Research Articles

The increasing importance of animacy in the agreement systems of Ndengeleko and other Southern Coastal Bantu languages

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Abstract

The aim of this paper is to describe and analyze ongoing grammatical changes in the noun class system of the Bantu language Ndengeleko. Semantic considerations, specifically related to animacy, are of increasing importance in the choice of agreement. Also, there is flexibility in the choice of singular/plural pairings. Based on findings regarding animacy and this flexibility, it is claimed that noun class 6 in Ndengeleko is of derivational character. Moreover, a comparison regarding animacy distinctions is made with other southern coastal languages of Tanzania and Mozambique. Ndengeleko is under heavy pressure from Swahili, and from the general multilingual setting of coastal Tanzania. Intergenerational transmission is very low, making the future of the language look bleak indeed (Ström 2009). It is therefore an urgent matter to describe the different aspects of Ndengeleko grammar, before competence in the language diminishes further. This paper contributes a description of the different nouns with human and animal referents in the language, the noun classes to which they belong and their behaviour in terms of agreement. It analyzes the differences in application of CC/AC for animate nouns, and claims that the reason for this variation is found in the area of derivation.

Keywords: Bantu languages, endangered languages, Ndengeleko, animacy, agreement system, Tanzania, Mozambique

How to Cite:

Ström, E., (2011) “The increasing importance of animacy in the agreement systems of Ndengeleko and other Southern Coastal Bantu languages”, Language Documentation and Description 10, 265-287. doi: https://doi.org/10.25894/ldd198