Zulu grammar

The grammatical features of Zulu mainly include:

Constitutional word order is subject, predicate and object.

Morphologically, this is a multi-language

Like other Bantu languages, noun forms are divided into 13, and different prefixes are singular and plural. All parts of speech limit nouns to be consistent with nouns according to word form categories. These protocols usually reflect a part of the original class, which is agreed. An example of this is "using ABBA-" of this class:

This letter is abaqatha bepulazi bayayigawula, Abantu.

All the strong people on the farm are cutting down trees.

Here, various agreements and the qualifier' abantu' (person) can see the effect.

Its oral system shows the combination of time and representation in its limited paradigm. There are usually two verbs, one is contemporary uncertainty and the other is perfect. Different prefixes can be connected to the protocols specified by these spoken stems, and there are different degrees of past or future tension. For example, in the word uthanda ("He loves"), the current verb thanda and the prefix u denote the third person singular.

Suffixes are also put into use, and the vector or reciprocal form of verb stems appears.

Most attribute words (words are coded as English adjectives) are verbs, and this is a umuntu uBomvu ("people are red"). The word uBomvu (root Bomvu) behaves exactly like a verb, including the protocol prefix u, as shown in the above example.

Zulu, like other Bantu languages, is an adhesive language with a high degree of adhesion. For example: Ngiyakuthanda. I love you. Not mistaken? Yes, there is only one word, but it contains five parts: I, love, you, tense and verb root. Ngi-is the subject "I"; Ya- is a sign of the present tense; Ku-means the object "you"; -thanda is the root of the verb "love". Bantu language belongs to a class of languages with developed prefixes and underdeveloped suffixes.

1. noun

1. 1. The category of nouns

One of the characteristics of Bantu language is that each noun belongs to a specific class, and the number of classes varies according to different languages. Zulu nouns generally include prefix and root. The prefix is the class mark to which the noun belongs, for example, umuntu means "person" and umu- is the prefix, indicating that the noun belongs to 1 class; Ulimi means "language", and u- means it belongs to 1 1 class. There are seventeen categories of Zulu nouns, which are listed as follows:

1 umu-

1 a level u-

Grade 2 aba-

Level 3 umu-

Level 4 imi-

Type 5 Ili-

Level 6 ama-

Level 7 isi-

Grade 8 izi-

9 kinds of in-

10 Izin-

1 1 grade ulu-

14 ubu-

15 uku-

16 pha-

17 uku-

The number of classes is discontinuous because according to Meinhof's classification, he divided the noun classes in Bantu into 23 classes, Zulu corresponding to 17, and the missing classes did not correspond.

The meanings represented by various classes are roughly as follows:

1 umu- (variant um-) usually refers to people and nationalities: umuntu, umufo guy, umfana boy, umfazi woman, umZulu Zulu, umShayina China.

1 a Class u- means relatives, proper nouns, anthropomorphic animals and foreign words. : Ubaba, my father, Umama, my mother, King Ushakakasaka (one of the most influential leaders in Zulu history), Ushuckleberry Sugar (

The second kind of aba- (variant ab-, abe-) refers to the plural of 1: abelungu white, abantu, abazali parents, abafundi students.

Type 2 b o- (variant awo-) means the plural of 1 Type A: omkami Many of my wives, nurses from onesi.

Three types of umu- (variant um-) represent natural phenomena and things: umuthi tree, umuzi village, umusi smoke, umfula river, umlilo fire, umhlabathi land and umvuno harvest.

Four types of imi-three types of plural: many trees in imithi, many villages in imizi, and many rivers in imifula.

The five types of Ili-(variant i-) represent self-confessed things, animals, nationalities, etc. : Ilf Cloud, Ilyso's eyes, its rocks, Izvi's voice.

Six kinds of ama (variant ame-) represent five kinds of complex numbers and about nine kinds of complex numbers: amafu cloud, amehlo eye, amatshe rocks and amazwi sound.

The seven types of isi-(variant is-) refer to food, language, tools and people. : isinkwa bread, isibani lamp, isikebhe boat, isilwane animal, isitha enemy, isimenywa guest, isiShayina Chinese, isizululu, isiNgisi English.

Eight kinds of izi- (variant iz-) represent the plural of seven kinds: izinkwa bread, izibani lamp, izikebhe boat, izilwane animal, izitha enemy and izimenywa guest.

Nine kinds of in- (variant im-) represent animals and others: imbuzi goat, imvula rain, inkanyezi star, Indodonason, indodakazi daughter, inyoka snake, inhliziyo heart, inkathi time.

Class 10 izin- (variant izim-) stands for the plural number of class 9 and class 1 1: izimbuzi goat, izimvula rain, Izinkanyazistar, izinkathi time.

1 1 ulu- (variant u-) means long things: ubambo ribs, udondolo crutches, ufudu turtles and ukhezo spoons.

14 ubu- (variant ub-) means something long and collective noun, etc. : Uboya hair, Ubuso face, Ubsika winter.

15 uku (variant ukw-) indicates gerund and infinitive: uku dlaaeats/eat, uku bona looks/ look, ukusebenza does/works, ukufunda studies, ukuthanda likes.

16 pha- indicates location (no longer available): phakathi is in the middle, phandle is outside, phambili is in front, and phezulu is above.

17 uku- (variant ukw-) means place, time, uncertain things, etc. : ukunto something, to the right of ukunene, to the left of ukunxele.

4. Pronouns

6.5438+0. Personal pronouns

Pronouns in Zulu are divided into absolute form and consistent form (attached). Absolute form is a word that can be used independently, and consistent form refers to pronoun affixes attached to other words.

2. Absolute pronouns

1sg Mina 1pl thina

2sg Arvin 2pl Nina

3sg yena 3pl Bona

Use case:

Arvin Ujani? How are you?

Arvin Uhumafe? Where are you from? Mina Nguiuma Eshayina. I come from China.

In practical use, absolute pronouns play an emphasis role. If the tone does not need to be emphasized, it is generally not used. The third person yena will change according to the kind of nouns used. For example:

Umfana yena uthanda inyama，kod wa intombazane yona it handa in hlanzi。

Boy, he likes to eat meat; That girl, she likes to eat fish.

Umfana "boy" in the sentence is a noun of 1, followed by Yena "he" in the form of 1; Intombazane "girl" is a 9-category noun, so the following yona is also a 9-category noun.

3. Demonstrative pronouns

The demonstrative pronouns in Zulu are divided into near, middle and far fingers, and each demonstrative pronoun should be consistent with the category of nouns.

Proximal finger, middle finger and distal finger

1 lolovolovaya

2 La Barabaya

3 lo lowo lowaya

4 leyo leya

5 Li Le Lello Lailla

6 Laavola Woya

7 Les Leso Lesia

8 Le Zi Le Suo Le Zia

9 leyo leya

10 Fun Lezo Lezia

1 1 lolu lobo lobuya

14 lobu lobo lobuya

15 lokhu lokho lokhuya

16 lokhu lokho lokhuya

17 lokhu lokho lokhuya

Demonstrative pronouns can be placed before or after nouns. When placed in front of a noun, the first vowel of the noun symbol falls off.

Umm Farna boy, Lom Farna boy, Lovum Farna boy, Lowayam Farna boy.

3. adjectives

Zulu adjectives, like verbs, have only the root form. When modifying nouns, you need to add corresponding prefixes according to the types of nouns.

[13] 1. Category mark of modified adjectives

Affix-like

1 om(u)-

2 abscisic acid-

3 om(u)

4 emi-

5 Eli-

6 ama-

7 esi-

8 ezin-/ezim-

9 en-/em-

10 ezin-/ezim-

1 1 olu-

14 obu-

15 oku-

16 oku-

17 oku-

Adjectives need to be postpositioned when modifying nouns.

Umuntu omusha young people (umu-ntu 1, omu-sha 1)

Intombazana enhle beautiful girl (I-ntombazana class 9, en-hle class 9)

Amehlo amabili eye (ame-+iso special change category 6, AMA- Bi Li category 6)

13.2. Category signs of relative adjectives

grade mark

1 o-

2 abscisic acid-

3 o-

4 e-

5 Eli-

6 a-

7 esi-

8 ezi-

9 e-

10 ezi-

1 1 olu-

14 obu-

15 oku-

16 oku-

17 oku-

Relative adjectives can be used with person.

1sg engi- 1pl esi-

2sg o- 2pl eni-

Use case (the numbers in brackets indicate the category of nouns):

Ukudla⒂ okumnandi gourmet.

Inyama collects ebomvu red meat.

Umm plug (3) Obutu's blunt knife.

3. Class markers of counting adjectives

grade mark

1 mu-

2 bar-

3 mu-

4 miles-

5 Li-

6 mA-

7 si-

Eight words-

9 i-/yi-

10 zi-

1 1 Lu-

14 bu-

15 ku-

16 ku-

17 ku-

These affixes are only added to the roots of-NYE "one", -phi which, -ni which and-MBE "different".

Use case

Umuntu munye is a person.

Which horse?

4. Verbs

The structure of Zulu verbs has been mentioned in 1. That is, various affixes are added before and after the root to express complex grammatical meanings.

6.5438+0. Subject person

In the verb structure of Zulu language, the subject person occupies the first place, but not all forms of verbs add the subject person at the beginning of the word. In imperative sentences, the difference of person is reflected in suffix.

Sabenza! Go to work! Sabenzani! Go to work!

Subject signature list:

grade mark

1 u-/ka-

2 bar-

3u-/ Wu-

4 i-/yi-

5 Li-

6 a-/wa-

7 si-

Eight words-

9 i-/yi-

10 zi-

1 1 Lu-

14 bu-

15 ku-

16 ku-

17 ku-

The form behind the slash is a variant of whether some people are related to shaping. All the above are the class forms of the third person. The singular and plural names of the first person and the second person are as follows:

1sg ngi- 1pl si-

2sg uranium-2pl nickel-

2. Time stamp

The tense sign of Zulu verbs is in the second position after the subject sign and before the object sign.

1) present tense: -ya-

Affirmation: Theme-Yagen -a

Negative: a- subject-root -i

Use case:

Ngia Fonda. I'm studying. Angie Fang Di. I'm not studying.

Ubaba uyafunda。 My father is studying. Ubaba Aka Fang Di. My father is not studying.

When verbs are followed by nouns and adverbs, the symbol -ya- in the present tense can be omitted.

En Ji Fen da Isizzuru. I am learning Zulu.

Ngifunda kakhulu。 I am studying hard.

2) near future tense: -zo-

Affirmation: subject -zo- root -a

Negative: a- subject -ancestor-root-a

Use case:

Ngizzo Fanta. I will study. Angie zufenda. I'm not studying.

Ubaba Uzofonda. My father can study. Ubaba akazufunda。 My father can't study

3) Far future tense:-Yo-

In the distant future, you only need to change positive -zo- into -yo- and negative -zu- into yu- in the near future.

4) present perfect tense: -ile

Affirmation: Theme-Root-Document

Negative: a- subject-root -anga

Use case:

Enjifendile. I have finished learning. Ngifundanga。 I haven't finished learning.

Ubaba Uhambili. My father has left. Ubaba Akahanbanga My father has not left yet.

5) When the state persists: -ile

Affirmation: Theme-Root-Document

Negative: a topic root file

This situation only applies to state verbs/adjectives.

Use case:

Ngilambile。 I'm hungry. Angie ranbir. I'm not hungry.

Add the variant -ele after the root of a single word, such as Ngikhathalele. I am tired.

6) past tense: -a

Affirmation: theme a- root -a

Negative: subject-root -a

Use case:

nga bona(Ngi-+-a-+-bona+-a)ut hisha nge viki Elidlulileyo。 I met my teacher last week.

3. Object marking

grade mark

1 -m(u)

2 -ba-

3- Wu

4- easy-

5- Li-

6- Wow-

7 -si-

Eight words-

9- easy-

10 -zi-

1 1- Lu-

14 -bu-

15 -ku-

16 -ku-

17 -ku-

The above is the third person sign, and the first person and the second person are called as follows:

1sg -ngi- 1pl -si-

2sg -ku- 2pl -ni-

The ball used in the World Cup in South Africa is called "Celebrate the whole world". Its real name "Celebrate the whole world" comes from Zulu, and the root -jabula means happiness, while -ni means imperative affix, so it literally means "Happy together!"

4. Some other verb affixes

4. 1. Word segmentation

Affirmation: subject-root -a

Negative: subject -nga- root -i

The theme tag is the same as before, except that 1 is e-, 2 is be- and 6 is e-.

Use case: Ngababona bedlala. I saw them playing.

Nga (past first person singular) -ba (object, they) -bona (root, look)

Be (type 2) -dlal (root: play) -a

Some conjunctions also need participles as clauses, such as uma (when, if), nxa (when, if), noma (even) and lapho (where).

a bafana bazokhuluma namantombazane uma e fika。 When girls come over, boys will chat with them.

A. bafana (type 2) boy

Ba (subject, second kind) -zo (future tense) -khulum (chat) -a

Namantombazane(na-, together with ...; Amantombazane (category 6)

When is Uma? ...

E (category 6) -fika (arrival)

4.2. Verb Derived Affixes

1)-el-: means ...: -then gel- purchased for ...,-ficker-chef ...,-Fandeur-study. ...

2)-is-: stands for service: -bonis- let ... Listen, Watkiss, wake up ...-Then Chance-let's buy it.

3)-an-: means mutual: -fundan- learn from each other, -bonan- look at each other.

4)-w/iw- means passive: -bonw- see,-then buy, -dliw- eat.

5)-akal/ek-: means possible: -bonakal- visible, -tholakal- available, -thandek- lovely.

adverb

Nouns in categories 16 and 17 indicate position and time and can be used as adverbs directly. Nouns with special affixes can also be used as adverbs.

Bekushisa kakhulu kahle izolo。 It was very hot yesterday. Izolo means yesterday, belonging to category 5.

kuda la a Bantu babe yazi mise benzi Yabo。 Humans have known these things for a long time. Kudala is an adverb, meaning a long time ago.

No-/ne-/na- with nouns mean with: nami with me, na-+mina=nami. When absolute pronouns meet affixes, na falls off, nathi with us, nawe with you. ....

Nenja=ne+inja, with the dog.

Nga- means: Ngihamba ngebhasi to some extent. I go by bus. nga-+ibhasi=ngebhasi

Ngo- plus dates indicate time: ngeSonto is Sunday, ngoLwesibili is Tuesday and ngoNdasa is March.

Electronic-/electronic-(-eni/ini) means in ...: Igor's Johannesburg-Igor is in Johannesburg; IShayina China -eShayina is in China, and indlela Road -endleleni is on the road.

Njenga- means like: inhlanzi fish -njengenhanzi is like a fish; Abantwana children -njengabantwana is just like children.

Kuna-means more than that: iloc Wei Milla Lide Kunerajo. My skirt is longer than yours. Ilo Kwe (Category 5) skirt, Milla mine (Category 5), Lide (Category 5) is longer, and kunelakho(kuna-+-la-+-kho) is longer than you.

6. Expression of genus.

6. 1. Leading attribute prefix

grade mark

1 wa-

2 bar-

3 watts-

4 ya-

5 la-

6 a-

7 sa-

8 za-

9 ya-

10 za-

1 1 lwa-

14 ba-

15 quart-

16 quart-

17 quart-

Use cases: IBHUKU (category 5) lentombazane women's book, and iscathulo (category 7) sengane children's shoes.