A comparative study of the bantu and semibantu languages. A brief summary of the bantu acquisition literature by language is provided below. Bantu words in american english terms you should know for week 11 part 02 are. Providing descriptive and typological information about the bantu languages of southern africa, this volume brings together a set of expert contributors and is divided into two parts. Jespersen cycles and negation in bantu languages a jespersen cycle is generally known as a process taking a language from a single sentential negator to a double sentential negator and then back to a single sentential negator. Given the large number of bantu languages and the vast area they occupy, such a coding system is very useful for comparative purposes since it allows one to situate a bantu language. It is the product of extensive study by the authors and participants in field methods and group study courses at the university of california. Furthermore, prohibitive commands in these languages do not use the imperative. This paper explores a wellknown asymmetry between negation marking main clauses and subordinate clauses in bantu languages gilldemann 1999. Pdf the genesis of verbal negation in bantu and its.
Sound change, misanalysis, and analogy in the bantu causative. Sesotho sa leboa english online northern sotho english dictionary pukuntsu ya sesotho sa leboa seisimane. Genetics, archaeology and linguistics all point to the extensive distribution of this language family being the result of a population dispersal that began around 30005000 years ago 24. In many bantu languages, the negation morpheme usually stands out clearly. This clearlymarked division of human speech has been entitled the bantu, a name invented by dr w. From a comparative perspective, it is in fact the medial. It is designed primarily for service providers and others assisting somali bantu refugees in their new communities in the united states. Each word must end in a vowel though in some modern dialects in eastern equatorial, west and south africa the terminal vowel may be elided in rapid pronunciation, or be dropped, or absorbed in the terminal. Depending on how one counts, there are between 300 and 600 bantu languages, spoken in an area south of a line between cameroon in the west and kenya in the east. Bantu language is a crossword puzzle clue that we have spotted over 20 times. The 250 or so narrow bantu languages are conventionally divided up into geographic zones first proposed by malcolm guthrie 19671971. The greater part of africa south of the equator possesses but one linguistic family so far as its native inhabitants are concerned. Morph syntactic analysis of verb inflections in igikuria.
It is probably the origin of rap and has its own origin in the. A note on bantu extensions and syntactic word formation jochen zeller, university of kwazulunatal, durban. Rimi, while others have reanalyzed it as the more canonical 7v system i, e, e, u, o, a, e. Bantu language crossword clue answer crossword heaven. In these languages, sentential negation is marked by postverbal particles. Southern bantu languages simple english wikipedia, the. The acquisition of bantu languages katherine demuth brown.
Bantu languages, a group of some 500 languages belonging to the bantoid subgroup of the benuecongo branch of the nigercongo language family. Most bantu languages have tones which serve to make lexical andor grammatical distinctions. The migration of the protobantu language group started around 3000 years ago. The similarity between dispersed bantu languages had been observed as early as in the 17th century. Comparative morphosyntax the structural data that is of interest here comprise inflected verb forms, in fact any finite verb form marked for tense, aspect, mood, focus, negation, and so forth, be it by inflectional morphemes, auxiliaries, or both. Irene tucker sil international 2001 contents on classifying bantu languages general referential classifications historical classifications appendix the bantu languages of africa the bantu languages of africanorthwestern area references on classifying bantu languages.
The linear ordering of tamneg markers in the bantu. Over 500 languages are classified in this family, including swahili, xhosa, and zulu. For a detailed classification of narrow grassfields bantu languages, see nurse and philippson 2003. The data derives chiefly from the published literature on bantu languages and covers some 120ish bantu languages from all socalled guthrie zones. As such, the verb root may comprise of the stem together with the imperative suffix and occur in a predetermined slot.
The somali bantu lutheran family services rocky mountains. Talking about the bantu language, there are around 650 languages. There are about 520 languages in the bantu family, 670 languages in the southern bantoid branch which includes bantu, and 1,532 in nigercongo. Tell a friend about us, add a link to this page, or visit the webmasters page for free fun content. Introduction this paper investigates the structure of negation in mokpe and two related coastal bantu languages of cameroon. An important idea to advance here surrounds the branching of constituents in bantu dps. Pdf the genesis of verbal negation in bantu and its dependency.
New developments in the classification of bantu languages. In rangi, verbal negation is achieved through the presence. Guthrie, the classification of the bantu languages 1948, repr. It is estimated that there are more than 500 bantu languages spoken in subsaharan africa, making this one of the largest and most widespread language groupings in the world. Mwenyi k352 yukawa 1987b, use a high amount of initial markers, while languages of the northwest and central north, e. The somali bantu iii preface this booklet is a basic introduction to the people, history, and cultures of the somali bantu. Bantu languages, or narrow bantu languages, are a family of 522 nigercongo languages in subsaharan africa. These were assigned letters as and divided into decades groups a10, a20, etc. They moved eastward to the area between central africa and west africa.
Students of bantu languages have a great deal of material to work with, since the family is so large and speakers are widely scattered across africa. Medial markers are used by the large majority of bantu languages. Each word must end in a vowel though in some mod ern dialects in eastern equatorial, west and south africa the ter minal vowel may be elided in rapid pronunciation, or be dropped, or absorbed in the terminal. It is wellknown that a number of bantu languages distinguish at least two different ways of expressing verbal negation depending on the clause type the predicate occurs in. Hyman, larry m tukumu, simon nsielanga, sj abstract. A comparative grammar of the south african bantu languages comprising those of zanzibar, mozambique, the zambesi, kafirland, benguela, angola, the congo, the ogowe, the cameroons, the lake region, etc by torrend, j.
Media in category bantu languages the following 24 files are in this category, out of 24 total. Bantu words in american english montclair state university. Publication date 19191922 topics bantu languages publisher oxford, clarendon press. The name was coined to represent the word for people in loosely reconstructed protobantu, from the plural noun class prefix bacategorizing. Bantu languages 80 languages based on lexical evidence, but also on phonological and morphological features. Sentential negation and verb movement in bantu languages 28. The principal writers are daniel van lehman and omar eno. Pagibete c401 reeder 1998, tend to favour final markers.
Bantu languages such as swahili, zulu, chichewa or bemba are spoken by an estimated 240 million speakers in 27 african countries, and are one of the most important language groups in africa in terms of geographical and demographic distribution. Although these sounds are less frequent in bantu languages, they do occur in northwest bantu as well as in east bantu, both on the northeastern coast and in the southeast maddieson 2003. This publication presents the first documentation of nzadi, a bantu language spoken by fishermen along the kasai river in the democratic republic of congo drc. Jespersen cycles and negation in bantu languages a jespersen cycle is generally known as a process taking a language from a single sentential. Introduction in scientific and anthropological usage, the notion of culture encompasses all that is the. Bantu languages root, prefix, prefixes, vowel and language.
View bantu linguistics research papers on academia. Bantu languages are spoken largely east and south of the present day country of cameroon. Title negation in mokpe and two related coastal bantu. The bantu languages or narrow bantu languages are a branch of the nigercongo languages. Meeussen 1967 was particularly instrumental in reconstructing what is thought to be the noun class system of protobantu see also guthrie 196771 and welmers 1973.
The results of this classification have divided the ruvu languages into three groups. Verb stems in bantu languages may include a number of derivational suffixes called extensions that express various functions, such as causative, applicative, reciprocal or passive. The expression of negation in the worlds languages may entail either the addition of a free mor. Congobrazzaville national languages online dictionary, bantu web site. The tanzanian bantu languages rangi and mbugwe both employ a double negation marking strategy. Cycles of negation in rangi and mbugwe abstract the tanzanian. Grammatical and lexical comparison of the greater ruvu. Scholars of bantu languages have long posited a common protobantu pb source from which modernday bantu languages have evolved. Cultural phylogeography of the bantu languages of sub. The southern bantu languages, however, are also a valid linguistic group the southern bantu languages are a group of languages in.
Bantu languages simple english wikipedia, the free. Surrogate imperatives in bantu languages with postverbal negative. Middle passage bantu languages slang black english africanamerican vernacular english play the dozens. In many bantu languages, the negation morpheme usually stands out clearly and coexists with other functional categories including tense, aspect and mood. Introduction verb stems in bantu languages may include a number of derivational suffixes called extensions that express various functions, such as causative, applicative, reciprocal or passive. Pdf sentential negation and verb movement in bantu languages. Morphologythe most distinctive morphological feature of bantu languages is the grouping of nouns in different classes, marked by a prefix.
All members of a given class share the same prefix. According to the most recent estimate grimes 2000 the world has 6,809 languages, of which 2,058, approximately 30%, are spoken in africa an additional 44 are described as extinct. Challenges to the promotion of indidegous languages in sou. A survey report for the bantu languages by derek nurse cartographer. Our basic observation is that bantu languages have few genuine quantifiers. A comparative study of the bantu and semibantu languages by johnston, harry hamilton, sir, 18581927. A note on bantu extensions and syntactic word formation. African linguists have a poor record in distinguishing typological. Bantu languages still widely used even by those who dissent strongly fiom his methods and conclusions. The bantu languages are a large family of languages spoken primarily in the southern part of africa. Guthries divisions of the bantu languages were based on geography, not on language characteristics. Bantu languages article about bantu languages by the. Guthrie classification of bantu languages wikipedia. Bleek, and it is, on the whole, the fittest general term with which to designate the most.
Mokpe is a coastal bantu language of cameroon spoken by about 32,200. Bantu language article about bantu language by the free. A comparative grammar of the south african bantu languages. English to xhosa translation page a website that translated words and phrases to and from xhosa by martha r. The southern bantu languages, also known as bantu zone s, are a group of languages in the bantu language family. Information and translations of bantu in the most comprehensive dictionary definitions resource on. Pdf it is wellknown that a number of bantu languages distinguish at least two different ways of expressing verbal negation depending on the clause. Pdf this paper explores a wellknown asymmetry between negation marking main clauses and subordinate clauses in bantu languages. The module offers a comprehensive introduction to the structure of the bantu languages. Swahili, which is spoken by five million people as a mother tongue and some 30 million as a second language, is a bantu lingua franca important in both commerce and literature. Thus, a comparison of the acquisition of bantu languages offers an extremely rich area for research, providing insights not only into how language is learned, but also into the possible impact that language learning may exert on processes of historical change. Bantu languages definition bantu languages are a subset of nigercongo languages mostly spoken in the center and south part of africa english oxford living dictionary, n. Twelve bantu languages are spoken by more than five million people, including rundi, rwanda, shona, xhosa, and zulu.