Accessing the Greek verbal system through the Shona verb: toward a Bantu approach to Biblical Languages

Abstract

As with any other language, mastering biblical languages such as Greek remains a challenge in Africa. Meanwhile, many African languages hold keys to a better experience in teaching and learning biblical languages. Accordingly, this study proposes a Bantu-based approach to teaching and learning biblical Greek for effective delivery and better mastery. In this study, by means of comparative linguistics, the verbal system of Shona, one of the numerous Bantu languages spoken in Southern Africa, is used to demonstrate correspondences with the biblical Greek verbal system. Elements of special interest in the two languages’ verbal systems relate to signification codes for tense, voice, mode, person, and number. The study is premised on the understanding that the verb is the heart of any language. The basic assumption of the study is that since both Shona and biblical Greek verbal systems are conjugated in comparable ways, something which English lacks, using Shona to teach or learn biblical Greek in the Zimbabwean context should be effective. The study proposes that this method be similarly tried with other Bantu languages and the other two biblical languages: Hebrew and Aramaic. In the end, there may be a need to produce biblical language grammar written with Bantu languages as their base, especially considering there is no substitute for learning in one’s own language.