FULL NAMES:
STUDENT NUMBER:
MODULE CODE: AFL2601
MODULE NAME: COMMUNICATION DYNAMICS IN
AFRICAN LANGUAGES
ASSIGNMENT: 02 (ENGLISH)
SEMESTER 1_2025
, QUESTION 1: Socio-historical Introduction to African Languages
To prove that a language is part of the Bantu language family, Guthrie identified four
essential criteria. These criteria are grammatical gender, class prefixes, concord
system, and the absence of sex-based pronouns. I will use IsiZulu as an example, one
of the South African official languages belonging to the Bantu language family.
1. Grammatical Gender: In IsiZulu, nouns are classified into specific classes that
reflect grammatical gender but do not denote biological sex. For example, the
noun class for humans (class 1/2) includes both male and female. The prefix
“umu-” for singular and “aba-” for plural are used without indicating male or
female, e.g., umuntu (person), abantu (people).
2. Class Prefixes: IsiZulu uses noun class prefixes to categorize nouns. These
prefixes are consistent and are an essential feature of Bantu languages. For
example, class 3 uses the prefix “umu-” as in umuthi (tree) and class 4 uses “imi-
” as in imithi (trees). This system of prefixes organizes nouns into singular and
plural forms.
3. Concord System: The agreement between nouns and other parts of speech is
maintained through a concord system. For example, in IsiZulu, the subject
concord must match the noun class. In the sentence Abantu bayahamba (People
are walking), “ba-” is the subject concord that agrees with the noun class prefix
“aba-” of abantu.
4. Absence of Sex-based Pronouns: Unlike English, IsiZulu pronouns do not
indicate gender. The pronoun yena is used for both “he” and “she,” emphasizing
the absence of sex-based distinctions. This is a significant feature of Bantu
languages, where pronouns are neutral in terms of gender.
STUDENT NUMBER:
MODULE CODE: AFL2601
MODULE NAME: COMMUNICATION DYNAMICS IN
AFRICAN LANGUAGES
ASSIGNMENT: 02 (ENGLISH)
SEMESTER 1_2025
, QUESTION 1: Socio-historical Introduction to African Languages
To prove that a language is part of the Bantu language family, Guthrie identified four
essential criteria. These criteria are grammatical gender, class prefixes, concord
system, and the absence of sex-based pronouns. I will use IsiZulu as an example, one
of the South African official languages belonging to the Bantu language family.
1. Grammatical Gender: In IsiZulu, nouns are classified into specific classes that
reflect grammatical gender but do not denote biological sex. For example, the
noun class for humans (class 1/2) includes both male and female. The prefix
“umu-” for singular and “aba-” for plural are used without indicating male or
female, e.g., umuntu (person), abantu (people).
2. Class Prefixes: IsiZulu uses noun class prefixes to categorize nouns. These
prefixes are consistent and are an essential feature of Bantu languages. For
example, class 3 uses the prefix “umu-” as in umuthi (tree) and class 4 uses “imi-
” as in imithi (trees). This system of prefixes organizes nouns into singular and
plural forms.
3. Concord System: The agreement between nouns and other parts of speech is
maintained through a concord system. For example, in IsiZulu, the subject
concord must match the noun class. In the sentence Abantu bayahamba (People
are walking), “ba-” is the subject concord that agrees with the noun class prefix
“aba-” of abantu.
4. Absence of Sex-based Pronouns: Unlike English, IsiZulu pronouns do not
indicate gender. The pronoun yena is used for both “he” and “she,” emphasizing
the absence of sex-based distinctions. This is a significant feature of Bantu
languages, where pronouns are neutral in terms of gender.
