AfricaAFL2601
Assignment 2
(COMPLETE ANSWERS)
Semester 1 2024 - DUE
12 April 2024 ; 100%
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, Exam (elaborations)
Question 1: Socio-Historical introduction to African Languages 1.1 Name
the seven families of language that all languages which are indigenous to
the continent of Africa fall under as stated by Wemer (1930), and
Phillippson (2003) (7) 1.2 Demonstrate how synchronic comparison occur
using the same word from three indigenous languages of South Africa. (3)
1.3 Guthrie (1949) state that a language to be considered as part of the
Bantu languages family need to display certain features. Name these
features and use example from your own language to support your answer.
(10) /20/
1.1 The seven families of languages that all indigenous languages of Africa fall under, as
stated by Wemer (1930) and Phillippson (2003), are:
1. Afro-Asiatic
2. Nilo-Saharan
3. Niger-Congo
4. Khoisan
5. Austronesian
6. Indo-European
7. Creole
1.2 Synchronic comparison involves analyzing the same word across different languages at a
specific point in time. Here's an example using the word "water" in three indigenous
languages of South Africa:
Zulu: "amanzi"
Xhosa: "amanzi"
Sotho: "metsi"
In this case, we can see that while Zulu and Xhosa share the word "amanzi" for "water,"
Sotho uses "metsi." This demonstrates synchronic comparison by showing both similarities
and differences in word usage among related languages.
1.3 Guthrie (1949) outlined certain features that a language must display to be considered
part of the Bantu language family. These features include:
Noun class systems with prefixes
Verb morphology indicating tense, aspect, and mood
Extensive use of prefixes and suffixes for various grammatical functions
Systematic vowel harmony
An example from Zulu, a Bantu language, can illustrate these features:
Noun class system: "umfana" (boy, singular), "abantwana" (children, plural)
Verb morphology: "ubonisa" (to show), "ubonisa" (he/she shows), "ubonisile" (he/she
showed)
