Linguistic Analysis of Word Order in Zulu

¶ … Zulu

Linguistic Analysis of Word Order in Zulu

Before delving into the intricacies of Zulu grammar, it is critical that a general understanding of the language, its structure and its historical and geographical distribution be provided. Zulu (isiZulu) is an important language spoken by approximately ten million people in Southern Africa (Ethnolouge, 2009). It is a language which belongs to the Bantu language family which extends from the Cape to the Equator. Zulu is a member of the South-eastern zone of Bantu, which includes four language groups: Nguni, Tsonga, Sotho and Venda. Within the Nguni group, there are two sub-sections: the Zunda and Tekela. Within the Zunda subgroup can be found the Xhosa and Zulu languages (Maho, 2002). Today, Zulu is the most widely spoken native language in South Africa making it a major language within the country (Ethnolouge, 2009).

Some of the key grammatical features of Zulu are a constituent word order of subject-verb-object and an agglutinative morphology (Colenso, 1882). Similar to other Bantu languages, the structure of Zulu is based on two principles: a) the system of noun classes and b) the system of concords (Maho, 2002). Zulu nouns are classified into a variety of morphological classes based on the type of object, with different prefixes for singular and plural. Various parts of speech that qualify a noun must agree with the noun according to its class (Dent and Nyembezi, 1969). The importance of the class prefixes is that they are employed in linking the noun to other parts of the sentence by means of a concord which is derived from the class prefix (Doke, 1955). This phenomenon is of great importance to remember because the whole of the sentence structure of Zulu and of all Bantu languages rests on it (Maho, 2002).

Linguistic Analysis of Word Order in Zulu

1. Simple Affirmative Sentence

The simple affirmative sentence consists of a subject, a verb and an object. In Zulu there is a relationship between the subject and the verb, manifested by the subject concord (Wilkes, 2004):

Umfazi ubiza umfana (The women calls the boy).

The subject concord resembles the class prefix of the noun which is the subject of the clause.

1.1. Transitive Verbs

Transitive verbs express an action that requires an object. Within Zulu, there are two voices -- the active and the passive. The active form has the agent action upon the object (Doke, 1955):

Abantu ba zi bona izinkono (The people see the cattle).

Whereas the passive form has the object acting on the agent:

Izinkono zi boniwe abantu (The cattle is seen by the people).

This form is generally formed by inserting a -- w for a -- u in the final vowel of the active verb.

1.1.1. Argument: Nouns

The noun in Zulu consists of two primary parts, the prefix and stem. Using the prefix, noun classes can be understood, which correspond with particular object categories. Each noun class has a specific grammatical conjugation and semantic role. The grammatical number is provided by the noun which makes it possible to organize all noun classes (except class 14 and 15, which don't have plural forms) into singular and plural pairs:

Class 7 isi (e.g. isiggoko (hat)) with Class 8 izi (e.g. iziggoko (hats))

In addition, the noun class dictates the form of the other pieces of the sentence as they relate to verb and adjective conjugation. Semantically, similar noun exist within each group. Therefore, class 14 is just abstract concepts while 15 is nouns formed from infinitive verbs (Doke, 1958).

1.1.2. Argument: Pronouns

In Zulu, no direct correspondence for English personal pronouns exist. The most comparison is subject-prefix correspondence. As Zulu subject-prefixes cannot stand alone, they are attached to a verb. This system is possible as there is a unique subject-prefix for each grammatical person within each noun class (Nyembezi, 1970):

Abafana badlile (They have eaten) where aba- is the 3rd person plural.

1.2. Intransitive Verbs

Intransitive verbs connotate an action that does require the addition of an object:

Ngi pila (I live)

1.2.1. Argument: Nouns

In the intransitive case, the object noun is independent and therefore does not require qualification by the verb or noun group (Doke, 1958)

1.2.2. Argument: Pronouns

In the intransitive case, the prefix requires modification to give person and tense.

2. Interrogative Structures

Interrogative sentences are used to form questions. The interrogative is not a particular form of speech in Zulu. Interrogatives need not even be words but may be suffixes (Doke, 1958).

2.1. Yes/No Questions

The words of an interrogative clause do not change their position as in English, i.e. The words in Zulu remain as in the plain statement. The intonation of the clause changes, however (Nyembezi, 1970). The non-interrogative clause has a long penultimate syllable:

Umfazi upheka uku:dla. (The women cooks food).

In the interrogative clause the length is discarded and the modulation of the voice becomes higher at the end of the sentence:

Q: Umfazi upheka ukudla? (Does the women cook food?)

A. Yebo, umfazi upheka uku:dla. (Yes, the women cooks food.)

2.1.1. Is there any element that demonstrates that it is a yes/no question? If so, where is this element placed? Is there a change of order/position?

The interrogative clause can also be formed by means of an interrogative adverb, by na.

Umfazi upheka ukudla na? (Does the women cook food?)

The use of na can be compared to the Canadian English interrogative use of the? In both cases, the voice rises and the penultimate syllable is shorter than the plain statement (Doke, 1958). In addition, there is the interrogative ini or yini which is used liked na, though yini can be used to imply doubt (Nyzembezi, 1970):

Ugijima kakhulu yini? (Does he run fast or not?

2.2. Wh- Questions

In order to ask any "What" or "How," the suffix -- ni can be added to a verb:

Q: Wenzani? (What are you doing?)

A: Ngivala isango. (I am closing the gate.)

Or:

Q: Unjani? (How are you?)

A: Ngikhona. (I am well.)

The adverb nini is adverb used in the same format at ni to connotate when. The adverb ubani is a noun class meaning who? In both the singular and plural structure (Taljaard and Bosch, 1988).

2.2.1. Is there a change of order (movement to the first position) or does it occupy the usual position in the sentence?

The words of a question may be changed around without changing the meaning of the sentence. For example:

Uphuzani ubaba? (Does he drink water?)

Can transition to the question:

Ubaba uphuzani? (Does he drink water?)

Without changing the answer:

Uphuza amanzi. (He drinks water.)

This is because the subject (Ubaba/Father) is not only understood but also included in the answer by means of the subject concored u- of uphaza which represents ubaba (Dokes, 1958).

2.2.2. Can we use more than one wh-word in the sentence? If so, what is its order?

Yes. In Zulu, the plain statement and the interrogative clause have the same word order and are only dependent on the insertion of various interrogative predicates. Multiple predicates can be inserted without impact on word order as long as conjugation indicates the interrogative subject and object (Molteno, 1997):

Lababafana abafuni ukudlala nathi esikoleni (Where are the boys and who does not want to play?)

3. Negation.

How does it occur? Which position does the negative element occupy?

To express negation in Zulu, a negative formative ka- or a- is inserted onto the predicate (i.e. subject concord with or without object concord plus stem) in which the verb stem ends in -- i:

Abafuna kabawuthandi umsebenzi (The boys do not like to work).

Note the concord of the umu- class which assumes the ka (Wilkes, 2004). However, this is not always the case and the negative form may be used with or without an object concord anywhere in the sentence as long as it is attached to the verb (Wilkes, et al., 2007):

Umfana akakhali.

Lastly, express a command in the negative the auxillary verb musa (don't) can be used with an infinitive verb:

Musa ukuhamba (Don't go!)

In spoken Zulu, the -- a of musa is often omitted, while in the plural -- ni is suffixed to musa. Therefore, the negative element in command form always begins the sentence (Wilkes, 2004).

4. Word Order in subordinate sentences.

The subordinate clause does not convey the main action of the sentence. It is dependent on the main clause. There are in Zulu three forms of subordinate clauses each with their own word order: the noun clause, the qualificative clause and the adverbial clause. For the noun clause, the clause functions as if it were a single noun:

Ukuba knhona kuyafuneka (To be present is necessary).

Or as an object:

Ngiphpuha ngilele (I dream that I sleep).

Within the qualificative clause, the clause functions to validate another part of speech whether it is a verb or adjective:

Umuthi omude uwiswe ngumoya (The tall tree was blown over by the wind).

Lastly, the adverbial clause functions like an adverb, therefore it modifies the predicate or another adverb in relation to place, time or condition:

Nxa sifika bebesaxoxoa (When we arrived, they were still chatting).

Therefore, the subordinate clause in Zulu can be understood as a unique order in the sentence but rather existing to modification various parts of speech in relation to noun class and verb agreement (Poulous, 2004; Wilkes, 2004).

5. Order of the main and auxiliary verbs

As previously noted, the Zulu verb consists of a class prefix and a verb stem. In Zulu, sentences with multiple verbs can be formed as conjunctions. Some conjunctions are followed by a particular mood only (Nyembezi, 1970):

Uma egula uza kuya esibhedlela (If he is ill, he will go to the hospital).

A variety of conjunctions can be followed by and my mood, especially the indicative:

Izinkomo ibolile, futhi ziyahlatshwa (Cattle are milked, then they are slaughtered.)

Beyond conjunction, sentences with axillary verbs can be formed by comparison. Yet, in Zulu there are no degrees of comparison. To express comparison an adverbial form is used with kuna.

Inja yakho inkulu kuneyami (Your dog is larger than mine.)

In addition, the axiomatic negative can be formed in Zulu. In the negative the noun as object without its initial vowel and without its object concord follows the predicate (Nyembezi, 1970):

Kabafuni lutho

6. Prepositions or postpositions? Or both?

Zulu is unique in that it has no prepositions like in English or other European languages. Instead, the same function is conveyed by the use of locatives. Some examples are eduze (near), emuva behind) and the prefix -- pha:

Bahlexi phakathi kwendlu (They are seated inside the house).

Bakhe emva kwthu (Stand behind us)

Therefore "prepositions" in Zulu can exist either before or after the verb depending on the structure employed (Wilkes, 2004).

In addition, it is important to understand the use of the locative -- kwa, as in kwaZulu. This concord can be used with nounds of the u-/o- class to indicate "place" and can be used as a relative or possessive stem.

7. Genitive Noun / / Noun Genitive (Possessor-Possessed / / Possessed-Possessor).

In Zulu, the genitive is formed when a possessive concord is prefixed to a noun. This means that the vowel of the possessive concord modifies the initial vowel of the noun (Wilkes, 2004):

Za with izinja becomes zezinja (of the dogs)

However, this structure does not apply to all noun classes. In the nouns of class -- u, the possessive concord consist of the subject concord plus -- ka:

Izimvu zikamalume (Uncle's sheep).

The structure is also different for nouns of class -- o, where the prefix is retained but the -- a- of the possessive concord is discarded:

Abantwana bomalume (Uncle and company's children).

Therefore the genitive can be understood as highly variable on class in determining word order.

8. Noun-Adjective / / Adjective-Noun

The adjective in Zulu consist of an adjective concord based on each noun's class and an adjective stem. The adjective stem together with its concord is a single word which qualifies a noun:

Amanzi amaningi (Much water).

In regards to sentence structure, the adjective can both follow or precede the noun:

Amaningi amanzi (Much water).

However, it is important to note that the adjective may be preceded by a locative -- ku, a possessive concord and secondary prefixes. This results in the possessive concord losing their final -- a- before the adjective concord:

Nesincane (with a small one) Or Ngabakhulu (with the big ones)

9. Relative Clauses - Precedent / / Precedent - Relative Clause

The relative in Zulu consist of a relative concord and a relative stem. The relative stem in contrast to the adjective stem options is much more expansive. These relative stems can be divided into primitive stems (e.g. ngcono (better)), nominal relative (e.g. -- makhaza (cold)), secondary derivations (e.g. njengalaba (like these)), locatives (e.g. -kubo (by them)) along with possessives, demonstratives, and verb stems (e.g. -- hambayo) (Poulos, 1999). The relative stem together with the relative concord form one single word which qualifies a noun:

Igazi elibomvu (red blood)

Relatives, like adjectives, can take secondary prefixes and qualify secondary derivation. Combinations of secondary derivations are also possible:

Yiya kwabasemsebenzini (Go to those who are at work).

In discussing relatives, it is important to note that any verb stem may be used as a relative stem. The concord, like that with other relative stems, is placed before the verb stem, and in certain cases, usually at the end of the clause, the suffix -- yo is included:

Ingane ekhalayo (A baby that cries)

Relative clauses can also be formed:

Umfana osebenazyo ulala ekhaya (The boy who works, sleeps at home).

10. Order of Name and Surname

Names and surnames exist within class 1a, therefore he common prefix to zuluize a name is -- u:

uJames

In general, surnames precede proper names, for example the King:

Uzulu kaCetshwayo

This is similar to the structure of place names, which often come from the locative form. For example South Africa becomes iNingizimu Afrika.

11. Suffixes or Prefixes

A verb stem can be understood to assume various shades of meaning by adopting different suffixes. Such suffixes can be seen as verb extensions. One such as extension is -- an- which expresses the English "one another." The extensions are suffixed to the root or the extended root of the verb:

-shayana (beat each other)

The reciprocal verb stem is used in two ways: a) with a plural object and b) with a subject which consists of two parties concerned with each other:

Abantwana nabafazi bayathandana (The children and women like ach other).

In a less complicated fashion, the suffix -ana can be used to express the diminutive:

Indodana (a son)

Similarly, -anyana can express the very small:

Injanyana (a very small dog).

Therefore, in Zulu the suffix can be seen as functioning much like a prefix does in English by modifying the part of speech in question. Its position in the sentence is less important than in English due to the agglutinative nature of Zulu.

12. Expression of Possession

The possessive expresses possession of an object. In Zulu, it consists of a possessive concord which refers to the noun which is the grammatical possession and a stem which expresses the grammatical possessor (Molteno, 1997):

Inja yami. (my dog), where inja is the noun, ya- possessive concord of inja and mi- the possessive stem which indicates who is the possessor.

In short, there is a possessive concord for each noun class, formed by the subject concord with the possessive stem. It is interesting to note that the possessor can be expressed by nearly any word that can act as a possessive stem, e.g. nouns, adverbs and a possessive pronominal stem (Dent and Nyemebezi, 1969):

Wa/umuntu becomes womuntu (a person's)

Za/ithu becomes zethu (our's)

These concords can be understood as the English "of" or possessive "s":