A Comparison of Approaches to Word Class Tagging: Disjunctively vs. Conjunctively Written Bantu Languages

Abstract

Northern Sotho and Zulu are two South African Bantu languages that make use of different
\nwriting systems, viz. a disjunctive and a conjunctive writing system respectively. In this
\narticle it is argued that the different orthographic systems obscure the morphological
\nsimilarities and that these systems impact directly on word class tagging for the two
\nlanguages. It is illustrated that not only different approaches are needed for word class
\ntagging, but also that the sequencing of tasks is to a large extent determined by the difference
\nin writing systems.