Introduction

This chapter attempts to classify modes of conjugation; choice of terminology cannot but be arbitrary and tentative. In an article in Afríca, M. A. Bryan suggests the possibility of a substratum underlying a number of languages, some of which differ very considerably from each other in their present state, and which she calls ‘the T/K Substratum’, named after the two most outstanding morphemes observed. In some languages, vowels may be grouped into Close and Open Categories. In some languages words exist without Prefixes and Suffixes, in others Prefixes and/ or Suffixes are an essential part of the word. In many other languages there are Adjectives in their own right, with or without specific Formative Affixes, and sometimes falling into Tone Classes. Personal Pronouns are an important item in Vocabulary comparison; but in certain languages the actual forms of the Pronouns are of less importance than their overall pattern.