# Adapting and Writing Language Lessons/Appendix N

APPENDIX N TO CHAPTER 5
LEARNER'S SYNOPSIS OF SWAHILI
(with John Indakwa and John Thiuri)
The content of this appendix is taken from materials prepared for use at the Foreign Service Institute. The original experimental edition was completed in 1967, but the material has been completely rewritten in 1971.
The general purpose of the synopsis is to enable people to retain some orientation to the forest while they are contemplating several of the larger trees. To this end, we have given the same description twice: once in continuous prose form (reproduced here in its entirety), and once with examples and self-testing frames. only a few selections of this second, rather bulky presentation are given here.
A LEARNER'S SYNOPSIS OF SWAHILI STRUCTURE TO THE STUDENT
This Learner's Synopsis of Swahili Structure is an active introduction to the language. It assumes no prior knowledge of Swahili. In its present form, the entire synopsis with no examples is given in continuous, paragraphed form on pp.261-271. Numbers within this version refer to the interrupted exposition on pp.272 - 283. The latter consists of pairs of pages. The left-hand page of each pair repeats the exposition, adding examples. On the right-hand page opposite each section, there are simple ‘frames,’ of the kind found in many self-instructional programs, by means of which the student can check his comprehension of the material on the left-hand pages. some of these frames will be quite easy. Some, however, will require reflection, and rereading of the left-hand page. It is hoped that, by providing some kind of intellectual challenge, and thus involving the reader, this introduction will qualify as 'active.'
Because Swahili pronunciation offers comparatively little difficulty to speakers of English, it is not treated here.
The vocabulary in each version of the synopsis has intentionally been kept very small. The words in this version are chosen from among those that the student is most likely to encounter in reading newspaper accounts of meetings.
The synopsis contains many internal cross—references. In addition, it contains references to further information in E. 0. Ashton, Swahili Grammar (1944) and E. C. Polomé, Swahili Language Handbook (1967).
CONTENTS OF SYNOPSIS
| OVERVIEW | 1-5 |
| NOUNS AND OTHER SUBSTANTIVES | 6-27 |
| The system | 6-27 |
| The classes | 8-16 |
| The concords | 17 |
| Sets of words showing concord | 18-27 |
| Demonstratives | 18 |
| Possessives | 19 |
| Adjectives | 20-21 |
| Relative amba- | 22 |
| Verbs | 23-26 |
| Pronouns | 27 |
| VERBS | 28 |
| Prefixes | 29- |
| Tenses | 29-41 |
| Relatives | 42-27 |
| Infinitives | 48-50 |
| The meaningless ku | 51-52 |
| Negation | 53-61 |
| Locative enclitics | 62 |
| 'To have' | 63-65 |
| Abbreviated forms of ﬁg: 'be' | 66 |
| Emphatic copula | 67 |
| Compound tenses | 68-70 |
| Concords without antecedents | 72-76 |
| Extensions | 77-82 |
​1/ The most common type of sentence in Swahili contains an 'inflected verb phrase.' This phrase may consist of a single verb (par. 29 - 35), or of two verbs (par. 68 - 69).
2/ The sentence may or may not contain a subject expression, 3/ and it may or may not contain object expressions. 4/ It may also contain references to time, manner, etc., but these will give the learner relatively little difficulty.
5/ The parts of Swahili grammar that require most effort from speakers of European languages are (1) the requirements of 'concord' which exist between nouns and other words (including verbs) that are related to them in the sentence, and (2) the internal structure of the verb phrase. 'Concord' is treated in sections 17 - 26 of this synopsis; the verb phrase is covered in sections 28 - 70.
6/ Historically, the concord system is basically alliterative; that is, the same prefix is repeated with all of a set of words that are in agreement with each other. On this basis nouns are divided into a number of 'classes.' The alliterative relationship still shows up clearly in one of the noun classes. 7/ In most classes, however, sound changes that have taken place over the centuries have obscured the alliteration, and made the picture more confusing,
8/ All nouns in the MU-WA class stand for people. All verb infinitives (par. 48f) have the prefix ku: and take concords of the KU class. Almost all members of the U class are abstract nouns with no plural, but some nouns in this class stand for concrete objects and have plurals in the N class. 9/ None of the other classes has any obvious overall meaning, although certain tendencies are worth remembering. 10/ Diminutive nouns are sometimes in the KI—VI class, and ​augmentative nouns are sometimes in the LI-MA class. 11/ Many nouns are derived from verbs by putting them into the MU—MI class or into the MA class, often with a change of the final vowel to 9, 12/ Names of plants are often in the MU-MI class, and the corresponding fruits are often in the LI-MA class. 13/ Many nouns borrowed from English or Arabic are in the N class.
14/ Three of the concordial classes have meanings that relate to location. These classes are unlike the other classes in that they contain no nouns, except for mahali 'place' in the PA class. The PA class has to do with definite place or position, the KU class with direction or indefinite or wider place, and the MU class with location inside something. If a noun is put into any of these three classes, it takes the suffix -ni; instead of a prefix. Whether it is in the PA, KU or MU class must be determined by looking at the words that agree with it, if any.
15/ some nouns that stand for people or animals exhibit some characteristics of one class, but other characteristics of another class. Thus, some personal nouns have the prefixes of the KI-VI class, but words that agree with them have concords appropriate for the personal (MU-WA class). 16/ some nouns denoting close kin have no prefix in the singular (as in the N class) and either no prefix (N class) or ma (LI-MA class) in the plural. The words that agree with these nouns may have prefixes of the N class or of the MUHWA class.
17/ The actual form of a concordial prefix changes according to the stem or other element to which it is attached. Table l is a summary of the principal variations. The full forms of some of the most important word types are given in sections 18 - 26. 18/ The words that agree with nouns include ​
TABLE 1
| | NOUN MARKERS | NOUN MARKERS | CONCORD MARKERS | CONCORD MARKERS |
| Class | Bef. Cons. | Bef. Vowel$^1$ | Bef. Cons. Bef. Vowel$^1$ |
| 1 | m(u)$^5$ | mw | | w |
| 2 | wa | w$^4$ | wa | w$^4$ |
| 3 | m(u)$^5$ | mw | u | w |
| 4 | mi | mi | i | y |
| 5 | ji,#$^2$ | j | li | i |
| 6 | ma | m$^4$ | ya | y |
| 7 | ki | ch | ki | ch |
| 8 | vi | vy | vi | vy |
| 9 | N$^3$ | ny | i | y |
| 10 | N$^3$ | ny | zi | z |
| 14 | u | w | u | w |
| 15 | ku | kw | u | kw |
| 16 | (suffix) ni | (suffix) ni | pa$^4$ | p |
| 17 | (suffix) ni | (suffix) ni | ku | kw |
| 18 | (suffix) ni | (suffix) ni | m(u)$^5$ | mw |
1 Under certain circumstances, the markers that occur before consonants also are found before vowels:
| Nilikipna. | 'I saw it (Cl. 7).' |
| viatu | 'shoes' |
2 The symbol # stands for the fact that most nouns of Class 5 have no overt marker at all when the stem begins with a consonant.
3 Classes 9 and 10 have no special prefix syllable for nouns, but many nouns in this class begin with a nasal sound (/m, n/ etc.).
4 when a stem begins with the vowel /i/ (e.g. /ingi/ 'many') and the prefix ends with /a/, the vowel that is pronounced is /e/: /wengi, mengi, pengi/, instead of the nonexistent */waingi, maingi, paingi/.
5 Coastal standard pronunciation of these prefixes is with syllabic /m/, but the pronunciation /mu/ is often heard also.
​demonstratives, 19/ possessives, 20/ adjectives with stem-initial consonants 21/ and with stem—initia1 vowels, 22/ and the relative word amba- (par.47). 23/ Within the verb, agreement with nouns is required for subject prefixes (par. 28), 24/ object prefixes (par. 28), 25/ and relative prefixes (par. 28, 42). 26/ Present locative forms (par. 66), though they are related to the verb -w— 'be,' have a different subject prefix for the singular of the MU~WA class.
27/ There are non-possessive personal pronouns for first, second and third person, singular and plural. These refer only to people, not to things.
28/ A simplified diagram of the verb phrase is in Figure 1.
Figure 1
| SUBJECT PREFIX (23) | TENSE PREFIX (29-41) | The verb /-w-/ (70) | FINAL VOWEL (36, 56) | SUBJ. PREFX (23) | TENSE PRFX (29, 34, 68-71) | [OBJ. PRFX] (24) | STEM (77-82) | FINAL VOWEL (36) |
The [ ] stands for the fact that the object prefix is often optional. The arrow stands for the fact that in any given verb phrase, both of the subject prefixes must be the same.
Figure l
29/ The principal tenses of Swahili are indicated by means of prefixes. Certain of these tenses are 'independent.' This means that if a verb is the only verb in a sentence, it must be in one of these tenses. Five independent tenses have prefixes that begin with a consonant. These are the E3
tense (present), the li_ tense (past), the t§_ tense (future),
264 ​the me tense (perfective) and the nge tense (potential).
30/ One independent tense prefix consists of the vowel -a- . This is one kind of ‘general present‘ tense, and is partially interchangeable with the na tense (above, par. 29 ). 31/ A third 'present tense' which is used only in talking about regular, characteristic or permanent actions and states. It begins with hue, and is unique in having no subject prefix.
32/ Two important tenses are 'dependent.' This means that a verb in one of these tenses cannot be the only verb in the sentence. For some reason, speakers of English generally neglect these tenses, resorting instead to paraphrases of what they are accustomed to in their native language. 33/ One of the dependent tenses has the prefix -ki- . It is sometimes translatable as 'if,' sometimes as 'when,' sometimes as 'while.' A good first approximation to its translation is '...ing.' 34/ The ki tense is often used instead of the tense as the second verb in an inflected verb phrase (see par. 68 - 70). 35/ It may also be used as the only verb in a subordinate clause.
The ka tense is used for one or more actions that are subsequent to some other action in the past. The first verb in such a series is in the li tense.
36/ one tense functions sometimes as a dependent tense, but sometimes as an independent tense. This is a noncommittal tense, which does not specify time, nor even whether the action will take place at all. It has no tense prefix. For verbs whose present tense forms end in -a , the noncommittal tense ends in -e. 37/ For other verbs, there is no vowel change. 38/ The noncommittal tense may be used by itself in making a suggestion. 39/ It is also used after -taka 'want,' —omba 'request' and many other verbs where the subject of the first ​verb is not the same as the subject of the second. 40/ It is also used after a number of individual words, such as lazima 'necessary' and afadhali 'it were better that...' 41/ The noncommittal tense is usually called the 'subjunctive.' It is in fact partly similar to the tenses that go by that name in some European languages. There are differences, however, the most important of which is that the Swahili 'noncommittal tense' is much easier to handle than a French or Spanish 'subjunctive.'
42/ Relative verbs are dependent also, but in a different way. They may be in any of several tenses (par. 29 ), and take the places normally occupied by verbs or adjectives. The characteristic affixes (except one) have the vowel -o-. 43/ In relative verbs that correspond to the a tense, the relative affix stands at the end of the word. 44/ In all other tenses, it stands between the tense prefix and the object prefix (if there is one). 45/ The future relative has the tense prefix -taka- instead of -ta-. 46/ The present relative of the verb -w- 'be' is irregular. The relative affix stands at the end, as for the a tense (par. 43), and the stem is -li-instead of -e-. 47/ One-word relative forms exist in the affirmative only for the na , li , ta , and a tenses, and in the negative only for the present. For the other tenses (and optionally for these also), relative constructions consist of amba- plus relative affix, followed by the non-relative verb.
48/ The form by which a Swahili verb is usually cited is called the infinitive. It begins with the prefix ku , and may have an object prefix, but no subject or tense prefixes. 49/ In its use, the infinitive resembles European 'infinitives,' but when it is used as a noun it takes its own special ​concord (see par. 8, 17).
50/ When two verbs are in consecutive independent clauses and have the same tense and the same subject, the second may be put into the infinitive. (Speakers of European languages seldom catch on to this useful trick.)
51/ What is historically the ku of the infinitive shows up in yet another way in affirmative tenses when the stem of the verb is monosyllabic (-pa'‘give,' -wa 'be, become,' -ja; 'come,' -fa; 'die,' -la 'eat' etc.). The word stress always falls on the next-to-last syllable of a word. But there are certain prefixes which never take word stress. They are egg: , -na- , -li- , -ta-, -me- and -nge- (par. 29 ), and the relative prefixes (par. 42 ). If one of these would otherwise be the next-to-last syllable of the verb, then the meaningless syllable ku is inserted (from a historical point of view, 'retained,' and not 'inserted'). 52/ In the same tenses, if there is an object prefix, the meaningless ku is not needed.
53/ The most troublesome thing about Swahili verbs is the way they form the negative. There are two different problems connected with negatives. One is that the negative tenses don't correspond exactly to the affirmative tenses. There is only one negative to go with the na , a , and hu tenses (par. 29, 30, 31, 56). 54/ The negative of the me tense may be formed with -ja- or with -ku-, depending on the meaning. In this latter case, it is identical with the negative of the li tense.
55/ The other problem with negatives is that the learner should be prepared to find that each negative tense is formed in its own peculiar way. (It isn't quite that complicated, but if one starts with that assumption, then the similarities ​among the tenses will stand out as welcome relief.) 56/ The change of the final vowel from -a to -i is used in the negative present, and only there. This is also the only negative tense that has no negative prefix after the subject prefix. 57/ The negative prefixes -ja- and 133: are found in only one tense apiece. 58/ The prefix -si- is found in the noncommittal tense (par. 36 — 41), the negative relative of the present tense, and in one way of making the negative of the nge tense. 59/ Negative infinitives are unique in using -to-. 60/ The negative that corresponds to the ki tense (par. 34, 35 ) contains the prefix combination -sipo- . It is thus a present negative relative form (par. 58 ) with the concord of the PA class (par. 74 ). As is explained in par. 74, the use of this concord without an antecedent refers to time or place. 61/ The pre—prefix ha- stands before the subject prefix in most tenses, but haplus the first person singular subject prefix ni_ (par. 23) comes out si-.
62/ Verbs that have to do with location may have locative 'enclitics' representing any of the three locative classes (par. 14, 23). These stand at the very end of the verb, after everything else.
63/ The Swahili construction that most often corresponds to the English main verb ‘have’ consists of -w- 'be' plus 33 'with.' 64/ When the subject prefix is in one of the locative classes, this construction is usually translated 'there is, was, etc.'
65/ In place of the relative phrases aliye na 'who has' or palipo na ('where there is' (par. 46,6H), Swahili often uses a concordial prefix with the stem -enye 'having.'
​66/ The verb -w- 'be, become' differs from all other Swahili verbs in that certain of its present tense forms are, in most of their uses, drastically abbreviated.
67/ The forms ni 'is, are, am' and si 'is, are, am not,' which we have described as optional abbreviated forms of -w- 'be' (par. 66 ), are usually called respectively the affirmative and the negative 'copu1a.' Swahili has a construction that is like these copular constructions except that it is emphatic.In this construction, instead of ni or si, we find ndi- or si- with the relative affix (par. 42 ).
68/ Swahili has a very handy and very logical way of making time relationships more precise by using inflected verb phrases with two words (par. 28). In any such phrase, the first of the two words sets the time generally: past, present or future; the tense of the second verb is relative to the time established by the first. 69/ If the second verb is future in relation to the first, then the noncommittal tense (par. 36 - 41) is used, and not the ta tense (par. 29 ). 70/ In the construction of these phrases, certain things are always true: (1) the first word is a form of -w- 'be, become;' (2) the second word may contain any root, including -w- ; (3) no other word may stand between the two; (4) the subject prefixes of the two verbs are identical. when the second verb in this construction is also a form of -w-, it may turn up as the abbreviated form ni (par. 66-7). But parallel to each of these sentences is another, identical except for the absence of ni, which is virtually synonymous with it.
71/ A two-word inflected verb phrase in which -w- 'be' has its stem form -li (cf. par. 46 ) preceded by the ​prefix -nga- conveys the idea that an action is still going on.
72/ The only frequently-occurring feature of verb prefixes that remains to be covered is the way certain class concords are used with no noun of that class to refer back to. This can be mystifying at first, but once learned it is highly useful. 73/ When the subject of a verb is an infinitive or a noun clause, it usually follows the verb, and when such a subject follows, the subject prefix is i- , as for the singular of the N class (par. 13, 17). This in some whys corresponds to one use of 'it' as the subject of certain English sentences.
74/ When the PA—class relative concord is used with no locative noun to refer back to, it usually refers to time and is translatable as 'when.' This may be true even with a subject noun like wakati 'time,' which is in the U-N class.
75/ When the VI—class concord is used with no VI-class noun to refer back to, it usually refers to the manner in which something was done. This may be true even when the VI-class word refers to a noun like jinsi 'manner,' which is in the N class.
76/ The concords of the MA class are sometimes used where the MA-class noun mambo 'matters' may be said to be understood in the context.
77/ But the Swahili verb has suffixes (or 'extensions') as well as prefixes, Students, teachers and textbook writers sometimes slight the extensions, for at least three reasons:
1. Extensions don't have to do with matters like time, affirmation and negation, or who is doing the action.
​2. Most of them lack a simple English equivalent. A root plus one extension may be translated quite differently from the same root with another extension.
3. Unlike the prefixes, some of the extensions vary markedly in their form.
78/ Nevertheless, extensions are in some ways of as much potential Value to a student as the prefixes are. Familiarity with them will do more than anything else (except possibly a knowledge of Arabic) to increase vocabulary, paticularly in reading and oral comprehension.
79/ A verb stem may contain no extensions, or one, or more than one. Some of the most common are the passive, 80/ the causative, 81/ the applicative, 82/ and the reciprocal.
​1. The most common type of sentence in Swahili contains an 'inflected verb phrase.' This phrase may consist of a single verb (par. 29 - 35), or of two verbs (par. 68 - 69). In the following examples, the inflected verb phrases have been underlined.
| Viongozi walikutana. | The leaders met one another. |
| Mkutano umemalizika. | The meeting has ended. |
| Viongozi walikuwa wamekutana. | The leaders had met one another. |
| Ulikuwa umemalizika. | It had ended. |
| Alikuwa ameanzisha mkutano. | He had opened the meeting. |
2. The sentence may or may not contain a subject expression. In these examples, the subject expressions are underlined:
| walikutana. | They met. |
| Wanachama walikutana. | The members met: |
| Wanachama hao wote walikutana. | All those members met. |
(Polomé, 159)
​1. In the following sentences, which word is probably the inflected verb?
| Viongozi walifika. | [walifika] |
| Rais aliondoka. | [aliondoka] |
| Chama kitaongozwa. | [kitaongozwa]] |
Which is the most likely translation for each of these inflected verb phrases?
| walishauriana: | they consulted? they had consulted? [they consulted] |
| walikuwa wameshauriana: | they consulted? they had consulted? [they had consulted] |
Which of the following is more likely to be translated into Swahili by two words: they have escaped? they had escaped?
* [they had escaped]
2. Pick out the subject expressions in these sentences:
| Chama kitaundwa. | [chama] |
| Ushirika mkubwa utaundwa. | [ushirika mkubwa] |
| Wengi wameuawa. | [wengi] |
​3. The sentence may or may not contain an object expression. In these examples, the object expressions are underlined:
| Walianzisha mkutano. | They began the meeting. |
| Kiongozi aliwahutubia wanachama. | The leader addressed the members. |
| Wanachama hawakukutana. | The members didn't meet. |
(Po1omé, 159)
4. The sentence may also contain references to time, manner, etc., but these will give the learner relatively little difficulty. Such expressions are underlined in the following examples:
| Mkutano ulifanywa jana. | The meeting was held yesterday. |
| Wote walikutana ofisini. | All met in the office. |
| Mkutano ulifanywa kwa moyo wa kusikilizana. | The meeting was held in a harmonious spirit. |
(Ashton 18, 125-32, 158-77, 195-200. Polomé 128-9, 145-47)
​3. Pick out the object expressions in these sentences:
| Walianzisha majadiliano. | [majadiliano] |
| Tulimaliza masomo yetu. | [masomo yetu] |
[before, after]
[resembles]
4. In the sentence:
Mkutano utafanywa kesho.
a good guess at the meaning of kesho would be: chairman? tommorrow? this?
[tomorrow]
The word ofisini has to do with: time? manner? place?
[place]
The reason why this Synopsis does not go into more detail about expressions of time, place and manner is that:
they are too complicated? they will not cause great trouble?
[both]
​5. The parts of Swahili grammar that require the most effort from speakers of European languages are (1) the requirements of 'concord' which exist between nouns and other words (including verbs) that are related to them in the sentence, and (2) the internal structure of the verb phrase. 'concord' is treated in par. 17 - 26 of this synopsis; the verb phrase is covered in par. 29 - 70. *****
19. Demonstratives must agree with the nouns to which they refer. There are three series of demonstratives, typified by huyu, huyo, and yule. The huyu series corresponds closely to many of the uses of English 'this, these:'
| mwanachama huyu | this member |
| wanachama hawa | these members |
| chama hiki | this organization |
The huyo series corresponds to 'that, those' when the noun is already sufficiently identified either by having been mentioned before, or by being near to the hearer:
| kiongozi huyo | the aforementioned leader |
| kalamu hiyo | that pen near you, or the aforementioned pen |
The yule series corresponds to 'that, those' when the noun is in need of further identification either through pointing, or through use of words:
| jumba lile | that building over yonder |
| kiongozi yule aliyeita mkutano | that leader who called the meeting |
​5. The parts of Swahili grammar that require most study are:
[the verb phrase]
[nouns, other words related to them)
18.
In the following English sentences, choose the Swahili demonstrative that would be needed in translating it:
| Do you see that bridge? | hili? hilo? lile? |
| | [lile] |
| What was that name? | hili? hilo? lile? |
| | [hilo] |
| What was that address? hii? hiyo? ile? |
| | [hiyo] |
| These people are waiting for you. | hawa? hao? wale? |
| | [hawa] |
| That meeting yesterday was long. | huu? huo? pale? |
| | [huo] |
| Come here! hapa? hapo? pale? |
| | [hapa] |
| He's over yonder. hapa? hapo? pale? | | [pale) |
​The actual forms of the demonstratives are given below, with the concordial part of each underlined:
| CLASS | huyu series | huyu series | huyo series | huyo series | yule series | yule series |
| | sg. | pl. | sg. | pl. | sg. | pl. |
| MU-WA | huyu | hawa | huyo | hao | yule | wale |
| MU-MI | huu | hii | huo | hiyo | ule | ile |
| LI-MA | hili | haya | hilo | hayo | lile | yale |
| KI-VI | hiki | hivi | hicho | hivyo | kiie | zile |
| N | hii | hizi | hiyo | hizo | ile | zile |
| U | huu | | huo | ule |
Locatives:
| PA | hapa | hapo | pale |
| KU | huku | huko | kule |
| MU | humu | humo | mle |
(Ashton 327 , 58-9 Polomé 106-7)
[ule]
If you can say kitu hicho, then you can also say _________ and _________.
[kitu hiki, kitu kile]
Fill in the blanks by referring to the left-hand page:
| mtu huyu | mtu _____ | mtu _____ |
| mto huu | mto _____ | mto _____ |
| mito hii | ___ _____ | ___ ____ |
| watu _____ | watu hao | ___ _____ |
| jimbo _____ | _____ _____ | jimbo lile |
| ___ _____ | kitu hicho | ____ _____ |
| maongozi haya | _____ ___ | _____ ____ |
| kiti _____ | ___ _____ | kiti kile |
| vyama ____ | ___ hivyo | ___ _____ |
| nyumba hii | ___ _____ | ___ _____ |
| nyumba hizi | ___ _____ | ___ _____ |
| kugoma huku | ___ _____ | ___ _____ |
| umoja ___ | ____ huo | ____ ___ |
The plural of kile is vile. What is the plural of:
[ile]
[hivyo]
[haya]
​CHAPTER 5 SYNOPSIS OF SWAHILI ***** 29. The principal tenses of Swahili are indicated by means of prefixes. Certain of these tenses are 'independent.; This means that if a verb is the only verb in a sentence, it must be in one of these tenses. Five independent tenses have prefixes that begin with a consonant. In these examples, the tense prefixes are underlined.
| Wanakutana. | They are meeting |
| Walikutana. | They met. |
| Watagkutana. | They will meet. |
| Wamekutana. | They (have) met. |
| Wangwkutana. | They would meet (if ...). |
(Ashton 35-8, 187 Polomé 115-7, 120)
***** 53. The most troublesome thing about Swahili verbs is the way they form the negative. There are two different problems connected with negatives. One is that the negative tenses don't correspond exactly to the affirmative tenses. There is only one negative to go with the pa, g, and Q3 tenses (par.39: 30. 31, 56).
| Wanakutana. | They meet/are meeting. (na tense) |
| Wakutana. | They meet. (a tense) |
| Hukutana. | They regularly/characteristically meet. (hu tense) |
| Hawakutani. | They aren't meeting/don't meet. |
(Ashton 70-2 Polomé 1149)
​Version with Examples and Self-Testing Frames APPENDIX N ***** 29. State whether each of the following verbs is FUTURE, PAST, PRESENT, PERFECTIVE or POTENTIAP in its tense:
| wamehudhuria | [PERFECTIVE] |
| tumehudhuria | [PERFECTIVE] |
| tutaonekana | [FUTURE] |
| ataonekana | [FUTURE] |
| angeonekana | [POTENTIAL] |
| angehudhuria | [POTENTIAL] |
| tulihudhuria | [PAST] |
| vitahusiana | [FUTURE] |
| ningejaribu | [POTENTIAL] |
One of the dependent tenses, to be discussed in a later paragraph, is represented by /wakihudhuria/. What is the
[-ki-]
53. Construct the negative forms that correspond to the following affirmatives:
| wanaondoka | ________________[hawaondoki] |
| kinajulikana | ________________[hakijulikani] |
Which could not be an affirmative counterpart of the negative form in the left-hand column?
| hakijulikani: | kinajulikana? | kilijulikana? | hujulikana? |
| | | | [kilijulikana] |
| hatuoni: | huona? | twaona? | tungeona? |
| | | | [tungeona] |
| hawawezi: | waweza? | huweza? | hutoka? |
| | | | [hutoka] |
​54. The negative of the me tense may‘be formed with -ja- or with -ku- , depending on the meaning. In this latter case, it is identical with the negative of the li tense.
| Wamekutana. | They met/ have met. |
| Walikutana. | They met. |
| Hawajakutana. | They haven't met yet. |
| Hawakutana. | They didn't meet. |
| Imeyunjika. | It has gotten / is broken. |
| Haikunjika. | It isn't broken. |
| Haijaunjika. | It hasn't gotten broken yet. |
(Ashton 70-2)
[it isn't spilt]
[it isn't spilt yet]
If jana means 'yesterday' then which of the following makes sense? Hawajakutana jana. Hawakukutana jana.
[Hawakukutana jana.]
[does not mean]