A diachronic perspective on the identifying copulative in Bantu.

Abstract

Identifying copulative constructions in Bantu can be classified into three broad categories, viz. nominal copulative structures, copulative structures in which invariable copulative prefixes appear as copulas and copulative structures in which copulative verbs function as copulas. In this article the diachronic relation between these three types of identifying copulatives is investigated. It is indicated that nominal copulative structures represent the prototypical copulative structure in Bantu and that it forms the pragmatic starting point from which other copulative constructions developed. It is further indicated that the development of copulative structures forms part of a process of grammaticalisation, according to which discourse structures are reinterpreted as syntactic structures, with accompanying rise of morphological marking strategies.