AN OUTLINE OF CHITONGA

GRAMMAR

HAZELCARÍER

Series
Editor:MUBANCAE.KASHOKI

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 TABTE OF CONTENTS

FOREWORI) vl

PEOPLE AND DIALECTS

SOI]ND SYSTEM AND ORTIIOGRAPIIY 1

VowELS 3
CONSoNANTS 3
Murmuror 'BreathyVoice' 9
SOUND ALTERNATÍoNS (.CHANGES'oR PHoNoTAcTIcs) l0
Vowel Sequences l0
Regular
Alternations ll
LessCommon Alternations 12
VowelHarmony 12
Consonant andConsonant * Vowel Sequences
andAlternations 13
HomorganicNasals t3
PermittedandExcludedSequences IJ
Prenasalisation
of Consonants IJ
NasalDeletion 14
NasaÌ+ Vowel:Meiúof s Rule t4
Consonant Harmony l5
TONALSYSTEM l5
High and Low Tones; Neutral and DeterminantTonemes 15
The Tonal Syllable 16
Tone Sequences 17
Downdrift 17
Crescendo 11
Downstep t7
Raising t7
Lowering;Effectof Depressor
Consonants t8
MORPHOLOGY l9
NoMINALS 19
Nouns 19
TabÌeofNoun Classes 2l
NounFormationProcesses 23

Ill
 Stabilisation(CopulativeForms,NounPredicates) 24
Tableof StabilisingElements 26
Class Concordial Elementsin the Nominal System 28
Adjectives 28
PossessivePrefixesandStems 35
TableofAdjectival PrefixSeriesandPossessive Concords )I

Pronouns,Demonstrativesand Vocatives 38
Seriesla and lb pronouns 38
Series2a and2b demonstrative adjectives/pronouns 39
Series3a and3b demonstrative adjectives/ onouns 40
Vocaliveprefixes 4l
TableofPronouns,Demonstratives andVocativeAffixes 42
Nominal Affixes 43
Link eìementa- 'and,with, by' 43
-nzí? 'what kind ofl' 44
VERBALS 44
Strong and Weak Forms 45
Verbal Root, Stem and Infinitive 45
Verb Root Extensions 46
Passive 46
Relational 47
CausativeI 47
CausativeII 48
Reciprocal-Associative 48
Intensive 48
Neuter-Potential 49
Perfective 49
ReversiveandNeuteÌRêversive 49
RepetitiveandNeuterRepetitiYe 50
FrequentativeandNeuterFrequ€ntâtive 50
Pseudo-extensions 50
pairings:
Transitive/lntransitive JU
Class Concordsin the Verbal System 51
VerbalSubjectPrefix(SP): 5l
RelativeSubjectPÌefix(RSP): 52
' VerbalObjectConcord(OC): 52
RelativeObjectConcord(ROC): 52
TableofClassConcardsin the VeÍbalSystem 54
TYPESoF VERBFoRM 55
Presenü{Future 56

IV
 Nearor HodiernalPast 58
Remoteor Prehodiemal Past 58
Future 58
Imperative 58
Subjunctive 59
Hortative 59
Completives 60
NegativeInceptives 6l
Relativeforms 6l
Subjective(Direct)Relative 6l
Objective(Indirect)Relative 62
Participles 63
bu- + Y91l 31sm
64
TemporalForms 65
Conditionals 65
ì i 'be ' 67
'Have' 69
PARTICLES
7r
Interjectivesor exclamations: 7l
Ideophones 7l
SYNTAX 72
ìüoRDoRDER
72
Relatives,Temporals IJ
InvertedRelative I'
QuEsnoNs 74
LISToF TERMS 77
WoRKscoNsULTED 83
 FOREWORD

There hasbeena lack ofup to datedescriptivegrammarsof Zambian languages

suitablefor use, either as teachingor as leaming aids, at all levels of the
Zambianeducationsystem.This lack has been keenly felt by teachersand
leamersalike. Many of the grammarsthat are availablecould be said to bê
inadequateor inappropriatein severalrespects.The oldest onesvr'erewritten at
a tirne when Latin or Europeanlanguagesgenerallywere consideredto be úe
prototype of all grammars, and thus they tended to bo pattemed in their
arrangement,description and the terminologr employed on Latin-based
grammaticalrules.Otherswerewritten in a styleand languagewhich presented
seriousproblemsof comprehension In a goodmanycases,the
evento teachers.
actual examplescited were unnatural, forced or not in accord ìvith accepted
usage.At the presentmomentmanyoftheseworkshavelong beenout of print.

In order to put in the hands of the teachers and learners grammatical

descriptionswhich reflected more nearly the structuralfacts of their language,
during 1970-71,the Survey of LanguageUse and LanguageTeaching in
grammaticaldescriptionsof the
Zambiaanemptedto providecomprehensible
seven Zambian languages offrcially prescribed for use in education,
broadcastingand literacy progrâmmes.The authots who volunteeredor were
approached to write them were specifically instructed to employ a
comprehensible style and to keep technical terminolory to úe absolute
minimum.The generalreaderwas clearly in mind. It is hopedthat with the
publishingnow of the grammaticaloutlinesof iciBemba,silozi, cNyanja and
chiTongathe originalintentionof providinggrammaticaldescriptions
of appeal
to a wide audience,bothlay andprofessional,
will havebeenachieved.

As originally conceived,sevengrammaticalsketchesrepresentingall the seven

officially approved Zambian languages,plus sketchesof Town Bemba and
Town Tonga,were to havebeenpublishedasPaí One in a projectedthree-part
volume of Language in Zambia, incorporatingthe findings of the Zambia
Language Survey. In the event, it was found necessaryin the interest of
reducing bulk and cost to abandonthe original plan and to arrangeto publish
the sketchesseparately.Indeed,publishingtllem separatelyhasthe advantageof
makingthemavailablein a convenient,lessbulky sizesuitablefor both teacher
andstudenthandling.

The Institute for African Studies (now the lnstitute of Economic and Soçial
Research),Universityof Zambia,publishedin 1977 Language in Zambia:
Grammatical Sketches, Volume l, containing grammatical sketchesor
outlines of iciBemba and kiKaonde by Michael Mann and JL Wright
respectively, plus a sketch of the main characteristicsof Town Bemba by
. Mubanga E Kashoki. The plan at úe time was to publish subsequentlytwo
follow-up volumes:first, Volume 2, to containsketchesof silozi and Lunda
and Luvale and second, Volume 3, to contain sketches of ciNyanja and
chiTonga.In the event this plan was not adheredto. Only one volume was
publishedin accordancewith the original plan and this hasbeenout of print for
sometime now.

It isin part for thesereasonsthat it hasbeenconsidêredneoessaryto attendto

the unÍinishedbusinessinitiated some two decadesago. Also, and more
pertinently, úe need for pedagogicaland reference grammaÍs of Zambian
languagescontinues to be keenly felt. The matter has now been made more
urgent following the recent(1996) decisionof the ZambianGovernmentto
revertto the earlierpolicy of usinglocal (i.e. Zambian)languages
plus English
as a mediaof instruction. As now re-arranged,in orderto achievewhat is felt to
be a morelogical arangement,four gÍammaticalsketchesof iciBemba,silozi,
ciNyanjaandchiTongahavebeenpublished.

Co-sponsoredby úe Institute for African Studies, (the pÍesent Institute of

Economic and Social Research,University of Zar$ia), the main volume,
Language in Zambia, was publishedin 1978 by the lnternationalAfrican
Institute (AI) partly subsidised by funds from úe Ford Foundation. The
Institutegratefullyacknowledges
the permissiongrantedby the Foundation,
úe
sponsorsof the languagesurvey of which tlre material published herein is a
partialoutcome,to havethe sketches
publishedseparately.
Gratitudeis alsodue
to úe auúors of the sketchesfor their contribution in a field in which much
remainsto be done.

Other acknowledgementsare due to Bookworld Publishersfor publishing the

sketchesin collaborationv/ith the Institute;to the editors of Language in
Zambia, SirarpiOhannesssian
and MubangaE Kashoki,for carryingout the
bulk of the necessaryinitial editorial work; to Dr. Tom Gorman who was
detailedto bring a generalstylistic consistencyto úe sketches;and to the
secretarialInstitute staff for preparingúe typescript. Above all, the eventual
publication of the sketchesowes much to úe Zambian Govemment in
particular the Ministry of Education,and to the University of Zambia for their
interestand support and for providing a conduciveenvironmentin which
fruitful research work could take place during the life of úe Survey of
LanguageUse and LanguageTeaohingin Zambia.

Mubanga E Keshoki
Pr.ofessorof African Languages
INSTITUTE OF ECONOIVtrC A"Iì{DSOCIÂL RESEARCH
UNTVERSITY OF ZAMBIA
EDITOR

lx
 PEOPLEAND DIALECT'

The language name Chitonga* ((i)ci-Tonga) covers a number of varieties

(i)bá-Tongr.
spokenmainly in SouthernZambiaby peoplewho call themselves
In the slassification of Bantu languagesby Guthrie (1971:57) it is given as
M.64 in the knje-Tonga group.It is closelyrelatedto other languages
spoken
in the vicinity, notablyIla to the westandLenjeand Salato the noÉhandoast.
The numberofTonga speakers
is cunentlyestimatedat 800,000.

Within úe Tongaarea((i)bú-Tonga),úere are dialectaldifferencesin sound

system,grammar and vocabulary.The greatestdiflerences are betweennoÍh
and south,the so-called'Plateau'and 'GwembeValley' varieties,but thereis
someeast-west
variationaswell.

SOUNDSYSTEM
AND ORTHOGRAPHY

Speakersof different dialectsoften usethe samespelling to representdifferent

sounds,for instance,the spellingsJprepresents
Soutlem [sy] and northern[hv],
the lattersometimesspeltiy or /r. Italicisedlettersshoworthographic(spelling)
symbols;thosein squarebracketsshowpronunciation(phones).In explaining
sound alternations('sound-changes'),symbols in slashes/.../ show úe
underlyingsounds,or phonemes.
Sinceeveryvowel in Chitongais the nucleus
of a separatesyllable, double vowels rather than lengú signs are used in
ohoneticbrackets.
t In confoÍmity with the 1977Ofrcial Orthographythe editor hassubstitutedChitongafor Tonga
(which is úe term used by Hazcl Cartçr)i Tonga is used here as an adiçclive except before
grammarand orthography,whereChilonga is Íetained,
 Soundsare presentedin alphabeticalorrderof úe cuÍrent spelling system,but
with vowels first. The context of a symbol, wheúer it is initial (at úe
beginning), between vowels or adjacent to other consonant symbols, may
determineits interpretation.For instance,the symbol ó rêpresentsone soundif
initial or betweenvowels, another if precededby ur, und yet a third ìühen
doubledasáó.

Much work remainsto be done on Tonga sounds.Somemay be described

in
more than one way e.g.f(w). In somecasesmoÍe analysisis neededto be
sure
of the features,e.g.the variouspronunciations
ofd úe phenomenon of partiat
devoicing as in bb, and the occurrenceof murmur (breaúy voice,). The
followingshouldonly be takenasa provisionaldescription.

Tone-markingand úe meaningof.depressorconsonant'areexplainedon pages

15 and 18 rÊspectively.Murmur is repÍesentedby two dots beneaththe
symbol
of the murmuredsound,thus [w]; seefurther on page9. A list of teÌms used
to
describesoundsis givenat the endof this outline.

Chitongaorthographyincludesa numberof digraphs, a device in spelling

where two charactersrepÍesentone sound, such as zÉ for
[4] and ay for [p].
There are also trigrephs, úree lettersrepresentingone sound,as zrun, for
ffi
(where nt repres€ntsthe nasalisation).True sequencesof consonants
are dealt
with on pages13-15.
 vowELlt

a [a] a low centralvowel: imaanga[imaalga] 'twins'.

e [e] a mid front unroundedvowel; ipepe [ipepe] 'feather'. It tends to be
fower when it is the last syllable in a word with high tone: ndíné lndimal
'it is I'.
t [i] a high front unroundedvowel: ízírndi [ímíindi] 'shins'.
o [o] a mid backroundedvowel: bóobofF,ôofi,ol'thus,
Iike that'.
a [isusu]'hair (ofhead)'.
[u] a high backroundedvowel:rsrzsu

Note: the vowel a forms a patternwith the high vowels i and z in the Vowel
Harmony system (see prye 12) and with the back vo\rr'elsu and o in the
system(seepage14).
nasalisation

CONSONANTS

[b], a voicedbilabial' plosivewhen following m: ulaamba[ulaamba]'you

speak';
[B] or [b], a voiçed bilabial fricative2or light plosive when word-initial,
bóobu ffióo$ul or [boobu] 'thus, like this', or between vowels, ibantu
[iBantu] or [ibantu] 'people', or betweenvowel and approximanC:íhibyala
[íyúByala]or [íyúbyala]'to sow'.

voicedor halÊvoicedbilabialplosive:ulabbala
áó [bb] or [bp], a reinforceda
t
lulabbalal'you sg are reading'.óó is a depressor
consonantand may have
murmurrathorthantruevoicing:[b.b]or [bp].

' madewith the lips touçhing eachother.

2 the air passageis narrowcdso that there is audibl€friction.
' soündwithout friction or plosìon.
{ utteredwith force, 2
 [c] or [õ], a voicelesspalatalrplosive or palato-alveolafafÈicatewhen
followingwrittenn: íncili [í1tcilí]or [ínõili] 'mortar';

[j], a voiced palatal fricative when initial or betweenvowels: iciztn [ijintu]

'thins'.

[cc] or [éë], a reinforced voicelesspalatal plosive or palato-alveolar

affiicate:ccitá lccítáL)
or [õõiú] 'l don't know'.

[d], a voiced alveolarplosivewhen following n: ícílúndu tíjitundul .hill,

hillock';
[dd] or [dt], a reinforcedvoicedor half-voicedalveolarplosivewheninitial,
or betweenvowels, or betweenvowel and approximant doonó fddooni\ or
[dtoonó] 'until; perhaps';idilwe fiddilwe) or [idrilwe] .tuneral'; íhjtdweba
[ílúddweí]alor [ílúdtweBa]'whistle'. In thesecontextsd is a depressor
consonantand may havemurmur ratherthantrue voicing: td-dJor td1l.

Í(w) tWl, [hl, can be describedas eiúer a voicelesslabio-velar3

approimang

. or a labialisedvoicelessglottalafricative, i.e. [h] with lip-rounding or

'voicefessw'as in English'which': üfwiilwi [ááryiíryi],[ááh*tíh*i] ,near',
ícifnua lijívyuwal, [íjíh*uwa] 'bone'. Precedingnt representsnasalisationof
the consonant,and often of the precedingand following vowels: ímúIámfu
[ímúlã{ú] 'tall (person)';ímáámfwa[ímáã{ã] ,epilepsy'.p ís often not
written whenz or a follows: ikufwoomaor ikufooma,tohiss'; ímáfuta, oil,
fat'.

g [g], a voicedvelarplosiveafterw rittenn: inguzu fir;guzu].strength,;

I aÍiculatçdat or nearúe
centralupperpartofthe mouth
'articulatedbetweentheteethridgeandthehardpalate
' in whichboththe lips andlhc velum(softpalaüe) areinvolved
' aÍticulatedin the glottis, the openingbetweenthe vocal cords
 [gg] or [gk], a reinforcedvoicedor half-voicedvelarplosivewheninitial, or
between vowels, or between vowel and approximant: gigayila!
[ggaggayila] or [gkágkayila] 'hammer inl' ígondo [íggondo], [ígkondo]
'knee', ílúgwalo [ílúggwalo],[ílúgkwalo]'letter'. In thesecontextsI'is a
consonantandmay havemurmurratherthantrue voicing: [gg]or
depressor

tekl.

[h]: the symbolú is sometimesusedin an altemativeúy spellingfor the

northem pronunciation of sy, and to reprêsent úe [h] alternative in
séna-héna,a questionindicator. Seealsozú.

[i] or [ï], a voiced palatal plosive or palato.alveolaraffricate, when

followingwrittenn: ibunjaka[iBu$aya]or [iBunjaya]'gossip';

Iül or tÍjl, a reinforcedvoiced or half-voicedpalatalplosive or palato-

alveolar aÍfricate, when initial, between vowels, oÍ between volvel and
jáyal fiiáyal or fiiáya]'kill!', ijulu [ijitút] or [i$'ulu]'sky',
approximant:
í7w; [{jwi] or [íjjqi] 'voice, word'. In the latter casef is a depressor

consonan!andmay havemurmurratherthantrue voicing:[jc], [õ]; zj also

in someinstances.
appearsto be a depressor

[k], a voicelessvelar plosiveafter written n: inhtmo [iqkumo] 'forohead';

[y], a voiced velar fricative when initial or betweenvowels, or between
vowel and approximant kiápa Uâi+al 'grandfaúer', íhúkakalíyíryayal'ro
refuse', íkwíitafiywíital 'to call'.

f* ftkl, a reinforcedvoicelessvelar plosive: ícíkko fíiil<kol 'freplace'.

 [] or [r], a voicedalveolarlateralrapproximantor alveolarflap; sometimes
with a retroflex2 articulation - [U or [f]; ikulila [iytlila] or [iyurira] .to
weep'.

[m], a bilabialnasalwhenbeforea vowel,or a bilabialplosive,ímdmpamba

[ímámpamba]'buttermilk',oÍ ! oÍ w: .to
[íyúmya4kuta] lick';
zl before written rf or y representsnasalisationof the precedingvowel and
followingconsonant;
seef(w),v(w).

[n], an alveolar nasal when before a vowel náa lnáal .whether, if, or r:
bosónwe[Bosánwe]'Íive (people,animals)', or an alveolar consonanL
íhilundula fiyílundulal 'to run', ,n msi [imunsi].pestle';

[p], a palatal nasal when a palatal consonant follows:. íncínga [í3cí4ga]

'bicycle' ([ínõípga]when c is palato-alveolar);ihmyementa [iyuyemenwa]
'to be got angrywith';
[j], a velar nasalwhen a velar consonantfollows: ínkanka trlkalkal ,peg',
ánga fâ\gal'as if, Iike'.
The symbol z written before sy, qy in the northern dialect also represents
nasalisation
ofthe precedingvowelandthe followingconsonantandvowel.

[g], a velar nasal:ínluinda [íjánda] .house,.Somewriters useúe phonetic

chffalúeí, asUanda.

ny r[gl, a palatalnasal:inyeele[ipeele] ,trumpet'.

p \pl, a voicelessbilabial plosive: imapopwe[imapopxe].maize,mealies,

corn'.

' the mouth passageis btockedin the middlÊby the tongue

" utüeÍedrvith the tonguecurled backagainstthe hard palate
6
 [s], a voicelessalveolarfricative:tsltsa[isusu]'hair (of head)';seealso ú
andsy.

tsyl or [y], [hv], in the south[syl, a voicelessalveolarfricativefollowedby

[y]; elsewhereM ot [hy], a soundwhich can be describedas either a
voicelessglottalfricative,i;e.
voicelesspalatalappioximant,or a palatalised
'voicelessy' as in English 'huge': ílúsyomo[ílúsyomo] or [ílúyomo]-
a nasalisedvariant of the
[ílúhvomo]'hope'. In the north, ttsJ represents
consonant;the nasalisationmay also extendto one or both of the vowels
eiúer side: ikulansyaliyulã!ál 'to lengúen'.

/ [t], a voicelessalveolarplosive:ímútéte[ímútéte]'youngersibling of same

sexasÍeferentperson'.

v\e) [w], [fit, can be describedas either a labio-velarapproximantwith

murmur (breathy voice), or a voiced labialised glollal fncttive: ímávu
p is often not vr'rittenwhen o or n
[ímáwu] or [imáô*u] 'earth, soil'.
follows: ikuvobeia 'to applaud'; ikuvuba 'to tame; to become rich''
Preceding,Ìt representsnasalisationof the consonant,and often of the
precedingand following vowels: icimvule tijÍ{ülel-[ijïn*üle]'shadow';
íkimvwa [íyü{a]-[íyiiÂ*a]'to hear''

n, [w] a voiced labio-velarapproximantwhen initial; betweenvowels, or

following a velar consonant:w&ila! [waála] 'throw!" ímúwo linúwof
'wind, breeze',ìgwezo liggwezol 'shoulder', rcise,bwe
[ijiseywe] 'cage',
rcinlcwa[ijilkwa]' bread';

[x] a voicelessvelarfiicative afterp: ipupwafipupxa]'lung';

 [y] a voiced velar fricative after á and bb: ímbwa [ímbya.] ,dog,, ibbwe
[ibbye] 'stone';
tq1, tVï, a rounded palatal approximant, alternatively described as a
labialisedpalatal approximantwhen following palatal consonantsoúer than
the ãpproximant lyl fiVi tíytail-fijjy*il.word'; some
speakershave this
pronunciaiion afteralveolarsalso:ízswi [ínsqi]-[ínsy*i] .frsh'.
All varieties of w are accompaniedby more or less lip_rounding. The
symbol u is also written after the charactersJfandy to indicateliprounding;
seef(w) andv(w) above.

[y], a palatal approximant(except in the digraÉs hy, ny, sy,ry): ihryanda

[iyuyanda] 'to like, to love'; ikunyemya[iyulremya] .to makê anCry,. [y]
tendsto be quitelong whenfollowing anotherconsonarú: íhúlya[íyílyal,to
eat' soundsalmostasif it consistedof four syllúles.

[p], an alveolarfricative wiú murmur when following n; inzila fin_zìlaf;

lnl or Lzsl,a reinforced alveolar fricative wiú murmur or initial murnuÍ,
when word-initialor betweenvowels,or betweenvowel and approximant:
zína! [V1ímafor [zsíma] 'extinguish!', Leza fle7,1alor ,God,, ízwì
[lezsa]
[ízwi] 'knee' (not the4y digraph,q.v.).Bothzz andz aredepressors.

[fyl or [y], [fiv], an alveolar fricative with murmur followed by tyl

(Southem),and elsewherea sound variously describedas a murmurcd
palatal approximant,or a palatalisedmurmuredglottal fricative (northem):
itusinizyo[ilusinizvo]or [ilusinyo]-[ilusinâvo].truth'. In the north, n4y
representsnasalisationof the consonant,the nasalisationmay extendto one
 or bothof the vowelseitherside:.j*abinzyaliylutiíi.ãl'to causeto hurry'.

Notes:
i) Voicelessplosives(or stops)[p], [t], [k] havesomeaspirationuponrelease
ofclosure.
ii) For phoneticdescriptionI have retainedthe term reinforced (Hopgood
1953:56)for the 'greaterforceof articulation'displayedby consonants
such
as óó, which may resultin loss.ofvoicingor murnur duringthe latterpart
of the articulation.The doubledcharacteris also retained,lhere being no
othersatisfactory Ì
rneansof representation,
havestrongpalatalon- and off-glides:hinjila fkílyrjila)
iii) Palatalconsonants
'to enter'; hencealso the pronunciationof p after a palatal:,jwi tij\i]
'voice,word'.

Murmur or 'Breathy Voice'

bb, d, g, j, v, z; aÍe or may be accompanied
The consonants by murmur,also
knownas 'breaúy voice', a kind of'roaring' producedby partialclosureof the
vocalchords.Trying to imitatean owl's call,or producea 'ghostly'effect,often
resultsin this voicequality.It is represented
by two dotsbeneaththe symbolof
the murmured sound, thus [W]. Murmur is also characteristicof certain
for instance,the nasalprefixedto a noun or relâtive
grammaticalprocesses;
verb to give it stability (úe meaning'it is' or 'úey are') will have murmur
added:
ibantu'(the) people' lrqbmtjul 'they arepeople'
ry2bantu
ncót$tánda 'what we vr'ant' 4cót4tánda [pcótQyánda]'it is what we
want'

I Thc term geminateis usedfor the abstÍactor underlyingrcpresentation

of (surface)reinforced
consonanls.
 is not indicatedin the currentórthography.
.This

Murmuredsoundscannotbe utteredon a high pitch,thereïorea high toneon a

vowel adjacentto a murmured('depressor')consonant will haveeitherrising or
falling pitch, accordingto which side of the vowel the murmuredconsonant
lies; in manycasesthe high pitch is loweredaltogether:

núlímónzi? .whatkindofwork?,
t- \llor[- _-l
In the presentwork, 'lowered'high tonewill be shownasl' l: múlímüaí? See
furtheron page18.

SOUND ALTERNATIONS ('changes' or phonotactics)

Soundsof coursedo not 'change',but they may be replacedby differentsounds

as a result of being adjacentto particularvowels or consonants,
or for other
phonologicalreasons.

Vowel Sequences
Vowel alternations
takeplaceregularlywithin words:
/tulaendalis pronounced
and spellastuleenda.wewalk, we arewalking'
andlessoftenat wordj uncture:
básúne+ abábwa is often pronouncedbásún' aabábwa .oxen and
dogs'(butnotusuallywrittenso)

The results of these processesvary as betweennorth and south. Il the

following, bracketedforms are those found mainly in the south;this dialect.
sometimes
showsdifferentresultsfor word-internalandword_iunctural
cases.
 Regular Àternations

Sequence Replacement Example

/ul+ lal > waa /ku+amba/ kwaamba 'to state,to speak'
lv/+ lel > wee ,&u+enda./ kwemdq ïo walk, to travel'
lú+ lil wii /ku+inda,/ Lwiinda 'to pass,to surpass'
tul+ lol > oo 4ru+ona,/ koona 'to sleep'

/a/+ lel > ee /tu+la+enda./ tuleenda 'we walk'

(/aJ+lil > ii /tu+la+inka,/ tuliinka 'we go'
ee kútebba+ínkuni > k?itebb' éénkuni 'to gaúer firewood')
/al+ 1sl > oo /tu+la+ona,/ taloona 'we slêpt'
Qal+ lvl > uu /tu+la+ula/ tuluula 'we buy')

ll+ lal > yaa ki!+bi+â-bV KADyAADI 'very badly'

> yee /mi+endo/ myeendo 'legs'
' hl+ lol > yoo Âú+li+okezyal > kúlyookezya 'to rest oneself
> yuu /mi+unda/ mlruunda 'gardens,fields'

Therearedifferentreplacements seepage13,
for excludedsequences,
lcí+úl > c1)u /ndi+aká+ci+ula/> ndahícuula 'I bouút it'
(not*cyuu)

The replacement vowel does not always sho\ü compensatory doubling,

hparticularlyat úe juncture of prefix and noun stem, and of subject prefix or
verb form marker:
/imu+abi/ > imwaabi ogenerousperson'
but /ímú+ána/ > ímwóna 'child'
 /ndi+aka+ambat > ndakaamba 'I stated'

LessCommonAlternations
These are principally found at word-juncture; some have more than one
realisation:
/o/ +lal > waa. le/ +lal > (y)aa
lol + /s/ > *"" /el + /11 > (y)ii
lol + /ì/ > wii le/ + /o/ > (y)oo
lol + /u/ > oo /e/ + /u/ > (y)uu
músúneúusíya > .an ox which is black,
[músún(y)uúsíya]
SeealsoNasalisationon page 13.

Vowel Harmony
ThevowelsofTonga aredividedinto two .harnonysets':
i) the high andlow vow elsi, u, a
iD the mid vowelse, o.

When certain elements come together within one word, the vowel of the
'additional'elementsmay vary, accordingto úe setto which the root vowel of
the baseword belongs.For example,in ku-ul-it-a,to buy for' andhj-leçel-a,to
bring for', -il- and-el- both mean.for'; -il- is usedwhen úe vowel of the verb
root is from the high/low set (i) and -el- is used when úe verb root vowel is
from the mid set(ii).

l2
Consonant and Consonantf Vowel Sequencesand Alternations

HomorganicNasals
A nâsal consonantis homorganicto (has the sameplace of articulation as) an
immediatelyfollowing consonant:
mpangá'I make' ntantá 'I climb' nkombálqkombâl 'I implore'
mbalá'Iread' ndontá'Ipoke' ngayálqgayâl'l grind'

PeÌmitted and ExcludedSequences

The only consonantsthat may follow non-nasal consonantsare the
rr andy:
approximants
íhibweza 'lift, pick up' íktitwa 'to pound' icilwi 'he p'
íkúbyala'tosow' ikutya'Iopour' ícílyo'food'
and see examplesunder rv and y on pâges7-8. There are also exceptionsto
sequenceswithy, e.g.icy and*jy arenot permitted.

Prenasalisationof Consonants
Occurrenceof a nasalbeforeanotherconsonartmay resultin úe replacement
of one or either of both sounds.As shown in pages3-8, some consonant
symbolshavediffering valueswhen written betweenvowels and when after a
of someconsonants
nasalsymbol.This reflectsthe replacement when a nasal
e.g.* stândsfor [y] in ikukolota'to borrovr''but for [k] in nkolótá'|
precedes,
are:
borrow'.Furtherreplacements
> b íhíbbala'to carry(child)' mbalá'l catry'
, bb
kk > k ikukkala'to live, to dwell' nkalá'l dwell'
I > d ikutima 'to cultivate,to plough' ndimá'l clu,lrivate'

t3
 A nasal consonantsymbol precedingf(w) or v(w) and in the norú,
sy andry
also, representsnasalisationof the precedingvowel, of the consonantand to
someextentof the following vowel. prenasalisationmay thereforgbe said to
resultin replacement
of the nasalby suchnasalisation.Seepages3_gunderthe
citedsymbols.

NasalI)eletion
An initial nasalprecedinga voicelessconsonant
is oftendeletedrn speech:
ncitá-ccitá ,I don,t know'

Nasal+ Vowel: Meinhops Rule

Somegrammaticalunitsconsistingofa nasal,suchasthe lst person
singular.I,
subjectprefix in someverb forms, show insertionof a consonant
when úey
precedevowelsor the approximantsw andy. The capital
N in the followins
standsfor 'nasalconsonant,
unspecifiedasto articulation.,
N beforeu"o,a,tt > ngt -abita,lend' ngibíle,thatlnay lend,
weza'hunt' ngwéze,thatI may hwú'
N beforei e,y > ni -ibauka,float' njíbáúke.thatI may float,

Note that in verbstemsbeginningwithy,y is deletedafterzl

_yowa,breathe, njówe ,Ihat I may
breathe,
If howeúerthe verb root itself containsa nasal+ consonant
sequence,the first
sequence dropsthe insertedconsonant,thoughthe nasalstill hasits artioulation:
-amba'speak' nhámbe ,thatI mayspeak, [gráLrnbe]
-epda 'walk' nyénde,thatl may walk'
-yanda 'want' nyánde,that I may want'

t4
This is a phenomenonfound in some other Bantu languagesand known as
Meinhofs Rule. It seemsto be dying out in Chitonga;many peoplenow say
njandá 'l want' insteadof nyanda.

Consonantlfarmony
Consonantharmonyoperatesin much the same\r,/ayas Vowel Harmony.An
elementto which it applieswill containz whenthe verb root includesa sr'zgle
nasalconsonant(m, n, nh, zy) and / if it doesnot. An examplois the verb root
extensionshownon page12:
-ula'buy' -ul-il-a'buy for'
but Jima'plough' Jim-in-a'plottghfor'
-leta 'bring' -let-el-a 'bring for'
but -lema'be heavy' -Iem-en-a'be heavyfor'

TONAL SYSTEM
Tonga is a tonal languag€,althoughin most written and printed texts the tones
arenot indicated.

High and Low Tones; Neutral and Determinant Tonemes

Basicallytherearetwo surfacetones,high (H) and low (L). H is markedwith
acuteascent( '), exceptin the caseof'down-steppedH' (symbolisedas S; see
pagel7), which is markedwith superscript
verticalline ( ' ). L is left unmarked,
apartfiom loweredH, markedby graveaccent(' ); seepage18.
níndókosíka'whenI arrived' [- - ---ltUf*ntl
'
tulamubona'weseeyou (pl)' f- - - - - I O-f,llf,l
básinkondo'enemies' l- - - - - ltUSI-U
nóbókàgtisya'when they took out' f - - - --l (Uru.fn:/ráy'toweredto [à])

15
 Many pairs or sets of homographicwords (i.e. those spelt úe same) are
distinguished
only by tone-pattern.
The differencesin meaningmay be lexical
(vocabulary)or grammatical
(asverbtenseor mood):
búlúmbu'reward' bákámúbona'they
sawhim,
bulumbu'foreign country' bákómubona
'they sawyou (pl),

wacíta'you (sg) did' níndáluis

í ka'whenI arrived,
wácita '(s)he did' nindakasika'if Ihad arrived'
wácíta'you (sg) having done (future)' níndakasika'I shouldhavearrived,

In analysingthe tonalsystem,an underlyinglevel ofNeutral andI)eterminant

tonemesis identified.This type of anarysiswill not be shown in deta here.
Roughly speaking,a Determinantcausesthe appear'Írnce of H on the Neutral
syllablesprecedingitself,while a Neutraldoesnot. Therearehoweverdifferent
rulesfor nominalsandverbals,andoúer constructssuchas ,zeroDeterminants,
have to be set up to accountfor the surfacetones,togethertvith rules
for
neutralisation
andcombination.

The Tonal Syllable

The tone-bearing
elementsarevowels;thereareno surfacel consonants
which
bearcontrastivetone.Typicaflythe pitch ofìhe vowel is carriedover on to
any
immediatelyfollowing consonantor consonantcluster.This can be
clearly
heardwhen a cluster includes[y]: íkúlya soundslike
fíyúlíyal, althoughit
consistsof three syllablesonly. The chief exceptionto úis is the case of
depressorconsonants,
which cannotbe pronouncedon a high pitch (seepage
l8).

I i.e.referring
to actualsound

l6
Tone Sequences
Downdrift
Eachsuccessive
L in a sentence
is lower,inpitchthanúe L beforeit, whetheror
not thereis an interveningH or a succession
of Hs:
ktmokumunzi f-----l 'hereathome'
tabanásíka t- - - -- ì 'they havenot arrivedyet'
This featureis knownas 'downdrift'.

Crescendo
of Hs, tìe pitch is generallylevel,but the final H ofthe sequence
In a sequence
is oftenslightlyhigherin pitch andlouder;this is termed'crescendo':
ncótwálaitánga t ----- I 'whatwe lookedat'

Downstep
This refersto casesin which úe secondof two Hs is lower in pitch than the
first, but still countsas rhigh tone:
sínkondo'enemy' t --- I (sí-is H)
básinkondo'enemies'l ---- I (-sl- is still H, higher than the
following L, though lower in pitch
thalrbó-)
Therearetwo commonsourcesofdownstep:a deletedL betweentwo Hs, anda
raisedL betweentwo Hs. (Therearealsoothersources,
not describedhere.)

Raising
If a L occursbetweentwo Hs, it is generallyraisedto úe pitch level of the
H:
secondH, resultingin a downstepped

t7
 níndakrimúbona> níndàlmmúbona ,if I had seenhim/her'
Depressor
consonants
howeverblockraising(seefollowingsectron).

Lowering: f,ffect of DepressorConsonants

As mentionedon page 9 the consonantsbb, d, g, j, v(w), which
z, have
associatedmuÌÍnur or breatbyvoice are termeddepressors.They cannot
be
utteredon a high pitch, and have certaineffectson the pitch of adjacent
H
vowels.If a depressorfollows a H vowel, and is itself followed by a
L vowel,
the pitch of the H vowel will ,swoop' down to allow the depressor to be on a
low pitch:
íkúmvwa'tohear'
will be pronounced | -f _l
Similarlya depressorinitial in a word precedinga H vowel will cause pitch
its
to be risingratherthanlevelhigh:
zyándízimìna'Ican't find them, |- / I ___l
(lit. 'theyarelostto me')
A depressor
will alsoblockthe operationofraising:
íziruilyángu.myname, I t_-- _]
cf. íkkükólyángu'my shoulder
(-blade)' f----_ I

In a sequence of threeor moreHs, if a depressoroccursin any syllableoúer

thanthe first andlastofthe sequence,the precedíng
vowel is lowered:
nóbákágisya > nóbákag),sya ,whenúey
took out,

l8
 MORPHOTOGY

NOMINATS
The category of nominal includes nouns, adjectives, pronouns and
demonstratives.

. Nouns
Nounstypicallyconsistof two segments
(morphemes),
a nounprefix (Np) anda
stem,e.g.lhe noluJl^
mu-nlu'person'hasthe prefix mu- andthestem-ntu-
The prefix may be replaced,for instanceto show plurality, as in ba-ntu
'people'.

In somecontextsan Initial Vowel (IV) is attachedto the prefix: this is usually

i-:
(i-mu-ntu, ïba-ntu).
Therearesomeclasseswhichdo not takethe Initial Vowel.

The nouns of Chitonga are arrangedin eighteennoun classes,numbered

individually.The noun classis a systemof agreementconsistingof a set of
concordialelements;in the following example,the bolded elementsaÍe the
concordcarriers:

músimbi múpá,tiwtíngu wakali htyandá hilwatwa

'girl elder of-me she-waswantingto-be-maried'
(my eldersisterwasaboutto be married)

t9
Three of the classes,the locatives16, 17 and 18, may be attachedto oúer
nouns:
i-mu-nzi'home', ku-mu-nzi'to/athome,.
Whenpre-prefixedin this way,the locativedoesnot havefV.

In generalúe prefix is a good guide to the class of the noun. However,

sometimestwo or more classesmay have the same shape prefix, and
conversely, nouns wiú different prefixes may share the same system of
concord.Classesl, 3 and 18 all havetìe prefrxmu-: mu-ntu,person'(Classl),
mu-nzi'homestead,
village' (Class3) andmú-cí-si.in the country' (Classlg).
The mainclassessometimeshavesub-divisions
consistingof nounscontrolling
the concordsystemof the class,but havinga different(sometimesno) prefix:
tááta 'my father' takesconcordsof Class 1, but it doesnot have the (i)mu_
prefix,so is saidto be in Class1a.

Classesaregenerallypairedsingularandplural:
mu-ntuis a ClassI noun,wiú ba-ntu,the phral, in Class2.
Themostcommonsingular/plural classpairingsare:l12,l/6,3t4,5t6,91I0,g/6,
ll/10, ll/6, 12/13,1416,15/6.Thereare howevermany .one_class, nouns;
(í)n-sima'stiff maizeporridge'is in Class9 and hasno ,plural,, while má_futa
'fat, oil' is in Class6 andhasno corresponding.singular,.
Severalofthe classes
may also be usedto give additionalconnotations,such as diminutive,as in
ka-sankwa'little boy', Class12,derivedfrom zz-s ankwa,boy'. Class1.

In ihe fotlowing table,the boundaryof prefix and stemis hyphenatedwhere

possible,but someclasses(e.g.5) showfusionof prefix and stem,the .prefix,
prefixesmay take differentforms
beingan effecton the initial stemconsonant.

20
 (allomorphs)when c€rtainvowels follow.

Table of Noun Classes

Al[ classes,save l4 2q 2b and the locativesl6-lE when attachedto other
nouns,havepotentialinitial vowel.The lV is includedherefor Classes5, 9 and
10nouns,as otherwiseit is impossibleto showthe tone class.

Cr(ss
I mu-nlu mú-símbí mú-súne mwë-enzu mv-ánq mo-oÍu

person girl ox stranger chíld blind person

2 ba-nn bá-sínbi bó-súne bé-enzr b-ána bo-oÍu

people girls oxêrl sttangers chilclren blind people

ClassesI and 2 conrainmostly nounsr€ferringto humanbcingsandanimals.

la lüto ciwena sínkondo namaumbwe

my faúer cÍocodile enemy graveyard

cí (í)n-kondo ma-umbwe

waÌ graves
Classla containsmanynounsreferringto kinfolk andanirnals,and deÌivativesin rt. andza-.

2a bâ-talts ba-ciwena bá-sinkondo ba-tumaumbve b'á-nyína

my father crocodiles en€mies graveyards hidher/their

moúer
Class2a seÍv€salsoas 'honorific plural'.

2b bán'á-táta b,ini-Mwa (sg. nú-loiwa bómá-nyína

Ciass1)
fathçrs Euopeans their mothers

Class2b s€rvesaspluÌal for honorific usagesofClass 2a.

3 mú-sámt mu-wtda ,nwí-ini mw-ézl m-oyo mlono

tÍee gaÍden handle moon, month hcaÍt ftsh-bask€t

2l
 4 mí-sdmu myu-unda mí-ini ,rry-ézi my-oyo ntyo-ono
rèçs gardens handles months heaÍts fish-baskets
Classes3/4 contain mostnamesoftrees.

5 (i)b-bwe (i)j-,inza (í)g-uwo (üditwe (i)s(y)okwe @f_ínyo

stone hand wind funeral bushland tooth
Class5 doesnot havea syllabic preÍix for mostnouns;the sign ofúe classis consonantaltemation
or zcro.
6 ma-bwe mó-átzza má-uwo mq_lilwe ma_s(y)olewe m_ényo
stoncs hands winds fuiÌerals bushlands tecth
Class6 servesasplural for seveÌalclassesother than 5, e.g.:

má-ngísí má-ánda ms-bazu má_áto mà_boko

Englishmen houses. sides,distriçts boats aÍms,hands
cf: nú-ngisi nh-ánda lu-bazu bvÌ_tito bj-boko
Englishman house side,district boat aÍm,hand
(Classl) (Class9) (Classll) (Class14) (Class15)
7 ci-ntl ci-sani ca-qno co-otwe ce-elo c_ómba
thing cloth story good luck spi.it chcst,
(no plural) courage
-
8 z(y)í-ntu z(y)í-sani zya-ano zye-elo 4-ámba
things cloths stories spirits chests
Class7 (and to someextcnt Class8) is aÍÌ impcrsonalclass.

9 (i)n-seke (í)n-póngo (i)ng-a!a (i)nh_onbe (í)n-sima

hen goat crest headofcattlc sti.Íïmaize ponidge

. (no plural)
l0 (i)n-sekz (í)n-póngo (i)ng-ata (i)ah-onbe (i)nh-anzi
hens goats crests cattlç cracks(sg. Class I l)
Classes
9/10containmanynamesofanimals.

22
ll lu-yando lú-bono lwe-endo ló-ozi Iw-h(y)i lwa-anzí

lovc propçrty joumey baÍk string river crack

Many ClassI I nounsareabskactsfiom vcrbs;somehavepluralsin Classl0 or Class6.

12 ka-ambo kÃ-mbÌzi l<á-sínbi ke-embe I<o-oye k-ána

reason whirlwind little girl &Ye string little child

13 twa-ambo tu-mbizi tú-sinbi ttìe-embe to-oye tuÌ-ána

reasons whirlwinds littl€ girls axes strings Iittle childreD

Class| 2 is alsoa 'manner'class:bi-botu'well'. BothClasses12and t3 canbe usedasdiminutiyes.

14 bu-su bú-Tonga bú-botu bte-áto bo-ofu bw-ízu

flour,meal Tongaland goodness boat blindness grass

ManyClass14nounsreferto collectivesor âbstracts;

pluralsareusuallyin Class6 (e.g.òuálo, pl.
móóto).
15 lai-tt'ri kú-boka ka-yanda kwa-amba kwe-enda ko-ona

eaÌ arm, hand to love/like to state to walk to sleep

All verbinÍinitivesa(çin Class15;pls.areusuallyin Cl. 6 (e.g.,hiboko,pl. nóboko).

Classes16-18arelocatives,which maybe attached to nounsin otherclasses:
16 a-tala á-n-sí a-n-ze á-mú-tv.e q-k4-ambo

on top on th€ outside onthehead for úe reason

ground
ht-mbo hi-n-si kú-n-ze kú-té ht-mu-nzi

wcstward to the outside far away homewards

ground
l8 mú-sule mú-n-si mú-cí-si mú-mú-twe mu-mu-hzt

after oear io the country in úe head in the home/village

Noun Formation Processes

tNouns
canbe formedby changeofclass:
ímwámi'chie? (Class1), íbwámi' chieftainship'(Class14).
Others can be formed frorn verbs, and by prefixation of 'formatives' to other

23
 nouns;they mayalsoincludecompounding.
Someexamplesare:
imu-limi 'farmer'(Classl) < iku_lina .to cultivate,
plough,
ínú-bbi 'thief (Class l) < íkú-bba 'to steal'

im-bezo 'adze'(Class9) iku-beza 'carve, do ca4,entry'

ilwe-endo Journey'(ClassI l) ikw e-enda'walk,travel'

si-kúkohra 'drunkard'(Classla) íkú-kolwa 'to get drunk'

sí-nkondo 'enemy'(Classla) ín-kondo 'war'

syaá.td.imbi 'a mute'(Classla) < taámbi 's/hedoesnot speak'

na-bútemq 'widow'(Class1a) íbú+ena'solitudeofwidowhood

or celibacy'
nq-maumbwe 'graveyard'(Classla) c/ icu-umbwe 'grave'

ici-sinka-mulomo'bribe' (Class7) < ìku-sinka 'to stop up' + imuJomo

'mouth'
ínú-làbyá-mvula'lightningrree' < íkti-labya 'to causelightning to
flash' + íryYYla '1aYt' .
Stabilisâtion(CopulativeForms, Noun predicates)
Stabilisationis a processby which a noun,adjectiveor otherform is madeinto
a predicate,i.e. an indicativestatementequivalentto English,it is _-, or .they
are --r. An exampleis ibantu ,Wople' > rllbantu,they are people,.Various
authorshaveuseddífferenttermsfor úis, asshownin the paragraphheading.

ThJre are several kinds of stabilisationelement or process in Chitong4

conveyingdifferent degreesof emphasis.For nounsthere are two tyDesof
stabili sation:

24
a) indefinite or unrestricted
This indicatesthat the objectis a memberof a certaincategoryor species;
úe StabilisingElement(SEl) is basicallya nasalwith murmur prefixedto
the noun witjìout IV:
q!-muntu 's/heis a person,an African'
m-bantu 'they arepeople'
p-cìsani 'it is a cloth'

Classla hasBga- with L toneexceptbeforesi-,

11gu-ciwena 'it's a crocodile'

ngy-ní? 'who is it?'

4gti-slnkondo 'he is an enemy'

Class2a hasrybaa-z
mbaaciwena 'they arecrocodiles'
mbaá-ní? 'who aretheY?'

rybaá-slnlando 'úey areenemies'

Class5 haspdi-, takingon thetoneofthe IV:

11di-bbwe 'it's a sÍone'

Classes9 and l0 have4È, takingon thetoneofthe IV

, pí-mpóngo 'it's a goat'

25
b) definiteor restricted
This statesthat the objectis a particularmemberofthe categoryor species.
Herethe stabiliseris SE2,a syllablewiú H tone, beginningwíth a nasal
andagainwith murmur,eachclasshavingits own stabiliser:
y1gó-mtmtu
's/he is the person' rybá-bantu-mbí4antu .they are the
people'
4jé-mpòngo'itis the goat' ndé-bbwe.itis úe stone'
pkó-kwaambaftul, 'it is to say
(úat), that is.'

The souú hasdifferentvowelsin someclasses:

ngú-muntu.
Otherforms of stâbilisationwill be describedwith the categoriesto v/hich
they apply.The tablebelowgivesthe majorforms.Murmur is shownonly
for the initial nasal;the occurrence
of murmurelsewhereis not yet cleaÍ.

Stabilisedinfinitivesarefiequentlyusedinsteadofa pasttensein nanative:

e.g.waló ykúsisabónyínamúcílúndu,hehid his motherin a hillock'

Table of StabilisingElements

Clasí SEI SE2a SE2b ,SEi SE4

pefson
Class1:
lst sg ndé-
2nd sg r?dó-
3rd sg 4.r- f!Có- nCu- llgu ngóngu-

26
Class/ SEI SE2a SE2b ,ST'J sE4
pefson
Class2:
l stpl rdé-
2nd pl tldé-
3rd pl ry!- mbáJmbí- tnbá- rylba- rybímba-
3 rp- !!go- nsu- ngu- t!góngu-
4m- rié- lií- nii- njénji-
5 7fií- ndé- ndé- ndi- 17déndi-
6 14- rgti- ngó- !!ga- ngonga-
ln- ncé- ncé- ncr- pcéncì-
I 11- nz(y)é- nz(v)é- az(y)i' y.rz(y)énz(i)-
9 ri- aé- nÌí' tÌi- 4iénji-
10 11í- nz(y)é- nz(y)é' nz(y)i- 7.tz(y)énz(i)-
1l n@)- udó- ndó- ndu- pdóndu-
12 n' pka- nlça- 11ka' nlvtnls-
13 n- ntó- rltó- !!tu- ntóntu-
14 q?- rybó- qlbó- ,rbu- 41bómbu-
15 n- rkó' r!kó- 71ku- pkanku-
t6 rylp- ìrpá- ,r!pá- ,!!pa- qppámpa-
17 n- nkó- 11ko- phi- y7kónku-
l8 ar- mó- tl!- mu- mómu-

SE2b is basically SE2a with the vowel assimilating to the following one in
quality.

27
 c) nesative stabilisation is with téés(y)i for all persons and classes,with
affirmative SE in somecases,e.g. for the definite:

téésimusankwaoyopé ,it,s not that boy,

téésindiméndàcícltá 'it's not I that did it,
téésyihill ndtrwé .it's not (up) to you'

or with negativeof-/i 'be' (seepage68):

talí muntu,11gusókwé wammta ,he,s not a human,he's a monkeyof a man,

ClassConcordial Elements in the Nominal System

As statedabove,a nounclassconsistsofa setofconcordialelemonts,including
pronouns,demonstrativesand elementslinking the noun to adjectivesand verbs
(as subjector object),and to other nouns(as possessed or possessor).
There
follows a listing and illushation of the categoriesof concordialelements,
beginningwith the nominals(adjectives,demonstratives,pronouns)followed by
classconcordialelementsin tÌreverbalsystem.

Adjectives
An adjectiveconsistsofa stemto which is attachedthe adjectivalprefx (Ap) of
the noun controlling its agrcement,
-bou 'good'
múnuimúbotu 'a goodperson'
cíntúcíbotu ,a goodthing'.
,

Thereare severalgroupsofadjectives, classifiedaccordingto the Ap seriesúey

take. (Seetable on page37). Somegroupsincludestemswith .demonstÍâtive
' Grammatically(í)kúlí is tha subjective Relativeverb form of -/i 'be', meaningliteÌalry ,where
is'.

28
meaning.If they can be dividedinto prefix and stem,they are includedin this
section,ratherthan with pronouns,demonstratives
and vocatives.(seebelow
page 38) Further, the section on numeralsincludes information on non-
adjectivalnumbers,'numberoftimes' andordinals(e.g.Íirst, secondetc.).

Stemswith APl (AdjectivalPrefixI)

In the first groupthe adjectivalprefix is generallyidenticalwith the nounprefix
Q.,lP).The allomorph of the prefix will dependon úe first sound of úe
adjectivalstem;it may not be identicalwith the prefix Õf the noun it qualifies.
Thus myu-rmdá mí-nji 'many fields' and sumób-botu 'a good spear'(where
sumohaszeroprefix).
Thereare,however,two exceptionsto t}regeneralpattemof identityofAP and
NP.
i) Class1Ohasz(y)i- insteadofa nasal:
mpóngoz(y)íbotu 'fine goats'
ii) Class5 has/È in NorthernTonga,while in SouthemTongathe adjectival
prefix is identicalwith the nounprefix:
'a goodspear'is sumólíbotu in Íhe north,
sumóbbotuin the south.

Theseprefixesmay have IV and can be usedwithout accompanyingnoun,

especiallywhenthereis a 'classmeaning':
(í)mú-páti'anadult(person),an important(person)'
(í)cí-botu'a goodthing'.
.

Class12 formsnot in agÍeement to adverbsin English:

with a nouncorrespond
lai-botu 'well' .

29
 The lst and 2nd persons(,I, you sg, we, you pl,) do not haveAps of this kind;
the prefix of Class1 is usedfor the singularpersonsas well as .he' and .she,.
andthatofClass2 for pluralpersonsaswell as .tÌrey':
ndí múpáti 'l am (an)adult(person),
mwaleilíb.ibotu'youweregood(people),

See also Vocative prefixes on page 41. Someother kinds of adiectivesdo

includeformsfor the persons,seebelow.

The tonâl behaviourof a noun + adjectivesequence dependsnot only on úe

tonalstructureofeach element,but alsoon wherethe emphasislies,wheúer on
the noun,or on the adjective.If the emphasisis on the adjective,the structure
behavesas oneword, with a Determinantin the adjectiveraisingall underlying
Neutralsyllables:
/muntu+mubotu,/ > múntúmúbol,u.a goodperson'
/muntu+imubotu./ > muntúmúbol"a,a goodperson'

If on the otherhandthe emphasisis on the noun,úere is no suchinteraction;

the only effect will be to transfera H from an Initial vower whish has not
surfaced:
(i)muntu+(í)múboni.e.> mtmtúmúáoÍn.a goodperson,

Adjectivesofthis kind arestabilisedin the sameway asnouns:

cisanincíbotu .this cloth is good,
"eeci
eecicisanipcéclbotu ,this cloth is the soodone'

eelí sumo4dí-bbotu 'úis spearis good'

30
 eelísumopdé-bbolu 'úis spearis the goodone'

Numerals and-ónse.-ng4vé
Only the numerals l-5 are adjectival stems.There are two series,eachwith a
separateset of prefixes: '
(a) (b)
'one' -mwé -mwi
'tv,/o' -bíle, -o -bilì
'three' -ttitwe -tatu
'four' -né -ne
'five' -sánwe -sanu

Set(a) hasAdjectival Prefix 2 and is not found stabilised,while Set(b) hasAPI

and can be stâbilisedlike a noun:
bantubottitwe 'threepeople'(Class2, Set(a))
batatu 'three(people)'(Class2, Set(b))
q!batatlr 'there are three of úem, lit. they are
úree' (Class2, Set(b) stabilisedwith SE3).
The (a) numerals,as alsoúe stems-ónse 'all, every' úd -ng6)é2 'how many?'I
haveformsfor personsaswell asclasses:
nyo-ónse 'all ofyou'
bantubo-ngÍyé? 'how manypeople?'
Bu't -ngáyébüyóhasthe idiomatic meaning'only a few'.

, The stem -mwé ('one') also rneans'úe same', as in the phtaseantu omwé 'ar
the sameplace,togeúer' usuallypronouncedand vÍritten antoomwé.This usage
is distinguishedfrom 'one' by úe latter'sbeing accompanied
by buyó'on\.'
Thesecanb€ usedpronominally:
I coflins 1962:97 classifiçs
-dnse aÍLd -ngtié as 'sub-Nmerals'; he also segnÌentsúem
differently, regardingthç first -o- as paÍ of thç stem:
31
 Iyoónse 'always'

In a seriesof adjectives,
the numeralfollowsothers:
mílóngamípátiyotátwe
'rivers large three'=.three largerivers'

The nurnerals6-9 are usuallyexpressedas a combinationof5 plus, in a number

of ways;the following arecommon:

9: bantubosá'ttwemúlí bane'five peoplein which there are four'

6: bantu bosánweammtu omwébttyo ,five peopleandonly one person'
bantu bosármpeaúmwi 'five peopleand another'
bantú kilçánka 'people who begin (i.e. who begin anothergroup of five)'

'Ten' and'hundred' are nouns,usuallyfound with -/i ,be,; ten also forms úe
basesfor multiplesthereof:
bannibálí kkumi'peoplewho area ten,
ímpóngozyílí màkumiobílo , goatswhich are two tens= tïventy goats,

English-basednumerals,frequentlyheard,areusedin the sameway:

bánabálí síkisi'childrenwho aresix (in number),

Numberoftimesis expressed
by means
oftheprefixes
of Class12(sg)
ko-mwé(bfuó)'once(only)'
I

andClassl3 (pl):
to-bílo'tttÁce' to-ngiyé?.howoften?'

32
'Always' howeveris in Class5: Iyo-ónse(seep.32).

prefix (seepage35) attachedto a stem

Ordinalnumeralsconsistof a possessive
ofthe sameshapeasúe Set(b) numerals,but havingúe tone-pattemof Set(a):
íbtúzubá
bwàbíli'the seconddav' í,tâ-ôífi'the secondtime'

Stemswith AP3: -nbi, -lí?, -mwír

-mwí'some,one,certain,other'
-zrái'other,different'
-/í2'which?'

Thesestemshavea prefix serieswiú an IV which is typically È for all but

Classes3, 6 and 16.The toneof the prefix varieswith the stem,andwhetheror
not pre-prefixessuchas a- 'and,with' are added.-mwí may precedèor follow
the controllingnoun,while the othersnormallyfollow it:
múcámbacamuntuumwí' inïo the breastof a certainperson'
bamwíbantu 'somepeople'
bwwí btizuba 'one day...'
abámwibantu 'and somepeople'
wákáyáktrcísicímbi 'he went to aÍrotlìercountry'
kücísicílí? 'to ì hich countrv?'

This group may be usedpronominally,notablywith prefixesof a classwith

'classmeaning',suchas 'time' for Class5 and 'place'for Classl7;
Óhss 5 li-mwí'finally' Class17 (í)hi-lí? 'vúere(at)?'
alí-mwi'again,also' (í)hi-mbi 'elsewhere'
( lí-lí? 'when?'

|
-mwí and-mbi arealsoclassiÍiedas 'sub-numeÍals'
by Collins 1962:97.
Stabilisationis asfor nouns:
4-kúlí nkóbàkkála? 'where is it that they live?'
nka-kúlí? 'it's where?'

Stemswith AP4aand4b: -no,-Qya

The stem -no 'this in which I amlwe are' is more often used of spaceand
timet -(l)ya 'that previously mentioned,that alreadyknown' retainsthe / when
the prefix consistsofvowels only:
(e)ci-ya büt (u)u-lya

The prefix seriesAP4a is identicalin shapewith Ap3, except for having a

differentIV:
(e)li-no'now' bú (i)lïmwí (seepage37).
Both prefix and stemarebasicallyL in tone in both cases(unlessthe stemtakes
the H from an elided IV). Theseadjectivesmay come eitler after or before úe
noun;in the lattercase,emphasisis givento the adjective.
císi cino 'this country(whichwe arein)'
ecinócísi 'this countrv'

mtmtuulya 'the afore-mentionedperson,

uulya muntu 'that person(that you know of),
Stabilisation
is with SE2b:
ícísincé-cino 'this country(we arein) is úe one'
I ngú-ulyamuntu 'he's theperson(we'vementioned),

With AP4b, the forms are pronominal,usedespeciallyas objectsafter a .weak'

verbal,i.e. with emphasison the object:

34
 índá wàano wywé nàqnzi 'passby here (whereI am) and drink some
water'
kocítábòbuya 'do it like that (asI've told you)'
This is stabilisedwith SE3:
eci cipeto 4ci-céclyó cámüpáyílówónnwàni'
'this tax is úat very (one ofthe) tibute to the chief

Stemwith AP5: -/í*,ke

This stemmeans'alone',andhaspreÍixesfor personsaswell asclasses:
en-díkke 'I alone'
ttyo-líkke 'you pl alone'
ba-líkke 'they alone(persons)'

Apparently úere is no stabilisedform, the stabilisedpronounof Serieslb (see

pp. 38-9) being followed by the appropriatoform:
o-líkke ngwéybtda
72duwé 'it's you you-alonethat I love'

PossessivePrefxes and Stems

Possessionis expressedby meansof a possessiveprefix (PP) attachedto a noun
or to a pronominal possessivestem (PS) repÍesenting úe possessor,and
agreeing in noun class wiú the noun representingthe object possessed.The
possessiveprefix, like the noún prefix, may have initial vowel attached or
omitted:
. myuundaíya-banu or myúnindáya-bann'fields ofúe people'
mpóngoíLya-bantuor mpóngozgtú-bantu'goats of the people'

The Class7 PP aüachedto a Class 15 infinitive hasan adverbialmeaning:

35
 (í)cahitaanguna ,firsüy,
(í)cahifwanbaana ,quickly'

The PP attachedto a PS:

nyiúndó yà-ngu 'my fields' mpóngo4tesu (< lzya-isu/),our goats,

andpSsfor all classesandpersons;see

TherearePPsfor all mainnounclasses,
Tableof PrefixSeriesandPossessive
Stemsbelow.For stabilisation,
úere is an
unemphatic
form, usingthe 'murmurednasal,asfor nouns
ncángu'it's mine',
but moreoftenthe emphaticform,wiú SE2a,is used:
eeyi miinda pjé-yàngu ,úese fields aremine'

Negativestabilisationís wìth téés(y)i:

téésiwákwe ,it's not his (child)'

The Class5 PPattachedto a PS hasa meaningdif,Íicult to expressin English;

kuti... ,As for me, I thoughtúa1...'
Mebolwdngu ndayééyá

36
 Table ofAdjectival Prefix Seriesand PossessiveConcords

Clasv API AP3 AP4a. AP4b AP5 Possessive Possessive

pelon prcfix stem
Class
l:
en- :ngu
.
2nd sg o- :ko
3td sE mr- (w)o' uu- tru- yriü- a- iwa- !kwe
Class

lst pl IO-, 01- -(i)su

2nd pl tEo- ,ryo- -4U
3ídpl ba- bo- iba- aba- bába- ba- íba- .bo
Class:
3 mu- lto- uu- uu- ytiu- a- íwa- -wó
4 mi- yo- ii- ii- (y)íi- tì- tya' -yó
5 @-/c-(lQ lyo- íli- elt- léli- lì- ílyo- -ltó
6 ma- o- arlt- (ut- yrid- ct- áa- -tt
7 ci- co- ici- ecí- céci- ci- íca- -có
8 (z(y)D zyo- iz(y)i- ez(y)i' zéz(ji- z(y)i- ízya- -zyó
9 ff- yo- (y)íi. i- íya' -yó
l0 rV- ?o- iz(y)i. ez(y)i- zez(y)ì- z(y)ü tzyQ- -zyó
ll lu-/lw- lo- ilu- ob- lólu- lu- ílwa- -tó
12 ks-/k- ko- ika- aka- káko- ka- íka- -,o
l3 tuJtw- to- ítu- oru- tótu- tu- ítwo- .M

14 bu-/bty- bo- íbu- obu- bóbu- bu- íbws- -bó

l5 hr-/kw- ko- íh/- olqr- kólu- tu- íhwa- -kó
'1 6 o- o- act- aa- wáa- a- áa- -6
l7 h*/Lv- ko- ik r- oku- kóhr ku- íleva- -kó
18 mt-/ztw- mo- imu- ornu- momu- mu- ímwa- -mó
 Pronouns, Demonstratives and Vocatives
Tle forms in this sectionare suchas cannotbe segnrentedinto prefix and
stem
throughoutúe series.Those which can be so segÍnentedhave been deaft
with
above. Someseriesof pronounsand/or demonstrativeshave distinct forms
for
personsas well as classes.The vocativeaffixes apply to persons
only. Generally
a demonstrativecan function as a pronoun, but úere are severalserieswhich
functiononly as pronouns.Most haveboth unemphaticandemphatic/restrictive
stabilisation.

Series1aand lb pronouns
Seriesla is pronominal,with foims for all personsand classes:
imé,mebo'I' waló'skrc' caló ,it (Class7),

The link elementa- 'and,with' (seepage43) canb€ attachedto this series:

a-mébo'I also' a-wálo ,andherlhim' a_cálo.with rt,
a-mébohas al.,r:mativeformsa-mbébo-a_mbévo
Thereis also a shortform:
awi 'with him/her, acó.with it'
Theredoesnot appearto be a stabilisedforrn.

SeriesI b consistsof emphaticpronouns:

ndimé'\, me' nguwé,her,him, ncicó,it,

stabilisation is similar to úat of nouns: úe unemphaticform has murmured

initial nasal,andernphaticstabilisationis by meansofSE2a:
Tdinë ,it is I, it's me'

qdé-ndiné .it,s reallvme,

38
 ngó-ngrwé 'he's reallythe one'.

The additionofthe suffixes-ro ot -nyotothe pronoungivesthe meaning'the/

that very (same)':
ndilyóru at úat very moment'
mpoón(y)a 'at úat very time/place,then, immediately'
mbubónambúlí mbólúcítwa'in the very sameway as (how) it is done'
(/zr-agreeingwith lúyándólwàko'thy will')

(ln Class 16 there is fixion: mpawó + n(y)a > mpoóna.) There are several
variantsofthis, e.g.-eza:
mbubwéna 'in thatvery way'
nkukwéna 'to thevery sameplace'

The stem-múnya canbe usedwith a variantof the pronounconsistingof the

first syllableonly:
ngumúnya 'the very sameperson'
ncimúnya 'úe very sameúing'
mbunúnya 'the very sameway'

There is insuÍficientdata to give informationon stabilisationof úe variant

forms.

Series2a and2b demonstrativeadjectives/pronouns

Thesehavethe meaning'this/that nearthe speaker'.TheÍe âÍe forms for classes
but not for lst and 2nd persons(as there aÍe for series la and lb pronouns).
Series2a hasthe generalshape(V)VCV:

39
 (o)ow muntu 'this/that person(nearme)'

As an adjective, it may precedeor follow úe noun, but when a noun standsas

preverbalsubject,the demonstrativeusuallyprecedesthe noun;
ooyú tnwánawakandaamàrl4 .this child told me,
aspost-verbalobject úe demonstrativenormally follows the noun:
kúpa banysmaaba zintu ezi .to give theseanimalsthecethings'

Stabilisationis wiú SE2a,andoftenhasúe meaning.hereiVare':

nlçi-ala katiba'here'sa little dish'
ncáuihicitti mwómi ycé-eci .what the chief did is úis, here's what the

chiefdid'

Series2b demonsÍrativepronouls
Theseareusedto emphasisean object after a .weak, verbal form (seepage45)
nyandáyóoyu .I want this one'
andwith a- 'and,with' attached;
with úe samemeaningasSeries2a:
ooyaayóoyu 'úis one and this one'

Unemphaticstabilisationis by meansof SE3,

ngu-yóoyu 'it,s this one,úis is the one,
emphaticstabilisationis with SE4:
qgóngu-yóoyu 'it,s this one,this is the verv one'
!

Series3a and 3b demonstrative adjectives/pronouns

Thesehave the meaning 'úat/those nearerto the personaddressedthan to the
speaker'.The forms areasfor Series2a, but with final vowel -o.

40
 ooyómwána,mwónaoyo 'úat child'

Stabilisationis asfor Series2a:

11gó-oyo 'that is s/he;therehe is'

Series3b are demonstrativepronouns,with meaningsas for Series3a and usage

as for Series2b. Formsareas for Series2b, but with final vowel -o:
nyandáyóoyo 'l want that one'
ayóoyo 'and úat one'
lpgu-yóoyo 'it's that one,that'sthe one'

71góngtuyóoyo 'it's that one,that'sthe very one'

Vocative Prefixes
Thesereferto 1stand2nd peÍsonsonly andareattachedto completenouns:
tó-btiptiti 'we adults'
nó-bátúmbu termof addressto a womanwho hasgivenbirth
(< +umbuka'givebirth'; 2nd personhonorificplural)

the meaning'self is added:

With -rni attached,
, ó-mwíni'yolyourselfsg
ndé-mwíni'ImyselP
 Table of Pronouns,I)emonstrativesand VocativeAflixes

Series: la lb 2a 2b 3a 3b Vocative
Classl:
lst sg imé,mebo ndimé nde-
2nd sg iwé,webo núryë o-
3rd sg waló,yebo, nguë ooyu yóoyu ooyo yóoyo
lókwe'
Class2:
lst pl iswë,swebo ndiswë
2ndpl inywé,nywebo ndinywé no-
3rd pl baló mbabó aaba báaba qabo báabo
Class3 waló hgurró ooyu yóoyu oornt yóoyo
4 yaló njiyó eeri yéeyi eeyo yeeyo
5 lyaló ndilyó eeli leeli eelyo léelyo
6 aló ngawó qaya yáaya aayo yóq,o
'7 caló ncico eecì cëecì eeco céeco
8 zyaló nztzyó eez(y)i zéez(y)i eezyo zéez(y)i
9 yaló njiyó eeyi yéeyí eeyo yéeyo
10 zyaló tvizyó eez(y)i zéez(y)i eezyo zéez(y)i
1l lwaló nduló oolu lóolu oolo lóolo
12 k4ló nkakó aaka hiaka aako káakô
13 twaló ntutó ootu tóofu ooto tóoto
14 bwaló ububó oobu bóobu oobo bóobo
|5 ba'qló nku6 ooku Moku ooko kóoko
16 aló mpowó aawa wáquÌa aovìo lváav'o
,
| | kwrÌlo nkukó ooku koofu ooko kooko
18 mwaló munó oomu móomo oomo móomu

I Only with d affixed; page

see 43.

42
The pronounsof some classeshave meaningeven when not controllod by a
noun of úat class(seeTable ofNoun Classeson pages2l?3 for indicationsof
'classmeanings'):
Classesl/2 refer usuallyto humans:wakati hilí mbabó'he said to them'.
Class 5 is the 'time' class:(e)elyo 'then' . ('Now' is (e)lino, seeadjectiveswith
AP4a.)
Class 14 referi to mannet:mbubó'úus, so'; rybómbu-bóobo
'it's absolutoty
rigltt'; náuiMmánahicíni bóobu'when he finished doing thus'
Classes 1G18 refer to place or time:. (a)awa, wáawa 'herc' , mpawó 'thereon,
thereat'; ílcìewáawo'after that (lit. to comefrom there)'.

Nominal Affixes
These are attachedto nominals, but do not form paí of úe class concord
system.

i) Link elementa- 'and, with, by'

The tone ofa- is always L, but that of the noun varies accordingto the tone
class:
banyamaa-bantu'peopleand animals'
heaambo,.tt't)akali
kuluulwq a-milomo'matters...were
relatedby [word
otl mouth'
a-nsíma'with maizeponidge' (ínsima)

Whenattachedto úe infinitiveverbalnoun,a- expresses

a consecutive:
wáhimúbwezaa-kúpa bána bákwe
'he pickedhim [the hare]up and gave[him] to his children'
Seealsopage69 for useof a- .inexpressing
'have'.

43
 ii) -zzí?'what kind of?'
For tonal reasonswhich will not be describedhere,_nzí? altactred, to a noun
raisesany L tones behindit, but, since it containsa depressor,it lowers (or
preventsraising of) úe vowel immediatelypreceding:
(í)múlímònzí?,what kind of work?, (< (i)nulimo)
ubá'flinenzí?'what kind of oxen arethey?' (< (i)btistine)

meaning.what kind of ... in

This is also the stemof an adjective-pronoun,
theXl class?'
ncínzí?'whatkínd of (thing)is it? whatis it?' (úing in classZ)

Seealso page54 for table: Class Concords in the Verbal Svstem.

VERBAI.I'

Tongaverbs showthe typical Bântu structureof affixes attachedround

a lexicar
core,câfled a radicalor roo! e.E.-tum- .send,.A verb form may consist
of one
lvord, or it may combinewith an auxiliaryto makea compound.A typical
one_
word form is tìíbálçitltmá .they did not send', consistingof the following
elements:

tií- negativemarkeÍ
-b- subjectprefix ofClass2 .úey,
contracted
-áká- tensemarker,prehodiemalpast(beforetoday)
, -tlm- verbroot, .send,
-á final vowel (part oftense marker)

Compound verbs are formedwith an auxiliary

I X standsfor
whichevermay be úe classnurnberofthç adjectiveor pronouÍr.

44
 bakálíkútuma 'they weresending'(/i 'be').
However,theseare often written as oneword:
bakálikútuma

Strong and rüeak Forms

A strikingfeatureofthe Tongaverbalsystemis the existenceofa 'strong'anda
'weâk' variantfor manyverb forms.The strongform emphasises
the verb,the
the following item:
weakform emphasises

strong: balátumátúgwalo 'úey aresendinga letter'

weak: banimálügwalo 'they are sendinga letter'
Strong and weak forms differ in tone-patternand occasionally in shape.(In
anallic tonal studies,the 'weak' verb form is regardedas tonally linked to the
following word.)

Verbal Root, Stem and lnfinitive

The verbal infinitive is a Class15 noun basicallycomposedof Class 15 noun
prefix+root+-a:
(i)ku-sal-a'to choose,choosing' (í)kú+um-a'to send,sending'
The root and the final vowel toeetherform the stem.A few verbs however do
not havefinal -a.'
(i)kuai'Ìo say'.

one with first stemsyllableNeutral(N) and

Thereare two major tone-classes,
the other with Determinant(D) on úe flrst root vowel. The two verbs shovm
aboveare respectivelyN (ikusala) and D (íkituma). The inÍìnitive may also
includea negativeelement-/a- and/oran objectconcord:

45
 (í)hiaa-sal-a .not to choose'
(i)ku-mu-sal-a .to choosehimÍter'
(í)kú-ta-mu-sal-a .not to choose
him/her'
The infinitive, beinga noun,hasthe full rangeof classconcords,can function
assubjectandobjectofa verbandtakeall nominalaffixes:
íkwíiyá kwócikolo nkúyumu,akwálo kwíiytÍ kwtikaindí kwóhilí kúyumu
'school leamingis hard,and (it) also the educationof olden times was
hard'
ndakátalílcákumuyeeya .I beganto think of her,
tandílóngiahmdilangapé.he neverevenlooksat me,
(lit. he doesnot look at mê and (to) look at
me,no)

Soundaltemationswherethe root is vowel-commencing,

e.g.kweenda,koona,
havealreadybeendiscussed
on page10.

Verb Root ExtenrionJ

A verb may showadditionsto úe root whichmodifuthe meaning,e.g.
-sal-w_a
'be chosen';úese areroot or verbâr extensions.An unextended
root is saidto
be simplex The most commonextensionsare shownbelow; there are often
allomorphsfollowing the rules of Vowel Harmonyand ConsonantHarmonv.
VerbsarequotedasstemswithoutClass15Np.

Passive: -sal-w-a'bechosen, (-sala.choose,)

-swq)-igw-a 'be visited, (-swaya,visiÍ,)
J-igw-a'be eaten' (Jya,eat )
-penz(y)-egw-a,be
madeto sttffer' (_penzya,make
suffer,)

+o
The Passiveis the only extensionnot to prôcedeúe Completive Suffix (see
below,page60.)
bo-lí-kond-ed-w-e'they are pleased' (-kond-w-a 'becomepleased')

Relational (also known as Applied, Prepositional or Directive): this gives úe

meaning'in relation to' and is often translatedinto Englishby prepositions.
-amb-il-a'speakto' (-amba'slate,speak')
Jet-el-a'bringfor/ta' (Jeta'brin9')

-nyem-en-a' get with' (-nyena 'get angry')

^Írgry
J-id-a 'eat frorn' ('lya'eat')

-ka(y)-izy-a'preventfor' (Éarya'prevent,forbid')
fusion:-pandul-wid-a'explainto' (-pandulula'explain')

The RelationalandPassivemaybe combined:

-jik-il-w-a 'be cookedfor, havesomeonecook for one' (-jika 'cook')
lol-el-w-a'be takenfrom, havetakenfrom one' (.Íola'taka away')
-fw-íd-w-a'be diedon, be bereaved'(-íwa'die')

CausativeI: givesthe meanings'causeto do or be done'or 'usefor doing':

-nyem-y-a'makeangry' (+ryema'bacomeangry')

-jot-y-a ' seizewith' (-jata ' seize,hold')

-li-sy-a'feed' (-W'eat')
trouble'
fusion',-penzya'makedistressed, (penga 'be in distress')

-isla 'causeto leam or be leamt,teach' (ia 'leam')

A specialusageof the Câusativeis with reduplicationof the root and the

refleÍve objectconcord-/È, meaning'pretendto do':

À1
fusion: -li-lanzya-lanzya' pÍetendto be looking' (-langa'look')

CausativeIf':
-ul-isy-a 'sell, cavseto buy/bebought' (-ula'buy')
-sek-esy-a'cheer,amuse' (-seÉa'laugh')

givesthe meaning,do to eachother,or,do together'.

Reciprocal-Associative:
-yand-an-a'love eachoúer' (-yanda 'love,like')
-z(y)ib-an-a'know eachother' (-z(y)iba 'know')
The Reciprocal-Associatíve
canbe combinedwith the Relational:
-bej-el-an-a'tellliesabouteàchother' (-ô"a 'tell lies')
andwith úe RelationalandCausativeI:
-jok-el-an-y-o 'cause to return to each oúer, reconcile' (-joka,retwn
(intr)')
Intensive:
-yand-ìsy-a'love very much,like verymuch, (-yanda,love,like')
-yoow-esy-a'be tenifted' (-yoowa ,be afraid')
Reduplicated,it expressesevengreaterintensity:
'love very muchindeed'
-yand-is(y)isy-a
The Perfective, and the Perfective * Causative,also indicate intensity, see
below

' According to Fortunc 1971:4.2.6-3.2.,w ting on úe equivalent forms in Shona (a language

âdjacent!o and closelyrelatedüoTonga),this'long'foÌm has differentconnotations Êom úe
'short' CausativeI. Ofcausative I he says:'this extetlsionindiçatesone of two things, eiúer that
somdoneis madeto act or úat someoneis madoto b€ actedon. Thus úe causalityis not so much
direct as indirect action by an agentupon anotherag€ntcausingit to act or be açtçdon.._.afurther
implication is that things aÌe usedas instrumelts, wheÍeasCausativoII .indicatesa paíicipation
by an agentin someaçtivity, a personalpaÍicipation involving action by an agenton someoneor
something.' It is not clear whether or not these rcmarks apply equauy to Chitong4 but they
provide a basisfor funher Íesearch,

48
Neuter-Potential:this is a 'passivewithoutagent',alsowiú potentialmeaning:
-mway-ik-a' scatÍeÍ(intÍ)' (-mwaya'scatter(tr)')
visible,seem'
-bon-ek-a'be (-bona'see')

PerfectivealsocalledPersistive:úis hasthe meaning'to the utmost':

-unk-ilíl-a'go awayforever,get lost' (-unka'go away')
-sek-elel-a'rqoìce' (-se,ta'laugh')
-yum-inín-a'dry up completély' (-yuma'beaomedry')
-on-enen-a'sleepovernightin the bush (-oza'sleep')
(in wait for game)'
The Perfectivecan be combinedwiú other extensionssuch as the Passive,
Associative-Reciprocal
andCausativeI:
-ang-ilil-w-a'be tightly boundup' (-anga'bind, tie')
Jek-elel-an-a'forgiveeachother' (Jeka'let go')
fixion: Jang-ilizy-a'stareat (lit. causeto be (Janga'look at')
lookedat to the utmost)'

Reversiveand Neuter Reversive:the simpleReversiveoccurslessoften than

the reduplicatedform (identicalin shapewith the Repetitive,seebelow).This
reverses
the meaning:
-jal-ul-a'open' (-jala'shut')
-1wb-ulul-a'reveal' (-yuba 'hide')
-sam-tmun-a'takeoff(clothes),undress' (-sarza'put on clothes')
In the Neuter Reversive/z is replacedby /r (seealso hansitive and infiansitive
pairingsbelowon page50):
-kotam-uk-a'unbend,straightenup (inh)' (-kotama 'bend, bow (inh)')
-vung-uluk-a'unfold (intr)' (-vwga'fold up (tr)')

49
Repetitive and Neuter Repetitive, also called Reiterative: the meaning is
'redo,do overagain'.
-simp-ulul-a 'replant' (-simpa ,plartt )
-zyok-olol-a 'lum round (tr)' (-zyoka,return')
The Neuterform replacesAn by k: -zyok-olok-o,tam round (intr)'.

FrequentativeandNeuter Frequentative,alsocalledDispersive;the effectis

to add 'over a periodor wide area'to the meaning:
-yand-aul-a'seekfor, want in many places'(-yanda .\il<e,want )
-sal-aul-a 'sort out, grade' (-sala .choose')
TheNeuterFrequentative
showsthe usualpattemofreplacing/ by *:
-and-auk-a'besplit little by little' (-anda,stnke(aslightning),split,)

Pseudo-extensions
A pseudo-extensionis identical in shapeto a true extension,and hasthe proper
meaning,but no corresponding
simplex(unextended)
root is recorded:
-nyandwa'be srurprised' (nci*-nyanda)
-swaangana'meet
eachotheÍ' (no +-swatmga)
Similarly,there are elementsin veib rootswhich have a commonelementof
meaning,but arenot identifiableasextensions:
-kotama'bebent' -dukumans,becomebent,
Julama 'be stÍai9ht' -jitimana.become erect'
-sulama'slope,be upsidedown' -lemana,become
deformed,

Trensitive/Intransitive pairings
Many such pairs are distinguishedby the alternationsI//r or n//r (dependingon
ConsonantHarmony),the first transitiveandthe other intransitivo:

50
Uk -sumpula'lift up, improve(tr)' -sumpuha'be lifted up; advance
(intr), improve(intr)'
-sosolola'move out of theway (tr)' -sosoloka'move out of the way
(intr)'
n/k -bbabbanuna'peeloff(tr)' -bbabbanuka'peeloff(intr)'
-enzemuna'melt (tr)' -enzemuka'melt(intr)'

ClassConcords in the Verbal System

Class concordsfunction in the verbal systemas subjectprefixes (including
relativesubjectprefixes),objectconcordsandrelativeobjectpreÍixes.

Verbal SubjectPrefix (SP)

In nearlyall verbalformsúis is an obligatoryelementwhich indicatesor agrees
with the subjectofthe verb:
íu-latuma 'we send' bantuba-látuma'thepeople(they) send'

Therearecontracted
variantswhenthe nextelementbeginswith a vowel:
tw-akátuma'we chose'
Some verb forms have special SPs; negative forms for the three singular
personsareoiÌenquitedifferentfrom the affirmative:
n-datuma'lsend' but pé 'I don'tsend'
nsye-tumi
Tonally lst and 2nd personsareNeutral,all.othersDeterminant;this may lead
to different tone-patterns:
u-laíuma 'you sg send' u-lóturna's/hesends'
w-alçituma'you sg sent' w-ákátuma's/hesent'

5l
RelativeSubjectPrefix (RSP)
A relative verbal is partly like a verb and partly like a noun (hence the term
nomlno-yerbal).Classprefixesin this seriesmayhaveIV asdo nouns:
(ti)ú-tümá 'Vhe who sends' (í)wà-laitttmá'Vhe who sent'

1stand2nd personshavethe 'vocative'pre-prefixattâched(seepage41 a pre-

prefix is anyelementattachedbeforethe classprefix),andmay be stabilised:
nó4ú-sákt 'we who choose' ó-ó-tabonwi'you who arenot seenl'
qgri-ú+úmá 'it is s/hewho sends,s/heis úe onewho sends'

Verbal Object Concord(OC)

This immediatelyprecedesthe verb root in a verbal form, and indicatesor
agreeswith the objectofthe verb:
tula-mu-tuma'we sendhim'
uki-ci-nma 'he sendsit (objectin Class7)'
cá-ndá-alila 'it's baffled me, it's too much for me'/ndí+a/>n&án
(showingvowelreplacement)
(í)kú-li-bonya 'to showoneself (reflexive OC)
Singular personsareNeutral, all others Determinant;this may lead to different
tone-patterns:
balá-mú-tuma 'they sendhim/her' baki-mu-tums 'they sendyou pl'

RelativeObject Concord(ROC)
This is pre-prefixedto an Objective(Indirect)Relativoverbalform, and can be
stábilisedby additionof murmurto the initial nasal:
ncó+útúma'what we send' (impersonaluseof Class7)
ílúgwalo ndú-twálaitúzrzi'the letter which we sent'
' Part of a $cating to a personotÌe hasnot seenfor sometime: Wabóny,/q,óótabonwiahibonwa
pá 'You areseen,you who arenot se€nby beingse€n'- 'long timc no sce.'
52
 fuí-tútúnn 'it is what we send'
ílúgvalo gdri-twátlaínimã'a letter is what we sent'

Therearevariousallomorphs,accordingto dialect,tenseandúe SPfollowing:

ílúgwalo ndwí-ndáhititmá'úe letter that I sent'
ílúgwalo ndwó-áfuitútttá'the letterúat Vhe sent'
ílúgwalo ndwé+funa'the letter I send' (fusion with SP)

ln the following table, wheremoie than one variant is given for SPand RSP,the
final form in any column is the 'contracted' vaÍiant, i.e. that found before
immediatelyfollowing vowel.

53
 Table of ClassConcords in the Verbol System
Class/person Subject Relative Subject Objeú Rclative Object
Prcíix preÍir Concord Concold
Classl:
lst sg n-/ndi-/nd- (n)ee(n)-/in(d)- -rrdi-
2nd sg u-/w- (n)oo- -fu-
3rd sg u-hv- -mu- ng(ürrCn-
Class2:
lst pl tu-/tw- notu4notw- -ra-
2ndpl mu-/mw- noma-/nonn+- -rnu-
3rd pl ba-/b- iba-/ib- -ba-
Class:
J */w- tru-/iw- -u-
4 ï/v- ir-/u- -i- nj6/njí-
5 Ií-/ly ili-/ily- -li- ndyühtdí-
6 */O- aa-/a- -a- ngó-/ngí-
ci-/c- ici- -ci- nctï/ncí-
8 z(y)i-/zy- iz(y)i- -z(y)ï nzy6/nz(y)í-
9 i- ii-/ú- -i- njó-/njí-
l0 y- iz(y)i-/izy- -2(y)i- nzyó-/nzyí-
ll lu-/lw- ilu-/ilw- -lu- ndó-/ndúr
l2 ka-/k- ilía-/ik- -ka- nko-/nkí-
l3 tu-/tv'- itu-/itw- -tu- nt/5-/ntú-
14 bu-/bw- ibu-/ibw- -bu- mbó-/mkít-
l5 hu-/k11)- iku-/ikw- -ku- nk6/nhú-
l6 a-/O- ao-/a- -a- mpó-/mpú-
l7 ku-/kw- iku-/ilcrt- -hu- nko-/nhi-
l8 mu-/mw- imu-/imw- -mu- mó,/mú-
Reflexive -li-

54
Notes:
i) In someverb forms, the SP is Neutral (N) for lst and 2nd personsand
Determinant(D) for all others;in othercases,all SPsaretonallyidentical.
ii) The OC is N for all singularpersonsincludingClass1 (3rd personsg) and
D for pluralpersonsandclasses2-18.
iii) Therearespecialformsfor singularpersonsin negativeforms:
ns(y)e-'I' (Southem(n)si-),to-'you sg', ta-'slhe'
PÍesent:.
Pasttenses:
ns(y)iind-'l', too-'you sg',taa-'slhe'.
Seealsothe Hortativeform page59. The RelativeObjectConcordtoo has
variantformsasexplainedabove.

TYPESOF VERB FORM

Verb forms may consistof one word only, suchas twakátuma'wesent',or of

morethanoneword, suchastúyáhituma 'we shallsend',thoughevenúese are
sometimes
written as oneword. The dialectsdiffer in someinstances:Southern
Tongausea one-wordform for thefuture:niyóótuma'weshallsend'.

A verb form is saidto haveoneor moreof the threefeaturestense,aspectand

mood, Tense meansthe time-reference:
Present,Pastof Today,Pastof before
Today,Future.The Tongaverb systemincludestwo pâsttenses,one for events
on the day of speaking(Near or Hodiernal Past),and anotherfor eventsbefore
today(Remoteor PrehodiemalPasQ:
twatúma'wesent(today)'but twakánma'we sent(beforetoday)'.

Aspect indicatesthe duration,completionor qualityof úe actionor state,for

(in progress),
exampleProgressive Completive('Perfect'):

55
 twakálíkútuma'weweresending'is Progressive
tulítumide'wehavesent'is Completive.

Mood is less easyto define, but in ChitongaincludesIndicative,Relative,

Imperative,Conditional,Hortative,Subjunctiveand paúicipial. There are so
many Chitongaverb forms that completeexemplificationis impossiblehere;
belowareillustratedsomeof themostcommon.

The tone-pattemdependson a numberof factors:the tonalclassof the root, of

the subjectprefix, of the objectconcordif any, and wheúer it is a ,strong,or
'weak' variant. The complete pattern set is shown for úe present/Future
Indicativeonly. Formsare hyphenatedto show the various elementsin their
make-up:
tuJa-sal-a 'we choose,are choosing' consistsof úe Sp -ta-, tense
marker -la-, verb root -sal- andfinal vowel -a- which is a secondpart of
thetensemarker.

PreÍent/Future
This refersto the presentor nearfuture,and includesa.progressive,meaning
'be doing'.
Strong: tu-la-sal-a 'we choose,arechoosing,shallchoose(soon)'
tu-la-mu-sal-a 'we choosehim'
tuJa-mu-sal-a 'we chooseyou pl'

ba-la-sal-a 'they choose,aÍe choosing,will soonchoose'

.ba-la-mu-sal-a 'they choosehim'
ba-lá-mu-sal-a 'they chooseyou pl'

56
 tu-la-tum-a 'we send,aresending,will soonsend'
tuJa-mu-tum-(r 'we sendhim'
tu-la-mu-tum-a 'we sendyou pl'

ba-lá+um-a 'they send,aresending,will soonsend'

ba-lá-mú-tum-a 'they sendhim'
ba-lá-mulum-a 'they sendyou pl'

Weak: tu-sal-á 'we choose...' @mphasison object;

ba-sál-á 'they choose...' N and D verbs alike)

Negative talu-s.ál-i 'we do not choose' No differences

Strong ta-tu-mú-sál-i 'we do not choosehim' correlated with SP
@resent ta-tu-mú-sál-i 'we do not chooseyou pl'
meaning)
talu-tum-í 'we do not send'
ta+u-mú4um-i 'we do not sendhim'
ta-tu-mu-tum-i 'we do not sendyou pl'

Negative ta-tu-sál-i 'we do not choose...' No differences

Present for SP; no OC
Weak: taiulúm-í 'we do not send...' forms recorded

'Negative ta-tu-lqi-sál-i 'we arenot goingto choose' No weak forms

Future: ta-tu-ká-mú-sál-ì 'we arenot goingto choosehim' reòorded
ta+u-ká-mú-sril-i 'we arenot goingto chooseyou pl'

57
 ta4u-hi4um-i 'we are not going to send'
ta-tu-ki-mú-tum-i 'we arenot goingto sendhim'
ta-tu-ká-mu-tum-i 'we arenot going to sendyou'

Near or Hodiernal Past

This tenserefersto eventswhichtook placeon úe dayof speaking:
tw-a-sal-a 'we chose(today)'
tií-tw-ri-sál-a 'we did not come(today)
It is alsousedin narrativefor eventsbeforetheday of speaking.

Remote or Prehodiernal Pastr

This refersto eventsbeforethe day of speaking:
tw-akc-sal-a 'we chose'
tií-w-álsi-sál-a 'we did not choose,.

Future
A future meaningis expressedin severalways in addition to úe -/a-a tense.For
instance,there are two compound tenses,one with -ya , go, and the oúer
with -z(y)i'come':
íu-ya ku-sala 'we shall come,we aregoing to choose'
tu-zyi ku-boola 'we shallcome,lit. we arecomingto ohoosê'
The Southemdialect hasone-wordforms: tu-yoo-sal-a,n-mo-bool-c.

lmperative
This expresses
a command.Therearetwo forms:
i) the simpleverb stem:srila/ 'choose!'
ii) a more commonform with f-o- for singularand *a-rza- for plural:
I The terms
'Hodiemal' and 'Prehodiemal'aretaken íiom Collins 1962.

58
 k-o-sál-a,
ka-mu-stil-a!'choose!'
Negative: (m)uaá-sál-i 'don't choose'
This may includean element-ci- meaning'still, keepon doing':
ka-mu-cí-yá 'keepgoing'

Subjunctive
wish, intendedresult,etc.andis oftenusedafter kuti'that':
This form expresses
(kuti) tu-sál-e '(so that) we may choose'
Negative: tulá-sál-i 'úat we maynot choose'
An interestingusageis asa temporalpast:
tu-mán-e 'whenwe hadfinished'
bu-cé 'when it (day,bú-zuba)dawned':'the
next day'
thereis a hortativemeaning:
Sometimes
e.g. tu-sál-e 'let's choose'
The element-*o- is insertedto imply distancein time or space:
kamucíyámu-ktÍ-sík-e 'keep going so that you may eventuâlly
arrive' is saidto someonegoingaway.
This alsoshowsthe Subjunctiveasa 'sequentialcommand'.
Anotler useis in a compoundtensewith -Íi (lit. 'say'):
ndakatí (n)tànte 'I was aboutto climb'

Hortative
' Thismeansto 'let ...do':

á-tlt-sál-e 'let us choose'

í-ln/úm-e 'let me send'
Negative: tulá-sál-i 'let us not choose'

59
 in-tá-tum-i 'let me not send,
The Hoúativemayserveasa politecommand:
á-mú-ndí-gwtisy-e ,pleasehelp me'

€ompletives
Theseareusedto expresscompletedaction:
tu-li-cit-ide 'we havedone'
Completivesalso expressstate, especiallywith verbsmeaning.to become...'
andimply emphasisor contradiction:,yes,we have doneit (thoughyou saywe
haven't)'.
u-lí-sondok-ede .he has gone mad,
he is mad, (_sondoka
'go mad')
inhombezi-lívúl-ide .the cattle ure nu-erousl, (_vula,become

numerous')
Completiveshave added to the root a suffrx -ide-ede (according to Vowel
Harmony)and in úe westem,Ila-influenceddialects-ile--ele. Somespeakers
alsopractiseConsonant
Harmony:
-langa'look' > -Iang-ide,-tang-ite
-sondoka'go mad' > -sondok-ede,-sondok-ele
-nyema'getangry' > -nyem-ede,-nyem-ene
However,manyverbshavespecialcompletiveforms:
-bona'see' > -bwene -kkala.sit,live, > -kkede
-ima 'stand,up' > -imvwi -z(y)ìba ,ktow, > -z(y)i
-jata 'catch' > -jisí
-z(y)ibana,know eachother, > -z(y)ibene
Thdforms shownabove,wiú marker-/i-, arepresent Completives.Weakand
negativeforms omit -/i-:
Strong: tuJi-jisi 'we havecaught;we have'

' Also mcans'they'reall there;thçrearen,tanymissing.,

 Weak tu-jísínhombe 'we havecattle'
Negative ta-tu-Iang-ìàé 'we haven't looked'

Pastmarkerscan be insertedto form Past Completives(or Pluperfects):

tw-c(ká)-lí-imvwi 'we werestanding'
Negative: tií-tvt-á(ká)Jáng-ìdé 'we hadnot looked'

Negative Inceptives
Thesehavethe meaning'not yet"; the markeris -níngá- or 'nó-
Ía1u-níngá-sal-a,ta-tu-ná-sal-a 'we havenot yet chosen'
fií-au-álai-n(íng)á-sal-a 'we had not yet chosen'
The participial form of this (see page 63 for participles)comes to mean
'before':
hi-tü1á-níngd-sal-a 'wê having not yet chosen,before we
choose/chose'

Relative Forms
Therearetwo kindsofthese:the Subjectiveor Direct
ítítsála '(s/he) who chooses'
andthe Objectiveor Indirect:
ngótl&áld '(s/he) whom we choose'
SeealsoInverted Relativeon page73.

Subjective (Direct) Relative

' The RelativeSubjectPrefix(RSP)(seepage52) is used,andtlìe restofthe verb
may differ in shapeand tone pattem from the correspondingindicative form.
Examplesshowthe Class2 (3rd person)RSP:

6l
Present/T'uture: (í)bá-sál-a ,theywho choose'
Negative: (|bá-tà-sál-i ,úey who do not choose'
Near Past: (í)b-à-sál-a .theywho chose(today)'
Negative: (í)b-à+â-sál-a ,theywho did
not choose(today),
RemotePast: (í)b-áki-sál-a ,úey who chose(before
today)'
Negative: (í)b-à+í-lui-stil-a .they who did
not choose (before
today)'
As previouslymentioned,all relativeformscanbe stabilised,basicallyby SE2a,
but with vowelalternations
whererelevanl andwith Íáis(y/j for the negative:
mbí-bá*ál-a,mbá-bá-sál-a ,theyarethe ones
who choose'
ngú-ú+úm-á ,s/heis the one
who sends,

Objective (lndirect) Retative

The R€lativeObject Prefix (or pre-prefix, ROp) is attachedto a form of the verb
which againmay differ in shapeor toile-pattemfrom both tìe corresponding
indicativeand the subjectiverelative.The forms below have ROp of Class7,
usedimpersonally
to mean'what,:

PreseníFuture: ncó+ú-sál-a ,whatwe choose,

Negative: ncóiú+á-sál-i ,whatwe do not
choose,
Near Past: ncí-tw-á-sáI-a .what we chose(today)'
Negative: ncí-tw-titti-stil-a ,whatwe did
not choose(today),
RemotePast: ncí-tw-áhi-sáI-a .whatwe chose(before
today)'
Negative: ncí-tw-áiá-ká-sát-a ,what we did not
choose(before
today)'
Examplesof otherclasseswith meaningin the absence
ofa controllingnoun:
nkótttkkála 'wherewe live'(Class 17,locative)

62
 mbótt4ik íka 'as we arrived'(Class14,manner)
This is stabilisedby SEl, i.e.murmuron the initial nasal,ar,dby téés(y)ifor the
negative:
eeciBcítwákisála 'this is what we chose' (Class 7,
impersonal,'úing')
pd
lëesinlcwékútóla 'it's not whereI'm taking you' (Class 17,
locative)

Participles
Three important participial forms are the Present,the Futurê Past and the
NegativeInceptive:

PreseníFuture: ká-tú-sál-a 'we choosing'

Negative: lqi-tü-tá-sál-i 'we not choosing'
Future Past: w-á-sál-a 'we having(in úe future)chosen'
Negative: w-á4á-sál-a 'we not having chosen'
NegativeInceptive:ki+ü-tá-n(íng)á-sal-a'we not yet havingchosen'

action,etc. goingon (or not) at the sametime

The PresentParticipleexpresses
asthe 'point of reference'verb:
bátujanaká-tà-bélék-a 'they found us working'
ibantu tabakómenikó-bú4i-sóninw-i 'humansdon't grow without being
fed'
and may be usedinsteadof the HoÍtativê:
krí-lú-cíta zyoónseama(mu 'let's do everyúing sensibly (with
sense)'

63
 -J

The Future Past expressessomethingwhich has happenedbefore the referent

verb, usuallyeither Present/Futureor Imperative:
twtÍtémaziyako, tulasyádíndi
'we haVingcut poles,we dig a trench'= ,whenwe,vecut...,
wómónabóobo,kobóólahilí ndìmé
'you havingfinishedthat,cometo me' = .whenyou,vefrnished...,
koséI úka wdsíka alus aka
'get down [off the train] you having arrived at Lusaka, = .when you,ve
reached...,
The FutuÍe PastParticiple doesnot refer to the past other than in úese contexts;
the Subjunctiveservesfor this whenthe verb is in úe pasl seepage59, and
see
also Temporal Forms below. The Negative Inceptive expresses.before,,
whateverúe tenseofthe referentverb:
wákimáná múzubaotátwekdíàníng.ibonamalimopé.
'he spent three days he not yet having found work, = .before Íìndine
work,
utáunkikábátóníngásika
'don't go theynot yet havingarrived'= ,beforethey arrive,

Otherusesof úe participleswill be illustratedin the followins sections.

áa- + verb stem

In termsof ronga grammaÍ,this is a nomino-verbal.As secondelementin a
com'pound tenseit canbe functionallyclassedasa paÍticiple:
laisímbikalaya hiya bu-seka .the little girl goes
along laughing,
bakali kuzabwa-ambaula 'úey were coming along chatting'
Temporal Forms
PresentandPâsttenseshâvepre-prefixes:
zrí- for Present;
nó-tü-sál-a 'when we choose'
andni- (with variants)for Pasttenses;
ní-tw-álui-sál-a 'when we chose'
in all otherrespectsthpy are identicalwith ObjectiveRelatives.

No negativeformsare recorded.As shownon page59, úe Subjunctivecan be

usedas a pastt€mporal.The Future,or more correctly,the FuturePasl canbe
by the FuturePastParticiple,seeabove.
expressed

Conditionals
Therearetwo kindsof condition,RealandUnrealr:
Real: kuti wányéma,baláhi'sesa'ifyou've got angry,they fine you'
Unreal: kuceelo'if you had killed me, I
nimwandijaya,níndamupenzya
would haveharriedyou asa ghost'
nibalí krúzyiba,níbali kuleka 'if they (only) knew (better), they
would stop'
In the first case.the conditioncanbe fulfilled; in the secondandthird, it hasnot
happenedand, in the third case,is unlikely to happen.In boú casesthereare
two clauses,an 'if clause('protasis'),statingthe condition,and a'then' clause
('apodosis')statingthe result in the caseof fulfilment of the condition.The
clausescanbe in anyorder,cf. the following,wherethe apodosiscomesfirst:
íbánabatalilakuti btiúmwa 'childrencry ifthey're beaten'

The Real Conditional generallyrefersto presentor futuretime; it is introduced

I Theseare termsfrom Palmcr1965:72,132-3;manyothershavebeenused,suchas Simpleand
(Hopgood 1953:.220),Fulfilled and
Modified (Collins 1962:122),lmpossible/Hlpothetical
Unfulfilled,etc.
 by kuti. A conditionsimultaneous
with the result is expressedby the present
Participle,
kuti hójhnda, tulakonzyakulindita .ifyou like,
we canwait,
kuti kótàytindi kusampuka...
koúmúna!
'if youdon'twantto be humiliated...
bequietl'
but if the conditionis to precedethe resultthe Futurepastparticipleis used:
kuti muntu wájáya mwéènzyínyína, taléketetwipé
'if a personhaskilled his fellow-human,
he is not acquitted,

'lf in the senseof 'whether,is ntia, whichon presentdatatakesindicative

verb
forms:
kúbuzyakubantukuti náa balímúzi mtmtúútëgwáMútínta
'to ask of people(that) whetherthey know (him/her) a personcalled
Mutinta'

Two typesofverb form areusedin the unrear conditionar: onesetÍ'orthe .if

clause(protasis)and anotìer for the ,then' clause(,apodosis,)stating\i/hat
the
resultwould be/wouldhavebeenif the conditionwere/hadbeenfulfilled.
The
'if clauseverbformsbeginwith za--zr'-:

'fP PreseníFuture: no-tu-sál-a ,ifwe wereto choose,

Negative: no-tuiá-sál-í ,ifwe were
not to choose,
Near Past: ni-rw-a-sal-a .if we hadchosen(today)'
Neg*tive: ni-tw-a-ta-sal-a ,if we hadnot chosen(today),
RemotePast: ni-tw-aka-sal-a .ifwe hadchosen(beforetoday),
Negative: ni-tw-ata-ka-sql-a , if we had not chosen(beforetoday),

66
For the PreseníFutuÍe,one way is to follow the particle ínga by the Presení
Future,or by úe pastof -ri + inÍinitive, for úe Progressive;ínga canbo roughly
translatedby 'maybe', and gives the meaningof 'should, would' to úe
following verb:
íngatu-la-sal-a 'we wouldchoose'
The past 'then' clauseforms havezí- prefixed:
Neer Past: ní-tw-a-sal-a 'then we would havechosen(today)'
Negative: ní-tw-a-ta-sal-a 'úen we would not havechosen(today)'
Remote Past: ní-tw-a-ka-sal-a 'then we would have chosen (before
today)'
Negative: ní-tw-a-ta-la-sal-a 'úen we would not have chosen(before
todaY)'
There are now three forms spelt the same but distinguished(sometirnes!)by
tone:

'l?: ni-tw-aka-sal-a 'if we had chosen'

'Then': ní-tw-aka-sal-a 'then we would havechosen'
Temporal: ní-tw-átai-sál-a 'when we chose2
The 'if formscanbe usedwithouta 'tlen' clause:
músámunu-u-bót-á btJtí 'howevergoodthe medicinemay be'

-ti'be'
'Be' is expressedin a numberof ways, one being the verb -/1, which has past
and futuÍe tenses(including relative forms and participles),but lacks someother
forms.

The affirmative tensesof -ri show different tonal behaviouraccordingto what

67
follows. If it is a nonlocativenoun or adjective,or an infinitive, úe -/Í forms
one tonal word rvith the succeedingone:
tuJi bantu .we arepeople;we are
Africans,
but tú-Ií báTonga .we areTongapeople,

tw-akaJi kusala .we were choosing,

but tw-akáJí hituma ,we were sending,
This also illustratesthe useof -/i + infinitive to makeprogressivetonses.Here
the Remote Past is shown, and other tenses can be used. (In the present,
however,the -li mu-ku-constructionis prefened.)

-/i is always'weak' beforea locative:

ttíJí mirnhánda ,we,rein úe house'
tw-akóJí mú-hinma 'we were [engaged]in sending'
whenin the negative:
ta-íu-lí bàmáhiwa .we're not Europeans'
andwith locativesmeaning'úere was/were':
kw-ákti-lí bantu .thereweresomepeople'

kulí neéyànda 'there'ssomethingI want'

Ifa pronominalstem(usuallylocative)is sufiìxedto úe present-ü is omitted:
ta-ba-wó ,they're not here/úere'
The Objective Relative with locative Relative Object Concord exprosses
'presence'
and'existence'
:
r mpfumüJí? 'are you present, do you exist?' (a
greeting)
t4pé-n-ü,báiyi ,I'm here,teacher,(said
by schoolchildat
roll call)

68
 pkó-bb-líbantubamwí 'therearesomepeople...'
íno mwá-ú-lí maanumúmútweoyo "is thereany sensein that head?'
The presenceor otherwiseof murmur on the initial z- is unceÍain.
The regularverb -áa substitutesfor the 'missing' forms and is an altemativefor
existingones:
kuti ta-bé 'úat we may be (lit. become)'
no-ci-btí cinkwa, ni-i-bá nsima 'wheúer it be bread, or (whether it be)
nsima'
no-ku-b-tí kuti '(even)if it be úat..., alúough'
no-ku-Eó bóobo 'evenso,nonetheless'
mbó-btr-b-éde 'how theyare(lit. havebecome')

'Ilavet
' The most gommon ways of expressing'have' in the senseof possession,in
addition to úe possessiveconcordsystem'aÍe:
i\ -li a- (Iaa) and -ba a- (-baa), literally 'be wiú' and 'become with'; the
bracketedforms are often found in written Chitonga:
tulaa coolwe 'we are lucky (lit. we aÍe with good
luck)'
wakali a-nguzu,wakalaanguzu 'he ìüasìviú strengú, he had strength'
stmu ndabd acoolwe 'today I've been lucky (lit' I have
becomewith good luck)'

ii) -lisi, the Completive of -jata 'catch, hold' hence 'obtain'. Since the
emphasisis usually on the following noun, úe weak form is more
prevalent:
bajísí nhàndhmbotu 'úey haveafine house'

69
 nsyejísíciindi pé 'I haven't got time'
bálaijkí maanúnánji 'úey had much wisdom'

iii) úe verb stem-/nrrd in úe negative:

tabakwébànyína 'they haveno mother,
úútàkwémaqnu ,someonewithout sense
flit, he who does
not havelì,isdom)'
wiú a locative SPthe meaningiíare 'there is not':
taakwécllyo 'úere isn't any food,
With a following infinitive, -&ré forms a NegativeFuturetense:
nsyekwékúhúlunapé 'I'm not going to bite you'

iv) -(ny)ina, a verb stem with úe meaning 'have not, not be,; -zyiza is
Southern:
kw-ínó,ku-nyínd 'thereisn't, úere aran't'
laikÌtnyínámúpenzi 'úere not being diffìculties (wiüout
ditrìculty)'

-kwé and -(ny)ina, sometimesfollowed by a- 'and, with', are used to make

expressionsmeaning'never,nobody,nowhere;noúing'etc., which if negated
mean'always,everybody,ever5rwhere,
everything':
taakwéruióki'vìrwi pè 'there is not when he answered(he never
answered)'
r kunyína ábácaalamuminzipé 'tlrere is not who stayedat home (no-one
stayedhome)'
kunyína ancíndólaibòná 'there is not (with) what I saw (I saw
nothing)'
 kunyínd wàtákándítúkíIapé 'there is not who did not scold me
(everyonescoldedme)'

PARTICLES
Theseare words which do not fit into eiúer nominal or verbal categories.They
may function as adverbs, conjunctions, interjectives (exclamations)or
ideophones,or in the structureofquestions.Someoommonparticlesare:
ántéla,ambwéni 'perhaps' Ioko 'very much' (Southern)
bíyá 'very much' náa 'whether,if
búryó,bíyó 'onlY' onó 'now, well now'
ccitá,ncitó 'l don't know' pési,péle 'but'
ínga 'PerhaPs'

Interjectives or exclamations
Somecommoninterjectivesare:

ácu! 'my goodness!' ná? 'is it not so?'

ená? 'is úat so?indeedl' mááwèl 'oh dear!oh moúer!'
iíl 'yes!' Pé! 'no!'
inzyá! 'yes indeed!' péèpé! 'not at alll'
tau! 'no!'
Seealsopage76 for iípd.

ldeophones
Theseare also called phoncsthetic prrticlês. They expressqualities,sounds
(and silence),colours,actionsand stâtesin a very vivid way. They areoften, but
not exclusively,foundwith verbsof similarmeaning.

7l
 kulniya 'mbí'! 'it is absolutelypitch-black'(-sp.,a.be black,)
wátontola'síl@'! .shewasbitterly
c old' (tontola,be cold,)
'vuu!'wakainda 'suddenlyhe wasgone'(+zda .passby')
munzioónse 'gágüálé'! ,úe whole
village [was] open_mouúed in
astonishment'
For questionparticlesseebelow, page74.

SYNTAX

This sectionis limited to a few of úe more salientpoints of Tongasyntax.

WORDORDER
A subjectnominalmay precedeor fo[ow an indicativeverb ifthere is no obiect
nominal:
(í)mwina ulalila OR ulalilá nwána .the ohild is
crying,.
and an object nominal may follow or precedeúe verb; in the rattercasethere is
oftenan OC in úe verbagreeingwiú the objectnominal:
ujísínsima ,shehasnsima'
bdna ndakibasiya ,the children,
I left them behind,
The precise connotationsof different word orders have not yet been ìüell
studied.A weak verbal, asalreadyshown,thÍo.wsemphasison.to úe object; the
object nominal cannot then precedethe verb. In úe tlpical ,topic_and-
comment'structuÍe,aÍominal precedes a sentenceofwhich it is neithersubiect
nor object,though it may be grarnmaticallyconnected:
' maanu mulóaiisì,pési tamwaábétesyiprá,sense you have it, but you
don't useit,
umwímwánandamúpa[mapopweJoni .one child,
I gave him four

72
 (maize-cobs)'

Relatiues, Temporalr
Objectsnormally follow an ObjectiveRelative:
ncíndálí húbàaúníruibàna 'what I was beatingthem for, the children'
= 'why I was beatingthe children'
A temporalmay havea noun subjectbeforeor after úe verb:
(í)zubanílyálaitánta OR nílyóká,tántàzuba
'whenúe sunrosehigh'
niókrizwa múntóIóngoÌufuÍánya
'when he came out of prison Maanya' : 'when Maanya came out of
prison'

Inverted Relaúive
When an Objective Relative has a nominal subject,the constÍuction becomes
ratheÍclumsy:
múmúlóngaoyo móbàtékameéndabákainn
'in that river in which they draw water women' = 'in úe river from which
womendraw water'
úerefore it is often replacedby an 'inverted' form in which the'real world'
object is úe grammaticalsubject,the verb is a SubjectiveRelative,and the 'reat
world' subjectis the grammaticalobject:
bóngòbwanúbwàkímupáÌvíwáni
'your brain which gaveyou the Lord' = 'your brain which the Lord gave
you'
májwi rya áMúnba kisíubi
'thesewords whioh said the li$le girl' = 'úese words which the litde girl
 said'
íbána balyi cllyo cíbàúlila úsyi
'the childreneat úe food which buys for úem úeir father, = .the food
whichtheir faúer buysfor úem,
This is particularly common where tirne, location, mannerand
the impersonal,
areconcemed:
sunú lyà lai*ílu kú,Iemba
'today that hasanived writing, = .now úat we havewriting,
mutalá tnyáhilí bàna
was the children' = .on top, wherethe children were,
'on top, \Àr'here
ktiyá nkumúrryaokó kwttkafwidámnyana
'to go the very [place] where died at the animal, = .to go to
úe very
[place]at whichthe animaldied'
hibbilá bwàhiyá banwí
'to sink assankthe others' = ,to sink asthe oúers saú'
níndàhilembá càlatuimbalúgwalo
'when I readwhat saidthe letter' = .when I ÍÈadwhat the letter said,

QUE TIONS
There are questions which can be answeredwiú .yes' or íno, _- .yes_no,
questions- and úose which contain a questionword such as ,where?,__
WH-
questionsin English,sincemostquestionwordsbeginwith .wh'.
i) héna-séna andsd form a ,yes-no,questionfrom a statement:
héna ulaboola or ulaboolahéna? .areyou coming?,
,

iì) tée,tíi?'is it not the casethat...?' andnó? ,is it not so?,also give yes_no
inteÍÌogativemêaningto a sentence:

74
 tée ooyu4gu+&ita? 'isn'tthis(person)
Father?r
ulasobanand? 'you'rekidding,aren'tyou?'

iii) ízo initiates a questionwith an interrogativeword or affix ('WH question'):

íno pgní? 'whois it?'
íno babóólállh? 'whenareúey ooming?'
íno uyandanzí? 'whatdoyou want?'

The chiefquestion words, stemsand afïixes are:

bútí? 'how?'
káí? 'why?'
-lí?: 'which?'
(í)líf? 'when?'
(rúlí? 'where(-to,-at)?'
(á)álí? 'where(-on,-at)?'
(í)múlí? 'where(in)?'
-ní? 'who(m)?' (usually stabilïsed,seeíno nguní? above;
also attachedto pronouns:Bduwé-níZ'who areyou?')

-nzí? 'what?' attachedto verbs; 'what kind ofl' attachedto

nounsor with a classprefix: pcínzí 'what kind of thing
is it?'
ín-zí?(Class'9)'what?'
Note especiallythe useof ks-ambo'reason',in expressions
for 'why?'
íno pkáámbòraí?
'what is the reason?why?'
nlaiámbònzínkotatumimbabókumapopwe?

75
 'the reasonis whatthatyou don't sendthemto úe mealies?'= .why don,t
you sendtáentto úe mealies?'
arrd qfuiámbó/ak&imbókohlti
'it is/because
ofthe factthat...,

The RelationalExtensionwith -nz? is also usedúoexpress.why?,:

íno twalékclànzí kümuzinga?
'we desistedfor what to attackhim?' = ,why didn't we set upon him?,
mubáúnínànzíbbta?
'you are beatingthem for wha! the children?' = .why are you beatingthe
children?'

A negative 'yes-no' question is answeredaccording to wheúer or not úe

responderagreeswith what hasbeensaid:
hénatocíyándipé? .don,tyou like it?'
Ans. l) ií ,yes(you'rêright =
I don't like it)'
2) ií pè .yes,no (5rou're
right, I don't)'
3) péèpé 'no (you'rewrong,I do)'

76
 LISTOF TERMS

allomorph: one of a group of actual forms by which a morpheme is

realisedt for instanceúe Object Concord for the 2nd person
singular is /ku/, with allomorphs -kw, -kwV' Lll.d -ko',
dependingon the context (ku-ku-yanda 'to like you' , ku-kwa-
ambila 'to tell you', kú-kó-opa'to embraoeyou').
allophone: one of a groupof actualsoundsby which a phoneme(q.v.) is
realised;the phoneme/w/ hasmany allophones,suchas [x]' [y]
and [j], in different environments.Seepage7 underw.
alveolar: pronouncedwith the tongueon úe teeth-ridgejust behindúe
upperteeth,as [t] and [s].
approximant: soundin the pronunciationof which the articulator (suchas úe
tongue) approachesor touchesúe place of'árticulation ìvithout
producingfriction or plosion; [w], [y] and [li areapproximants.
aspiration: puff of air accompanyingor immediately following a sound;p
and Í before a vowel are pronouncedwith slight aspiration,as
tp\ *d tt'1.
back: vowolsaÍiculatedwithúe backof úe
termusedin classifuing
tongueraised;[u] and [o] are backvowels.
bilabial: made with the lips touching each other; [m] and [b] are
bilabials.
breathyvoice: breaú issuesthrough partially closedvocal cords;seepage9.
central: termdescribinga vowel in which eitherthe tongueis not raised
at all, or the central tongue area only is raised; [a] is
phonetically a central vowel in Chitonga (but phonologically
patternsmostly with backvowels).

77
consonant: soundduÍing the productionof which there is someobstruction
ofthe air path;in Chitonga,a consonant
may not be the nucleus
of a syllable, i.e. there are no syllabic consonants(as there are
in ciNyanja); [t], [s] and [y] areall consonants.
crescendo: raising ofthe pitch of the last ofa seriesof high tones;seepage
17 .
depressoT: consonant,usuallywith breathyvoice or murmur, which cannot
be pronouncedon a high pitch, and hencemay have effects on
the pitch of adjacentsounds;[g] is a depressorin Tonga, see
page18.
digraph: trvo letters vritten to represent one sound, such as zú
representing
[g].
downdrift: gradual descent of pitch of lovr' tones during a phrase or
seepage17.
sentence;
flap: sound made by tapping the slightly. curled tongue-tip sharply
againstthe point of articulation;r is sometimesan alveolarflap
in Chitonga.Symbolisedby 'fish-hookr', namely[J].

fricative: the air passageis narrowedso that theÍe is audible friction; [s]
is a fricative.
front: saidofa vowelduringúe pronunciation
ofwhich the front area
ofthe tongueis raised;[i] and[e] arefront vowels.
geminate: a doubledconsonant at undorlyingphonologicallevel,e.g.bb.
gemination: doublingof a consonant.
harn;ony: a principle by which certain sounds in a word must shaÍe a
common feature, as nasality of consonants,and backnessor
frontnessofvowels. Seepages12 and 15.
high: describinga vowel wherethe tonguehasa considerable
degree

78
 ofraising; [i] and [u] arehigh vowels.
homographic: written with the samevowel and consonantsymbols,as inseke
'hen' andínsefre'seedt.
homorganic: pronouncedat the samepoint of articulation;e.g. [n] and [t] are
homorganic,being boú alveolars,pronouncedwith the tongue
touching úe teeú-ridge.
labialised: with added lip-rounding; shown as ["] after úe primary
symbol,e.g.[hl.
glottal: articulated in the glottis, úe openingbetweenthe vocal cords;
[h] is a glottalfricative.
labio-velar: in which boú úe lips andthe velum(soft palate)are involved.
In Chitonga, [w] is úe only labio-velar, an approximant in
which the lips are roundedand úe back of the tongue is raised
towardsúe velum,
lateral: is blockedin the middleby thetongue,while
the mouthpassage
úe air comesthrough by one or boú sidesof the tongue; / in
Chitongacanbe pronounced
as [].
Iow: saidofa vowel duringwhich úe tongueis not raised;[a] is the
only low vowel in Chitonga.
mid: a vowel during which úe tongue is neither high nor low, but
midway between;[e] and [o] aremid vowels in Chitonga.
morpheme: ân abstractconceptor constructrepresentingthe different actual
surfaceforms of an elementwith commonmeaning;the marker
for tfie Present/FutureIndicative can be symbolised as /W,
having the allomorphs J*, Je-, -lo-, -d*, -de-, -do- (tuJa-
yanda'we like', tu-le-enda'wewalk', tu-lo-ona'we sleep',z-
da-yanda'I want,etc.).

79
 murmur: seebreathyvoìce.
nasal: soundmadewith the velum or soft palâtelowered to allow úe
air to comethroughthe nose;[n] and [m] arenasalconsonants.
nasalisation: lowering ofúe soft palateto allow air to passthroughthe nose;
shown as [-] over the consonantor vowel symbol. The term
'nasalised' is normally used of sounds whose primary
articulationis otherúan nasal;e.g. nasalisedconsonants such
asrzv [rÍ] andvowelsasin ímúlánfufimitlãúÍf] .tall (person),
palatal: articulatedat or near the hard palate,the central upper part of
the mouú, betweenthe teeth ridge and the velum;
[y] is a
palatalapproximant.
palato-olveolm: articulated between the teoth-ridge and the hard palate,
as
English 'sh, in ,ship'. In Chitongamany soundsmay have
either a palatal or palato_alveolar
articulation,as c jn íncili
'mortar'.
phone: actual speech sound.;phonetics is úe study of actual speech
sounds, how they are made, their characteristics and
classification.
phoneme: an abstÍact concept or construct under which one or more
speechsoundsmay be groupedashavingthe samevalue in the
sound system;symbolisedby a characterwiúin slashes.In
Chitongaúe /k/ phonemegroupstogether[y] and [k], as in
ímúkalì límíryalil'fierce (person)' and ínkali [i4kali] ,Íìerce
(goat,sheep,etc.)'.
phonological; relatingto the sound systemof a language,asopposedto simply
listing, describingand classifiing the sounds.phonologists
studytopicssuchaswhichsoundsmay andmay not combinein

80
 ìühathappenswhensoundsdo combine,andanalysis
sequence,
in termsof phonemes.
pitch: the aspect of a sound which dependsprincipally on the
fundamentalfrequency(cyclesper second).A woman'svoÍce
normallyhashigherpitchthana man's.
plosive: soundmadeby closingúe air passageoff completely;the air
builds up behind the closure,so that whên the closure is
released,there is a slight explosion.ln Tonga [p] and [d] are
plosives.
prenasalìsation: precedinga sound by a nasal, as nkaka 'l refuse' from the
stem-,taÈa'refuse'.
realisation: made real; in phonology and phonetics, úe uttering of a
particularmemberofa phonemeasa phone.
reìnforced: force,which may sometimesinclude
utteredwith considerable
length(of closure,for plosives);óó is a reinforcedconsonantin
Chitonga.
retroflex: uttered with the tongue curled back against the hard palate;
Tonga / is sometimespronouncedthis way, when it is
phoneticallysymbolisedfl1,or [1] ifflapped.
rounded: accompaniedbylip-rounding.
sudace: refers to actual sounds, as opposedto the mental çonstructs
usedduringanalysisof a soundsystem;all symbolswritten in
surfacesounds.
squarebrackets,suchas[g], represent
tonal system: a systematicuseof voice pitch in which the elementsaÍe tones,
each syllable bearing (in Chitonga)one of two contrastive
tones,high (H) or low (L). 'HiCh' and 'low' aÍe relativeterms;
H is higherthanany L in the immediatevicinity, andL is lower

8l
 than any H in the immediatevicinity. Note that ,tone, is ratler
abstract,an intepretationof pitch; one cannot .hear, a tone. but
only the pitch on which it is pronounced.(In the Sameway, one
cannot'hear' a phoneme,only the actualphoneby which it is
realised.)
Seealsopages15-18.
fuigraph: three letterswritten to repÍesenta single sound,asmfw for
[fi1.
underlying: relating to the mental constructsset up to systematisea sound
systemof gÌammar,as phonemes,morphemesand the rules
governingtheir realisationassurfacesoundsandforms.
velar: the point of articulationis the velum,or soft palate(whichmay
be raisedor loweredto stopoÍ to allow passageof air through
the nose).[g] is a velarplosive,and [y] a velarfricative.
yotce: producedby vibration of úe vocal cords;
[b] ín kulamba
'anoint' is a voicedsowd, fp) in kuJampa.belong,be high, is
voìceless.
vowel: a soundduring the production of which the air passageis not
obstructed;[i] and [a] arevowels.

82
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