Copulative verbs in Northern Sotho :a morphosemantic study

Abstract

The study aimsat finding out thecategorical status of copulatives in Northern Sotho. This will be achieved by examining the morphosemantic features of various copulatives. From a morphological perspective, thestudy focuses on the following types ofcopulative verbs: ke, se, ba, le, na, and COP. The study argues that the foresaid copulatives are not particles but are fully-fledged verbs. As far as the semantic nature of the copulatives is concerned, the study discovered a variety of meanings associated with copulatives, such as the following: the identifying, descriptive,locational and associative.

Lastly, the study contends that any research on the copulative in Northern Sotho should be a morphosemantic one, as previous studies focused on one and neglected the other.