UKZN Academic Co-edits Bantu Languages Guide

Professor Jochen Zeller of the Discipline of Linguistics within the School of Arts co-edited the recently released: The Oxford Guide to the Bantu Languages.

Zeller’s co-editors were Professor Lutz Marten of the School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS) in London, Dr Ellen Hurst-Harosh of the University of Johannesburg, and Professor Nancy C Kula of Leiden University in The Netherlands.

Outlining the objective of the guide, Zeller said: “Our aim is to offer a detailed and in-depth state-of-the-art account of our current knowledge of Bantu languages. By covering descriptive, theoretical and comparative topics as well as topics in sociolinguistics and applied linguistics, the guide provides a panoramic view of research in the field.”

Weighty in size and content, the book took over 10 years to complete from the initial proposal to publication. “Completing this book was a feat as it includes 81 chapters, written by 96 authors, with a total of 1 196 pages,” said Zeller.

Adding to its uniqueness is the inclusion of chapters on many different topics from diverse areas of research on Bantu languages. The book covers traditionally well-researched fields in linguistics, such as linguistic typology, morpho-syntax and phonology, but also lesser studied areas, such as semantics and pragmatics, as well as topics in socio- and applied linguistics.

Zeller says he and his co-editors are particularly proud of the fact that many of the chapters have been written by African authors and authors from African universities, including South Africa. As the editors write in the book’s introductory chapter: “Research on Bantu languages is strongly grounded in research on the continent, and this needs to be reflected in a handbook such as the guide.”

One of the key objectives was to represent the diversity of scholarship in Bantu linguistics. To achieve this, the editors kept track of the authors’ academic affiliations, examining how different locales of knowledge production are featured in the work. “We are pleased that the largest group of contributing authors is affiliated with African institutions, reflecting the inevitably strong scholarship on Bantu languages in the Bantu-speaking area,” said Zeller.

Other than Zeller, the following three honorary researchers affiliated with the School of Arts at UKZN have written chapters in the book: Professor Nhlanhla Mathonsi, Dr Stephanie Rudwick and Dr Rozenn Guérois.

Dr Jean Paul Ngoboka, one of Zeller’s former PhD students, now at the University of Rwanda in Kigali, also has a chapter in the book.

Zeller reveals that there is discussion around a possible launch of the guide later this year or in 2026 but says that it is currently available for sale on www.amazon.com with the online version of the book ready at the end of October.

“We hope that through this widespread collection of authors, the guide will contribute to the diversity of scholarship and to the further decolonisation of our field of study,” added Zeller.

Words: Jennene Naidu

Photographs: Supplied