Assignment 02 AFL2601 Semester 2
ENGLISH [100]
Communication Dynamics in African Languages
AFL2601 Semester 2
Department of African Languages
, QUESTION 1 — Socio-historical introduction to
African languages (10)
Guthrie’s four basic characteristics commonly cited as diagnostic of (Narrow) Bantu
languages are:
1. A noun-class system (nouns grouped into classes marked by prefixes, with
agreement across determiners/verbs/adjectives).
2. A system of concordial agreement linking noun class markers to agreement
markers on verbs and modifiers.
3. Complex verbal morphology (agglutinative verb structure with
tense/aspect/mood markers and a set of derivational “verb-extensions” such as
applicative, causative, reciprocal, passive).
4. Shared phonological/morphological typology (e.g. balanced vowel
inventories, tone systems, and agglutinative morphology).
(These features are widely used to characterise Bantu languages and appear in
discussions of Guthrie’s work and general Bantu descriptions.)
How isiZulu shows each feature (examples):
1. Noun-class system.
o Example: umfana “boy” (class 1 prefix um- / umu-), plural abafana (class 2
prefix aba-). The class prefixes are part of the noun and trigger agreement
elsewhere. (See standard Zulu noun class patterns.)
2. Concordial agreement.
o Example: umfana omkhulu uyahamba — “the big boy is walking.” The
adjective omkhulu and the subject concord u-/-ya- on the verb agree with
class 1 (umfana), showing noun class concord across the noun phrase
and verb.
3. Complex verbal morphology with extensions.
o Example: root -fund- “learn/read”:
fund- → fundisa (causative “teach”: suffix -isa), fundela (applicative
“learn/for” with -ela in some contexts), fundana (reciprocal “learn/teach
one another” with -an-). Zulu verbs normally allow a sequence of such
suffixes (Causative, Applicative, Reciprocal, Passive, etc.).
4. Phonological / typological features.
o IsiZulu has a typical Bantu vowel system and employs tone interactions
and agglutinative morphology; these phonological/typological traits fit the
general Bantu profile Guthrie and later work describe.
ENGLISH [100]
Communication Dynamics in African Languages
AFL2601 Semester 2
Department of African Languages
, QUESTION 1 — Socio-historical introduction to
African languages (10)
Guthrie’s four basic characteristics commonly cited as diagnostic of (Narrow) Bantu
languages are:
1. A noun-class system (nouns grouped into classes marked by prefixes, with
agreement across determiners/verbs/adjectives).
2. A system of concordial agreement linking noun class markers to agreement
markers on verbs and modifiers.
3. Complex verbal morphology (agglutinative verb structure with
tense/aspect/mood markers and a set of derivational “verb-extensions” such as
applicative, causative, reciprocal, passive).
4. Shared phonological/morphological typology (e.g. balanced vowel
inventories, tone systems, and agglutinative morphology).
(These features are widely used to characterise Bantu languages and appear in
discussions of Guthrie’s work and general Bantu descriptions.)
How isiZulu shows each feature (examples):
1. Noun-class system.
o Example: umfana “boy” (class 1 prefix um- / umu-), plural abafana (class 2
prefix aba-). The class prefixes are part of the noun and trigger agreement
elsewhere. (See standard Zulu noun class patterns.)
2. Concordial agreement.
o Example: umfana omkhulu uyahamba — “the big boy is walking.” The
adjective omkhulu and the subject concord u-/-ya- on the verb agree with
class 1 (umfana), showing noun class concord across the noun phrase
and verb.
3. Complex verbal morphology with extensions.
o Example: root -fund- “learn/read”:
fund- → fundisa (causative “teach”: suffix -isa), fundela (applicative
“learn/for” with -ela in some contexts), fundana (reciprocal “learn/teach
one another” with -an-). Zulu verbs normally allow a sequence of such
suffixes (Causative, Applicative, Reciprocal, Passive, etc.).
4. Phonological / typological features.
o IsiZulu has a typical Bantu vowel system and employs tone interactions
and agglutinative morphology; these phonological/typological traits fit the
general Bantu profile Guthrie and later work describe.
