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,QUESTION 1: SOCIO-HISTORICAL INTRODUCTION TO
AFRICAN LANGUAGES 1.1 List the nine official indigenous
South African Languages, and critically discuss why these
languages can be classified as a ‘language family’ on their own.
(13) 1.2 Does Afrikaans form part of indigenous South African
languages? Give reasons for your answer. (2) 1.3 Demonstrate
language zone in your province of residence, and how the standard
language has been chosen or selected. (5) /20/
QUESTION 1: SOCIO-HISTORICAL INTRODUCTION TO
AFRICAN LANGUAGES 1.1 List the nine official indigenous
South African Languages, and critically discuss why these
languages can be classified as a ‘language family’ on their own.
(13) 1.2 Does Afrikaans form part of indigenous South African
languages? Give reasons for your answer. (2) 1.3 Demonstrate
language zone in your province of residence, and how the standard
language has been chosen or selected. (5) /20/
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Here’s a structured approach to answering these questions:
Question 1: Socio-Historical Introduction to African
Languages
1.1 List the nine official indigenous South African Languages,
and critically discuss why these languages can be classified as
a ‘language family’ on their own. (13)
List of the Nine Official Indigenous South African Languages:
1. Zulu
2. Xhosa
, 3. Sesotho
4. Setswana
5. Sepedi
6. Xitsonga
7. siSwati
8. Tshivenda
9. Ndebele
Critical Discussion:
These languages can be classified as a ‘language family’ primarily
because they belong to the Bantu language group, which is a
branch of the larger Niger-Congo language family. Here are key
points to support this classification:
• Historical and Linguistic Roots: These languages share a
common ancestral language, which is the Proto-Bantu
language. Over centuries, Proto-Bantu evolved into various
Bantu languages as communities migrated and settled in
different regions.
• Grammatical Similarities: The languages exhibit similar
grammatical structures, including noun class systems, verb
conjugation patterns, and the use of prefixes and suffixes to
indicate grammatical relationships.
• Lexical Similarities: Many words across these languages are
cognates, meaning they have a common origin. For example,
basic terms and everyday vocabulary often show similarities,
reflecting their shared linguistic heritage.
• Phonological Features: They often share common phonetic
features such as click sounds (in languages like Zulu and
Xhosa) and tonal distinctions, which help in distinguishing
meanings.
