M.A. / The purpose of this study was to investigate the suffixal morphemes of Zulu nouns, and to describe them according to their formal, semantic and syntagmatic features. After making a study of the status of the morpheme within the word morphology according to general linguistic principles, an outline is given in chapter 1, of prefixal morphemes which occur in Zulu nouns as well as of questionable suffixal morphemes investigated during this study ...

D.Litt. et Phil. (African Languages) / The change in function of word categories is a widespread phenomenon in Zulu and can be indicated across the whole spectrum of language elements. The dynamic developing nature of the language entails that units may shift upwards or downwards within the hierarchy, resulting in their assuming either a higher or lower rank. The so-called "class prefix" of class 2a is typified as a specialised and rank shifted variant of the emphatic pronoun bona on account of its syntactic and semantic characteristics. The class prefix of class 1a has not yet completely passed through the development process from Ur-Bantu *Ta and currently shows charateristics of both copula and class prefix. Various other affixes of the noun such as, inter alia, the diminutive suffix and prefixes such as {-50-} and {~nga-} originated from former nouns and verbal stems. A 1arge degree of interaction occurs between pronouns and other word categories. The (abbreviated) demonstrative pronoun a functions as relative pronoun in establishing relative constructions. The verbal suffix {-yo} which functions in verbal relative constructions as nominaliser and with an emphatic semantic value also originated from a pronoun. A few pronouns from the locative classes may function as (auxiliary) verb stems while others serve as "conjunct ions". The distance indicating suffixes of the demonstrative pronouns, with the retention of significance, are employed in other word categori es such as adverbs and interjective demonstratives. Category shifting, therefore, also occurs on the level of morphemes. A mutual underlying composition is disclosed for all relative constructions (verbal and nominal) as consisting of the relative pronoun a as introductory member followed by a complement in the relative mood. This postulation makes provision for the occurence of a underlying copulative verb stem *-(1)i in the relative and situative moods. In the indicative the negative auxiliary verb stem -si is regarded as (underlying) part of the copulative construction. Various particle words such as the connective na and the instrumental nga, the hortative particles (m)a and A(ke), certain "conjunctions" such as uma and qede, the particles be and se and certain enclitic particles find their origin in verbs. It has been indicated within the category 'verb' that the aspectual morphemes originated in former verb stems. Certain verbs can be lowered in rank with specific morphological and semantic changes and then function as auxiliary verb stems. In certain cases the auxiliary verb stems can shift upwards in rank by morphematic elision of the concordial morpheme and be employed as autonomous "conjunctions". Adverbs are mainly derived from other word categories in that noun class prefixes function as adverbial prefixes. The adverbial prefix {ka-} is reduced to the obsolete class 13 of Ur-Bantu which contained mainly diminutive words as well as words with an adverbial significance. The morpheme {-ka} whi ch occurs in words such as kangaka originated in the demonstrative pronoun of this class, namely lakha. Ideophones show formal, semantic and syntatic similarities with verbs and are typified in principle as the complement of the auxiliary verb stem -thi.

D.Litt. et Phil. / Please refer to full text to view abstract

A thesis submitted to the University of the Witwatersrand in fulfilment of the requirements of the degree of Master of Arts in Linguistics. 11 March 2016 / The study examines some phonological characteristics of isiZulu adoptives, derived from English and Afrikaans. IsiZulu is a member of the Nguni group of languages, whereas English and Afrikaans are linguistically related, belonging to the Indo-European language group. These languages have different phonological structures and borrow words from each other. This research focuses on the repair strategies employed in isiZulu to adapt and rephonologise English and Afrikaans loanwords. Rephonologisation is a process that alters the structure of a word to conform to the phonological structure of a recipient language. This investigation focuses on the segmental and syllable structure modifications that loanwords undergo in order to make them fit into the preferred phonological structure of isiZulu. Particular repair strategies described and accounted for in this study include, inter alia, segment substitution, vowel epenthesis, glide epenthesis, and segment deletion. Certain isiZulu adoptives are completely rephonologised while others only undergo partial adjustment. This indicates the retention, in certain instances, of English and Afrikaans segmental features and syllable structures within isiZulu loanword phonology. This study examines both variants, the fully and the partially rephonologised adoptives. Additionally, with the objective of contributing to phonological typology, the research evaluates and compares its findings to observations made by prior, similar investigations for chiShona (Kadenge, 2012; Kadenge & Mudzingwa 2012) and isiNdebele (Mahlangu, 2007; Skhosana, 2009). The broader objective of this study is to explore the synchronic phonology of isiZulu, exposing the phonological changes that are taking place in this language due to contact with English and Afrikaans. In addition, a vast corpus of isiZulu loanwords (data) from English and Afrikaans is presented; contributing a foundation for utilisation in future studies. The overall analysis of the data is couched within Optimality Theory (OT: Prince & Smolensky 2004), which emphasises that surface forms of language reflect the resolution of conflicts between constraints (Kager, 1999). The intra-linguistic variations of loanwords are explained in terms of constraint re-ranking, which is responsible for the phonological shape of loanwords in isiZulu and is addressed herein.

M.A. (African Languages) / Please refer to full text to view abstract

M.A. (African Languages) / The main purpose of this study was to investigate morphological reduplication in the word class nouns, verbs and ideophones in Zulu, and to describe them according to their formal and semantic features. An outline is given in chapter 1 of the status of the morpheme within the word morphology according to general linguistic principles, theories concerning the morpheme as well as the character or nature of morphological reduplication. According to the literature on this subject it appears that morphological reduplication performs widely, even universally. In chapter 2 attention is given to reduplication in the most important languages and dialects in the Nguni language group apart from Zulu. These languages and dialects include the following: Swati, Bhaca, Phuthi, Northen Transvaal Ndebele, Lala, Xhosa, Southern Transvaal Ndebele and Mpondo. It is found that all these languages and dialects present a common character with regard to morphological reduplication. Zulu, as the main concern of study in respect of morphological reduplication, is studied in detail in chapter 3. The word classes of Zulu are looked at according to Van Wyk's word class grouping, whilst special attention is given to nouns. It is found that morphological reduplication in Zulu nouns shows an extention of the semantic features represented in the single noun. The reduplicated forms have the semantic features of especially abundance, numerousness and completeness. The formal features of the reduplicated noun in Zulu are studied with special reference to the monosyllabic noun, the disyllabic noun and the polisyllabic noun. Their possible combination (in their reduplicated form) with a suffix as well as the formal features of the reduplicated suffix, are studied at length. In chapter 4 the morphological reduplication of verbs (in this instance also monosyllabic, disyllabic and polisyllabic stems) is discussed. The verb can be reduplicated as a whole or only partially with the semantic features of, inter alia, intensity or thoroughness. The verb can also be reduplicated in combination with a suffix with the result that the semantic feature of the suffix acts complementary to the semantic features of the reduplicated verb. In chapter 5 the morphological reduplication of ideophones is discussed. The semantic features of reduplication are characterised as intense, complete, purposeful and final. The formal features show that only disyllabic ideophones represent morphological reduplication that may be fully or only partially reduplicated.

M.A. (African Languages) / Please refer to full text to view abstract

M.A. (African Languages) / Zulu, like many other African languages, is characterized by a system of noun classes which is governed by a characteristic prefix with specific morphological and semantic features. Most classes are found in pairs of which one is singular and the other plural. The prefix is also employed in linking the noun to other words which are syntactically -related to it in the sentence by means of a concord which is derived from the prefix and which normally bears a close resemblance to it. The noun class prefixes have thus been subcategorized according to the following principles: (a) the morphological structure of the prefix; (b) the corresponding singular-plural form; (c) the semantic traits of the noun root; and (d) the agreement system generated by the prefix. Although nouns in Zulu are regular to a great extent, many morphological, syntactical and semantical irregularities are found in the class system. Some of these are: (i) the absence of an initial vowel with certain noun class prefixes; (ii) some nouns belonging to singular-plural pairs have singular prefixes but no plural form whilst some have plural prefixes but no corresponding singular form; (iii) similar singular prefixes take different plural prefixes whereas similar plural prefixes take different singular prefixes; (iv) some nouns belonging to a particular singular-plural pair use a particular prefix in the singular but a plural prefix of a different class; (v) two, and even three, prefixes are sometimes found before the noun root. Nouns in other Bantu languages sometimes lack prefixes; (vi) non-mother tongue speakers may easily confuse the initial part of some nouns with nouns of other classes; (vii) the morphologically determined agreement system is sometimes overruled by the semantic consideration animate versus inanimate. Nouns of class 1 (a) which have a prefix /u-/ and the semantic notion inanimate generate an agreement string similar to that of class 3. Nouns of class 1(a) with the prefix /u-/ and the semantic notion animate, non-human, occasionally use some of the agreement morphemes of class (viii) loan words in class 9 which have a prefix /i-/ sometimes take the agreement system of class 5 instead of class 9; (ix) nouns of classes other than 1, 2, 1 (a) and 2(a), denoting humans, sometimes use the agreement string of classes 1.and 2 in following sentences. The same applies to nouns indicating animals in classes other than 9 and 10, but which use the agreement string of the in-izin-classes in following sentences; (x) the meanings of a vast number of nouns do not fit in with the particular semantic characteristics given for each class; (xi) a large number of nouns with a singular form but plural meaning are found in the different classes; (xii) a number of nouns in plural classes indicate abstract or non-count matters or have singular meanings; (xiii) some mass or abstract nouns have singular prefixes but lack a plural form, whereas other mass or abstract nouns have plural prefixes but lack a singular form; and (xv) nouns with similar roots and corresponding meanings sometimes fall into two different classes.

M.A. (African Languages) / Please refer to full text to view abstract

M.A. (African Languages) / Please refer to full text to view abstract