Reviewed by Sabine Zerbian, University of the Witwatersrand

Caspar J. H. Krüger’s Introduction to the morphology of Setswana is a tribute to the rich morphology of a Bantu language spoken in Southern Africa. The book consists of thirteen chapters. In Ch. 1 (7–28), K introduces the language and draws attention to the problem of words and word classes in Bantu morphology. The controversy around word class identification is mirrored in the conjunctive and disjunctive orthographic systems employed for the Southern Bantu languages. K reviews the work of Clement Martyn Doke and E. B. van Wyk, two scholars who developed the criteria of word identification that K follows.

In Ch. 2, ‘Paradigmatic and syntagmatic morphology: A concise exposition’ (29–56), K introduces the basic morphological terminology. Using relevant examples from Setswana, K illustrates bound and free morphemes, grammatical and derivational morphemes, and word formation processes such as affixation and reduplication. Ch. 3, ‘Paradigmatic morphology of the noun’ (57–100), describes in detail Setswana’s rich noun class system, an excellent example of the noun class systems that Bantu languages are famous for. Ch. 4, ‘Noun class interchange’ (101–26), examines instances of words that change from one noun class into another. This change in class corresponds with a change in semantics.

Ch. 5, ‘Paradigmatic morphology of pronouns’ (127–46), addresses absolute, demonstrative, quantitative, and possessive pronouns in Setswana. Ch. 6, ‘Paradigmatic morphology of particles’ (147–52), deals with a word class that is signified by prepositions, conjunctions, and relative pronouns in English. K alludes to the controversy in African linguistics of whether or not these lexical items constitute autonomous words. The following three chapters, Ch. 7 ‘Paradigmatic morphology of conjunctions’ (153–60), Ch. 8 ‘Paradigmatic morphology of adverbs’ (161–64), and Ch. 9 ‘Paradigmatic morphology of interjections’ (165–66), are relatively short. Setswana has only a small group of genuine adverbs; most often adverbial specifications are expressed by particle phrases (discussed in Ch. 6).

Ch. 10, ‘Paradigmatic morphology of the verb’ (167–256), addresses the rich verbal morphology that is common for agglutinative languages. The verb is divided into three domains: prefixes, root, and suffixes. Verbal prefixes display subject and object agreement (which K discusses with the resulting sound changes) and can also mark aspect and tense. Verbal suffixes, which are most commonly discussed in current investigations on Bantu morphosyntax, have been analyzed as marking the causative, applicative, reciprocal, passive, iterative, and past tense. Indeed, K’s examination shows the richness of suffixes in this domain, although many suffixes are either unproductive or only semiproductive.

Ch. 11, ‘Paradigmatic morphology of the auxiliary verbs and copulative verbs’ (259–82), discusses two additional categories of verbs: auxiliaries and copulas. In his discussion of the copula, K follows the tradition of distinguishing between identifying, descriptive, and associative copulas. In Ch. 12, ‘Syntagmatic morphology’ (283–92), K provides morphological templates for the internal structure of nouns, verbs, and pronouns. Finally, in Ch. 13, ‘Word groups: components and combinatory rules’ (293–312), K delves into syntax for a discussion of the combination of two or more words that form cohesive units.

A suitable reference work for students and scholars of African linguistics, Introduction to the morphology of Setswana provides a detailed description of the language’s morphology, using many illustrative examples.