An introduction to the !Xũ (!Kung) language
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AN INTRODUCTION TO
The !Xu (!Kung) Language J. W SKYMAN
Published for the Department of A frican Languages
School of African Studies. Univernty of Cape Town
A. A. BALKEMA/CAPE TOWN/1970
ovary trends in linguistics also profoundly influenced the form of the final
CHAPTER 1
presentation.
In collaboraticu with the well known Booth West African botanist. Mr Giess, a great number of ’.XU plant names were recorded. Some of these names are included amongst the initial word lists. * Only linguists and typists will be able to evaluate the contribution
of my typists, Mrs M. Schade and Miss M. Veitimysen.
I sincerely
1. THE ;XG ORTHOGRAPHY
1.1.
THE WORD CATEGORIES OF ;Xu It was De SausBure who formulated the principle that language mani
itself on a horizontal or syntagmatical plane but is constructed on a vertica
paradigmatical plane. Thus every unit of language has a set vertical poeiti
appreciate their perseverance and the spirit in which their difficult task
in which other members of the same vertical group may be substituted for i
was performed.
This process of substituting elements belonging to the same vertical catego
My research was considerably facilitated by |X'ae8e (fWanasi, an unselfish and devoted !X3 informant.
I am very grateful to him and the
played an important part in the establishment of the word categories of IXu This means that a great number of sentences had to be analysed and subject
other informants for their aid. The research into the structure of '.Xu demanded many sacrifices from my wife and son.
is called commutation. The practical application of this commutative print
I sincerely appreciate their generosity and under
to the commutative test in order to glean the orthographical data presented this introductory grammar.
A positional classification of this kind will not enable one to separatt
standing.
words and larger units than words when they occur in identical syntactical p tions. We therefore had to establish whether the elements of a commutable
J.W.S.
series could be divided into smaller semantic units or whether they were fir
October, 1969.
stems. In this introductory chapter we will discuss only the words of JXu.
The units larger than words will be discussed in the following chapters. We
may therefore state that the smallest semantic units of the various commut-
able series are regarded as words and are, for orthographical and educatioi reasons, to be written disjunctively. The commutation of the words within £ vertical word category not only serves as a criterion for the identification oi
words within that series, but Is also an important aid in lexicography. This is the ideal means of establishing the size of a vertical word category.
The recognition of the words of 1X3 preceded the establishment of th
« contin
frame was applied:
uum is the response to the testing frame:
The child sees the eland
- Da'amaho n’eng
The child HUs the eland
- Ds'amalbG nleng
The child catches the eland
- Da'amagu nleng
child
The child shoots the eland
- Da'amatShinl Tia nleng
see
The child fears the eland
- Da'amakwg nleng
eland.
The child hits the eland
- Da'amatxa nleng
In order to establish the word for "eland" the product of our testing frame was
The child skins the eland
- Da'ama|a'e nleng
compared to the structures of the following grammatically identical utterances:
The child eats the eland
- Da'ama'm nleng
The child sees the eland it foilws that the utterance should at least contain the words for:
The child sees the eland
- Da'amahon! eng
Therefore it was possible to conclude that the constant element da'ama is tl
The child sees the lion
- Da’amabonl 'het
IXu word for "child", the changing forms representing:
The child sees the buffalo
- Da'amaho|ao
sees
ho
kills
The child sees the man
- Da'amaho! 'hwa
catches -
gu
shoots -
t5hin|| 'ha
The child sees the woman
- Da'amahodz'heu
fears
hwa
hits
txa
The child sees the dog
- Da'amahogt 'hwT
skins
I a'e
eats
'm
The child sees the tree
- Da'amabog'.heT
The word for "child" could also be established by the application of testing
The child sees the axe
- Da'amaho) 'ei
frames like the following: '
in these examples we observe that the segment:
Da'amaho —
*
remains constant and we may therefore conclude that it means:
The child sees — * For the explanation of the phonetical qualities of the symbols the reader is referred to: (1) our discussion of the phonemes (1.2), (ii) the tape recording of the !Xu text.
-
Ihu
The child sees the eland
-
The man sees the eland
-
I’Hw&ho nleng
The elder sees the eland
-
Njeuho nleng
The woman sees the eland
-
Dzheuho nleng
The buffalo sees the eland
-
|Aoho nleng
The dog sees the eland
-
Gi'hwlho nleng
Da'amaho nl eng
4
The lion sees the eland
5
NJ 'heiho nJ eng
(h)
The man's child sees the eland
JXoho nJ eng
(i)
The child gives the man a bow
It should be observed that the words, used as the subjects and objects of the
(j)
The child sees the eland and shoots it
sentences, belong to the same vertical category. This mutual changability on
(k)
If the child sees the eland -—
-
The elephant sees the eland -
the horizontal plane is called transpositioning. We propose to call these el ements (that may alternately be used as subject or object) the "nouns" of JXu.
The vertical word category to which they belong will be described as the nom
inal category," The commutable elements, constituting the category of which ho is a
Much research was done in an attempt to arrive at a satisfactory w< division for * Xu. The consecutive extensions of the sentence: Da’ama ho n’eng
-
The child sees the eland
will illustrate the results of this research. Each linguistic pheiwmenon dh ed in this introductory chapter will be analysed in greater detail in subsequ
member, are called the "verbs" while the vertical category itself is called the
chapters. We shall now discuss the responses to the testing frames (a - k)
"verbal category". The extensive application of the commutative principle led
above.
us to conclude that the vertical nominal and verbal categories of J Xu are poten
1.1.2.
tially infinite.
1.1.2.1.
It should be observed that our testing frames did not reveal any signs
of elements comparable to the articles in English. It may therefore be con cluded that JXG has no articles.
Having established that the nominal and verbal categories of '.XU contain commutable elements that should be written disjunctively we proceed to inves tigate.
The adnomlnal categories The descriptive adnomlnal categories
In the testing frame:
(a) The big child sees the eland the reader will observe the addition of the adjective "big*' to the structure o our initial testing frame:
The child sees the eland.
It may this be expected that a similar extension will appear in the ’X
(1) the existence of the other word categories (ii) the orthographical representation of such word categories.
By experimenting with various testing frames it was established that the following structures produced different word categories and individual words:
response to this testing frame:
>
The big child sees the eland
Da’ama nJ a'a ho nJ eng
By consecutively substituting words like: "clean, beautiful, new etc." for tl
word "big", it was established that the word n'.a'a — "big" Is a member of i
(a)
The big child sees the eland
finite commutable series. It should also be observed that this series always
(b)
This child sees the ebfod
appears post-nominally:
(c)
Yesterday the child saw the eland
Da'ama ga*u ho nJ eng
-
The clean child sees the elarrl
(d)
The child sees the eland again
Da’ama | ’horn ho nJ eng
-
The beautiful child sees the eland
(e)
The child does not see the eland
Da’ama ze ho nJ eng
-
The new child sees the eland
(f)
Does the child see the eland?
Da'ama kx'eni ho nJ eng
-
The lucky child sees the eland
(g)
The child and the man see the eland
Da'ama | xori ho nJ eng
~
The cunning child sees the eland
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6
As has been observed, the grammatical description of ’ Xu cannot be
words was observed to assume only a post-nominal position:
based on an extensive morphology because such a morphology does not exist.
Da'ama he ho nleng
Instead the description of the language has to be based on the syntactical posi
Da'ama to'a ho nl eng
-
That child sees the eland
tions and functions of words rather than on their formal appearance. Because
Da'ama uuto'a ho n! eng
-
Yonder child sees the eland
of this lack of formal characteristics it was decided to name the different word
categories of ’ Xu according to their function in the language.
This child sees the eland
-
This post-nominal commutative series Is responsible for a demon strative addition to the meanings of the subjects and objects of sentences.
Thus the poet-nominal commutable series, of which nja'a — "big" is
Because of their function we propose to term them the "demonstrative adnc
a member, result in a semantic extension of the subjects and objects of sen
Basically the demonstrative and the descriptive adnouns perform the same
tences. Because the elements of this series provide a descriptive semantic
function since they both qualify the nominals in sentences.
addition to the nominals it seemed appropriate to describe n*a*a as a "descript
1.1.3.
ive adnoun”.
1.1.3.1.
Apart from the fact that the infixing of the descriptive adnoun expands the sentence it also results in the separation of the juxtaposed words in the
sentence:
The adverbial categories The temporal adverbial category
In the response to the testing frame:
(c) Yesterday the child saw the eland
one might anticipate a change in the form of the verb as a result of the addi
Da’ama ho nJ eng
>
Da'ama nla'a ho nieng
Despite the fact that the nominals and their adnominal extensions constitute
semantic units, we propose a disjunctive orthography. From our discussion
tton of the iXu word for "yesterday": Yesterday the child saw the eland > Gw^+’a da'ama ho nj eng
However, the addition of the word "yesterday" - gw^+’a, has no effe
of the nominals in Chapter 2 the reader will realise that the disjunction of
on the verbal stem ho. By confronting the informants with a large number
Da'ama bo nleng
>
The child sees the eland >
Da'ama Bete ho I'boma nleng The child again see the eland hMurifiiUy
our advocacy of a disjunctive orthography points to the syntactical venality of
In view of the lack of morphology any other segmentation of the sentence w
4=Aamhi ho nleng
The snakes see the elands >
E ’osT ho nt eng
My brothers see the elands
My brother sees the eland
frhcbu
- (|]eu||xoro
>
The snake sees the eland
Ml ’.o ho n'.eng
De'ebi ho n'.eng The children see the elands
The man sees the eland
(’.uiu
ostrich - ('u'u
>
The child sees the eland
(g’.o
(fhem
brown hyena
The plural forms of the ’.Xu nouns were also established by the applies£ tion of the commutative principle to testing frames. Thus;
>
The chameleon sees the eland
N'.ft'arosa ho n'.eng The chameleons see the elands
The initial observation of these irregular plural forms showed that a more detailed survey was imperative.
The results of this investigation
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69
nlunlurima
revealed that:
■firefly
gllwagifwama -■ bat
(i) the singular and plural forms of most nouns denoting animate things and nl’hei
- lion
n’ ’hei
- lions
n||obesa
- chameleon
n||obesa
- chameleons
ba
- buffaloes
t^e
mother
- chameleons
tsu
uncle
Iwi
sister
Io
- people*
ba-tsu
- collections
tx3-ma
sister-in-law
n|wi
friend
nla'arosa
| ao
- buffalo
n’.g'arosa
- chameleon
kherekheresa - sweet
kherekheresa - sweets
Hxemtafeisa - Harpagophytum sp.
||xemta+’eisa - Harpagophytum spp.
Su ||’ei
- person - collection
2u II 'ei
(ii) a number of nouns have different singular and plural forms:
’ 'hw3.
- man
nil $e
- men
da'ama
- child
de’ebi
- children
nllae - bulls - bull glQ° (iii) a number of nouns form their plurals by the suffixing of a plural morph eme -mhi;**
d'had'hamhi
- moths
nlun'.urimhi
>
g||wag||wamhi - bats
- fireflies
। all nouns denoting kinship form their plurals by the suffixing of a plural morpheme -sT:
some plants are identical;
| ao
>
r
father
>
basT
- fathers
>
t^esl
- mothers
>
tsusT
- uncles
>
IwisT
- sisters
brother
>
lost
- brothers
stepfather
>
ba-tsusT
- stepfathers
>
txo-masi
- sisters-in-lau
>
n |wisT
- friends*
the nouns denoting some plants and nearly all things form their plurals by 1 the suffixing of a plural morpheme -si:
dz’heu
woman
>
dz’heusi
- women
nleu
elder
>
nleusi
- elders
tara
friend
>
tarasi
- friends
la'o
leopard
>
la’osi
- leopards
d’had’hama
- moth
t'aama
- snake
+ ’aamhi
- snakes
ll’eixa
lord
>
| I'eixasi
- lords
- bird
ts’amhi
- birds
z&3wa
assegai
>
zjowasi
- assegais
Ho
bull
>
||osi
- bulls
?u
relative
>
Susi
- relatives**
n'.ama
road
>
nlamasi
- roads
ts'ama
♦ The tone of 5u' - people is higher than that of zu - person. tinction does not apply to the other words of the series.
This tonal dis
** The coalescence of some nominal stems with -ma, the contracted form of the singular adnominal stem ts'ema - "small", produced a number of semantically inseparable nominal stems:
Vaama
snake
+'aa + -ma
ts'ama
bird
ts'a + -ma
The nouns of this kind form their plurals by means of the contracted form of the plural adnominal stem ts’eamhi - ’’small’’ (2.4.1.2.2.)
* Research did not yield any other exceptions to the rule.
♦•The noun Su - "person, relative" may assume any of the following plural forms: Id' people Susi relatives Obviously the latter docs not comply with rule (iv) above.
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70
from these divisions it is evident that definite rules for the formation of nominal plurals cannot be laid down.
This facet of the language does not
fall within the scope of the present investigation.*
glem
- bed
tSwft
- hail-stone
xei
- bread
Ila
- hat
- artery
n'.eu
- buckle belt
- baobab
+xanu
- book
- bead
||xwe
- fire
- bee
+wa
- mat
We trust that the general
rules (as formulated above) will serve as a guide to students.
4'om
in '.Xu, as in other languages, the verbal and adnominal stems may be
used as nominals.
This makes lor a considerable expansion of the
nominal word category.
zoSom xore
- belt
zeT
- gland
kx’a
- sand
|x'ori
- cunning
Da’ama ho ||'xwa
| 'hebi
- scar
'oma
- deafness
The child (secs) finds work
g||ubuxu
- scat (of car)
g||u'u
- bark
n||u'uru
- shoulder blade
dixeni
- dance
Da'amahoglaa
This is evident from the application of testing frame#
like:
Da’ama ho n'.cng
>
'1'he child sees the eland
Da’ama ho n'.cng
>
The child sees the eland
- medicine tSo - fear, respect kw» 2.2. THE NOUN COMPOUNDS When two nouns are juxtaposed they form a compound. The compounds
The child sees red
The noun category, in IXu as in all languages is dynamic because it has to incorporate all new nouns into the structure of the language.
The fol
formed in this manner have the same grammatical use as ordinary nouns.
lowing is an abstract from this potentially infinite vertical series of IXd:
brother
Another feature of these compounds is that they may or may not assume the
tx3-gia
brother-in-law
- daughter
ba
father
nlcu
- elder
4ara
friend
Ix'a +'.'u
txo
- grandmother
eiya
mother
heart + bone
| 'udz'huu
- mother-in-law
Su
person
n! 'ho
- mole
thoo
motor car
n’.om + glei
gieidonaha
n|'hwi
mouse
stone + blue wildebeest
lla'e
- mongoose - monkey
d'heu
mushroom
nenibe
- mosquito
+omaj 'ol 'oro - musk-shrew
’.0
—
+xae
d'had'hama - moth
|hao
oryx
XU I’U
- Adams apple
zeru
cigarette
||hoo
- a [iron
|em
day
'.heu
- basket
soi
file
* This matter is receiving attention in the dictionary that is being compiled.
ending -a. This ending: (i) becomes -wa in the case of compounds ending in -o or -u:
(li)
>
'.x'a-'. ’uwa
rib (heart bone)
becomes -ya in the case of compounds ending in -4 or -e: >
nlom-g'.eiya stone-blue wildebeest
T
/ (Ui) is not written in the case of compounds ending in -a*; t
thoo+H'a car + light
>
thoo-||'a car light .
♦ The addition of the transitional -a to the terminal -a of these compounds does not generally result in the articulation of an indisputable [a:] sound Therefore it was decided not to write: thoo-||'aa
-
car light
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72
(iv) remains -a in the case of compounds ending in a consonant; Meni + n'.om
>
mfeni-n’.oma
whet + stone
whetstone
Various groups of informants supplied conflicting evidence regarding the use of the ending -a.
This thwarted our attempts to establish any im
mediately useful rules for the phenomenon. However it was observed that some compounds always occurred with
>
’|a+|hwe
Iron + horse bicycle < When the nouns of our compound are transposed a radical change of
teanLug takes place:
|hwc-Iaa
|hwe + Ifta
horseshoe
horse + iron The basic meaning of compounds is usually contained in the last noun first noun is usually qualificatory:
the ending -a;
n4eni~nloma
- whetstone
n’.ao
+ ts’i
n lei-7. uwa
- soldier
{dank
+ door
g'.o'a-l ’uwa
- rib
»^a
+ tseri
Others were always used without the ending -a; 1 ya-| hwe
- bicycle
n| om-kx'ao
- medicine man
y.u-ts'cu
- human tooth
We also observed a number of compounds in winch the presence or
absen co of the ending -a indicated a semantic difference; thoio + ts'i tin
+ mouth
kx'io
+ ts'i
pot
+ mouth
l$a-|hwe
> thoo-ts’i
- mouth of a tin
thoo-ts’iya - metal key of sardine containers
> kx’o-ts'i
- chip from rim of pot
ghu u + !hu
ghuu-’.hu
- sheep horn
she cp + horn, kraal
ghuu-'.huwa - sheep kraal
(ii)
+ g|aaxu
stick
+ chair
•x'a
+
heart
+ bone
#'ha
+ eri
wrist
+ watch
| 'het
+ eri
। n|om
’u
• aa-tseri iron chair
glheT-g laaxu
>
wooden chair ’.x’a-'.’uwa
>
rib
>
+ kx’ao
+'ha-eriya
wrist watch
>
| 'hef-eriya pocket watch
>
n| om-kx’ao medicine man
n'.ei-Suwa > + soldier war + person In the case of compounds assuming the ending -a it was found that the
j n'.ei
noun + adnoun verb + noun
2. 2.1. Noun 4 noun
>
medicine + man
noun + noun
plural morpheme -si was suffixed to the compound ending -a;
It has been noted that compound nouns, formed by juxtaposed nouns, behave exactly like common nouns:
glbeT
wooden door
pocket watch
The compounds of ’ XQ may be formed as follows;
(iii)
+ chair
- mouth of pot
kx'ots’iya
(i)
Iron
n’ao-ts'iya
n|ei-l'uwa - skull V-
>
n |ci-’.’uwasi skulls*
J ’Whether they assume the ending -a or not, all compounds were found to assume the plural morpheme -si. This plural morpheme is always suffixed terminally.
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74
Tlius wc may conclude that the compound ending -a forms an integral part at the compounds.
This is illustrated by the plural forms of (a - h):
(a) n'.ao-ts'iya
>
nlaots'iyasi
wooden doors
(b) '.ga-tseri
>
I ga-tserisi
iron chairs
(0 glhei-g|aaxu ( lu-||'areya
^'tia-oriyas!
wrist watches
I 'hcT-eriya
>
| 'hef-eriyasi
pocket watches
to) n|om-kx’ao
>
n|om-kx'aosi
medicine men
n'.ei-Xuwasi
soldiers
>
>
+ khwi > g'. u-khwiya ft lib the water temperature inter + heat
> glu-khwiyasi
+ eu > twa-ehwa fl tp- ■giralte . — + slow the giraffe slowness
> g! om-|x’aeya
gfom |x'ae
pounds that are abstract in meaning.
All Hie compounds of this series were
found to assume the compound ending -a.
This is then the primary means o
the human lefthandedness es
*» R'«to + lei > [peixa-'.eiya the royal death + dead king
2.2.2. Noun + adnominal
The semantic fusion of nouns and adnouns produced a series of com
> ?u-||'areyasi
the human lefthanded ness
+ left handed
ribs
>
(f)
iss the plural forms are included in the following examples:
?
winter + ill
J ft dean
the winter disease
+ g+eT > dom-g+e'fya the burrow depth
burrow + deep
||'eixa-leiyasi
the royal deaths
the water temperatures
> twa-euwasi the giraffe slownesses
> g'.om-|x’aeyasi the winter diseases
> dom-g+eTyasi the burrow depths
1,2.3. Verb + noun
distinguishing between;
A final category comprises compounds which have a verb and a noun
(i) the adnominal construction-.
nl euwag|ao
The strong elder
ithelr constituent elements.
nlcusa g|ao
The strong elders
4 member.
Thus we may have:
# gwii + kx’ao
(ii) the adnominal copula; n’.cugjao
The elder is strong
nleusi g|ao
The elders are strong
(iii) the adnominal compound:
Many of these compounds have the noun kx'ao
hunt + man f) U3^ + kx'ao
> guni-kx'ao hunter
> ||x'wa-kx'ao
> guni-kx'aosi
hunters > H'xwa-kx'aosi
work + man
worker
workers
n'.eug|aowa
elder strength (i.e. the strength of an elder)
ta'ao + kx'ao
> ts'ao-kx'ao
> ts'ao kx'aosi
nleugjaowasi
elder strengths
milk + man
milker
milkers
+ kx'ao ft *f help + man
> wi-kx'ao
> wi-kx'aosi
helper
helpers
+ kx'ao
> 51-kx'ao
> Si~kx'aosi
The position of the -si in the final example indicates that the compound
is a single semantic unit.
It should however be observed that the plural forms
of these compounds are formally acceptable but uncommon in everyday usage.*
$ & lie
* This problem was not experienced with compounds formed by: (i) noun + noun (2.2.1)
(ii) verb + noun (2.2.3)
+ man
ft dK'aa + kx'ao steal + man
liar
> dK'aa-kx'ao thief
liars > di'aa-kx'aosi
thieves
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77
A characteristic of the compounds formed with -kx'ao is that
■Ailed number of noun substitutes.
do not assume the compound ending -a.
&,the finite pronominal and the infinite nominal series belong to the same
Besides this semantic fusion of verbs with the noun kx'ao we :
tactical plane.
observed compounds like the following: fe)
(h)
0) (j)
'. eu
+ |ao
trek
+ buffalo
'. ’oY
+ da'ama > ! 'oT-da 'ama
herd
+ child
n'.eri
+ +Ebe
drive
+ Tswana
ku'u
+ I'uri
bum
+ i ron
(k) n'.u'ubu + 4='om
fl)
grow
+ baobab
ll'hei
+ dongi
> >
Tswana driver
> ku'u-|'uriya
>.3.1. The personal pronouns In the course of the discussion it will become apparent why it is un-
'oT-de'ebiyasi*
to discuss the first and second person pronouns in conjunction with
> n'. u'ubu-4'oma
>
ku'u~|'uriyasi
>
n’.u'ubu-+'omasi
branding irons
growing baobab > ll'hei-dongi
whet
+ stone
whetstone
(n) ts'ao
+ Goba
> ts'ao-goba
^personal pronouns.
K
The substitution of pronouns for nouns revealed that the nouns and the £ pjoocuns of '.Xu belong to the same vertical syntactical plane.
We may thus
^trtfrthfi potentially infinite vertical nominal syntactical series.
>
ll'hei-dongiyasi
c isnjpile testing frames that will substitute the noun da'ama for the first and
>
n+eni-n!omasi
draught donkeys
attend person pronouns (singular and plural) of '.Xu: The child sees the eland
whetstones >
Ovambo milker
>
»ilM'ama ho n'. eng
ts 'ao-gobasi
The child sees the eland
Ovambo milkers
Da'ama ho n'.eng
I see the eland Mi ho n'.eng
>
You see it
A ho ha
In this manner the plurals of the first and second person pronouns may
In order to determine the pronouns of ’.Xu the relevant pronouns were
in established:
substituted for the nouns of the initial testing frame: Da’ama ho nt eng
Ha ho ha
The child sees the eland
He sees it
J ho n'.eng
This pronominal substitution was made for a variety of ‘Xu nouns. It was found that the potentially infinite nominal series is commutable with a
* The nouns that have different singular and plural forms assume the ending -a and the plural morpheme -sk-
> ts'ao-!'hwa milker
The latter
Mm as noun substitutes and belong to a finite series which is incorporated
2.3. THE PRONOUNS OF '.Xu
ts'ao + 'hwa milk + man
^,3.1.1. The first and the second person pronouns
growing baobabs
draught donkey
> n+eni-n’. oma
n’.eri-+ebeyasi Tswana drivers
branding iron
+ Ovambo
possessive pronouns
'
herds
+ n'.om
milk
'.eu-|aowasi
nomadic buffaloes
herd
draught + donkey (m) n^eni
>
nomadic buffalo
In the following discussion we shall distinguish between:
fl} personal pronouns
।
> '. eu~jaowa
> n'.eri-+ebeya
It may be concluded that being commut-
ts'ao-n||$eyasi milkers
:
)
S’a ho nleng ) „ Mhon'.eng )
We see the eland
Mia ho n'.eng )
I ho n'.eng
B r.a „ ho . n'.eng
)
)
You see the eland
As is illustrated, we identified a long and a contracted form of the
plural personal pronouns.
Although all the forms are current the shorter
79
78
the principles involved in the establishment of these pronouns
forms enjoy preference.
Most languages have a formal difference between the subjectival and I objectival forms of the pronouns.
In order to establish whether this is true
for '.Xu the subjects and objects of the previous testing frames were transpot N’.eng ho mi The eland sees me N’.eng ho a
-
N!eng ho e
)
N’.eng ho e'.a
)
N’. eng ho m
)
Nlcng ho m'.a
)
Nleng ho i
)
The eland sees you
the principles involved in the separation and numeration of these pronouns 2.3.1.2.1. The principles involved in the establishment of the third per son pronouns Commutation between members of the same vertical plane is permis-
», Thus the words of the initial sentence will produce other words be ing to their respective vertical planes.
NI eng ho i'. a
)
In other words, we may sub-
te any other noun that will make sense for the nouns da'ama and n’ eng in The eland sees us
The eland sees you
As there is no change in the subjectival and objectival forms of the
particular sentence:
lAe-kx'ao ho n'.eng
The hunter sees the eland
N'eng ho ||'heu
The eland sees the branch
Wi-kx'ao ho *.ae-kx'ao
The assistant sees the hunter
Zo ho ’. 'hwa
The bee sees the man
Da'ama ho zwaa
The child sees the marijuana
formal.
pronouns it may be concluded that in IXu the difference is syntactical and not j?he following examples will illustrate the use of the first and second
by means of the commutative principle.
person pronouns:
to the nouns, quoted in the sentences (a - e) above, produced the following
(a) Mi korekore ’msi
It has been illustrated that the pronouns of ’. Xu may be established
-
I warm up the food
third person pronouns:
(b) G+*hwT g||u'u a
—
The dog barks at you
’ £e-kx' ao ho n'. eng
(e) I'.a n'.aro mi
-
You teach me
The hunter sees the eland
(d) A | xao wi-kx'ao
-
You pay the helper
N'.eng ho ||'heu
(e) Mi meni i'.a
-
I answer you
The eland sees a branch
(f)
E'. a '. ’eu '. je-kx 'ao
>
-
Wo call the hunter
Wi-kx'ao ho'.^e-kx'ao
(g) I’.a ts’ao peri
-
You milk the goat
The assistant sees the hunter
(h) Gumi !xwe e’.a
—
The beast chases us
Zo ho '. *hwa
-
You thatch the house
The bee sees the man
-
We descend the mountain
Da'ama ho zwaa
0)
I H'eu t^'u
(j)
E kheruwa n!om 2.3.1.2.
The third person pronouns
In our discussion of the third person pronouns we shall make distinc
tion between:
The application of this principle
Ha ho ha He sees it
>
Ha ho ka He sees it
>
Ha ho ha He sees him
>
Hi ho ha
It sees him >
Ha ho ha He sees it
The child sees the dagga
The plural forms of these pronouns are supplied in the following
sentences: tf) Si ho hi
>
They see them
81
HO
>
Mi ho ka
} experience difficulty
(h) Si ho si
They see them
(i) Hi ho si
They see them
(j) Si ho ha
Ha’.haraka The hailstone cracks the 4oor The following sentences are the plural equivalents of the previous
They see them
TSwg Ihara tS'u-ts'i >
■t group:
The data obtained from the commutation of nouns with pronouns
may be summarized as follows:
Noun
Pronoun
>
Singular
Plural
hunter
- Lge-kx’ao
>
ha
>
si, sila
eland
- nJ eng
>
ha
>
hi
branch
- ||‘heu
>
ka
>
ka
helper
- wi~kx'ao
>
ha
>
si, sila
bee
- zo
>
hi
>
hi
>
ha
>
ha
marijuana - zwaa
In order to establish a pattern in this phenomenon the relevant
personal pronouns were consecutively substituted for the known ’.XU nouns The original experiment and the conclusions may be simulated by con ducting the substitution tests with a representative group of nouns.
The
following sentences will illustrate the establishment of singular pronouns: (k) The elder sees me
(1)
Mi ho g|ao
They see them
(g) Hi ho ka
The assegai stabs me
(m) The liar cheats you
- NI eu ho mi
> Ha ho mi
- Ts'euwa’eng mi
> Ha • 'eng mi
- 2i-kx'ao tSwa a
> Ha tsw5 a
- Nem ku’u njei
> Hi ku’u ka
(r) The wasp drinks water
- N’. *hei-|eri tShi g!u
> Ha tShi ka
(s) My uncle listens to the tape-recorder
- Mi tsu +e+e Seu]|wa
> Ha 4e+e ha
(t)
- D^'aa-kx'ao kwa ||x'wa > Ha kwa ka
The thief fears work
-
Neusi ho e
W The assegais stab us fra) The liars cheat you
-
Ts’euwasi 'eng e
-
ӣi-kx'aosi tSw3 i
>- Si tSw2 i
fr) Mothers pity the poor men
-
EiyasT |xoma g||aakhwesi
>> Si |xoma si
W The baboons fear the fires Hi ku’u ka
-
NI ’hei-|eri tShi glu
2> Hi fghi ka
fr) My uncles listen to the tape-recorders
-
Mi tsusT 4e4e Seu||wa
>> Si 4e+e ha
fr) The thieves fear work
-
DE'aa-kx'aosi kwa llx'wa
'> Si kwa ka
W We experience difficulty The hailstones crack the doors
-
E ho g|ao
-> E ho ka
-
TSwa '.hara tS'u-ts'isi :> Ha ’.hara ka
* Hi ’eng e
By transposing the subjects and objects, in the singular and plural •eptences, it was also ascertained that there is no difference between the sub-
, jWttnl and the objectival forms of the third person pronouns.
(n) Mother pities the poor man - Eiya |xoma g||aakhwe > Ha |xoma ha (o) The baboon fears the fire - |Wara kwa da'a > Ha kwa hi (P) The badger likes honey - H’Hao kare zo > Ha kare hi (q) The lamp burns oil
>• Si ho e
The elders see us
Thus it may be
Stated that:
G)
nome pronouns that are ha in the singular become si in the plural some pronouns that are ha in the singular become hi in the plural some pronouns that are ha in the singular remain ha in the plural
A ■
the pronouns that are hiin the singular remain hi inthe plural
the pronouns that arc ka in the singular remain ka in the plural Neither the plural commutations nor transpositions produced any
fmfter addition to the number of personal pronouns.
82
83
In the course of the investigation the existence of natural gender m
not observed in I Xu.
No difference was observed in the form of the pi
denoting females and that of pronouns denoting males.
people; the noun series assuming the pronouns ha ~ hi contains most nouns denot
My grandmother calls mother - Mi txS 1 'eu eiya
Ha I 'eu ha
Mother chases the she goat
Ha '.xwe ha
- Eiya 'xwe peri di
the noun series assuming the pronouns ha - si consists of nouns denoting
The man helps the woman
- 1‘Hwa wi dz’heu
Ha wi ha
His aunt fetches water
- Ha g||aa hare g’u
Ha hare ka
Kx'ao answers my sister
- Kx'ao meni mi !wi
Ha meni ha
Thus the *Xu pronouns for the third person are:
ing animals, birds, reptiles, insects and a minority of nouns indicating
miscellaneous objects;
) the nouns denoting articles in everyday use, most plants and a minority of nouns denoting miscellaneous objects assume the pronouns ha - ha; । miscellaneous nouns assume the pronouns hi - hi;*
the names for the various parts of animate and inanimate bodies usually
ha
- si
ha
- hi
ha
- ha
other miscellaneous nouns assume these pronouns.
hi
- hi
LbUshed that all verbs and adnouns, functioning as nouns, assume the pro-
ka
- ka
m ka - ka.
2.3.1.2.2. The^rinciples involved in the separation and numeration of dw third person pronouns
1 he recognition of different pronominal categories implies the exists of different noun categories. *
This classification of nouns. according to the
pronominal forms, leads to the recognition of grammatical gender in ’Xu.
other words, a series of nouns may be identified with each singular and plan third person pronoun.
The majority of nouns assuming such pronouns are
semantically uniform.
The only exception to the rule is provided by the nou
assuming the pronouns hi - hi:
* By July 1966? had discovered only some of these pronouns. In a personal communication Prof. E.O. J, Westphal supplied me with the following list: mi - e, m a
- i
ha
- si
ha
- yhi
ka - ka yhi - yhi To this list I have been able to add the pronouns ha-ha.
assume the pronouns ka - ka. It was also observed that a minority of plant names, some instruments
In addition it was
All attempts at reaching a satisfactory explanation of the philosophy
jriying the noun class division of ’.Xu were frustrated by the minority group nouns occuring in some noun classes.
These minority groups of nouns
fume pronouns other than those assumed by the semantic majority of a noun lu.
In other words if some plants assume the pronouns ka - ka they con
fute a minority group within the nominal series assuming the pronouns ka -
because most plants assume the pronouns ha - ha.
We anticipate that this
problem will become less perplexing when a larger number of nouns have
Mi recorded.
This apparent lack of a grammatical philosophy will present the student 1X2 with a serious problem because he will have to know the personal pro
as of a noun in order to derive its possessive pronoun and its demonstrative Having established that ’.Xu has different noun classes we ask ourselves
to which noun class a noun compound made up of nouns from two different noun * As we have only observed a small number of nouns assuming the pronouns hi M we were unable to establish the semantic nature of this noun class.
84
classes will belong.
85
In part this question was answered by our observation
ime the pronouns ka - ka because the principal meaning is contained in
that the basic meaning of a compound is contained in the final constituent. The initial constituent only qualifies the final one.
n|om-kx'ao
which assumes the pronouns ka - ka.
Thus in a compound -
ous compounds will present no problem when the student bears in mind
medicine man
-
their pronouns are derived from the terminating nouns of compounds.
the constituent "man" - "kx'ao" is the semantic nucleus while n|om "medicine" serves only to indicate what kind of man we are concerned with.
It has been established that the third person pronouns of ’.Xu consist of
& following consonant and vowel sequences:
The reader may apply the same criterion to n*.aro-kx'ao
-
teacher (teach man)
Ihwe-kx'ao
-
horse owner.
The noun kx’ao(-si) assumes the pronouns ha - si.
n[om(-si) and n’.aro both assume the pronouns ka - ka, * assumes the pronouns ha - hi.
Singular
The nouns The noun Ihwe (si)
The compounds -
n[om-kx'ao (-si)
ha
si
ha
hi
ha
ha
hi
hi
ka
ka
ns, and the demonstrative adnouns, we then decided to divide the nouns
Ihwe-kx’ao (~si)
•XC into two main groups.
assume the pronouns ha - si because these are also the pronouns assumed by kx'ao (-si) which is the semantic nucleus of these compounds. In the com pound -
The nouns that assume the singular personal
nouns with initial h- are regarded as members of noun class (i).
The
ins assuming the personal pronouns ka - ka are regarded as members of
class (ii).
human power
Thus we have the following division: (ha - si
the basic meaning is contained in the noun gjaowa while 2u serves only to
(ha - hi
indicate that it is "human power" as distinct from "motor power" or "donkey power".
Plural
le of the concord between the third person pronouns, the possessive
niaro-kx’ao (-si)
$u-g|aowa
Thus the pronouns assumed by the
class (i)
The noun g|ao(-si) assumes the pronouns ka - ka,** while thoo(-si)
(ha - ha (hi - hi
assumes the pronouns ha-ha and dongi(-si) assumes the pronouns ha - hi.
However, the compounds -
Kam class (ii)
ka
ka
The nouns of class (i) were subdivided as follows:
Su-g|aowa
thoo-g|aowa
^i)
the nouns assumingthe pronouns ha-si were numbered (i)a;
dongi-g|aowa
4>)
the nouns assumingthe pronouns ha-hi were numbered (i)b;
(C)
the nouns assumingthe pronounsha-ha were numbered (i)c;
$
the nouns assumingthe pronouns hi-hi were numbered (i)d.
* It has been noted that verbs, used as nouns, assume the pronouns ka - ka.
** Adnouns used as nouns assume the pronouns ka - ka.
This numeration may also be extended to the pronouns. pronouns of:
Thus the
86
87
class (i)a are ha - si
class (i)b are ha - hi*
class (i)c are ha - ha
m + nleni
m nleni
we + three
we three
fills applies to all the plural personal pronouns.
class (i)d are hi - hi
Here follows a tabulation of the first, second and third person pronouns of I Xu.
e + tsS
>
e tsa
- we two
i +n’.eni
>
i nleni
- you three
si tsa
- they two (the two of them)
si +tsa
Singular
Plural
1st person
mi
el a, e; m la, m
2nd
When both the speaker and the listener know what the noun is for which a third ’person pronoun is substituted, the following forms of the "dual" and "trial"
hi tsa
- the two of them (cats)
(i)b
ha
hi
Used for nouns denoting: most animals, birds, reptiles insects and a minority of miscellaneous nouns.
ha + n'.eni
>
ha nleni
- the three of them (needles)
hi + tsa
>
hi tsa
- the two of them (shoes)
ka + n'.eni
>
ka nleni
- the three of them (axes)
Used for nouns denoting: house hold articles, most plants and to a minority of miscellaneous nouns.
The following nouns have been abstracted from the various noun dusea:
lya
(t)
Mi ll'ama ha tsa
- I buy two of them (loaves of bread)
(u)
Ela +xuru hi nleni
- We scale the three of them (baobabs)
The man's monkey scales the tree
(v)
Ka nleni khwi
- The three of them (toes) are painful
I'HwS ||a'e +xuru glhei
M
2.3.2. The possessive pronouns
I 'HwS ma =txuru glheT
The man's scales the tree
>
The man's monkeys scale the tree
1 'Hwa hisi +xuru glhei
The man's scale the tree
The manner in which the IXu express a possessive relationship was ,
established by applying testing frames of the following kind:
1 toll my wife
>
I tell mine
My wives carry firewood
>
Mine carry firewood
fa Guni-kx'ao txa ha nleng
The hunter hits his eland J #) Guni-kx'ao txa ha nlengsi*
A similar substitution of the noun substitute "mine" for the nouns "wife” and
>
Mi Iwa mi ma
Mi dz’heusi lae da'a
>
Mi hisi !ae da'a
Guni-kx'ao txa ha hisi
The hunter hits his
>
tAe's car runs
nouns substitute ma.
The plural noun dz’heusi - "wives" assumes the plural
noun substitute hisi.
When similar commutation tests were applied to the
nouns of the different noun classes, the testing frames revealed that there This phenomenon
!Ae ma Ihaa
lAe’s runs
lAe eutosi I haa
>
JAe's cars run
JAe masi '.haa
'.Ae’s run
* Because of the structure of the sentence:
Efc? T/: '
Guni-kx'ao txa ha nleng
ft is difficult to ascertain whether the ha is -
is illustrated by the following examples:
(a)
Class (i)a
Mi ma kuru g^aaxu
(a) Mi ’. o kuru gjaaxu My brother makes a chair
E I osT kuru g|aaxu
>
Class (i)c
i 0) lAe euto 1 haa
It may be observed that the singular noun dz’heu - "wife" assumes the
are different noun substitutes for the various noun classes. *
Guni-kx'ao txa ha ma The hunter hits his
The hunter hits his elands
"wives” produced the following sentences in IXu: Mi Iwa mi dz’heu
>
Mine makes a chair
>
(I) Guni-kx'ao txa ha n! eng
- The hunter hits his eland
(b) the personal pronoun signifying "eland"
di) Guni-kx'ao txa ha n'.eng E hisi kuru gjaaxu Our's make a chair
Our brothers make a chair
a possessive pronoun meaning "his",
- The hunter hits 'it; eland
As the noun nleng assumes the zero plural morpheme it follows that the plurals of these sentences should be:
A ma guni n|o
(Hi) Guni-kx’ao txa ha nleng
- The hunter hits his elands
Your master hunts the roan
Your's hunts the roan
d’O Guni-kx'ao txa hi n'.eng
- The hunter hits 'them' elands
A H'eixasi guni n|o
A hisi guni n|o
The possibility of ambiguity between (i - iii) is eliminated by suffixing the plural morpheme -si to the noun nleng;
Your masters hunt the roan
Your's hunt the roan
(b) A | 'eixa guni n|o
>
* The noun substitutes of the different noun classes are functionally compar able to the genitive endings -er and -es in German: meiner, meines.
Guni-kx'ao txa ha nlengsi
- The hunter hits his elands
ft may thus be concluded the nouns that normally assume the zero plural morpheme may, when necessary, assume the plural morpheme -si.
93
92 (b)
|X'ae?e|xeni '.o’a
IX’aeSe ma lo'a
|X'acre’s sieve is broken
possessions that are nouns belonging to class (ii) assume the possessive
ga in the singular and gasi in the plural.
IX'aeSe's is broken
>
|X'aeSe|xenisi kx'oma
IX’aeSe's sieves are broken
These noun substitutes are called possessive pronouns and may be (X’aeSe masi kx’oma as follows:
IX'acre’s are broken
Singular
Class (i)d
(a)
Si tSa dz'heu +xanu
’
They fetch the woman's book
They fetch the woman's
>
Si tSa dz'heu +xanusi They fetch the woman’s books
(b)
Ha ll'ama n'.eu xore
Si tSa dz'heu hi
Si tSa dz'heu hisi
They fetch the woman’s >
Ha ll'ama n’.eu hi
She buys the cider’s belt
She buys the elder’s
Ila ll’ama n’.cu xoresi
Ha |['ama nleu hisi
She buys the cider's belts
She buys the elder's
(b)
DE'aa-kx'ao dS’aa mi |'ei
>
The thief steals mine
DX'aa-kx'ao dl’aa mi I’eisi
DX'aa-kx’ao d$'aa mi gasi
The thief steals my axes
The thief steals mine
hisi
ma
masi
hi
hisi
part in the establishment of the noun class division.
In the investigation of the genitive in ’.Xu it was observed that kinship was denoted by means of the contracted 1st person singular
mi.
This elision of -i in mi is not allowed for in the present ortho-
.* It was decided to write: instead of
M +xae - My daughter
ba
instead of
M ba
- My father
’.0
instead of
M '.o
- My brother
N'.om du-khwiya txo ga
•wi
instead of
M Iwi
- My sister
The stone hurts grandmother’s hand
The stone hurts grandmother’s
tsu
instead of
M tsu
- My uncle
N'.om du-khwiya txo g’.eusi
Nlom du-khwiya txo gasi
Nlom du-khwiya tx$ g’.eu
The stone hurts grandmother’s bi the examples it may be observed that;
possessions that are nouns belonging to class (i)a and (i)b assume the possessive substitute ma in the singular and hisi in the plural;
(ii)
ma
4xae
The stone hurts grandmother's hands
(i)
hisi
This correspondence between nouns and possessive pronouns also played
D2'aa-kx'ao dS'aa mi ga
The thief steals my axe
ma
gasi ga only exceptions in the possessive pronominal pattern are class (i)c and
Class (ii) (a)
Plural
possessions that are nouns belonging to class (i)c assume the possessive
In a ’.Xu sentence any nominal (column A below) may be in a genitive
with any noun in (column B).
For the nouns of column B their
pronouns may also be substituted.
The noun class to which the
denoting the possession (column B) belongs will determine the form of
possessive pronoun.
from the fact that elision of this nature is not commendable in an , these examples would also necessitate the indication of
substitute ma in the singular and masi in the plural; ni 4xae tfi txae
- my daughter - our daughter.
95
n|owa H’hvn the tired roan
>
Lu’, uwa tShinLei the sharp assegai
+
^$m
nleuwa 5&m
the vowels -e, ~i, -o, -u and -a
for
+
emaciated
the emaciated elder
$
gjaaxuwa *,e’u
The qualificativc extensions are called:
the white chair
descriptive in the case of some adnouns
demonstrative in the case of some adnouns
+
+x‘ao
referential in the case of some adnouns
+
moist
+
gtet
2,4.1. The descriptive adnouns The function of descriptive adnouns is to qualify the nominals preceding |
them,
>
eu
called the "adnouns".
(ii)
the old book
cunning
+
+xanuwa g4a
consonants
This catogry of words, functioning as the semantic extension of nominals, is (i)
>
A distinction should be made between (i) the regular descriptive adnouns
(ii) the irregular descriptive adnoims
>
zeruwa tx’ao the moist cigarette
>
khuwa g4eT
mp______ + long_______ the long jump In speech the terminal vowel of the nominal stem is usually assimilated into the
e: lu +g|ao > Iwa g|ao (instead of) Suwa g|ao person + power human power This assimilation will not be allowed for in the orthography.
97
96
(ii) -ya between singular nominals ending in ~e and -_i and regular de scriptive adnouns* jhwe
+ I'horn
horse
+ beautiful
n e
+ to
>
>
measurement + straight
||a’c
+ So
monkey
+ black
4Ebe
+ ti
Motswana
+heavy
hi
+ -taabe
it (shoe)
+ shiny
g+’hwT
+ lean
n’. 'hwa-’xoi
+ ’.x'cu
kudu tail
+ dry
mcni
+ g]ao
answer
+ difficult
mi
+ g'.aa
I
+ red
+ n’.Qi
the beautiful horse
+ cripple
n|eya to
>
rflSl-'.huwa ■RH' j^A-kraal
lEbeyati
>
hiya 4ftabe**
lebdongiya
>
tujuinga
+ tae
g4’hwiya Sam
+ nl«i
the lean dog
+ cripple
the clean cattie-kraal
>
the wet he
> >
+ leu xmxjpine
the red I
tiling + straight
tSa to (instead of) tSiya to the straight thing
This assimilation will not be allowed for in the orthography. ** Being nominals the pronouns of '.Xu may also be qualified by adnouns. In order to accomodate the meaning of the '.Xu examples, we resort to the direct translation of the examples of this kind.
Samanga tfte the sweet maize
>
a nl$i the cripple you
the blind black korhaan
blind >
+
hara
+ cracked
'oma + '. eu the sick porcupine
+ ill
+ nl ’hwi
* In speech the terminal vowel of the nominal stem is usually assimilated into the glide: + to
H'hei-dongiya |x'eu the ugly draught donkey
>
||oma n’. 'hwi the wrong chopping
+ wrong
tSi
ha dS'i
transitional -a is required between singular nominals ending in connounts and regular descriptive adnouns > nem 'ma Sao + Sao seas’®
meniya g|ao
miya g'.aa
gumi-'.huwa gj’u
>
ugly
donkey
the difficult answer >
+ |x'eu
+ sweet
the dry kudu tail
the cripple man
wet
the shiny it (shoe)
nt 'hwa-’xoiya Jx'eu
’ 'hw£ n'.pi
>
+ clean
faRg-i
the heavy Motswana >
+ gS’u
+ dS'i
ija'eyaSo the black monkey
>
dog
|hweya |'hom
the straight measurement >
ft Orthographically the transitional -a does not occur between singular nominals ending in -a and regular descriptive adnominal stems*
>
4'oma '.hara the cracked baobab
by-
’The addition of the transition -a to the terminal -a of these nominal stems ^iwt clearly and regularly realized as the sound [a:]. For these reasons fevas decided not to write I’hwaan'.Qi the cripple man
99
98
+ ts'ana
n|om
n|oma ts'ana
n|ftro
+ |xuri + cunning
medicine
+ raw
the raw medicine
tang-beetles
njeng
+ n'.om
njenga nlom
A|o
+ U’hwl
raisin (grewia sp.) + ripe
the ripe raisin
loans
+ tired
|'eng
I'enga +'aama
‘tl'.UBi
+ tShintei + sharp
+'aama
blood
sticky
the sticky blood
assegais
n4eng
kx'eni
n^enga kx'eni
a'.eusi
+ 2gm
python
lucky
the lucky python
riders
+ emaciated
n’.eng
n|'eng
n’.enga n|'eng
gjaaxusi
+ '.e’u
eland
delicious
the delicious eland
stairs
+ white
H'eng
khwara
Il'enga khwara
teru
+ +x'ao
knot
loose
the loose knot
cigarettes
+ moist
(d) the transitional -sa is required between all plural nominate and regular descriptive adnouns*
+ g+e*!
The following examples are the plural equivalents of the examples used tn the rules a, b and c above |ao
+ |xwa
>*
buffaloes
+ alive
the live buffaloes
ts’ao
+ g|ao
ts’aosa g|ao
milkings
+ difficult
the difficult milkings
4xanusi
+ g+a
books
+ old
|aosa |xwa
hwnai
+ J’hom
taxses
+ beautiful
ajesi
+ to
iawasurements
^xanusa g#a
UM
Jsonkays
+ ti
n’.grosa
+ dii
n’.^rosa di’i
chameleon
+ green
the green chameleon (-s)
kherekheresa + t^e
kherekheresa t^e
sweet
the sweet sweet (-s)
+ sweet
Briamna
>
(phoes)
>
+ lean
n'.eusa ^gm the emaciated elders
>
g|aaxusa ’.e’u the white chairs
>
zerusa 4x’ao
the moist cigarettes
>
khusa gfe*fya the long jumps
>
|hwesa |'hom the beautiful horses
>
n |esa to the straight measurements
>
||a'esa io the black monkeys
>
+Ebesa ti the heavy Batswana
>
+ shiny
+ X^m
'.u’.usa tShiniei
the sharp assegais
+ heavy
+ +gabe
njosa U'hwf the tired roans
+ black
the old books
* The 1XG nominate with identical singular and plural forms ending in -sa do not require the transition -sa when used in the plural;
>
+ straight
+ So
n|arosa |xuri the cunning dung-beetles
+ long
i»e
*
>
hisa 4$abe the shiny they (shoes)
>
g=t'hwfsa iam the lean dogs
100
101
nJ 'hwa-lxoi
+ '.x'eu
kudu-tails
i dry
menisi
+ g(ao
answers
+ difficult
e
+ g!aa
we
+ red
n|jae
+ n!pi
men
4 cripple
the cripple men
gumi-1 huwasi
+ ga'u
gumi-Ihuwasa ga'u
cattle kraals
+ clean
the clean cattle kraals
si
i d?'i
sisa dy i
they
+ wet
the wet they
ll'hei-dongiyasi
+ |x'eu
draught donkeys
4 ugly
the ugly draught donkeys
■gamanga
+ t3e
Samangasa tge
maize
4 sweet
the sweet maize
i
+ njqi
isa nlpi
you
4 cripple
the cripple you
nem'm
+ Ifao
black korhaans
+ blind
! 'om
+ J eu
porcupines
+ ill
||omsi
+ n! 'hwi
choppings
+ wrong
t'omsi
4 Ihara
baobabs
+ cracked
n[omsi
4 ts 'ana
medicines
+ raw
n|eng
4 nlom
raisins (Grcwia sp.) + ripe
>
n! 'hwa-lxoisa Ix'eu
+'aama
the dry kudu tails >
>
kx'eni
the difficult answers
lucky
esa g(aa
nj’eng
>
>
khwara
>
the loose knots
- n!oi
- |x'eu
limping
- giom
- Iho
long
- g4cT
- -Iha ana.
loose
- n^n^ni
- I'hom
loose
- I 'o!'5
- g’.a'a
lost
- n!a
- Ifo
lucky
- kx'eni
- Zao
middle
- H'emi
- |eu
middle
- n4huu(si)
- long
middle
- ||x’aeku
- dZ'oro
m iserly
- kx'3
-dX'o
moist
- 4x'ao
- fSo'a
naughty
- n]|'hoo
- Sao
new
- ze
- g'.aa
new
- zae
- Ihara
nice
- nl’eng
ewtre
- ||‘emi
obstinate
- 4'hwi
tentre
- nlhuufsi)
old (humans)
- g4a
- ||x'aeku
old (things)
- 4'eng
umifui
1 'omsa ’.eu ||omsa n! 'hwi
+ 'omsa Ihara n[omsa ts'ana
the ripe raisins
| I'engsa khwara
limping
nem’msa 2ao
n|engsa nlom
>
- |xwa
U'hei-dongiyasa |x'eu
the raw medicines
the delicious elands
rwitional -g in a, b, c, and d above.
the cracked baobabs
>
nlengsa n|'eng
regular adnominal radicals require the application of the rules for the
the wrong choppings >
>
The following series of words consists of regular adnominal radicals,
the sick porcupines
>
ntengsa kx'eni the lucky pythons
loose
the blind black korhaans
>
>
delicious
n||aesa n!qi
I'engsa 4'aama the sticky kinds of blood
sticky
menisa g|ao
the red we >
>
102 clean
103
old
- 1 'a
coarse
- ga'u - glx'aa
over-ripe
- swanfl
cold
- 4e'u
over-ripe
- n!'hobo
cooked
- nlom
painful
- khwi
cracked
- I hara
pensile
- xoroxoro
cripple
piebald
- g||e'enl
cripple
- "lei - glom
poor
- n!em
crooked
- nj’hwi
poor
- |aa
cunning
- |xuri
red
- glaa
cunning
- khaa
rich
- U'eixa
deaf
- I 'oma
ripe
- niom
decayed
- !wi
rotten
- Jwl
deep
- gde'T
rough
- glx'aa
deep
- g4e'ng
salty
- n=loi
difficult
- g|ao
sated
- ||x'aa
dirty
- |x’uri
shiny
- f^abe
distant
- Ixa
shiny
- ||ha||habe
distant
- ! hem
sick
- |x'ae
dry
- Ix'eu
sick
- !eu
dumb
- n||oS
slack(-bow-string)
- theu
dumb
- ihabo
slow
- eu, 4'eu
easy
- swS
smell badly
- Ilk'S
emaciated
-
smooth
- g4'hel
empty
- Ix'euwa
soft
- 4hao
enough
- I'eu
soft
- swa
exhausted
- nihem
sour
- n4pi
expensive
- g|ao
split
- Ihara
far
- 4xa
sticky
- 4'aama
far
- (hem
stingy
- kx'o
fat
- t$iu
stinking
- llx'U
Mm J inee
- to
- tSing
straight
- n'.o'o
strong
- g|ao
- ; 'hae
stupid
- 4’hwi
- tghinlei
sufficient
- 4'eu
- d'heud'heuwa
sweet
- ttj?
K M>Bhielling
- fix’*
tall
- g4eT
JW an
- gleT
tame
- nlom
- gle'ng
tepid
- 11’5
t pnarous
- II'eng
thin
- |u'i
peca (colour)
- dS'i
thirsty
- |em
pm (unripe)
- ts'ana
tired
- H'hwT
- g|ao - ti
unlucky
- 1X0
ugly
- |x'eu
■ te
i
| *»y
|
- g4e’i
unripe
- ts’ana
I1*
- gde'ng
underdone
- ts'ana
- j'huru
multi-coloured
- g|[e'eni
multi-colou red
- glxom
ta
- ga'u - khwi
warm
- khwi
Hiagry
- ||abe
weak
- |x'a|x'ana
'aa
weak
- H'oba
| Mod
■
: law
-
' 21
- |x'ae
wet
-
n+enga 4xuru the scaling python
The verbs in the examples quoted above are used intransitively.
It
gumi
+ Ihaa
gumiya Jhaa
beast
+ running
the running beast
|hwc
■i 'm
|hweya 'm
horse
+ grazing
the grazing horse
g|aaxu
+ ku’u
(M’hwlya gu I ’hei g]|u’u mi
- The dog that caught the hare barks at me
g|aaxuwa ku’u
chair
'Xowa lo’a ||’heu ’m ka
- The elephant that broke the branch eats it
the burning chair
Ixo
+ burning •I u
& lom n||obeya Ixei ha gfeu - He buries the glass that cut his hand
elephant
+ walking
the walking elephant
Jxwe Mhema !hu hi di’ama
The hyenas chase the ostrich that had killed - their cub
4a ra
+ ts’a
4ara ts’a
jEri ho n4enga doni dom
friend
+ sleeping
- The Jackal sees the python that enters the burrow
4wa
ri# established that the verbal stems, occuring in adnominal clauses, may also
/Kneed transitively: Slows kwa nJ ’hei ixuru glhei - The person who fears a lion scales a tree
.’ xowa u
>
the sleeping friend
leu
Like regular adnouns, adnominal clauses also require the transitional
+wa leu
giraffe
*» trekking
the trekking giraffe
n4’hei4ema ||x'wa
n4'hei 4cm
+ ||x’wa
spoon
+ working
the working spoon
zoMom
+ nlom
zoSoma nl om
bee
+ flying
the flying bee
nl eng
+ 1 ci
eland
+ dying
>
HKWhen the nouns they qualify are plural. The plural forms of the examples EL above arc: Zusa kwa nl ’hei }xuru glhei - The persons who fear a lion scale a tree G4’hwlsa gu 1 ’hei g||u’u mi - The dogs that caught the hare bark at me
I
iXosa lo’a ||’heu ’m ka
Ba lom n||obesa I xei ha gleu - He buries the glasses that cut his hand
nJ enga 1 ei the dying eland
Besides serving as a structural marker for the regular adnominal series, the transitional -a also serves to distinguish adnominal phrases and clauses from sentences: Gumiyal haa
The running beast
Gumi ’.haa
The beast runs
G|aaxuwa ku’u
The burning chair
G|aaxu ku’u
The chair bums
N4'hei4ema ||x’wa
The working spoon
NThci+em ||x’wa
The spoon works
- The elephants that broke the branch eat it
G|wi 1 xwe themsa I hu hi da’ama
The hyenas chase the ostriches that killed - their cub
|Eri ho n+engsa doni dom
- The jackal sees the pythons that enter the burrow
The following examples will illustrate the use of the descriptive ad-
Kminal structure: £) Mi 4xae ll’ama IxeiyadS'i
- My daughter buys a green cloth
- fb) Zu|’hwasi Jhu gi’hwlya kx’ae 4o - The Bushmen kill the guilty dog
;
Kx’ao gu emera gle'I
- Kx'ao takes the full bucket
4Ebeya ||’eng wi ha
- The generous Motswana helps him
|’Hwa'm 'msa ts’ana
- The pig eats the unripe food
(f) IXo gu-tseu g! helya ti
- The elephant lifts the heavy tree
J 107
106 (g)
|X’ae5e ^xuru kema g+cT
- X'aeSe scales the tall windmill
(h)
Thoowa phuru ||’hwiya
- The holed tin leaks
(i)
Mi tsuwa Jeu geya n|om-t§'uwa
- My sick uncle stays in hospital
0) ?2uwa kx'ae =j=‘eng ||’ama peri
- The intelligent person buys a goat
(k) Da'a ku'u ha Ixeiya g'.xom
- The fire burnt her multi-coloured cloth
(1)
- The white pig likes millet
[Hcruwa e'u kare g^u'u
(m) Ha |ore =^anuwa jeu
- He writes on the yellow paper
(n) Da'ama kwa gumisa dl'huu
- The child fears the bumping beast
(o) I irieu n! oreya !hem
- You go to a distant country
(p) Si H'eng kheriya ||'hwf
- They tie up the tired pig
(q) Mi !ebi dongiya n!om
- I ride the tame donkey
(r) Dz'hcu ma kheu nlengsa swana
- The girl picks the over-ripe raisins
2.4.1.2.
Because of this regular feature we de
Besides these
adnominal stems we also observed a small group of descriptive adnouns that do not require the transitional -a.
Because of the irregularities within this
group we decided to call them the irregular descriptive adnominal stems. We recognise various groups of "irregular descriptive adnouns11.
2.4.1.2.1, The irregular descriptive adnominal stems not requiring the transitional -a This group should be subdivided into -
the one person
person
+ one
a! ere
+ tsa
n’. ere tsa
hail at one
+ two
the two hailstones
+ n’.eni
tSwg n’.eni
+ three
the three hailstones
tha
+ '.xare
tha Ixare
kafir orange
+ few
a few kafir oranges
IJwana
+ |x'orohm
^wana |x'orohm
loin-cloth
+ few
a few loin-cloths
|ho-se
+ gesT
[ho-se gesT
+ few
a few mirrors
- hailstone
f mirror
111
110
Meng
+ ts'ema
n'.enga ts'ema*
Kx’ao himself helped me
aland
+ small
the small eland
One day he stole my meat
nJ eng
+ ts’eamhi
nlengsa ts'eamhi
+ small
the small elands
The following sentences illustrate the use of these adnominal stems: (a) Kx'ao |'e wi mi
(b) I Em n|wi ha dS’aa mi Iha
-
(c) Zu n|e’e gu-tseu ]|’heu
One person lifted the branch
(d) E tsa u-lge
-
We two go hunting
4’em
+ lei
tS'ema lei
Gumi nleni ||'hei thoo
-
The three beasts draw the car
roller
+ dead
the dead roller (lilac-breasted)
-
The hunter wants a few arrow shafts
tB'em
+ ’.ao
tfc’emsa lao
rollers
+ dead
the dead rollers
+ ’.o'a
+haeya '.o'a
nit cases
+ broken
the broken suit-case
ftuai
+ kx'oma
thaesa kx'oma**
suit cases
+ broken
the broken suit-cases
+ n'.a'a
miya n’ a'a
+ big
the big I
+ laeya
elasa laeya***
(f)
l&e-kx'ao kare '.wa’.wa Ixare
'
- Kx'ao buys a few pounders (g) Kx'ao H'ama gio gesT 2.4.1.2.2. The irregular adnominal stems that require the transitional -4 Unlike the previous group of irregular adnominal stems this group re
quires the transitional -a.
The stems in this group differ from the regular
adnominal stems in that they have distinct singular and plural forms.
This
& al
is illustrated by the following: Plural
Singular
•
ts 'ema
-
small
ts'eamhi
-
small
la. eja
'. ei
-
dead
’.ao
—
dead
-
broken
j, we__________ +_big______ the big we • The adnominal stems ts'ema and ts'eamhi have the contracted forms ma and mhi. The contracted forms are more commonly used than the full forms. The contracted adnominal stem ma is used only with singular nominals and does not require the transitional -a;
lo'a
-
broken
kx'oma
lo’a
-
broken
xei
-
broken
'.o'a
-
broken
nlaa
-
broken
n'.a'a
-
big
'. aeya
-
big
1 ooma
-
short
1 ooamhi
-
short
gjei
-
clean (washed)
g'.e'i
-
clean (washed)
gig
-
male
nllae
—
males
[x'orohm
-
few
4hei
-
many
The adnominal constructions made up of these radicals are formed as
follows:
5
n'. eng
+ ma
n'.eng ma
eland
+ small
the small eland
n'.eng
+ mhi
nlengsa mhi
the small elands + small elands ••The adnoun kx'oma has the synonyms xei and nlja. These synonyms are used exactly like the adnoun kx'oma;
+haesa xei
)
The broken suit-cases
|hae sanl^a )
< ••• When plural pronouns are qualified by regular and irregular (b) adnouns they require the transitional -sa. The pronoun ela has the synonyms e, mla and m. Thus we may have:
esa laeya ) mlasa laeya ) msa 1 aeya )
the big we
113
112
zao
+ looma
zaowa looms
hose
+ short, small
the short hose
zaosi
+ '.ooamhi
zaosa I ooamhi*
hoses
+ short, small
the short hoses
n|uu
+ g|ei
n|uuwa g|ei
bowl
+ cleanly washed
the cleanly washed bowl
n|uusi
+ g’.e'i
n|uusa gle’i
bowls
+ cleanly washed
the cleanly washed bowls
'hom
+ 4hei
'. 'homsa 4-hei**
leopards
+ many
the many leopards
'.eisi
+ Ix'orohm
'.eisa Ix’orohm
pounding blocks + few
adnominal stems that require the transitional -a. The small shoe is his
(b) Kx'ao |wa kwg n’.’heiya '.ei Kx’ao does not fear the dead lion (c) Ila ku'u n’.aowa lo'a
He burns the broken bow (d) 4 Ebe kx'wa zaowa lo'a
The Tswana searches for the broken hose (e) Dz'hcu gu-tseu njuuwa '.o'a
G’.wesa tseamhi o ha hisi
Ix'orohm - few with singular nominals.
*♦* Sec (3.1.1.)
The Herero sells a short sjambok £ Mi4xae ||u '.xeiya g|ei My daughter hangs up the clean cloth
We killed big porcupines Thama n+ei-||'ama n'.abasa '.ooamhi
The Herero sells short sjamboks Mi 4xae ||u '.xeisa gie’i
My daughter hangs up the clean clean cloths
2usa +hei geya +Ebe-n’. ore Many people live in Botswana |Warasa |x'orohm +xuru |’ana
A few baboons scale the camel-thorn tree With terminal -a suffixed both the regular and irregular adnominal teas may be used as nouns belonging to class (ii).
This terminal -a -
j) becomes -wa if the adnominal stem ends in -o or -u becomes -ya if the adnominal stem ends in -e or -i_ w remains -a if the adnominal stem ends in consonants
Kx’ao |wa kw^ n’ 'heisa ’.ao
W 18 not written if the adnominal stem ends in -a
Kx'ao does not rear the dead lions
al o’o + -a
n’.o'owa
He bums the broken bows
fast
speed
blue
zeya
4=hei
+ -a
|eu
»
The Tswana searches for broken hoses
new
newness
many
Igm
l^ma
4xa
lean
leanness
distant
+ -a
|euwa blueness
+Ebe kx'wa zaosa xei
Dz’heu n|’hwi~thwi n|uusa n!$a***
I
This results in a further increase in the number of '.X0 nominal stems:
Ha ku’u n'.aosa kx'oma
♦* It is semantically impossible to use the adnominal stems: - many
D Tbama n4ei-||'ama n’.aba '.ooma
E'.a ’ 'wa ’. 'omsa '.aeya
The small shoes are his
The^ worn an lifts the broken bowl The woman lifts the broken bowls * The adnoun ^oo - ’’short" forms a compound with the contraction of the stem ts'cma - ’small’.
+hei
We killed a big porcupine
the few pounding blocks
The following examples will illustrate the use of the irregular
(a) G’.wcya ts'ema o ha hi
$ E’.a 'hu '.'oma n’.a'a
+ -a
+heiya abundance
+ -a
4xa distance
2.4.2. The demonstrative adnouns
As we have established, demonstrative adnouns allow for the demonMotive qualification of the nominals in ’.Xu.
The demonstrative adnouns were
established by putting testing frames of the following structure to the informQts: This child sees the eland
Da'ama he ho n'.eng
114
These children see the eland
De’ebisa he ho nleng
That book burns
4Xanuwa to’a ku’u
Those books burn
4Xanusa to'a ku'u
I fear yonder lion
Mi kwa n’ 'heiya uuto'a
We fear yonder lions
E'.a kwa nl 'heisa uuto'a
The commutation of the nouns in these testing frames with the nomlntl*
of '.Xu revealed the following characteristics of the demonstrative adnouns:
(i)
they assume the post nominal position;
(ii) they require the transitional -a in accordance with the rules a, b, c and
d as discussed in (2.4.1.1.);
(iii) the demonstrative adnouns "that" - to'a and "yonder" - uuto'a remain an-* changed when juxtaposed with various nominals;
(iv) the demonstrative adnouns "this" assumes the form he with nouns of obUB (i) and ke with nouns of class (ii);
(v) in the spoken language the demonstrative adnouns are usually accompanied by some demonstrative gesture. The following examples will illustrate the characteristics of the de
monstrative adnouns when used in conjunction with the various noun classes:*
Class (i)a The singular and plural nouns of class (i)a assume the demonstrative
115
l
2uwa he ||u 4’aama
This person steps on a snake
Susa he ]|u 4'aamhi
These persons step on snakes
pBowa he '.xwe n|wa
This friend chases the cat
pHosa he I xwe n|wa
These friends chase the cats
♦Ara he n||ebu tSi1. 'a
This friend shakes out the kaross
♦Arasa he n||ebu tBi'. 'asi
These friends shake out the karosses
TB’u-n'.enga he gu dom
This spouse digs a hole
T?’u-n'.engsa he gu domsi
These spouses dig holes
lHwa he gixoni lu’.u
This man throws the assegai
M]|ftesa he g1. xoni u! usi
These men throw the assegais
Da'ama he ||x'ae||x'ae da'a
This child gathers firewood
De'ebisa he ||x'ae||x'ae da'asi
These children gather firewood
The first and second person pronouns also assume the transitional -a: JBya he ho n'.eng
This I see the eland
Elasa he ho nleng
These we see the elands
A he gu n'.ao
This you takes the bow
Isa he n|’hwi n'.aosi*
These you take the bows
Class (i)b The singular and plural nouns of class (i)b assume the demonstrative
I ilj
I
Fl
11 jg
adnoun he: G+’hwiya he |hoo mi
This dog follows me
G+’hwisa he |hoo e'.a
These dogs follow us
4 Ebe he kx'ae da'a
This Motswana has matches
4Ebcsa he kx'ae da’a
These Batswana have matches
* We will only give examples of the demonstrative adnouns "this" because the demonstrative adnouns "that" and "yonder":
J^ftriya he n!ei 43
This black ant bites the ant-lion
l^ljrisa he n’. ei 46si
These black ants bite the ant-lions
fHwa io'a n|jobeya he
The pig breaks this bottle
pHwS xei n||obesa he
The pigs break these bottles
TSuwa he'm goru
This hornbill eats the lizard
TSusa he 'm ggru
These hornbills eat the lizards
(a) remain the same in conjunction with all nominals
Guni-kx'ao kx’wa !xowa he
The hunter looks for this elephant
(b) are commutable with the adnouns "this"
Gunl-kx'aosi kx'wa ’.xosa he
The hunters look for these elephants
We shall conclude our discussion of the adnominal stems with various exam pies of the demonstrative pronouns "this, "that" and "yonder" used in the same sentences.
*8ee (3.1.1.)
J b
If it
116
117
Nl^rosa tsem zw$zw$ he
The chameleon stalks this fly
Nlarosa tsem zw^zw^sa he
The chameleons stalk these flies
Mi dz’heu kare 1 ’oma he
My wife wants this porcupine
Mi dz'heusT kare I 'omsa he
My wives want these porcupines
N4enga he '.hu kx’ara
This python killed the impala
N4engsa he I'w3 kx'ara
These pythons killed the impales
Tsemkx'ao fetched these (kinds of) maize meals
Twmkx'ao tSa seusa he
The singular and plural nouns of class (i)c assume the demonstrative
This honey is the Nama's
E JSowa he o Nama hi
.otb
Class (i)c
Zosa he o Nama hisi
These honeys are the Nama's
I'Bwa khara +wa he
The man spreads this mat
The men spread these mats
gE&H)|9e khara Iwasa he
The monkey descends this baobab
ajM'd kheru 4'oma he
adnouns he:
He cooks this potato
Si n|wa nphwisa he
They cook these potatoes
Da'ama lo’a |ho-seya he
The child breaks this mirror
De’ebi xei ]ho-sesa he
The children break these mirrors
N|om-kx'ao gu ||ebuwa he
The medicine man takes this blood letting horn - * •‘n The medicine men take these blood letting horns
N|om-kx’aosi n|’hwi ||ebusa he
Class (“) The singular and plural nouns of class (ii) assume the demonstrative
Nicu H'hei Sorowa he
The elder smokes this tobacco
NIeusi |I'hei Sorosa he
The elders smoke these tobaccoes
”Seu||wa he ge'e
This tape recorder sings
Seu[|wasa he ge'e
These tape recorders sing
Mi Io H'ama gihema he
My brother buys this bed
Mi losT ll'ama glhemsa he
My brothers buy these beds
The monkeys descend these baobabs
kheru 4’omsa he
Ha n|wa n|'hwiya he
I-
^soun ke:
TBhiya ke o guni-kx'ao ga
This arrow is the hunter's
TShisa ke o guni-kx'ao gasi
These arrows are the hunter's
|Wa+eya ke 'oma iWa+esa ke 'oma I^'o kuru |'uwa ke g
The singular and plural nouns of class (i)d assume the demonstrative adnoun he: His daughter brought this sugar
Ha txaesT teni 'Sukurisa he
His daughters brought these sugars
A tsu kheu ||xweya he
Your uncle kindles this fire
A tsusTkheu ||xwesa he
Your uncles kindle these fires
-
This ear is deaf
These ears are deaf
Bg'o makes this bow
Bi•o kuru |'usa ke
Bft'o makes these bows
H+o-kx'ao n+gri n|oma ke
The medicine man stirs this medicine
X4o-kx'aosi n^ri njomsa ke
The medicine men stir these medicines
ei
Class (i)d
Ha +xae teni Mukuriya he
Tsemkx'ao fetched this (kind of) maize meal
tSa seuwa he
Ki '.Heiya ke n4ei-teu mi
This waiting angers me
^^IHeisa ke n+ei-teu e'.a
These waitings anger us
E&Nlarowa ke wi 2u|'hwa
This (kind of) learning helps the Bush man
N’.arosa ke wi 2u|’hwasi ft
These (kinds of) learnings help the Bushmen
’« uwa ke Ihu 4'aama
This cold kills the snake
Bg+E'usa ke •'wa 4'aamhi
I-
These colds kiH the snakes
118
119
N|oma ke, |wa o ka to'a, on43-kx'aowa uuto'a ga
-
This medicine, not that, is yonder medicine man’s
K|omsake, |wa o kasa to'a, □ n43-kx'aosa uuto'a gasi
-
This pleasure deceives you
These medicines, not those, are yonder medicine men’s
These pleasures deceive you
1,4.3. The referential adnouns
Dz’heu kare 4gabeya ke
-
The woman likes this shine
Dz'heusi kare 4gabesa ke
-
The women like these shines
Nfcnga ke tSwa a
-
Nfengsa ke t3w5 i (pl.)
-
We have observed that the demonstrative adnoun for the singular and plural nouns of:
Structurally there is no difference between the demonstrative and the rentiM adnouns.
The only differences are in the use of the two kinds of
class (i) a (ha-si) is he
class (i) b (ha-hi) is he
the demonstrative adnouns denote visible persons and things while
class (i) c (ha-ha) is he
(ha referential adnouns denote absent but known persons and things
class (i) d (hi-hi) is he
the demonstrative adnouns require demonstrative gesticulations whereas
class (ii)
(ka-ka) is ke
We may conclude our discussion of the demonstrative adnouns with
the referential adnouns qualify a commonly known person or thing.
The use of the referential adnouns is illustrated by the following
various examples of the demonstrative adnouns:
’’this" - he, ke "that” - to'a and "yonder"
ha. caught him.
"yonder" - unto'a used in the same sentences: (a) Guiniya he, |wa o ha to'a, o Suwa uuto'a ma
Tins eraser, not that one, is yonder person's
(b) Gumisa he, |wao hisa to'a, o Suwa uuto'a hisi
These erasers, not those, are yonder people's
(c) Xoreya he, |wa o hiya to'a, o gumiya uuto'a hi
This thong, not that one, is yonder beast's
(d) Xoresa he, [wa o hisa to'a, o gumisa uuto'a hisi
These thongs, not those, are yonder beasts'
(e) Dz’heuwa he, |wa o ha to'a, o n’.euwa uuto'a ma
This woman, not that one, is yonder elder's
(f)
These women, not those, are yonder elders'
Dz'heusa he, |wa o sisa to'a, o n! eusa uuto'a hisi
Gwgha Su n|wi dX’aa mi meri te '.haa-u. Mi jhoo ha te Long ago somebody stole my money and ran away. I followed him and
(g) Xeiya he, |wa o ha to'a, o lyc-kx’aowa uuto’a ma
This loaf of bread, not that one, is yonder hunter's
(li) Xcisu he, |wa o hasa to'a, o '.^e-kx'aosa uuto’a masi
These loaves of bread, not those, are yonder hunters'
ko komtsa khweya te Mi teni-Ee ha I brought him back to the commissioner's place and
•wa ha ko ‘Suwa he re nl duwa. told him what this person had done.
’.wa ’.'hw5 he Komtsa The commissioner told this man
Gwj+'a ^uwa he | 'e te ko ha teni-Se mi meri te ha kwe du. and said he must return my money and he did so. Yesterday this selfsame Sete dS’aa Kx’ao |pa peri te '.hu ha te 'm ha. Mi |wa person again stole Kx’ao's goat and killed it and ate it. I don't
^tsa'a hatSekhwere lu kwe du khama |emn|wi Suwa to'a - understand why people act this way because someday that person n+eu zi-tg'uwa. will go to jail.
2.5. SUMMARY We may conclude our discussion of the nominal structure with the fol
brief summary:
The formation of the plurals of nouns is irregular:(a) Most nouns denoting animate things and some plants assume a zero
plural morpheme:
120 n! 'hei
- lion
n||obesa
- chameleon
121 - lions
n! >hei
> n[|obesa
- chameleons
(b) a number of nouns have different singular and plural nominal sUmut
> n||je
- bull
glpo
- child
da’ama
> de'ebi
- moth
ni unlurima - firefly
| divided into the noun classes f)a, b, c, d or (ii). ; 5, The subject! val and objectival forms of the pronouns are identical.*
The personal and possessive pronouns constitute two finite series within
- bulls
the infinite nominal series.
- children
(c) a number of nouns form their plurals by means of the morpheme -my. d'had'hama
According to the pronouns they assume, the nouns and compounds are
;
> d’had'hamhi
- moths
> n'.un’.urimhi
- fireflies
J, The personal and possessive pronouns serve as the basis for the noun class division.
(J. The numbers allocated to the various nouns and compounds are also ap
(d) all nouns denoting kinship form their plurals by the suffixing al the
plicable to the pronouns. **
morpheme -si:
ba
The following are the pronouns of IXu.
> basl
- father
- fathers
Personal Pronouns
Singular
Plural
ma
hisi
hi
ma
hisi
(i)c ha
ha
ma
masi
- rib
(i)d hi
hi
hi
hisi
'.{ja-lhwe
- bicycle
(ii) ka
ka
ga
gasi
n|om-kx'ao
- medicine man
- sisters-in-law
- sister-in-law?- txS-maSI
txo-ma
S ingular
(e) the nouns denoting some plants and nearly all things form their plural* E
1st Person mi
by the suffixing of the morpheme -si:
zjowa
> z^owasi
- assegai
=tara B.
Possessive Pronouns
2nd Person - assegais
> 4arasi
- friend
n+eni-n!oma
- whetstone
lx'a-1'uwa
The compounds usually assume the plural morpheme -sd.
e'.a, e; m'.a, m i’.a, i
3rd Person:
- friends
(a) The noun compounds may or may not assume the ending-a;
a
Plural
(i)a ha Lfc. ■ -
(i)b ha
sila, si y-
B, Any word clause or phrase that J-ix: sfe. (a) consistently appears in the post nominal position and
(b) The compounds assume the noun-class membership of their terminal constituents;
* The possessive pronouns cannot function alone because they require a pre ceding nominal as possessor:
work
- ||x'wa = Class (ii)
man
- kx'ao = Class @)a
elder
- n'.eu
Class (i)a
n‘. eu-g|aowa = Class (ii)
strong - g|ao
= Class (ii)
elder power (man power)
||x’wa-kx'ao = class (i)a (worker)
breast - glo'a = Class (ii)
bone
- 1'u
= Class (ii)
> glo'a-l'uwa = Class (ii) (breaat-b
Mi +xae u - My daughter goes
>
Mi ma u
- Mine goes
**A possible explanation of the nominal and pronominal agreement is that the pronouns of class (i) are ramifications of an original personal pronoun ha-hl and an original possessive pronoun ma-hisi. No ramification took place in the case of the class (ii) nouns. This explains why '.Xu only has the personal pronouns ka-ka and the possessive pronouns ga-gasi for Class (ii).
122
123
) qualifies the previous nominal is regarded as an adnominal. *
I.
+ n|wi
Su n|wi
The Regular Adnominal Steins of (2.4.1.1.) and The Irregular Adnominal
person
+ certain
a certain person
Stems of f2.4.1.2.2.) require the transitional -a in accordance with rules
lu
+ wele
'Su weSe
a, b, c and d in (2.4.1.1.):
person
+ all
all persons
+ Iwi
xei
xeiya Iwi
The three locatives denoted by the demonstrative adnouns:
loaf of bread
+ light
the light loaf of bread
this
xei
+ Iwi
xeisa Swi
that
- to'a
loaves of bread
+ light
the light loaves of bread
yonder
- uuto'a
n I'huni
+ '.ei
n|'huniya '.ei
require the transitional -a:
the dead wild hunting dog
dm
wild hunting dog
J.
lu
+ dead
>
- he, ke
+
n I'hunisi
+ lao
nphunisa lao
culture
this
wild hunting dogs
+ dead
the dead wild hunting dogs
+ vultures + + n|ei + head + n|eisi + heads
he
The verbal stems of iXu underlie the formation of regular adnominal clauses.
These clauses also require the transitional -a in accordance
with the rules a, b, c and d in (2.4.1.1.): Mi kwj Suwa I hu n+eng
-
I fear a person who kills a python
Jia txa |eriya '.haa
-
He hit a running jackal
K. The Irregular Adnominal Stems (2.4.1.2,1.1.) do not require the transl
tional -a.
When they qualify plural nouns the morpheme -si is suffixed
to the adnominal stems:
dxuBi
dxuwa he
he
these ke
this
>
this vulture dxusa he
>
these vultures
n|eiya ke
5*
this head
ke
n|eisa ke
these
these heads
The demonstrative adnouns to’a and uuto'a may be substituted for the
demonstrative adnouns he and ke.
This commutation has no effect on the
use of the transitional -a:
tseri
+ la
tseri la
When used with nouns of class (i) the demonstrative adnoun for "this" is
chair
+ good
the good chair
he. When used with nouns of class (ii) the demonstrative adnoun for
tserisi
+ la
tseri Iasi
"this” is ke.
chairs
+ good
the good chairs
L. The Irregular Adnominal Stems (2.4.1.2.1.2.) have different singular
and plural forms depending on whether the nouns qualified are singular or plural:
* Although the nominal plural endings occupy the post-nominal position, sufficient evidence could not be found for classifying them with the ndnninla*l stems.
The demonstrative adnouns "that" - to'a and "yonder" - uuto'a remain the same for all noun classes.
The demonstrative and referential adnouns are structurally identical.
125 CHAPTER 3
Ha g|a g|[ommsi
|y) Ha g||xo g||omm
He lays down the clubs
He lays down the club
The verbals of IXu may be either simple or compound. The stem is regarded as simple when it functions alone and compound when the
semantic fusion of more than one verbal stems has taken place,* This com pounding of verbal stems does not make the language cumbersome because
I take off the shoe
I take off the shoes
) Dz'heu 4hwe n||'h^e
Dz’heu tswji n|I'lvje
The woman uproots a carrot
In the discussion of the verbal stem in IXu we shall distinguish be tween the transitive and the intransitive use of the verbal stems. As will be
THE TRANSITIVE VERBAL STEMS
The transitive verbal stems of (Xu require a subdivision into:
Because of the concord between the irregular transitive verbal stem
regular transitive verbs, cannot be used intransitively. However, it was
irved that sentences of the following structure were quite intelligible to
(b)
regular transitive verbal stems
Ha 4xae gu
-
His daughter takes
Mitsu n|'hwi
-
My uncle takes
N)wa !hu
-
The cat kills
l^e-kx'ao 1'w-2
-
The hunter kills
1. The irregular transitive verbal stems
or plural form of the object of the sentence:
Mi gu nlao I take the bow Njeu lo'a gl heT
The elder breaks the stick
Kx'ao ||u hema Kx'ao hangs up the shirt
*
its object, it may be concluded tlmt these verbal stems, unlike those of
1X3.
that they assume a singular and a plural form in concord with the singular
(iii)
The dog extinguishes the fires
irregular transitive verbal stems
The irregular transitive verbal stems are characterized by the fact
(ii)
GfhwT I 'wa da'asi
The dog extinguishes the fire
(a) 3.1.
(i)
The man picks leaves
) G+'hwi lhu da'a
observed, the transitive verbal stems may also be used intransitively. On
the other hand the intransitive verbal stems are used intransitively only.
The woman uproots carrots
1’Hwa kheu nfu'ubusi
) I'Hwa +'wa nju'ubu The man picks a leaf
most verbal stems are monosyllabic.
3.1.
Mi 3we gjwesi
j Mi gjxa g! we
THE VERBALS
3.
These data led us to conclude that the irregular transitive verbal
Mi n|'hwi nlaosj **
ie cannot be used intransitively, in the traditional sense, because a
1 take the bows
ular or plural object is always implied in sentences of the above structure.
NJeu kx'oma gj heTsi
3.1. 2. The regular transitive verbal stems
The elder breaks the sticks
These verbal stems may be used:
Kx'ao g||ao hemasi
(a) transitively
Kx'ao hangs up the shirts
(b) intransitively
For compound verbs the orthographic device of a hyphen is used Ixci-glxa - cutout (cut + sever) nlom-kheru - fly down (fly + descend)
’• The plural morpheme is not essential because the plural form of the verb, implies a plural object.
3.1.2.1. The transitive use of the regular transitive verbal stems The regular transitive verbal stems remain uneffected by the singular
plural form of their objects:
127
126
(a) Da'ama tSwa dz’heu
$ Ts^Sthuuthuu njom-kheru glheT
Da'ama CSwS dz'heusi
The child deceives the woman
The child deceives the women
(b) ZonJeiJ'hwa The bee stings the man
The bee stings the men
(c) |Eri g'.a'ama dom
(ii) The pronoun as object of the sentence
|Eri gja'ama domsi
The jackal enters the burrow
Dz’heu Ixom de'ebi
The woman dresses the child
The woman dresses the chlldr* The intransitive use of regular the transitive verbal stem
3.1.2.2.
A further characteristic of the regular transitive verbal stems i»
that they may also be used intransitively:
(a) Nleu Ixemi ha 4xae
Mama n|w2
Grandmother cooks meat
Grandmother cooks
(c) Peri t5hi g] u
Peri tShi
The goat drinks water
Ha !o nieu
His brother grabs the clay pot 3.1.3.
His brother grabs
The object of the sentence
9
Fundamentally the intransitively used transitive verbal stems are not different from the transitively used transitive verbal stems. The
difference is that the former do not assume an object. In !Xu sentences
following forms of the object may be observed: (i)
'4$ Hatsoma ll’ama ha (xei)
- His nephew buys it (bread)
j^Njeu !xei-g|xa hi (g4aa)
- The elder cuts it out (milt)
!
IHu nlaa-Hge ha (dz'heu ma)
The noun as object of the sentence
(a) |Eri [hoo nj^’i
- The jackal follows the
(b) Phommphemm n4eu 1’heiya tST
- The fish-eagle snatched up the hare
(c) Temtaturisa kx'wa gleimhi
- The black-crake searches for tadpoles
- The thorn scratches her (girl)
(iii) The de-adnominal as object of the sentence - My brother in law takes black
- |Wi fears blindness
4 I Un! a’a ho |eu
- Grandfather sees blue
ft Mi !wi kare 4$abe
- My sister likes the shine
fj 81 kx'wa g|ao
- They seek power
(iv) The de-adverbial as object of the sentence
The goat drinks
(d) Ha !o n#eu n*. eni
- My uncle steps on it (hedgehog)
[Wi kwa $ao
The elder pities
(b) Mama n|wa Jha
W Mi tsu ||u ha (g||emm)
$) Ml txo-gla gu ’Ifo Nleu +xemi
The eider pities his daughter
- The hornbill fears her (sister)
kw$ ha (!wi)
The jackal enters the burrow®
(d) Dz'heu Jxom da'ama
- The parrot comes and perches on the wild melon
T^ni tsi-llu thama
Zo nlei n||je
- The umbrette flies down from the tree
A) E njwi du ||x'wa
- Our friend does the work
M JUkx'a ll’ae ts’a
- |Ukx'a wants to sleep
Zoma kwa lei
(ft Glft’o gu IxW
DXxeni kx'ae ge’e
- Zoina fears death - Gla'o caught a cold
- A dance has singing
(v) The nominal clause as object of the sentence
ll'ae g!u t^hi
- ||Xeri wants to drink water
'ao n|[a |’eu !hu
- The hunter leaves the killing of the duiker
4 'eng 4xanu njaro
- G+x'ao considers reading a book
zeTya komts'a |a|ara
n4wa tMiya 1 a
- The Bushmen agree to acclaim the commissioner - 1 Ae tells of the thing that happened
129
128
3.1.4.
The expression of the locative
(f) Si H'eng peri They tic up the goat
In the course of the research it was observed that the verbal stem
sometimes assumes a terminal -a
Like all the other !Xu transitions, the
the use of the various terminals. Krom all the data collected on this aspect we determined that the verb usually requires the ending -a, when the extensk
of the verb denotes a location. When the extension is a nominal, the transi
(b)
(c)
(d) (e)
Guni-kx’ao tSxo |ao
Guni-kx'ao tSxowa glhei'dT
The hunter skins the buffalo
The hunter skins under the tree
Nl’haa gu dom
Nl’haa guwa njom ! 'om
(I) B^'o u
The aardvark digs beside the stone
Mi Ihwe ts'i Jx'oi
Mi =|hwcya tS'uwa 1 'o nleng
I (Mill out a beard
I uproot behind the house
Kx'ao n|Qri ha koSe
Kx'ao n+oriya gju Jx’a
Kx'ao stirs his coffee
Kx'ao stirs inside the water
Ela H’hem M!wa
EJa H'hema nlom I’o
We ambush the roan
We (wait in) ambush on the rock
Bj'o goes
Ha Ihaaa njom dT
• haaa
B$*o uwa njama IS
B^'o walks beside the road
(J) ’ 'Hei ge
! 'Hei geya n!om dT
J
The hare stays under the stone
The hare stays
(k) Da'ama Su
Da'ama Suwa tS'u nlcng
The child reclines
The child reclines in the house
tl'Eu kx'oiya glu !x'a
The fish plays
The fish plays in the water
tea) Mi gu
Mi guwa euto lit I dig beside the car
(n) |XwS abasi
|Xwa abasiya t§'u ts'i
|Xw2 packs
|Xwa (xicks in front of the house
3.1.5. The morpheme *N4EI*
♦ The terminal -a remains unwritten if the verb ends in -a because such verbs do not require the glides -w- or -y~. Otherwise these formal features would result in words like: >
>
I dig
The aardvark digs a burrow
1 haa - run
God redeems the world
(i) f|'Eu kx’oi
tional a is not required: (a)
!Xu khwara kx'a|'ho
God redeems me
The circumstances in which the verbs assume the transitional -a
The various groups of informants disagreed about
The servant washes behind the car
{b) JXu khwara mi
(iii) remains -a if the stem ends in a consonant
posed serious problem.
IA ||x'a euto J 'o nJ eng
The servant washes a garment
becomes -wa if the stem ends in —o or -u
remains unwritten if the stem ends in -a
They tie up inside the house
(g) !A ||x’a Jxom
terminal -a:
becomes -ya if the stem ends in -c or -i
Si ll’enga tS'u nleng
-
run
-
He runs below the mountain
In conjunction with the regular transitive verbs we also wish to diacuss the element n^ei.
This element njei may, in most cases, be
translated as the English verb "to cause". For our purposes n^ei will be
regarded as a dependent verbal stem because, in conjunction with verbal
tod adnominal stems, it was found to form transitive verbals. Peculiar to ike verbs formed in this manner is that they assume the ending -_a_ as
described in (3.1.4.) above: (a) n+ei+njaro
n+ei-nlarowa
cause + lea rn
I bast n4ei-n!arowa i
cause to learn -
Your fathers cause you to learn
131
130
(b) ntei+ga'u
(j) n4ei + tSo'a
njci-tSo'a
cause + clean
cause to be clean
|Xeni n4ei-ga'uwa ku
The sieve causes the milk to be clean. (The sieve cleanses the mf
B Zu n4ei-tSo'a kwa
The people cause the knife to become blunt
n4ei-g||u'uwa
(kJ n4ei + n|eng
niei-n|enga
(c) n|ci+g||u'u cause + bark
cause to bark
Kx'ao n4ei-g||u'uwa gi 'hwi
Kx'ao causes the dog to bark
(d) njei + Jc'u
n4ei le'uwa cause to be white
Guni-kx'ao n4ci-Je'uwa njao
The hunter causes the bow to be white. (The hunter whitens the ben
cause + sing
cause + blunt
cause to become blunt
cause + sit
cause to sit
££ I’Aa n4ei~n|enga gj'hwa
I 'Aa causes the dog to sit
51 n4ei+n!om
cause + white
(e) n+ei + ge’e
(f)
n4ei-g^'uwa
NJaro-kx’ao nfei-ge'eya de'ebi
The teacher causes the children to sing
n lei + ze
n jei-zeya
cause to be cooked
& cause + cook
® Elya n4ei-njoma Iha
-
This limited category of verbs does not assume an object. Thus the •dion, performed by the subject, is not directed to an object because the
abject
the verb constitute a meaningful sentence. As with transitive verbs it is necessary to distinguish between two
categories of intransitive verbs:
cause + new
cause to be new
(a)
irregular intransitive verbs
||X'wa-kx'aosi n4ei-zeya t$’u
The workers cause the house to be new. (The workers restore the house)
(b)
regular intransitive verbs
(g) n4ei + khwi
n4ei-khwiya
cause + hurt
cause to hurt
G4 'hwi njei-khwiya dongi
The dog hurts the donkey
(h) ntei+g4eT
n4ei-g4eiya
cause + long
cause to be long
Zul'hwS n4ei-g4eTya I hwi -
The Bushman causes the rope to tx long. (The Bushman lengthens the rope)
(i) ntei + '.o'a
n4ei-Io’a
cause + break
cause to break
Glu'o njei-Io'a euto
G|a*o caused the car to break
Mother cooks the meat
THE INTRANSITIVE VERBAL STEMS
3.2.
n4ei-ge'eya cause to sing
njei-njoma
3.2.1. The irregular intransitive verbal stems The irregular intransitive verbs assume singular and plural forms t^oncord with the singular or plural form of the subject. A characteristic
this structure is that where the subject is a plural noun, this is not denoted Jptneans of the plural morpheme but is implied by the plural form of the Wrbal stem. This does not apply to sentences of which the subjects are
'potwins. Here a concord is used between the singular or plural form of the
*Aand the pronoun. N|wa lei
N|wa lao
The cat dies
The cats die
Ha ’ei
Hi Jao
It dies
They die
132
(b) Nicu g|i
Njeu gle'i
The bee sleeps
The swarm of bees sleep
The elder goes out
The elders go out
Hi ts'a
Hi ts'a
Ha g|i
Si gle'i
It sleeps
They sleep
He goes out
They go out
(c) Xei Xu
The bed ages
The beds age
The loaf of bread lies (lie flat)
The loaves of bread lie (lie flat)
Ha gta
Ha gta
Ha Xu
It ages
They age
Ha gta
Il lies
They lie
■I'Om n|cng
4 'Om gj 'hoo
The baobab stands
'1’he baobabs stand
Hi n[eng
Hi g!'hoo
Il stands
They stand
(e) Dxu n( 'hao
Dxu l^m
The aeroplane lands
The aeroplanes land
Ha nf'hao
Hi tam
It lands
They land
3.2.2. The regular intransitive verbal stems The regular intransitive verbs arc not affected by the singular or
) Mi fhomg*. xwa
(a) Da'ama u
Dc’ebi u
The child goes
The children go
Ha u
Si u
She goes
(b) Dongi !haa
They go Dongisi Ihaa
The donkey runs
The donkeys run
Ha Jhaa
Hi !haa
It runs
They run
Zo ts'a
Zo hi ts’a *
The collective nouns: swarm, herd, covey, troop etc. seldom assume the plural morpheme -si. Instead the singular noun is followed by its plural pronoun.
E I’homglxwa We kneel
I kneel 3.3. THE COPULA STEMS
In order to establish the existence of the copula verb in !Xu, testing ws of the following structure were put to the informants:
The book is the Nama’s The thong is the dog's The hunter is a Bushman The kudu is an animal The bow is strong
The shirt is expensive Extensive testing with similar structures revealed that the following
plural number of the subject:
(C)
Glemsi gta
) G!em g4a
Xei gta
maybe distinguished:
(a)
possessive copula structures
(b)
nominal copula structures
(c)
adnominal copula structure
3.3.1.
The possessive copula structure
In the testing frames:
The book is the Kama's
and The thong is the dog's
g|x'uu-||abeyasi wild hunting dog hungers
(a) Dz'oowa H’hwT The tired hartebeest
Dz'oosa ||’hwT The tired hartebeest
(c) nenibe-2owa mosquito-blackness
>
nenibe-2owasi mosquito blacknesses
(b) Gfx'uuwa ||abe The hungry hunting dog
Glx'uusa ||abe The hungry hunting dogs
(d) g|wi-1 x'euwa hyena-badness
>
g|wi- | x’euwasi hyena-badnesses
(c) Nenibeya Eo The black mosquito
Nenibesa 2o The black mosquitoes
(e)
dy-Hx'aasi mongoose satednesscs
(d) G|wiya |x’eu The bad hyena
G|wisa |x'eu The bad hyenas
(f) I 'hom-2yma leopard leaness
>
I 'hom-2ymasi leopard leannesses
(e) Da ||x’aa The sated mongoose
Dysa ||x’aa The sated mongoose
(g) |'ho-leiya steenbuck death
|*hff-!aowasi steenbuck deaths
(f) I 'Homa Sam The lean leopard
1 'Homsa 2am The lean leopards
(h) hamcr-n'. a'a hammer bigness
hamer-laeyasi hammer bignesses
(continue on p. 139)
140
141
constructions.
Fetch water!
Hgre g!u!
(a) 4Xanu tsem o Nama hi jXanu o Nama hi
>
The book is the Nama’s
Boil water!
N|w£g!u!
(b) Nlao n|a o 1 'hwa ga Njao o I ’hw3 ga
>
The bow is the man's
(c) Zeiu kom o |fhei-kx’ao ma Zero o ||'hei-kx'ao ma
>
The cigarette is the smoker's
(d) Guni-kx’ao tscm o 2u|'hwS Guni-kx’ao o 2u|'hwa
>
The hunter is a Bushman
(e) NJ 'hei n|a o Xoma NJ ’hoi o 2oma
>
The lion is a predator
>
Her name is Kx’eru
(f)
Ha Ju kom o Kx'eru Ila Ju o Kx’eru
Ladle milk!
The hartebeest is tired
(h) G|wi n|a ei G|wi lei
>
The hyena is dead
>
The hammer is big
In order to establish the structure of the imperative in !Xu, testing frames of the following kind were put to the informants:
Sleep!
Bring wood!
Drink!
Lie down!
Run!
Catch the hen!
The following are actual testing frames with their translation into !XS. Sleep!
-
Ts'a!
* It should bo mentioned that the particles nta, tsem and kom seen to signi fy emphasis. The informants did not corraborate this supposition. How ever these elements also serve to express agreement and the affirmative in JXu:
Ec n|a
-
Lie down
-
Bq’o, fetch water!
(b)
JWilwi, n|wa g!u!
-
Sister, boil water!
(c)
+’Ei g! u, da'ama!
-
Ladle out water, child!
(d)
TShi ku, Tsemkx'ao!
-
Drink milk, Tsemkx'ao!
(a)
a general imperative
(b)
a restricted imperative
I (a) B$’o, h^re g!u!
j- V
In !Xu we distinguish between the structure of:
for whom or (b) on whose behalf the action should be carried out, but simply
states the desired action. To prevent confusion the name of the person to whom the command is given may be mentioned.
(a) Sisaba, ||a'e gumi!
-
Sisaba, skin the beast!
(b) 40m Jha!
-
Divide the meat!
-
Cap the bottle!
-
IX'ae^e, call your mother!
-
Herd the goat, !Ae!
(0 ! 'Em nll^'obe! f (d) |X'aeSe, ! 'eu a t^e! £ (e) 1 'OT peri ! Ac!
(f) M’m da'ama!
Hamer kom n'.a’a Hainer n! a’a
Drink milk!
4'Ei ku!
The imperative in JXu, as in other languages, is also characterised by the
(g) Dz.'oo tsem ||’hwf Dz.'oo H'hwT
(i)
-
-
Suckle the child! Carry the child on the back!
Carry the clay pot on the head! Carry firewood on the shoulder!
143
142
(j)
lOma,! xwe 4wa!
(k) GJa'ama t'S'u'.
3.4.2.
-
40ma, chase the giraffe!
► pi) !’Eu na dz’heu!
- Call the woman for me!
Enter the house!
i (i) Gu na |hwe!
- Catch the horse for me!
E (II Berisa na meru!
- Saddle the mule for me!
The restricted imperative
The ’.Xu were found to distinguish between orders given by the speaker:
1
- Off-saddle the horse for me!
Ore na |hwe!
- Inspan the oxen for me!
Gp) H’Eng na gumi!
(a) on his own behalf
3.4.2.2.
(b) on somebody else's behalf
Because these two kinds of imperatives specify the persons for whom the action is performed, we call them the restricted imperative:
3.4.2.1.
The transitive imperative
When a command is given on somebody else’s behalf the !Xu use an
t (a) Eetch water for the man! I
The reflexive imperative
? (b) Cut firewood for the woman!
When a person gives a command on his own behalf the !Xu have a peculiar pronoun to signify the first person singular. In !Xu this pronoun
na seems to have the meaning of "to me" or "for me". *
! altogether different construction:
The following
-
Hare |'a ! ’hwa ko g!u!
-
||Om |'a dz’heu ko da'a!
• The words | ’a and ko have not been encountered before. The word J^a_ has been identified as a post verbal descriptive adverb (3.5.2.2.) and ko U the objectivat conjunction (4.1.1.3). The objectival conjunction ko is a
examples, from which the verb "to give" is omitted, illustrate the double
structural signal that always precedes the indirect object of a sentence.
function of na as the verb and the direct object of the sentence:
The function of ko is to eliminate ambiguity in structures like:
(a) Gl^'o na da'a
Gj^’o gives me matches
(b) Eiya na 'msi
Mother gives me food (c) !£e-kx'ao na n'.ao The hunter gives me a bow
(d) Da'ama na n|uu The child gives me a bowl
(e) Nlljra na 4«anu! (f)
Kx’wa na !wl!wa!
(g) N|wa na seu!
> > —
> > -
Na da’a!
NJaro |’a ha ko da'ama!
-
Teach the child on his behalf!
Give me matches!
N!aro |'a ha da'ama!
-
Teach on his child's behalf! *
Na 'msi! Give me food!
Na n’.ao!
Give me a bow! Na n|uu! Give me a bowl!
- give to me.
Beat the dog on my father's behalf!
' (a) N4em'm |’a mi ba ko g+'hwT
Remove your hat on the woman's behalf!
4Hwe |'a dz’heu ko |[a! L (»>)
(C) Tsaa |'a 6i ko zo!
Taste the honey on their behalf!
(d) H’Eu |’a txo ko tS'u!
Thatch the house on grandmother’s behalf!
(e) G!xoni |'a G^x'ao ko !u!u!
Hurl the spear on G4x'ao's behalf!
Read the book for me! Search (for) the arrow-shaft for me! Boil the porridge for me!
* It should be kept in mind that some I Xu dialects have the personal pronoun na — "I" instead of mi - "I". This pronoun na might have acquired a verbal meaning in addition to its pronominal sense. na
The following examples will illustrate this imperative construction.
♦ The following expressions may interest the reader:
N!aro na da’ama!
N!aro |'a mi da'ama
Teach the child on my behalf
-
Teach on my child's behalf.
145
144
(f)
ll’Eng |’a H'ama-kx'ao ko ghuu!
Fasten the sheep on the client's behalf!
!Wijwi, n||a n|wag!u!
Sister, do not boil water!
Sisaba, n||a ||a'e gumi!
Sisaba, do not skin the beast!
(g) Meni |'a Nama ko 4Ebe!
Answer the Motswana on the Nama*# behalf’.
N||a ! 'em n||2'obe!
Do not cap the bottle!
(h) I Hu |'a |‘ho ko da'al
N||a !'ot peri, !Ae!
Do not herd the goat, !Ae!
Extinguish the fire on the European** behalf!
N[|a ip'm da'ama!
Sen |'a mama ko Sa!
0 N||a gjem n'eni!
Roast the sweet potato on grand mother's behalf!
3.4,3. The negative imperative
The imperative structures that have been discussed up to now relate
Do not suckle the child!
Do not carry the clay pot on the head!
40ma, n|ja Ixwe #wa!
jOma, do not chase the giraffe!
N||a na da'a!
Do not give me matches!
only to affirmative commands. The difference between the affirmative and
tn) N||a na n!ao!
Do not give me a bow!
negative commands was established by means of testing frames of the
w
N||a h^repa I 'hw3 ko g!u’.
Do not fetch water, on the man's behalf!
N||a ||om|’a dz'heu ko da'a!
Do not cut firewood, on the woman's behalf!
to N||a n!aropa ha ko da'ama!
Do not teach the child on his behalf!
following structure: Hurl the stick!
Do not hurl the stick
Drink the liquor!
Do not drink the liquor
The response to these testing frames was: N!o'a g!heTl
N||a n! o'a g! het!
N||a n!aropa ha da'ama!
Do not teach on his child's behalf! Do not beat the dog on my father's behalf!
Hurl the stick
Do not hurl the stick!
N||a n+em'm|'a mi ba ko g+'hwTJ
TShi Ixeri!
N||a tEhi Jxeri!
N||a tsaSpa si ko zo!
Drink the liquor!
Do not taste the honey on their behalf!
Do not drink the liquor!
N||a g!xoni|'a G+x'ao ko !u!uj
Do not hurl the spear on Gpx'ao's behalf!
N||a menil’a Nama ko +Ebe!
Do not answer the Motswana on the Nama’s behalf!
N||a seuj'a mama ko^a!
Do not roast the sweet-potato on grandmother's behalf'.
The extensive application of these testing frames revealed that the negative imperative structure is formed by prefixing the verb n||a - "to leave" to any
affirmative imperative structure. Thus the verb n||a may be prefixed to any of the affirmative commands discussed in (3.4.1.) and (3.4.2.) *:
(a) N||a ts'a!
Do not sleep!
(b) N||a !haa!
-
Do not run!
(c) N||a h^re g!uj
-
Do not fetch water:
(d) N||a tShi ku!
-
Do not drink milk!
3.5. THE ADVERBIAL STEMS The adverbial series was established in (1.1.3). It has been ob served that the syntactical fusion of verbs and adverbs resulted in the
sanantic expansion of the verbs. The extensive application of adverbial
* The verbs that are juxtaposed in this manner do not constitute verbal com pounds because they may be separated by the descriptive adverbs:
* testing frames led to the establishment of the following adverbial categories:
N|]a n!o'a g!heT
N||a ||cu njo'a gjhei
5
(a) the temporal adverbial category
Do not hurl the stick
Do not hurl the stick well.
1
(b) the descriptive adverbial category
146
147
(c) the negative adverbial category (d) the interrogative adverbial category
Unlike many other languages the JXff verb is not inflected nor can it
form tenses by means of auxiliary verbs. The time and the degree of completeness of the action are established by means of adverbs. When the following sentence is spoken in isolation it would be difficult to ascertain
whether it denotes a present or a past action: |Ao ’.haa-tsi
Long ago the Nama wrote a letter
3.5.2. The descriptive adverbial stems
l|A‘e kwe t^m sou
[fl Kx’ao ||eu njaro ha
Kx'ao teaches him well
1 li) G4x'ao, tama ||x’wa mi
G4x’ao, please work for me
} (h) Kx’eru koma ||'ama 'msi
Perhaps Kx'eru bought food
[ (I) Ha n!'hae I'ha mi
Perhaps he knows me
’ (j) Mi lo ||xwasi I hit eri
My brother usually kills a guinea fowl
,03 N[eu keiSe kare mi
'Pho descriptive adverbs contribute to the meaning of the verb by
Our friends have gone hunting again
The elder likes me very much
(I) In order to contrast a sentence or situation with another or to bring it in
explicitly stating the manner in which the action is performed. It has been
relation to another the 1XCI use the adverb ||we. The following are ex
established that IXu has three categories of descriptive adverbs:
amples of the use of llwe; - "but":
(a) pre-verbal descriptive adverbs
(0 Mi ||we ko a kwe
(c) pre- and post-verbal descriptive adverbs 5. 2.1. The pre-verbal descriptive adverbial stems
3.
But I told you to read like this
nU^rg
(b) post-verbal descriptive adverbs
Most JXu descriptive adverbs occur in the pre-verbal position. In
the course of research the following examples of this vertical word category
(ii) Da'ama ||we tShi ha ku (in) Glx'cuSe ||we 'm Iha
But the child drank his milk
(iv) G||hwaa|heu llwe o ts’ama ma
But the Namaqua dove is a small bird
(v) Huuhjtry ||wc nluwa glu-nleng
were observed:
But the pied-babbler eats meat
But the flamingo stands in the pan
ni^c
-
nearly
nlobe
-
badly, evilly
kwe
-
thus, like this
sT
-
must
conjunction te is more common (4.1.2.1.).
Sete, 3cka
-
again, also
kciSe
-
much
the reader will observe that the adverb ||we precedes the subject
The application of the adverb ||we in conjunction with the narrative In these examples
150
«) The adverbial morpheme -khwe - "each other" serves the purpose of the
of the sentence.
(m)
Niwa njobe !hu n|'hwi
151
Bg. E
-
reciprocal in 1XC. This adverbial morpheme may be formally disting
The cat kills the mouse badly
uished from the other verbal morphemes in that it requires a transitional
The prc-vcrbal descriptive adverbs are not mutually incompatible.
Consequently more than one of these adverbs may appear together in the
pre-verbal position:
-a between the verbal stem and the adverbial morpheme -khwe. This , ... . transitional -a: (i)
becomes -wa if the verb ends in -u or -o;
(n)
A tS'u-nleng 'Sete ||eu wi mi
-
Your spouse also helped me well
(o)
NJeu niSe kwe n||ae
-
The elder nearly said so
G4’hwasi g||u'uwakhwe
-
(p)
Si tsa koma taa kokx’oi
-
Perhaps the two of them talked aside
Dz'heusi dz’huwakhwe
-
E tsa mi Jo ! ’owakhwe -
My brother and I dream of one another
Perhaps !Xem nearly hit the duiker
De’ebi nJ arowakhwe
The children teach one another
(q)
IXem n! 'hae niSe txa mga
-
3. 5.2. 2. The post-verbal descriptive adverbials
(ii)
These adverbials are divided into: (i)
(ii)
post-verbal descriptive adverbial morphemes, post-verbal descriptive adverbial stems.
3.5.2.2.1.
The post-verbal descriptive adverbial morphemes
These post-verbal extensions of the I Xu verb were observed to be
mutually incompatible within their post-verbal position. Extensive research
(iii)
The dogs bark at each other
The women call one another
-
becomes -ya if the verb ends in -e or -i_,
Si tsa kareyakhwe
The two of them like each other
I tsS loreyakhwe
You two write to each other
! 'HwS kota dz’heu meniyakhwe
The man and the woman answer each other
Zuj'hwasi zetyakhwe
The Bushmen agree with one another
remains -a if the verb ends in consonants;
H'Ao sa GIq’o 1'engakhwe
on this aspect revealed that the verbs + their descriptive extensions formed
||'Ao and Gl^'o play a trick on each other
inseparable units. It may therefore be concluded that these post-verbal ex
N|wa tsemakhwe
tensions are adverbial morphemes. We therefore decided to represent them (iv)
conjunctively. In the research only the following post-verbal adverbial -llx’ae
- together
-|xwa
- with
-khwc
- each other, one another
-I 'a
-
for, on behalf of
-tama
-
unsuccessfully
-n|['ho
-
aimlessly
(a)
Guni-kx'ao !xei|xwa !u!u
- The hunter cuts with his spear
(b)
Bq'o o|xwa mi
-
Si khwarakhwe
am
The cats stalk one another
is not written if the verb ends in -a: MJ a zakhwe
morphemes were established:
-
-
We curse each other
They untie each other
(d) Minlaro|'asi
I teach on their behalf
f (e) Ha |ore| 'a ha|'e
He writes for himself
j (f) NJaro-kx'ao njarotama mi h tsltf
The teacher teaches my brother unsuccessfully
■ If) 1 *Aa !g.etama g^x’aro
I ’Aa hunts the duiker unsuccessfully
■ (b) Mi nf'haonll'howa ts'i
I walk aimlessly in the veld *
* The fact that the locative ending of the verb (3.1.1.4) is suffixed to the ex tension n||’ho confirms the supposition that we are dealing with a series of verbal morphemes.
Bq'o is with me
IS 4
153
152
3.5.2.2.2.
The post-verbal descriptive adverbial stems
(1) Mi • 'ha seu nloma Iha
-
He drives the car beautifully,
(m) |Hwe ||u ’.o'a emer
The horse kicks the bucket breaking it
(») Zuwa he ||x'wa 1 'aa ha |’e (o) Mama n+em'm Io'a n||Q'obe
This man works himself hungry
it was established that most of the descriptive adnominal stems (2.4.1.) of !Xu may be used as post-verbal descriptive adverbs:
Ha nJ eri I'homa thoo
My son roasts the meat
(iv) is not written if the adnominal stem ends in -a:
By means of a testing frame:
-
He drives the car beautifully
Although the adverbial use of the descriptive adnominal stems has no effect on their structure they were found to require an ending -a. *
The Tswana rides the donkey slowly
W |'Hw3'm |wara pa I'Hwa [warn pa 'm
>
The pig eats the porridge finishing it
becomes -ya if the adnominal stems ends in -e or -i;
(ii)
(e) 1 Aa gu g lcTya dom
-
The servant digs the hole deeply
-
The Hcrcro wipes the bowl brightly
(g) G| ’hwa nJ ci khwiya gumi
-
The dog bites the beast painfully
Da'ama du nl’hwiya lenu
-
The child bends the wire
(f)
(h)
Thama n||’hom I $a beya n|uu
remains -a if the adnominal stem ends in a consonant:
(iii)
The hunter finishes making the bow
Ila fgy ll'cnga Ixeri
- lie pours the liquor generously
(0 !£e-kx'ao kuru twa nlao l£e-kx'ao twa nlao kuru
>
(i)
(j)
|Ebe lebi nloma |hwe
- The Motswana rides the horse taming it
(d) Di-kx’ao f$hi n'.o'owa Ixeri Di-kx'ao nlo'o Ixeri tShi
>
The drunkard drinks the liquor fast
(k)
Nicu nlaro kx'ae +’cnga da’ama **
- The elder teaches the child cleverly
(e) Zuwa kwa ^xuru 1’haeya glhei > Zuwa kwa 1 'haeya glhei ma'8
(d) Peri sa • 'hwa o ||'Eixa hisi
- The goat and the man are the Lord's
It follows that nouns which do not have homonymous possessive pronouns can constitute compound subjects and compound objects but they cannot assume a common possessive pronoun because their possessive
Class (i)a + Class (i)c Mi kx'wa a [x'aeya-kx'ao kosl mi 4xanu
4.1.1.4. The influence of the additive conjunctions on the irregular intransitive verbs
Verbs in this category are used in the plural form when preceded by a
pronouns are not homonymous:
(e)
This means that the
plural forms of the Irregular Transitive Verbs (3.1.1.) will be used in
In the discussion of the possessive pronouns (2.3.2.) we observed that
Mi hisi o
are to be regarded as equivalent to plural nominals.
- I am looking for your visitor and my book
Class (i)b + Class (ii)
plural nominal (3.2.1.).
The use of the compound subjects in conjunction
with the Irregular Intransitive verbs produced the following structures:
(a) N|wa sa 4’aama ’.ao
- The cat and the snake died
to N+isa sa n|wa gle’i
- N+isa and the cat went out - The hunter and the dog lie down
(f)
+Ebc kx'ae |hwe sa sare
- The Tswana has a horse and a saddle
to l£e-kx'ao sa g4’hw! g4a
(g)
Mi 'ha teni-Ee a nem sa n+'hei4em
- My son returned your lamp and spoon
to |X'aeya-kx'ao sa ha dz'heu gl 'hoo - The visitor and his wife sat down
Class (i)d + Class (ii)
(h)
|'Ho H'ama g|xa sa g|o'o
- The European buys beads and ostrich beads
The '.Xu informants were not only amused but greatly perplexed at their inability to supply common pronouns for the compound subjects and compound
objects made up of nouns with incompatible pronominal forms. 4.1.1.1.3.
The influence of the additive conjunctions on the irregular transitive verbs
The additive conjunctions result in the formation of compound subjects
and objects in sentences.
Functionally these compound subjects and objects
4.1.1.1.5. The influence of the additive conjunctions on the adnominal copula structure
Compound subjects, formed by means of the additive conjunctions, act as plural nominals in sentences.
It follows that when the compound sub
ject or object is used in the Adnominal Copula structure it should also be
used with the plural forms of the Irregular Adnominal stems.*
(a) ||W$Ee saSeu||wa '.ao
- The radio and the tape-recorder are turned off
(b) Sisaba |’u kota tEhi kx'oma
- Sisaba's bow and arrow are broken
* This does not apply to the Regular Adnominal stems (2.4.1.1.).
180
(c) Si ! ’ha sa si +xac laeya
-Their son and daughter are big
(d) 1UIu kesT gj|om'm '.ooamhi
-The spear and the club are short
4.1.1.2. The possessive conjunction
In Xu the possessive relationship may be denoted by simply juxta
posing nouns:
181
in
the man's bow
dz'heu tseri
the woman's chair the knife’s owner
euto 'hei
Mi tShi ||'a glpmsi 'wa
-My arrow's poisons kill
Ka lUn'.a'a t§a n||$ri —— When Grandfather fetches the sjambok-----
> Ka ha za mi 'hS-----
He swears at my son
If he swears at my son-----
The function of this category of words is to make independent sentences seman tically incomplete.
When any one of these subordinating conjunctions precedes one of the following sentences:
Thus, in the previous examples, the word ka is a struc
tural marker indicating that the segment of language following it is syntactic
ally incomplete and requires an expansion.
The only way in which the
semantically incomplete sentences can be completed is to join them to one or more independent sentences:
'. 'Aa ll'ama soi
-
• *Aa buys a file
Ha kuru ’. u'_ u
-
He makes a spear
the sentence will become semantically and syntactically dependent: Khama ha kuru ’.u'.u
~
Because he makes a spear-----
It now requires an independent sentence as a semantic and syntactical exten
sion;
'. 'Aa H'ama soi khama ha kuru '.u'.u
-
» 'Aa buys a file because he makes a spear
The resulting sentence contains one independent verb and one syntactically
dependent verb.
In view of what was said in (4.1.2.) this kind of sentence
Ka • Un'.a'a tSa nllari da’ama Lhaa-u
- When Grandfather fetches the sjambok the child runs away
should be regarded as a "complex sentence".
Ka ha za mi '. ’ha mi n^em'm ha
” If he swears at my son I shall cane him
complex sentence:
♦The reader's attention should be drawn to the syntactical position of ||we in: (i) (ii)
compound sentences (a - g above) simple sentences 3.5.2.1. (1)
The following sentences
illustrate the use of the subordinating conjunctions and the structure of the
(a) Mi tsu kx'wa meri khama ha kare zo ll'ama
-
My uncle searches for money because he wants to buy sugar
(b) Khama mi gu dz’heu mi l|x'wa n'.ama
-
Because I married (a woman) I work on the road
189
188
(t)
Kx’ao kare 4xanu 4’oma mi twa|xwa hi n||$ra
- Kx’ao wants the book when I have finished reading it
(c)
[X’aeSc guni |ao khama ha kare ha '. husi nlei-||'ama
IX'aeSe hunts the buffalo because he wants to sell the homs
(d)
Khanin a nlobc ini, mi |u Sole wi a
Because you suspect me I will not help you again
dependent verbs and at least one dependent verb, is called a "com pl ex-com
(e)
Mi 'cu a dz’heu ka mi ho ha
I will call your wife if I see her
pound sentence" because it is a combination of the structures of the complex
(f)
Ka aSea tama teni na Ixeri
If you return, please bring me some liquor
and the compound sentences.
(g)
Kx’ao teni-Se '.xomsi ka ha tsi
Ka'ao brings back clothes if he returns
(h)
Ka si n'.obe n+em'm mi, mi n+cu [AotSha
If they cane me badly, I shall go to [AotSha
(i)
Ila ||xem ha tsu ll'aa ha nlaro ha*
He follows his uncle in order that he should teach him
(a) Ha da'ama kare pa te mi tsu kx’wa meri khama ha kare zo H'ama
His child likes porridge and my uncle searched for money because he wants to buy sugar
(j)
I 'Aa I 'o mi g|a’asi ll'aa ha tswa mi
'. 'Aa covers my eyes in order that he may deceive me
(b) Khama mi gu dz'heu mi |[x'wa n'.amate||om da'a
Because I married (a woman) I work on the road and cut firewood
(k)
Mi zei ||'aa e tsa tSa ha meri
I agree in order that we two fetch his money
(!)
I’Eu a t^c ll'aa ha n|wa na 'mst
Call your mother in order that she cooks food for me
(c) Mi uwa G|em te ka mi ho a dz'heu mi 'eu ha
I travel to G|em and if I sec your wife I (will) call her
a tama teni na (d) Ka a ’.xeri te Sete |xao mi I a
If you return please bring me some liquor and also pay my servant
(e) ’. Ae | wa '. 'ha guni te ha [|xem ha tsu ||'aa ha n'.aro ha
!Ae does not know hunting and he followed his uncle in order that he should teach him
« E +om zo te '. 'Aa ’. 'o mi g|a'asi ll’aa ha tswa mi
We were dividing the honey and '. 'Aa covered my eyes in order that he might deceive me
(m)
Siniha mi ||x'wa mi dz'heu ** ts'a
(n)
A dz’heu n|wa '.ha Siniha a guni
Your wife cooks meat while you hunt
(o)
Siniha mi n||$r$i a si |ore +xanu
- While I read you must write a letter
(p)
Si t3xo n'. 'hwS "Siniha mi n|wa pa - They skin the kudu while I make porridge
(q)
4'0ma mi tsi mi teni hi xore
When I come I will return their thongs
(r)
Mi ’.hu n'.eng +'oma a ||'eng a’o
I will kill an eland when you trap a cheetah
(s)
+'Oma a |x'ae a |u ||x'wa
When you arc ill you should not work
In (4.1.2.) we observed that a sentence, containing two or more in
It may therefore be concluded that the addition
of an independent sentence to complex sentences (a - t) will produce the com
plex-compound structure.
The following sentences will serve as examples
of the complex-compound sentence structure:
- While I work my wife sleeps
* The reader will observe that the conj action ll'aa - "in order that" only appears medially in sentences.
** In conjunction with the negative adverbs (3.5.3.) the subordinating conjunc tion Siniha - "while" acquires the approximate meaning of the conjunction "before": Siniha mi |wa ||x'wa mi dz'heu ts’a - Before I work my wife sleeps
A dz’heu n|wa ’.ha Siniha a |wa guni - Your wife cooks meat before you hunt Siniha mi |wa n|[^r^ a si jore +xanu - Before I read you must write a letter
(g) Siniha mi ||x'wa mi dz'heu ts'a te |wa tsa’a euto
Whom does the girl call?
The girl calls the woman
>
Who calls the woman? What does the knife cut?
>
What cuts the rope?
The following examples illustrate the application of these testing frames:
My uncle sees the man My uncle sees the man
Ha^we xae mi tsu ho?
Whom does my uncle see? Ha^we re ho 'hwa?
Who sees the man ?
What bite the dog?
Having established the structure of the complex interrogative (a of their counterparts in the simple interrogative (i - p below):
(i) (j)
structure were put to the informants: The girl calls the woman
Who see the man ?
HatSit ba 4'aama n*. ei ?
h above), we may now compare the structure of these sentences with that
This is also the reason why a dis
In order to phrase these questions testing frames of the following
(b) Mi tsu ho 1'hwa
HaSwT re ho 'hwa?
HatSiTkje n'.ei g+'hwf?
4.2. 1. The interrogative nominal stems: "who?, whom? and what?”
(a) Mi tsu ho I 'hwa
Mi tsusT ho '. 'hwS
(h) 4'Aama n'.ei g+'hwi
In the complex interrogative the interrogative adverbs are supported by a
The knife cuts the rope
Whom does my uncle see?
What does the snake bite ?
not have a uniform structure as do the simple interrogative structure (3.5.4.).
tinction should be made between the simple and the complex interrogatives.
HaltwT xae mi tsu ho ?
(g) ^’Aama n'.ei g^'hWl The snake bites the dogs
The reason for the separate treatment of these inter rogatives is that they do
The knife cuts the rope
What bites the dog?
My uncle sees the men My uncles see the man
diversity of other interrogative elements.
HatSe kge n'.ei g+'hwi?
and whom?” respectively have the plural forms hatgiT? and haSwT?
We still need to discuss the structure of the sentences that phrase the ques
how many ?
What does the snake bite?
It was also observed that the forms hatSe? - "what?" and halwe? - "who?
(ii) words of the various word categories are turned into questions if they
What ?
HatSe ba 4='aama n'.ei?
Mi tsu ho '. 'hwa
My uncle sees the man
Does my uncle see a man?
Mi tsu ho ! 'hwa
Mi tsu re ho 'hwS?
My uncle sees the man
Does my uncle see a man ?
(k) ^'Aama n'.ei g4'hwT
(1)
'Hwa xae mi tsu ho?
G+'hwTba ^'aama n'.ei?
The snake bites the dog
Does the snake bite the dog?
4'Aama n*.ei gfhwi
4'Aama kje n’.ei g+'hwl ?
The snake bites the dog
Does the snake bite the dog?
(m) Mi tsu ho n[|£e My uncle sees the men (n) Mi tsusT ho '. 'hwa
My uncles see the man (o) +'Aama n'.ei g+'hwT The snake bites the dogs
N||ae xae mi tsu ho? Does my uncle see the men? Mi tsusT re ho ! ’hw5 ?
Do my uncles see the man ? G^'hwT ba faama n! ei ? Does the snake bite the dogs?
193
192 (t)
4'Aama kge n! ei gt 'hwT?
(p) 4'Anma n'.ei gt'hwT
G+'hwT kao hatSe n'.ei?
Do the snakes bite the dog ?
The snakes bite the dog
The following sentences illustrate the use of the interrogative
From a comparison of the structure of the complex interrogative nouns:
(a - li above) with the simple interrogative structure (i — p above) it
erne rgcs that the elements: hatSe? hatSiT? -"what?" haSwc ? haSwT? "who? whom?" are commutablc with the nouns of the simple interroga
tive structure.
This implies that the elements: hatge? hatSii? haSwe?
and haSwT? are nouns.
The "interrogative nominals1’ as we propose to
call these words, have singular and plural forms which remain the same
It may be argued that the sentences of the complex interrogative
Nem wa hatSe n^ei-ku'u?
Nemsi wa hatSe n+ei-ku'u?
(v) HatSe re nem n^ei-ku's? HatSiT re nem n^ci-ku'u? Nem re ntei-ku'u hatSiT?
However it should be borne in mind that the interrogative nominals
(w) Halwe xae g||xo da'ama?
In other words the
HaSwe xae g+a de'ebi? **
•ordinary’ nominals may occur in interrogatives and in statements.
De'ebi xae haSwe g+a?
It should also be observed that the words of the complex interroga
tive structures may be transposed without affecting their meaning.
The
sentences (q - t) should be compared with (a - d above):
>
Whom does my uncle see?
pc) Ha?we kje da’ama g]|x5?
>
What (plural) did the lamp cause
to bum?
>
Who lays down the child?
down?
HatSe ba n|'hwi e? What does the snake bite?
Whom does the child lay down ?
Da'ama kgc g4a haSwT?
(r) HaSwe re ho t’hwa?
Who sees the man?
>
Whom (plural) does the child lay
Mi ba hatSe gu ?
'.'Hwa re haSwe ho?
Who lays down the children?
HaSwi kilo da'ama g4a? *** (y) HatSe ba gu mi ?
>
What did the lamp cause to burn?
Da'ama kje haSwe g||xo?
Mi tsu re ho ha?,we?
(s) HatSe ba +'aama n'.ei?
>
Da'ama xae haXwe g||x3?
interrogative nominals have only an interrogative use whereas the
(q) Hatwc re mi tsu ** ho?
What caused the lamps to bum?
HatSe wa nfei-ku'u nemsi?
(a - h) and those of the simple interrogative (i - p) are syntactically ident
are syntactically incompatible with statements.
What caused the lamp to bum?
(u) HatSe wa n+ei-ku'u * nem?
Nem re n=fei-ku'u hatSe?
in subjectival and objective! position. *
ical .
What bites the dog?
HatSe kjje n'.ei gf'hw?
What caught mo?
>
What caught us ?
E ba hatSe nphwi?
4'Aama ba n'.ei hatSe? * Compare a - d (above) with e - h (above) ** It may interest the reader to observe the structural similarity of the sentences (q) and (s) as opposed to (r) and (t). The reason for the structural similarity is that the interrogative nouns hatSe? and ha?we? are the objects of the sentences (q) and (s) and the subjects of the sentences (r) and (L).
* Contrary to (3.1.5.) the verbs of interrogative sentences do not assume the ending -a when used in conjunction with ntei.
** The plural noun de'ebi, as the object of this sentence, requires the plural form of the irregular verb (3.1.1.). *** The plural interrogative nominal haSwT?, as the object of this sentence requires the use of the plural form of the irregular verb (3.1.1.).
194
(z) HatSc ba mi gu?
195
>
What did I catch?
>
What (plural) did I catch?
(h)
Mi ba gu hatSe ? Hatin' mi nphwi?
The interrogative adnominal stems: "which?, when? how many?> how much?”
In the quest for the structures in which these interrogatives appear,
'Hw2 ne re mi wi ?
- Which man did I help? - Which dog bites the cat?
G+'hwa ne re n|wa n'.ei?
- Which dog is bitten by the cat
(I)
Goba ne re u ?
-
Which Ovambo goes ?
(b)
Su|'hw5 ne xae ts'aa?
-
Which Bushman absconded?
(c)
Thama ne re |[’ama |hwe?
-
Which Herero buys a horse?
(d)
Nama ne xae n^e?
-Which Nama speaks a foreign language ?
position which is usually occupied by the adnominal stems of '.Xu,
This is illustrated by the following sentences:
Which buffalo killed the hunter?
Which buffalo did the hunter kill?
positive adnominal stems of '.Xu (2.4.1.),
(m)
- Which cigarette did the child light?
|Hweya ne re ||u ha?
- Which horse kicked him?
|Hweya ne re ha liu ? - Which horse did he kick? * This also applies to the plural sentences, hence:
-
Which buffaloes kiUed the hunter?
-
|Aowa |xwa re '.hu guni-kx’ao? |Aowa |xwa re guni-kx'ao '.hu?
-
Did the live buffalo kill the hunter? Did the hunter kill the live buffalo?
(n) Zeruwa g+e'T re ku'u da'ama?
- Did the long cigarette burn the child?
Zeruwa g+eT re da'ama ku'u?
- Did the child light the long cigarette?
(o) |'Eiya ti re Horn si?
- Did the heavy axe chop them?
I'Eiya ti re si dE'aa?
- Did they steal the heavy axe?
(p)
'.'Hwa n’.gi re wi mi?
- Did the cripple man help me?
(q)
G+'hwa tShin'.ei re n'.ei n|wa?
- Did the fierce dog bite the cat?
G+'hwa tShin'. ei re n| wa n’.ei?
- Did the cat bite the fierce dog?
N+enga Sao re gu n'.eu?
- Did the blind python catch the elder?
N+enga Sao re n'.eu gu?
- Did the elder catch the blind python?
'Hwa nlpi re mi wi?
- Which cigarette burned the child?
Zeruwa ne re da'ama ku'u?
I Aosa ne re '.hu guni-kx'ao?
In order to distinguish the adnominal stem
ne? from the other adnominal stems we describe it as the "interrogative adnominal stem".
That
the transitional -a under the same circumstances as the regular descrip
(g)
- Which porcupine did the dog kill?
stem ne ?, occuring in the sentences (e - 1), is commutable with the
ne? is an adnominal stem is been confirmed by the fact that it requires
Zeruwa ne re ku'u da'ama?
'. ’Oma ne re g+'hwT '. hU?
The following sentences will illustrate that the interrogative adnominal
From these examples it may be seen that the element ne? occurs in a
(f)
- Which porcupine killed the dogs ?
those discussed in (2.4.1.).
(a)
-
- Which python did the elder catch ?
• 'Oma ne re '. ’wa g+'hwl?
the element ne? is an adnominal stem which is structurally different from
element ne? was infixed between the subject and the interrogative adverb:
|Aowa ne re guni-kx'ao ’.hu?
N4enga ne re n’. eu gu ?
From a study of the structure of these sentences one may conclude that
In the case of the interrogative "which?" it was observed that an
-
- Which python caught the elder?
(k) N+enga ne re gu n'.eu?
The interrogative adnominal stem: "which?"
|Aowa ne re '.hu guni-kx’ao?*
Which axe chopped them?
G+'hwa ne re n'.ei n|wa?
How much water did he drink ?
(e)
-
(j)
How many books do you want?
tive adnouns do.
|'Eiya ne re ||om si?
- Which man helped me?
When did he arrive ?
4.2.2.1.
Which axe did they steal?
’. 'Hwa ne re wi mi?
testing frames of the following nature were put to the informants: Which man stole the money ?
-
(i)
Mi ba n |'hwi hatSn ? 4.2.2.
|'Eiya ne re si dX’aa?
(r)
- Did I help the cripple man?
197
19fj
(s) ! 'Onia kx'eni re ! 'wa gf hwT?
'Oma kx'eni rc g4'hwT ihfl
-
Did the lucky porcupine kill the dogs?
From these sentences the reader will observe that the adnominal
-
Did the dog kill the lucky porcupine?
stems of the temporal adverbial phrases are commutable with the ele ment ne?.
In I Xu. unlike oilier languages, the interrogative adnoun cannot intro
duce a nominal clause. *
tive adnominal stem as discussed in (4.2.2,1. above).
The interrogative adnominal stem nc? is used only
in interrogative structures.
It may therefore be concluded that no? is the same interroga As it is possible
to omit the interrogative adverbs re? , xae?, kae? ba? and wa? from
That the adnoun ne? is essentially interrogative
is borne out by the fact that the interrogative force of the sentences (e - 1
these sentences, it may be concluded that the interrogative adnoun ne?
above) is undiminished by the omission of the simple interrogative adverbs.
is also responsible for the interrogative meaning.
Thus sentence (e) becomes:
adverbs arc nothing but dispensible structural markers when used in con
|Aowa nc'.hu guni-kx’ao?
-
Which buffalo killed the hunter?
[Aowa ne guni-kx'ao '. hu?
-
Which buffalo did the hunter kill?
junction with the interrogative adnominal stem ne?.
The subordinating conjunction I'oma - "when" is used to formulate the general interrogative: "when"?.
The interrogative adverbs may be omitted from the sentences (d - j above)
without changing their meaning. 4.2.2.2.
The interrogative adnominal "when?"
It has been observed (3.5.1.) that the de-adnominal stems may func tion as temporal adverbs.
This fact is illustrated by the formation of the
temporal adverbial phrases and the formulation of questions relating to time: (a) [Ema he re ha u? **
(b)
(c)
(d)
|Ema ne re ha u?
Thus the interrogative
(e)
+'Oma ne re mi dz'heu tsi?
- When did my wife arrive?
(f)
4'Oma nc re ha |xao a?
- When will he pay you ?
(g)
4'Oma ne re ha txa nleng?
- When did he hit an eland ?
(h)
4'0ma ne re g’.a Suwa?
- When did it rain?
4.2.2.3.
The interrogative adnominal stems: "how many? how much?"
The '.Xu sentence structures for the interrogatives "how many?" and "how much?" cannot be used with singular nominals because the questions
Did he go today?
What (which! day did he go?
G[uwa ke rc si ! ae ?
G|uwa ne re si Ifte?
imply plurality and quantity.
Do they hunt tonight?
What (which) night do they hunt ?
these interrogatives were established by means of testing frames like the
Tshcya to'a re e tsa Horn da'a?
Tsheya ne re e tsa [|om da'a?
following:
Did we cut firewood that week?
What (which) week did we cut wood?
How many knives do you possess? - A rc kx'ae kwasa neuta'ama?
Nt'homa weSe xae ha n'.eriya Makuri ?
N'.'homa ne xae ha nleriya Makuri?
How many bees stung him ?
- Zosa neuta'ama re n'.ci ha?
How much honey did you eat?
- A rc'm zoggnasa nTta'ama?
Will he drive to Makuri the whole of tomorrow?
What tomorrow will he drive to Makuri?
How much water did the horse drink?
- G'.uwa nTta'ama re |hwe tShi?
As in other complex interrogative structures
After the application of a number of these testing frames it was con * The following structure is ungrammatical in IXu:
Nlaowa rc ||eu tShin||'ha ‘.hu n', 'hw:T
-
The bow which shoots well kills the kudu
** The pre-subjectival occurrence of the temporal adverbs was discussed in (3.5.1.).
firmed that the elements neuta'ama? and nTta'ama? consistently occur in positions usually occupied by the adnominal stems of '.Xu.
The fact that
these elements also require the adnominal transitional -a (2.4.1.1.) led to the conclusion that nTta'ama? and neuta'ama? should bo regarded as "inter-
198
rogativc adnominal stems”.
The following sentences illustrate the use of
199
-
What is the flavour of the honey they buy?
-
What is the flavour of the meat?
(q) Zeresa Kx’ao'm re nita’ama?
-
What is the flavour of the ground nuts that Kx'ao eats?
(r) G’.uwa a eShi re neuta’ama?
-
What is the flavour of the water you drink?
2u|'hwa re kx'ae de'enisa nita'ama?
(s) Hiyoba a ||xara re nita'ama?
-
How many fire sticks does the Bush man possess ?
What is the flavour of the sugar cane you plant?
(t)
-
What is the flavour of the porridge?
(o) Zowa si ll’ama re nita'ama?*
these interrogative adnominal stems: (a) Gla’o ll'ama dongisi
Glft'o buys donkeys (b) Ha ’ 'wa eri
Ho kills guinea-fowl (c) 2u|'hwa kx'ae de'enisi
The Bushman has fire sticks (d) G|x'uusi Ixwe n!'hwa
The wild dogs chase the kudu (e) Nll^c 4hom Ihwi
(f) (g)
G|£'o re ll'ama dongisa nita'ama? llow many donkeys does Gla'o buy? Ila re 1 ’wa erisa neuta’ama?
(p)
’.Ha re neuta’ama?
How many guinea-fowl does he kill?
Glx'uusa neuta’ama re '.xwe nl'hwS?
SSu re neuta’ama?
Although the interrogative adnominal stems:
How many wild dogs chase the kudu?
ne?
-
which?
-
how many?, how much?
-
how many?, how much?
N||$esa nita'ama re +hom '.hwi?
neuta’ama?
The men break the rope
How many men break the rope?
nita'ama?
4Ebe kare n|ei
4Ebe re kare n|eiya neuta’ama?
differ in their use, it has been established that they should be regarded
The Tswana wants fuel
How much fuel does the Tswana want?
as "interrogative adnominal stems’*.
Dongi’m g4u’u
Dongi re'm g+u'usa nita'ama?
The donkey eats millet
How much millet does the donkey eat?
The fact that nita'ama? and neffta'ama? (in the sentences a - g) are com-
This was also confirmed by their
use as the extension of the zero Adnominal Copula Structure. 4.2.2.4. The structures in which the interrogative adnominal stems occur
We conclude our discussion of the interrogative adnominal stems with
mutablc with regular descriptive adnominal stems (in the sentences h - n)
the following brief summary of the syntactical structures in which they occur.
confirms the assumption that they are interrogative adnominal stems:
The following three groups of sentences should be compared in order to
(h)
Glft'o re ll'ama dongisa n'. gi?
- Docs Glg'o buy cripple donkeys?
observe the structural differences arising from the use of the various inter
0)
Ha re !’wa erisa ^jm?
- Did he kill the emaciated guinea fowl?
rogative adnominal stems:
(j)
2u|’hwa re kx’ae de’eni 4’engsi? - Docs the Bushman possess old fire sticks?
(k)
Glx’uusa tShT re Ixwe n! 'hwa?
(I)
Nllgesa g|ao re 4hom Ihwi?
(m)
4Ebe ro kare n|eiya g’.aS?
(n)
Dongi re 'm g4u’usa n'.om?
- Do the fat wild hunting-dogs chase the kudu?
- Do the strong men break the rope?
- Does the Tswana want red fuel? - Does the donkey eat the ripe millet?
The interrogative adnominal stems nita'ama? and neOta’ama? may also
be used to phrase the question: "what flavour?”.
♦ If positive interrogative adnominal stems (2.4.1.1.) are substituted for the interrogative adnominal stems rilta'ama? and neuta’ama?. the reader will observe that these sentences are nothing but interrogative versions of the Adnominal Copula Structure: Zo t&e - The honey is sweet
> Zo re t^e? - Is the honey sweet?
Zowa si H'ama t$g
> Zowa si H'ama re t§g
The honey which they buy is sweet
- Is the honey which they buy sweet?
201
200
1 (a) tEbe nc re |ema he 'm zo ? (b) I’Howa nc re g|uwa ke nleri euto?
- Which Tswana ate honey to-day?
adverbs is restricted to interrogative structures.
- Which European drives the car to night?
will illustrate the use of neu? and nT?:
(a)
(c) I 'Hwa ne re |ema he wi dz’heu? - Which man helps the woman to-day? (d) 1 'Hwa ne rc tsheya ke dz'heu wi?
- Which man does the woman help this week ?
2(a) ]Ema nc re +Ebc 'in zo?
- What day did the Tswana cat honey?
(b) (c)
(b) G|uwa ne re |'Ho nleri euto?
- What night did the European drive the car?
(c) [Ema ne rc 1 'hwa wi dz'heu?
- What day does the man help the woman?
(d)
- What week does the woman help the man?
(e)
(d) Tsheya ne re '. 'hwa dz'heu wi ?
3(a) |Erna he re +Ebc 'm zosa nTta'ama?
- How much honey does the Tswana cat today ?
(b) Gluwa ke re |’Ho nleri eutosa ncuta'ama?
- How many cars does the European drive tonight?
(c) [Ema he re 1 'hwa wi dz'heusa nTta'ama?
- How many women does the man help today?
(d) Gluwa ke rc n||^csa ncuta'ama dz'heu wi?
- How many men docs the woman help tonight.
4.2.3.
(f)
- Did the house catch fire?
T8'u re nT ku'uwa?
- How did the house catch fire?
Ha kae dX'aa ghuu?
- Did he steal a sheep?
Ha kje net! dX’aa ghuu?
- How did he steal a sheep?
|X'aeSe xae n'.aro ha|'e?
- Does |X'ac5e teach himself?
IX'acKe xae nT n'.arowa ha|'e?
- How docs |X'aeSe teach himself?
Tsemkx’ao ba Ihu ’.xo?
- Does Tsemkx'ao kill the elephant?
Tsemkx'ao ba nT’.huwa '.xo?
- How does Tsemkx'ao kill the elephant?
N! 'hei rc Ixwe cuto?
-
Does the lion chase the car?
N! 'hei rc neu '.xweya euto?
-
How does the lion chase the car?
-
Did the child fasten the goat?
-
How did the child fasten the goat?
The interrogative adverb is not used only in interrogative structures
but may also occur as a part of the nominal clause.
The following
examples will illustrate the use of the interrogative adverbial structure
as a nominal clause.
formants were confronted with testing frames like:
The reader will observe that the subjects and the
subjcctival clauses are commutable;
How do you shoot? How did he kill the buffalo?
It was observed that in their response to these testing frames the in
formants included one of the simple interrogatives (rc, xae, kae, ba, wa) in As these elements m? and
ncu? appear only between the interrogative adverb and the verbal stem, it
We regard an element which
consistently appears in a position occupied by adverbs as an adverb.
All the
attempts to apply the adverbs neu? and m? outside an interrogative structure
failed.
- How does Kx'ao abrade the chair?
TS'ureku'u?
Da'ama wa nT ll'enga peri?
bi an attempt to establish the structure of the question "how?" the in
was concluded that they are "adverbial stems".
- Does Kx'ao abrade the chair?
Kx'ao re neu du-4hana g|aaxu?
(g) Da'ama wa ||'cng peri?
The interrogative adverbial stem; "how?"
conjunction with one of the elements nl? or neu?.
Kx'ao re du-+hana g|aaxu?*
The following examples
It may therefore be concluded that the use of these interrogative
(h) Mi • 'ha txanu I know a book
(i)
Mi '. 'ha hn re neu ||x'wa
I know how he works
II’Ao Iwa mi ko wa
ll'Ao '.wa mi ko si rc ncu n+em'ma mi +xac
ll'Ao tells me a story
ll’Ao tells me how they beat my daughter
* Verbs ending in e, L H and consonants assume the ending -a in conjunc tion with the interrogative adverbs m? and neu? Although the terminal -a is perceptible, in the case of words ending in -a. it remains unwritten for the reason given in (3.1.4.).
203
202
(j)
Ha ba sen'.eng
Ha ba se ko ha re nT Eiya
His father secs an eland (k) Eiya tsa'a da’ama
His father sees (realizes) how he • lies Mother hears how the child swears
Ha I ’ha mi
Ha 'ha g^'hwTreneS g||u'uwa n'. 'hei
He knows me
He knows how the dogs bark at the lion
(m) Dz’heu tsa'a gpru
Dz’heu tsa'a '.xo re ni Ihuwa |ao
The woman hears the lizard
(n) pllo re n||ury +xanu?
Does the European read a book ? (o) Si re sc euto?
(f)
Does the European read how the Buslunan hunts the roan? Do they look on how the Tswana buries a woman?
ko?
- where?
the ’'interrogative why?" and the "interrogative where?"
(b) Si n+em’m mi txac
They beat my daughter (c) Ha uwa |AotEha He goes to |AotSha
The man does not pay the servant
Why does the man not pay the servant?
+Ebe |wa ||’ama |hwe
HatSekhwe re +Ebe |wa ||'ama |hwe?
Kx’ao kills the lion
(i) Dz'heu ma n|wa 'msi The girl cooks food
(j) 2i-kx'ao tSwa ha The liar deceives him
HatSekhwe re ha u|xwa? With what does he travel? HatSekhwe re Kx’ao '.hu|xwa n’.'hei?
With what does Kx’ao kill the lion?
Dz’heu ma re n|wa|xwa hatSekhwe 'msi? With what does the girl cook food? HatSekhwe re Ei-kx’ao t§wa|xwa ha?
With what does the liar deceive him?
The interrogative "where?" is phrased as follows:
refrained from naming these interrogative structures but simply called them
He steals my meal
HatSekhwe re ’. ’hwa |wa |xao ! a ?
(h) Kx’ao • hu n'. 'hei
(k)
As it could not be established to what categories these elements belong, we
(a) Ha dE'aa mi ’.ha
’. 'Hwa |wa |xao ’.a
He travels by car
supported by the elements:
- why?
Why does your son help the woman?
(g) Ha u|xwa euto
that the interrogative adverbial stems: re? xae? kje? ba? and wa? are hatEckhwe?
Your son helps the woman
preceding sentences:
The interrogative stems: ’'why?'*, "where?*'
In phrasing the questions, "why?” and "where?", it was observed
HatSekhwe re a • 'ha wi dz'heu?
post-verbal adverbial morpheme -|xwa - "with" to the predicate of the
The woman hears how the elephant kills the buffalo |'Ho re n||ara Zuphwa re neu guniya n|o?
A ’ ’ha wi dz’heu
Why does the Tswana not buy a The Tswana does not buy a horse ? horse The interrogative, 'with what?" may be expressed by suffixing the
Si re se +Ebc re nT '.oma dz'heu
Do they look at the car? 4.2.4.
(e)
Eiya tsa’a da’ama re neu za
Mother hears the child (1)
(d)
HatSekhwe re ha dE’aa mi :ha? Why does he steal my meat?
HatSekhwc re si n^m’m mi +xae?
Why do they beat my daughter? HatSekhwe re ha uwa |AotSha?
Why does he go to |AotSha?
(1)
Ha gu zo
Ko re ha guwa zo?*
He digs honey
Where does he dig honey?
Mi +xae |*u xei
My daughter puts away the bread
Ko re re mi +xae |'uwa xei?** Where (into) does my daughter put the bread?
* As with the locative extensions of the verb (3.1.4.) the interrogative "where?" also necessitates the addition of the ending -a if the verbal stem ends in; -e, -4, -o. -u and the consonants. ** The phrasing of interrogative "where?" may either require a single or a double interrogative adverbial stem.
Hence: Ko re re.
204
205
A re '.x’ema |eT-|eT ko tS'u-n'.eng?
(m) A '. x’em |e“-|eT
Do you adjust the engine in the house ?
You adjust the engine
Ko re re n'. 'hwi?
(n) Ka kc n’. 'hwi
Si za'aha [|'ama zwaa ko re?
(o) Si za'aha ||'ama zwaa Long ago they bought marijuana
Where did they buy marijuana long ago?
(P) 2u|'hwa txa |'hw3 The Bushman shot a warthog
>
- Your uncle's wife's father died
Mi kare |'H3 ||'a n'.ao
- I like the European's rifle
(c) The Objectival Conjunction ko effects a closer syntactical relationship
between the predicate and the direct object of a sentence.
Where (what) is wrong?
This is wrong
A tsu ||'a dz'heu ||'a ba '.ei
Ko re re Zu |'hwa txa ['hwa? Where did the Bushman shoot a warthog?
prevents ambiguity between sentences like: Ha ’.xom | 'a mi ko da’ama
- He dresses the child on my behalf
Ha '.xom|'a mi da'ama
- He dresses on my child's behalf
2.
The Syntactical Conjunctions are used for the junction of two or more
sentences.
A distinction may be made between:
{a) the narrative conjunction,
4.3. SUMMARY
(b) the subordinating conjunction.
A. The Conjunctions of '.Xu are divided into:
(a) The Narrative Conjunction te is used in narrative sequences and result
1. nominal conjunctions,
in the creation of compound sentences:
2. syntactical conjunctions.
Da'ama |xwa da’a te ha seu tShT
- The child kindles a fire and he roasts the liver
|Wara meni n’.om te 4'aama n-el ha
- The baboon overturned the stone and the snake bit him
The Nominal Conjunctions effect a closer syntactical relationship
between individual words:
(a) The Additive Conjunctions join nominals to form complex subjects or
objects of sentences.
Being grammatically plural, these compound sub
sentences.
'. 'Hwa gu |'ei
I'Hwa n|’hwi ['ei sa n'.ao
The man takes the axe
The man takes the axe and the bow
N'.eng n'.u
N'.eng kota 4wa g[[a
The eland stands
The eland and the giraffe stand
The sentences formed in this manner are called complex,
and comprise an independent and a dependent clause.
The dependent
clauses are introduced by subordinating conjunctions and they may
These compound subjects and compound objects will assume common
pronouns if their respective plural pronouns are homonymous.
(b) The Subordinating Conjunctions cause the syntactical dependence of sentences and therefore necessitate their junction to other independent
jects and compound objects function as plural nominals:
In other
words the nouns of Class (i)b and (i)d will assume a common personal
pronoun hi and the nouns of Class (i)a and (i)b will assume a common possessive pronoun hisi.
(b) The Possessive Conjunction [|'a expresses kinship and a possessional
relationship:
It also
appear cither as the initial or the terminal segment of a complex sentence:* Mi '. 'eu dz'heu khama mi |em
Khama mi |em mi '. ’eu dz’heu
I call the woman because I am thirsty
Because I am thirsty I call the woman
Sentences consisting of two or more independent verbs and at least one
dependent verb are called complex-compound sentences.
By adding a
simple independent sentence to a complex sentence we may form a com-
_ plex-compound sentence: * The conjunction |[’aa - "in order to" is an exception because it appears only terminally: Ha teni +xanu ||’aa mi n||arft hi
- She brings the book in order that I may read it
207
206 Khama mi *xae |em mi gu emer + Mi hare g'. u
-
Because my daughter is thirsty I take a bucket + I fetch water
The Narrative Conjunction te results in the junction of these sentences in a complex-compound sentence:
|Ema ne xae ha tsi?
-
When (what day) did he come?
|Emsa ne xae ha tsi?
-
When (what days) did he come?
The interrogative adnominal stem ne? is commutable with the ad nominal stems of (2.4.1.1.).
Khama mi +xae |em mi gu emer - Because my daughter is thirsty I te hare g’. u take the bucket and fetch water B. The Simple (3.5.4.) and the Complex Interrogatives are distinguished be
(c) The interrogatives, "how many?" and "how much?" are rendered by the
synonymous interrogative adnominal stems:
nita'ama?
cause the structure of the complex interrogative is not characterized by tho
interrogative adverbial stems alone.
neuta’ama?
On account of the diversity of elements
in their structure we described the following interrogative structures as
These interrogative adnouns are only used in respect of plural nominals.
"Complex": (a) The interrogatives, "which?" "when?" and "what?" were found to be
rendered by the interrogative nominal stems:
hatSe ?
- hatSif ?
- what?
haltwe ?
- halwT?
- who? whom?
This is also the reason why they always require the plural form
of the regular adnominal transitional -a;
N'.eu tShi '.xerisa nita'ama? |'H3 kx'ac n'.aosa neuta’ama?
-
How much liquor did the elder drink?
-
How many rifles does the European possess ?
The interrogative adnominal stems nita'ama? and negta'ama? are
HaSwe xae dS'aa meri?
Who stole the money?
HatSe rc 'eng a?
What stabbed you?
HaEwe re mi tsu 'eu?
Whom does my uncle call ?
adverbial stems neu? and rtf?.
HatSe ba zo niei?
What did the bee sting?
adnominal stems, the verbal stems ending in e, -i, -o, -u and consonants
A re ho haSwe?
Whom do you see ?
require a transitional -a:
A '.ure hatSe?
What is your name?
The interrogative nominal stems: ha?we?
- ha?wV?
hatSe?
- hatSi”?
are commutable with singular and plural nominal stems.
(b) The interrogatives "which?" and "when?" are rendered by the inter rogative adnominal stem ne?
This adnominal stem requires the transi
tional -a under the same circumstances as the Regular Adnominal Stems (2.4.1.1.)
Which donkey kicked Kx'ao?
Dongiya ne re ||u Kx'ao?
-
Dongisa ne re ||u Kx'ao?
- Which donkeys kicked Kx'ao?
commutable with the adnominal stems: (d) The interrogative, "how?" is rendered by the synonymous interrogative
When preceded by these interrogative
|Hwe ||u g+’hwt
-
|Hwe re neu ||uwa gt'hwi?
The horse kicked the dog
-
How did the horse kick the dog ?
N||je guni I'hwg
-
Nllje re neu guniya |'hwa?
The men chase the pig
-
How do the men chase the pig?
The interrogative adverbial stems ru? and neg? are commutable with
the pre-verbal descriptive adverbs:
N|wa re neu 4xuruwa g!hei?
- How does the cat scale the tree?
N|wa re ||cu fxuru g'. hei?
-
Does the cat scale the tree well?
N'.eu re hi seuwa '.ha?
-
How docs the elder roast meat?
N'.eu re Seto seu '.ha?
-
Does the elder roast the meat again? i
208 (e)
The interrogatives, "where?” and "why?" are formed by the elements:
lutSekhwe ?
- why ?
ko ?
- where ?
llatSckhwe re ha |wa ||x'wa ha |'e? - Why does he not work for himself? Ko rc re n’. 'hwi?
- Where (what) is wrong?
HalSekhwe re dc’ebi H'aakhwe?
- Why do the children fight?
Ko re re ha ho nleng?
- Where does he see the eland?
The elements hatSekhwe? and ko? could not be grouped with any of the known word categories.