In Zande there is a particle ni which has two syntactic functions. The first one is that of an ana¬phoric pronoun (cf. ex. 1. for its use as a possessive pronoun) which is neutral with regard to gender, number, and syntactic function. The second function is that of a copula (ex. 2. and 3.). My hypothesis is that this copula has developed in a process of grammaticalisation from the anaphoric pronoun. The aim of the present paper is to outline this development and the conditions which allowed for it to take place
