Wetenskaplike woordidentifikasie en -klassifikasie in Bantoetale met besondere verwysing na Zoeloe

Abstract

Scientific word identification and classification in Bantu languages with special reference to Zulu Despite the fact that Van Wyk’s word theory (1958) is the only scientifically justified word theory for Bantu languages, his work has not had the expected impact on the study of Bantu languages (especially the Nguni languages). This is partly due to the fact that his thesis was written in Afrikaans and is inaccessible to many Bantu language scholars. Secondly, this state of affairs is due to the fact that his treatise is highly theoretical and that the principles have not been applied exhaustively to Zulu or any of the other Nguni languages. Lombard et al.’s Northern Sotho grammar of 1985 is the only grammar written totally within the Van Wykian framework. The recognition of a word category “particle (word)” is probably the aspect that has had the most far-reaching consequences for a morphological and syntactical analysis of Bantu languages. The justification for distinguishing a word category “particle word” is examined in this article.