Abstract
The methodology of this article involved an examination of theoretical and empirical data so as to ascertain what the defining grammatical and semantic nature of tenses in isiZulu are with the ultimate goal of presenting an alternative view of these tenses. The article examined selected studies on the theory of tense in general as well as work done specifically on tenses in isiZulu. The most prolific scholar in South Africa writing on tenses in isiZulu is L.C. Posthumus. His studies, particularly those of 1990 and 2008, were examined so as to highlight problems with regard to suppositions and terminology. The conclusion of this discussion was that the basis on which a distinction is made between the so-called absolute and so-called relative tenses in isiZulu is contentious. Examples of tensed clauses in all the tenses in isiZulu taken from the empirical data were then examined in order to gain a sense of the defining temporal information communicated by these clauses. Having discussed these examples alternative terms for some tenses were suggested. The empirical data that guided the discussion and provided examples of tensed clauses are drawn from selected narrative texts. The findings with regard to terminology and the temporal information of tenses in isiZulu were then summarised.
Highlights
The goal of this article is to present an alternative view of isiZulu tenses after ascertaining what the defining grammatical and semantic nature of these tenses are
Since the corpus of tensed clauses is taken from only three narrative texts – two novels and a collection of short stories by different authors – it can be argued that the corpus is too small to provide dependable results
If one takes into account that the selected narrative texts have a combined total of 598 pages and that it is possible to encounter between 30 and 50 tensed clauses on a page, it is reasonable to accept that these texts provide a good sample of empirical data from which credible deductions can be made
Summary
The goal of this article is to present an alternative view of isiZulu tenses after ascertaining what the defining grammatical and semantic nature of these tenses are. This will be done against the background of selected theoretical views on tense in general as well as specific studies on the tenses in isiZulu. It will be followed by an examination of empirical data, namely tensed clauses as they appear in a number of narrative texts, with the view to gain a sense of precisely how the different tenses are used grammatically and semantically. If one takes into account that the selected narrative texts have a combined total of 598 pages and that it is possible to encounter between 30 and 50 tensed clauses on a page (depending on the length of the page), it is reasonable to accept that these texts provide a good sample of empirical data from which credible deductions can be made
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