The Tones of Prefixes in Common Bantu

Africa ◽  
1954 ◽  
Vol 24 (1) ◽  
pp. 48-54
Author(s):  
A. E. Meeussen
Keyword(s):  
Special Form ◽  
Personal Pronoun ◽  
Bantu Languages ◽  
Verb Forms ◽  
Class 1 ◽  
Opening Paragraph

Opening ParagraphThose Bantu languages which show the greatest number of correspondences in their concord systems have three kinds of prefixes:1. Nominal prefixes, with m- in classes 1, 3, 4 and 6; they are used in nouns, locatives (as pre-prefixes), and adjectives.2. Pronominal prefixes, usually without m- in classes 1, 3, 4, 6 and without forms for 1st and 2nd person (except in the personal pronoun); they appear in all other concording words except principal (i.e. non-relative) verb forms.3. Verbal prefixes, usually without m- in classes 1, 3, 4, 6, with forms for 1st and 2nd person, and often with a special form in class 1 (e.g. a- as opposed to the pronominal prefix u- or yu-); they obtain as subject-prefixes in the principal verb forms.

The relative verb forms of Cuwabo (Bantu P34) as contextually oriented participles

Linguistics ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 58 (2) ◽  
pp. 463-491
Author(s):  
Rozenn Guérois ◽  
Denis Creissels
Keyword(s):  
Noun Phrase ◽  
Relative Clauses ◽  
Head Noun ◽  
Bantu Languages ◽  
Verb Forms ◽  
The Subject ◽  
North Western

AbstractCuwabo (Bantu P34, Mozambique) illustrates a relativization strategy, also attested in some North-Western and Central Bantu languages, whose most salient characteristics are that: (a) the initial agreement slot of the verb form does not express agreement with the subject (as in independent clauses), but agreement with the head noun; (b) the initial agreement slot of the verb form does not express agreement in person and number-gender (or class), but only in number-gender; (c) when a noun phrase other than the subject is relativized, the noun phrase encoded as the subject in the corresponding independent clause occurs in post-verbal position and does not control any agreement mechanism. In this article, we show that, in spite of the similarity between the relative verb forms of Cuwabo and the corresponding independent verb forms, and the impossibility of isolating a morphological element analyzable as a participial formative, the relative verb forms of Cuwabo are participles, with the following two particularities: they exhibit full contextual orientation, and they assign a specific grammatical role to the initial subject, whose encoding in relative clauses coincides neither with that of subjects of independent verb forms, nor with that of adnominal possessors.

Vowel raising in Basaa: a synchronic chain shift

Phonology ◽  
1996 ◽  
Vol 13 (2) ◽  
pp. 239-267 ◽  
Author(s):  
Deborah Schlindwein Schmidt
Keyword(s):  
Phonological Representation ◽  
Large Area ◽  
Bantu Languages ◽  
North East ◽  
The North ◽  
Equatorial Africa ◽  
Verb Forms ◽  
Vowel Raising

Like many of the zone A Bantu languages of western equatorial Africa, Basaa, which is spoken over a large area to the north-east and east of Douala, Cameroon, shows an inventory of seven surface vowels (Guthrie 1953). The Basaa forms cited in this article, all of which are found in the comprehensive Dictionnaire Basaa-Français (Lemb & de Gastines 1973), are transcribed using the vowel symbols in (1):These vowel symbols differ from those used by Guthrie only in that the hooks are eliminated from underneath his [i] and [u] and the dots are eliminated from underneath his [???] and [???]. I assume for these vowels the characteristics indicated in (1), where non-parenthesised feature specifications are a property of surface phonological representation and parenthesised feature specifications are default phonetic values. Following Hyman's (1988) analysis of Esimbi, another Cameroonian language containing these vowels in its inventory, I take [E] and [ɔ] to be low.The verb roots in (2) contain instances of each of the seven surface vowels of Basaa:Though bare verb roots may surface unsuffixed, suffixal extensions may also be added to give applied, passive, habitual, direct causative, indirect causative, simultaneous, associative, possessive, reversive, reflexive, stative and nominalised forms. Of interest to us is the vowel raising induced within the verb root when certain of these suffixal extensions are added. In (3) we see the CVC verb forms of (2) along with their corresponding applied and indirect causative forms:Other suffixal extensions that induce raising are the passive, direct causative, simultaneous, reversive and stative extensions. For example, these other suffixal extensions attach to /ten/, one of the verb roots in (3), to give [tina], [tinis], [tinha], [tinil] and [tiní], respectively.

scholarly journals On the aspectual system of Wushi (Babessi), a Ring Grassfields Bantu language of Cameroon

2021 ◽  
Vol 2 (2) ◽  
pp. 43-65
Author(s):  
Liliane Hodieb
Keyword(s):  
Multiple Time ◽  
Bantu Languages ◽  
Bantu Language ◽  
Verb Forms ◽  
Grassfields Bantu ◽  
Past Tenses

One of the characteristics of Bantu languages, including Grassfields Bantu languages, is their multiple time distinctions. Within the Ring Grassfields group, multiple tenses are also well attested. For example, Aghem has three past and two future tenses (Anderson 1979), Babanki has four past tenses and three future tenses (Akumbu & Fogwe 2012), as well as Lamnso’ (Yuka 2012). Oku has three past tenses and two future tenses (Nforbi 1993) and Babungo has four past and two future tenses (Schaub 1985). These tenses represent different degrees of remoteness in time such as hordienal, immediate, distant, etc. However, in spite of the indisputable lexical unity of Ring Grassfields Bantu languages (Stallcup 1980; Piron 1997), Wushi strikingly stands apart: it does not mark tense morphologically. As a matter of fact, the aspectual system of Wushi is based on five aspects: perfective, imperfective, retrospective or anterior, potential, and the distal or dissociative marker kə̀ that is analyzed in the light of Botne & Kershner (2008). This paper sets out to analyze these verb forms.

Early Bantu Ethnography from a Philological Point of View

Africa ◽  
1930 ◽  
Vol 3 (1) ◽  
pp. 31-48 ◽  
Author(s):  
N. J. v. Warmelo
Keyword(s):  
Point Of View ◽  
The Other ◽  
Bantu Languages ◽  
Clear Cut ◽  
Other Hand ◽  
Compact Body ◽  
The One ◽  
Opening Paragraph

Opening ParagraphFew of the secrets that Africa still holds from us to-day have, I think, such an absorbing interest as the problem of Bantu in its relation to the neighbouring families and types of speech. Taking the continent of Africa as a whole, we find on the one hand the huge, yet marvellously homogeneous and compact body of the Bantu languages, clear-cut in structure, simple and transparent in phonology, and, at the back of much apparent diversity, exceptionally uniform in vocabulary. On the other hand there are in Africa numerous other languages of various type, which differ so much amongst each other that they have not yet been brought under any but the very broadest of classifications. The essential points of these are as follows.

Inzuikizi

Africa ◽  
1935 ◽  
Vol 8 (4) ◽  
pp. 473-480
Author(s):  
Edwin W. Smith
Keyword(s):  
Bantu Languages ◽  
Opening Paragraph

Opening ParagraphIf we are to understand the firm belief in witchcraft we must first investigate the African's conception of ‘medicine’. In many Bantu languages the word for ‘medicine’ is identical with, or similar to, the word for ‘tree’, e.g. Zulu umuthi, Herero omuti, Lamba umuti, mean both ‘tree’ and ‘medicine’ ; in Ila musamo (plural misamo) is ‘medicine’ and isamo is ‘tree’. This points, I imagine, to the fact that most medicines are of vegetal origin.

The Pronominal Origin of an Evidential

Diachronica ◽  
1995 ◽  
Vol 12 (2) ◽  
pp. 201-221 ◽  
Author(s):  
Robert Botne
Keyword(s):  
Personal Pronoun ◽  
Person Pronoun ◽  
Bantu Language ◽  
Verb Forms ◽  
Third Person ◽  
Diachronic Analysis

SUMMARY Evidentials most commonly arise from reduced or reanalyzed verbs or tensed verb forms, particularly from performative verbs of saying or hearing. However, in a few seemingly rare examples, this is not the case. In this paper the author presents the case of two evidential particles —ambo and ampo — found in the Pangi variety of Lega, a Bantu language spoken in eastern Zaire. A diachronic analysis is proposed in which it is argued that ambo has derived from a third person personal pronoun. While the case of ampo is not as clear, it is proposed that it, too, ultimately derived from the same third person pronoun, but came into the Pangi variety of Lega via borrowing. RÉSUMÉ Les formes 'évidentiares' proviennent généralement des formes verbales réduites ou re-analysées, surtout des verbes performatifs de dire et de ouïr. Cependant, dans des exemples assez rares, ceci n'est pas le cas. Dans l'article actuel l'auteur présent le cas de deux particules 'évidentiares' — ambo et ampo — qui se trouvent dans le dialecte Pangi du Lega, langue bantoue de l'est du Zaire. Il propose une analyse diachronique dans laquelle ambo provient d'un pronom personnel de la troisième personne du pluriel. Bien que le cas de ampo n'est pas aussi clair, on propose que cette forme provient également du même pronom, mais à travers un emprunt. ZUSAMMENFASSUNG Sog. 'Evidentiale' rühren von reduzierten oder reanalysierten Verbalfor-men oder Zeitverben her, insbesondere performativen, die sagen oder hören zum Inhalt haben. Bei einigen, scheinbar seltenen Beispielen ist dies jedoch nicht der Fall. Im vorliegenden Aufsatz werden zwei Evidentialpartikel vor-geführt —ambo und ampo — die in Pangi, einem Dialekt des Lega, einer Bantu-Sprache des östlichen Zaire zu finder ist. Der Autor schlägt eine diachronische Analyse vor, derzufolge ambo von einem Personalpronomen der 3. Person stammt. Obgleich der Fall von ampó nicht vollends klar ist, wird doch vorgeschlagen, daß auch diese Form denselben Ursprung hat, auch wenn sie durch Entlehung ins Pangi gelangt war.

The Moon as a Symbol of Life and Fertility in Sandawe Thought

Africa ◽  
1969 ◽  
Vol 39 (1) ◽  
pp. 24-53 ◽  
Author(s):  
Eric Ten Raa
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
Material Culture ◽  
Religious Beliefs ◽  
The Other ◽  
Central Position ◽  
The Sun ◽  
The Moon ◽  
Bantu Languages ◽  
Opening Paragraph ◽  
Good And Evil

Opening ParagraphThe Sandawe of central Tanzania speak a click language which shows no relationship with the languages of their Bantu-speaking neighbours, nor with any of the other non-Bantu languages in the neighbourhood; rather, it may be remotely related to the Khoisan languages of South Africa, in particular to Nama Hottentot. Physically the Sandawe differ to a degree from their neighbours, and their closest affinities may again be with Hottentot peoples. Sandawe material culture also differs to a degree from the cultures of their neighbours; like them, the Sandawe have an economy which largely depends on cattle-keeping and horticulture, but it is less sophisticated and their reliance on food-gathering and hunting is still considerably greater. Considering this difference in background it would be not at all surprising if their system of beliefs also showed differences. Comparisons cannot yet be profitably made, however, because little has so far been published about Sandawe religion, except a paper by van de Kimmenade and some details which can be found in the writings of Dempwolff and Bagshawe. In his ethnographic survey Huntingford draws our attention to the lack of knowledge of Sandawe religious beliefs, pointing out that these have been imperfectly recorded; yet he recognizes that the moon (láb′so or !áoso) and the sun (//′akásu) occupy a central position in Sandawe religion, which he summarizes as follows:It appears that the sun and the moon are regarded as supreme beings, and that propitiatory sacrifices are made to the ancestral spirits who can do both good and evil to mankind.

scholarly journals Deutsche Teil- und Regrammatikalisierung

2018 ◽  
pp. 31-47
Author(s):  
John Ole Askedal
Keyword(s):  
Initial Position ◽  
Middle High German ◽  
Personal Pronoun ◽  
Old High German ◽  
Verb Forms ◽  
History Of ◽  
Syntactic Status ◽  
The Way

The present paper deals with some putative cases of so-called ‘halted’ or ‘arrested grammaticalization’ in the history of German. The following phenomena are discussed: Old High German perfect auxiliaries; the modals ‘shall’, ‘will’ and the transformative copula werden as sources of future auxiliaries in Old, Middle and New High German; some shortened verb forms in Middle High German; the Old High German etc. pronoun of identity der selbo used as a demonstrative or personal pronoun; the inflection of determiners, quantifiers and adjectives in New High German; Old High German thô, dô and Middle High German ez as syntactic ‘place-holders’ in sentence-initial position; the syntactic status of the German so-called ‘ethical dative’; and the demise of Old High German -lîhho, Middle High German -lîche as an adverb-forming suffix. It is claimed that certain general language-specific, ‘characterological’ patterns influence the way in which the grammaticalization developments in question are halted or, sometimes, given another direction by way of regrammaticalization.

European and Bantu Languages in South Africa

Africa ◽  
1939 ◽  
Vol 12 (3) ◽  
pp. 308-319
Author(s):  
C. M. Doke
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
The Other ◽  
Bantu Languages ◽  
Cultural Aspects ◽  
The Future ◽  
The Subject ◽  
Opening Paragraph

Opening ParagraphThe future of the Bantu languages in South Africa is a question often discussed both by Europeans interested in them and by thinking Natives who use them. The ideas and views expressed on this question are extremely varied, for the subject has its economic and political aspects as well as its natural and cultural aspects, and to-day there is a tendency, particularly among the educated and semi-educated Natives, to stress the economic and political at the expense of the other aspects.

Kinship Terminology and the Initial Vowel

Africa ◽  
1959 ◽  
Vol 29 (3) ◽  
pp. 253-262 ◽  
Author(s):  
W. H. Whiteley
Keyword(s):  
Personal Relationships ◽  
Bantu Languages ◽  
Full Study ◽  
Opening Paragraph ◽  
Kinship Terminology

Opening ParagraphAmong a number of interlacustrine Bantu languages the nominal prefix is commonly of a shape V1CV2 (vowel, consonant, vowel). It is convenient to refer to V1 as the ‘initial vowel’ of the prefix, even where—as in Class 9—the prefix comprises only a single vowel or a vowel followed by a nasal. In certain contexts the prefix has been noted to occur without this initial vowel, and while no full study of such contexts has yet been made, the recently published Luganda Grammar establishes a number of practical rules for the omission of the ‘Initial Vowel’. Here, there is a reference to the ‘…loss of the I(nitial) V(owel)…to distinguish certain nouns when indicating close personal relationships…’, but there is no further reference to the important series of contexts provided by kinship terminology.

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