VII.

Bantu Grammar

The Bantu languages, now recognized as part of one branch of the Benue-Congo subfamily, have a system of noun classification that was formerly considered unique. In Swahili, a Bantu tongue, one group of nouns has a prefix m to indicate the singular and a prefix wa to indicate the plural; for example, mtoto (“a child”), watoto (“children”). Another group of nouns has a singular prefix ki and a plural prefix vi; for example, kikapu (“a basket”), vikapu (“baskets”). Words modifying a noun require corresponding prefixes; for example, mtu mzuri (“a good person”), watu wazuri (“good people”), kikapu kizuri (“a good basket”), vikapu vizuri (“good baskets”). Corresponding prefixes for some modifiers, and corresponding pronouns meaning “he”, “she”, “it”, or “they”, are not identical with the noun prefixes in all cases. Each set of prefixes and pronouns, whether singular or plural or neutral (such as the prefix u in uhuru, “freedom”), defines a class of nouns and its grammatical concords. A typical Bantu language may have from 12 to more than 20 noun classes.

This type of classification system was presumably present in the parent Niger-Congo language thousands of years ago, as many subfamilies of the Niger-Congo phylum have these characteristics. Some languages of the Gur branch indicate the noun class by both prefix and suffix, and others by suffix only, but all have separate pronouns for each class, as do the Bantu languages. Many of the Kwa languages have noun prefixes, but no other characteristics of a class system.

Although grammatical structure among the Niger-Congo languages varies considerably, in general these tongues emphasize the kind of action referred to (grammatical aspect), or the attitude towards the action (mode), rather than the time of the action (tense). Different constructions may indicate customary action (“He laughs all the time”), potential action (“He is likely to get sick”), experiential action (“He has met the chief”), hortative attitude (“He should go”), desiderative attitude (“If only he would come”), and so on. In many languages, the only construction referring primarily to time is one for the past tense. Such constructions, for which English often uses long phrases, are distinguished in Niger-Congo languages by a single prefix, suffix, or particle, or even by a slight modification of a pronoun or verb form. On the other hand, passive constructions are rare or non-existent in the non-Bantu languages of this family. Prepositions are also rare; ideas of motion (“to, from, up”) are typically incorporated in verbs, while ideas of location (“under, beside, in”) are typically incorporated in nouns.