languages," in The World’s Writing Systems |publisher=Oxford University Press |year=1996 |location=New York |pages=690}}</ref>

In 1902, Meinhof made recordings of East African music. These are among the first recordings made of traditional [[African music]].