- Email: [email protected]
Swahili grammar and syntax
REVIEWS
- COMPTES-RENDUS
445
ALFONS LOOGMAN, C. S. Sp., Swahili grammar and syntax. Duquesne Studies, African Series No. 1, Duquesne University Press, Pittsburgh, Pa.; Editions E. Nauwelaerts, Louvain 1965. v-xxi, 3-436 pp. Price: $ 7.50. The Rev. Prof. Loogman is eminently qualified to write on Swahili, which is perhaps the best known of all Bantu languages. He has spent 37 years in East Africa speaking and writing the language, teaching it to native Swahilis and using it as medium of instruction in a wide variety of subjects. A perusal of his book soon impresses the reader with the wealth of material which Prof. Lo%~-nan has managed to collect and to analyse. This and the detailed explanations of grammatical rules, as well as the careful translations of all examples, prove the author's intimate knowledge of the language. In his introduction the author states that experience convinced him that existing grammars were inadequate as descriptions of genuine Swahiii idiom because they forced the grammaticM categories and syntactical analyses of classical and modern European languages on Swahili. A fresh approach is needed and this the author attempts to offer in his book. The writer of the dust cover enlarged on the theme, claiming that Prof. Loogman's book is 'the first grammar that approaches the language from within, that is, on the basis of the peculiarities of the Bantu languages and not on those of Latin or English grammatical rules.' After this introduction the reader may reasonably" expect to find some interesting new concepts, b sed on a sound knowledge of Bantu linguistics and of linguistk method in general. It is, therefore, with some disappointment Lhat one realizes that the book contains very little that is new. In fact, it appears that the author's approach is much closer to the system of European grammar than those of quite a few other wnters on Swahili, such as, for example, Mrs. Ashton, to mention only one. l) This is obviol~s from the very first paragraph, in which the 'sounds' of Swahili are described on the unimaginative basis of the Roman alphabet! Compared to, for example, Tucker and Ashton's comwehensive analysis of Swahili phonetics, 2) Prof. Loogman's descrip~ !on could harcllv be regarded 1) E . O . Green and 2) A . N . vol. I, nos.
Ashton, Swahili Grammar (~ncluding Intonation). (Longm~ns Co., L o n d o n - N e w York-Toronto, 3rd ed., 1949). Tucker and E. O. Ashton, ":',vahili Phonetics (African Studies, 2 and 3, 1942). This publica .-ion, incidentally, is not referred to
446
REVIEWS - COMPTES-RENDUS
as 'new'. The author himself refers to his treatment of conjunctions and adverbs as an example of his fresh approach.3) However, it is well known that these two parts of speech give rise to m a n y differences in treatment, n o t only in Swahili and other Bantxl languages, •but also in m a n y non-Bantu languages. Apart from this, and a few minor personal touches which could reasonably be expected in even the most orthodox publication of this nature, the most notable attempt at innovation would seem to be the use of Swahili terms for the differenlt parts of speech. It is difficult to appreciate, however, the virtue of speaking of viima instead of nouns! It seems that what the author really intended saying in his introduction was that Swahili idiom was neglected in existing books on the language. This would explain his insistence on the view that a .tefinitive grammar, which will, inter alia, 'express the mentality of the Swahili people themselves,' can only be written b y a nativebore., Swahili student.4~ It is debatable, however, whether it is the task of the grammarian to try expressing "the mentality of a people! To do this is a worthy object in itself, but to do so under the aegis of hnguistics would seem rather inappropriate. It is a pity that the exaggerated claims of the author serve to obscure the real value of the book, i.e. an honest, quite conservative and essentially unsophisticated handbook for the student who wants to learn the language. Had it been called A Course in Swahili or A Handbook o/Swahili the title would have been much more appropriate than the rather misleading Swahili Grammar and Syntax.
The University o/Pretoria
E. B. VAN WYK
in the bibliography. Neither is any of Meinhof's well k n o w n comparative works, which include much material on Swahili. This is r a t h e r surprising in view of ~Le fact t h a t relatively u n i m p o r t a n t works, ~uch as C. F. Tastevin's Petite cl,,l des langues a[ricaines (Vanves. 1946) are included. s) Cf. p. vii,
4) Ct. p. vii.
- COMPTES-RENDUS
445
ALFONS LOOGMAN, C. S. Sp., Swahili grammar and syntax. Duquesne Studies, African Series No. 1, Duquesne University Press, Pittsburgh, Pa.; Editions E. Nauwelaerts, Louvain 1965. v-xxi, 3-436 pp. Price: $ 7.50. The Rev. Prof. Loogman is eminently qualified to write on Swahili, which is perhaps the best known of all Bantu languages. He has spent 37 years in East Africa speaking and writing the language, teaching it to native Swahilis and using it as medium of instruction in a wide variety of subjects. A perusal of his book soon impresses the reader with the wealth of material which Prof. Lo%~-nan has managed to collect and to analyse. This and the detailed explanations of grammatical rules, as well as the careful translations of all examples, prove the author's intimate knowledge of the language. In his introduction the author states that experience convinced him that existing grammars were inadequate as descriptions of genuine Swahiii idiom because they forced the grammaticM categories and syntactical analyses of classical and modern European languages on Swahili. A fresh approach is needed and this the author attempts to offer in his book. The writer of the dust cover enlarged on the theme, claiming that Prof. Loogman's book is 'the first grammar that approaches the language from within, that is, on the basis of the peculiarities of the Bantu languages and not on those of Latin or English grammatical rules.' After this introduction the reader may reasonably" expect to find some interesting new concepts, b sed on a sound knowledge of Bantu linguistics and of linguistk method in general. It is, therefore, with some disappointment Lhat one realizes that the book contains very little that is new. In fact, it appears that the author's approach is much closer to the system of European grammar than those of quite a few other wnters on Swahili, such as, for example, Mrs. Ashton, to mention only one. l) This is obviol~s from the very first paragraph, in which the 'sounds' of Swahili are described on the unimaginative basis of the Roman alphabet! Compared to, for example, Tucker and Ashton's comwehensive analysis of Swahili phonetics, 2) Prof. Loogman's descrip~ !on could harcllv be regarded 1) E . O . Green and 2) A . N . vol. I, nos.
Ashton, Swahili Grammar (~ncluding Intonation). (Longm~ns Co., L o n d o n - N e w York-Toronto, 3rd ed., 1949). Tucker and E. O. Ashton, ":',vahili Phonetics (African Studies, 2 and 3, 1942). This publica .-ion, incidentally, is not referred to
446
REVIEWS - COMPTES-RENDUS
as 'new'. The author himself refers to his treatment of conjunctions and adverbs as an example of his fresh approach.3) However, it is well known that these two parts of speech give rise to m a n y differences in treatment, n o t only in Swahili and other Bantxl languages, •but also in m a n y non-Bantu languages. Apart from this, and a few minor personal touches which could reasonably be expected in even the most orthodox publication of this nature, the most notable attempt at innovation would seem to be the use of Swahili terms for the differenlt parts of speech. It is difficult to appreciate, however, the virtue of speaking of viima instead of nouns! It seems that what the author really intended saying in his introduction was that Swahili idiom was neglected in existing books on the language. This would explain his insistence on the view that a .tefinitive grammar, which will, inter alia, 'express the mentality of the Swahili people themselves,' can only be written b y a nativebore., Swahili student.4~ It is debatable, however, whether it is the task of the grammarian to try expressing "the mentality of a people! To do this is a worthy object in itself, but to do so under the aegis of hnguistics would seem rather inappropriate. It is a pity that the exaggerated claims of the author serve to obscure the real value of the book, i.e. an honest, quite conservative and essentially unsophisticated handbook for the student who wants to learn the language. Had it been called A Course in Swahili or A Handbook o/Swahili the title would have been much more appropriate than the rather misleading Swahili Grammar and Syntax.
The University o/Pretoria
E. B. VAN WYK
in the bibliography. Neither is any of Meinhof's well k n o w n comparative works, which include much material on Swahili. This is r a t h e r surprising in view of ~Le fact t h a t relatively u n i m p o r t a n t works, ~uch as C. F. Tastevin's Petite cl,,l des langues a[ricaines (Vanves. 1946) are included. s) Cf. p. vii,
4) Ct. p. vii.