Difference between revisions of "Zulu"

Revision as of 17:33, 4 January 2008

"uyambona"

"u-ya-m-bon-a"

he is seeing her

u - subject morpheme

ya - tense marker of present tense (the so called "long form")

m - subject morpheme

-bona - verb stem consisting of bon - verb root and -a the categorial morpheme^[1]

u-baba u-bon-a um-ntwana

the father sees the child

u-baba aka-bon-i um-ntwana

the father doesn't see the child

u-baba u-zo-bon-a um-ntwana

the father will see the child

zo - nearer future

u-yo-m-bon-a

he will see it

yo - far future

u-bon-i-le

he saw it

wa-bon-a

he saw it long ago

aka-m-bon-anga

he didn't see it

aka is the negative morpheme for nouns in class 1 (like ubaba)

aku-zu-m-bon-a

he will not see it

ba-ya-bon-ana

they see each other

-ana indicates reflexive

↑ the categorial morpheme is the last part of the verb stem indicating certain grammatical and semantic information

@@ Line 3: / Line 3: @@
 :"uyambona"
 :"u-ya-m-bon-a"
-:he is seeing her
+:''he is seeing her ''
 :u - subject morpheme
@@ Line 12: / Line 12: @@
 :u-baba u-bon-a um-ntwana
-:the father sees the child
+:''the father sees the child''
 :u-baba aka-bon-i um-ntwana
-:the father doesn't see the child
+:''the father doesn't see the child''
 :u-baba u-zo-bon-a um-ntwana
-:the father will see the child
+:''the father will see the child''
 :zo - nearer future
 :u-yo-m-bon-a
-:he will see it
+:''he will see it''
 :yo - far future
 :u-bon-i-le
-:he saw it
+:''he saw it''
+:wa-bon-a
-:wabona
-:he saw it long ago
+:''he saw it long ago''
+:aka-m-bon-anga
-:akambonanga
-:he didn't see it
+:''he didn't see it''
 :aka is the negative morpheme for nouns in class 1 (like ubaba)
 :aku-zu-m-bon-a
-:he will not see it
+:''he will not see it''
 :ba-ya-bon-ana
-:they see each other
+:''they see each other ''
 :-ana indicates reflexive