The Mafulu - Part 26
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Part 26

Future indic. tatsi(me). elatsi(me).

Verbal adj. tond(ana). ?

4. The negative is formed regularly by _mi_.

Ex. _nani yu mi elatsi_, I shall not bathe; _degu mi e_, don't get dirty.

5. The interrogative is regular.

Pres. or past, _tena?_ or _tama? elena?_ or _elama?_ Fut. _toma?_ and _tola? eloma?_ and _elola?_

6. The auxiliaries _ete, tede, elele_, should be distinguished from the regular verb, _tede_ or _ta_, to make. The latter is a distinct verb used when the result of the action is to produce a new thing.

Ex. _Sambari tatsi_, will make a wall; _ombo tatsi_, will make a sieve.

7. The verbs _elele_ and _angege_, both meaning "to become," may be regarded as auxiliary verbs when they are used with adjectives, often taking the place of a substantive verb. In this use _elele_ is never, and _angege_ very rarely used in the past tense, the particle _ga_ taking their place.

Both are regular except in the imperative, which has respectively _ela_ and _elau_, _ange_ and _angau_.

Ex. _Ifan' eloma?_ will he become handsome? _ifa mi elatsi?_ he will not be handsome? _indi g' ifa_, the knife is good; _yuv' uan angatsi_, the water will cease (become nothing); _mel g' us' anga_, or _me g'

use_, the child is dead.

IX. Verbal Suffixes.

1. The suffix _-i_, added to a noun stem, forms generally a neuter verb.

Ex. _abe_, work, _abi_, to work; _iso_(_ne_), smoke, _isoni_, to give forth smoke; _kese_, a clean vegetable, _kesi_, to clean vegetables.

2. The suffix _-tede_, added to a noun stem, forms usually an active verb.

Ex. _foye_, ashes, _foitede_, to cook in ashes; _gurube_, neck, _gurutede_, to hang at the neck.

3. The suffix of manner defining the verb, is formed by adding the adjective with the final syllable changed to _-i_.

Note (1). The suffix of manner is always added to the infinitive form of the preceding verb.

(2). In the negative these compound verbs are considered a single word.

Ex. _te_, say, _ifane_, good, _tam' ifani_, to say well. _i_, do, _koye_, bad, _i'koi_, to do badly. _ilele_, cook, _akane_, small, _ilam'akani_, to half-cook.

4. The suffix _-matede_ appears to have a causative signification.

Ex. _ga koda_ (perhaps the past of _kodede_,) pierced, _komatede_, to pierce (of a man); _ga siuda_, extinguished, _siumatede_, to extinguish.

Note. This suffix appears in some examples as a separate verb in the same sense.

Ex. _yuv' olola mata_, warm up the water; _indi koi matatsi_, the knife will become bad.

The negative is not known.

5. The suffixes _-meme_ and _-ngo_ are added to neuter verbs. The first has an active meaning, the second is pa.s.sive.

Ex. _yu_, to be upright, _yuma_, to put upright, _yungo_, to be upright. _yari_(?), _yarima_, to hang, _yaringo_, to be hanging.

Note (1). _Meme_ is regularly conjugated; _-ngo_ is imperfectly known.

(2). Negative forms are _me yumatsi_, will not place upright, _mi yaringo_, not hanging.

6. The auxiliary verbs, except _ga_, may perhaps be included among the suffixes (_see_ p. 322, VIII.).

X. Verbal Prefixes.

The prefix _ya-_ renders a neuter verb active or causative.

Ex. _yaigege_, to go down, _yeyaigege_, to carry down. _faikadede_, to come back, _yefaika(dede)_, to give back. _yu_, to stand up, _yeyu_, to set up.

XI. Irregular Verbs.

1. Many verbs are irregular in the imperative.

Ex.

_angege_, imperat. _ange_, go.

_atede_, imperat. _ade_, kindle, burn.

_ende_, imperat. _ende_, undo.

_etsie_, imperat. _etsie_, come up (ladder).

_faikadede_, imperat. _faika(dede)_, go back.

_idede_, imperat. _de_, gather, pluck.

_isie_, imperat. _isia_, follow; _itede_, imperat. _ide_, sting, bite.

_itulili_, imperat. _itu(li)_, split.

_ivori_, imperat. _ivo(ri)_, wipe.

_kosisi_, imperat. _kose_, turn.

_telele_, imperat. _te(le)_, come.

_yelele_, imperat. _ye(le)_, call.

2. Other irregular verbs are the following. Only those forms known are entered.

_Aitodede_, to run: imperat. _attode_, infin. _aitode(me)_.

_ando_ and _ande_, to be there: fut. _andetsi_, imperat. _ande_, subj. _ando_, and _ande_.

_bole_, to leave: past, _bo(le)_, imperat. _bo(le)_.

_ete_, to tell: past, _ete_ and _elete_, imperat. _eta_ and _ta_.

_faduatsiete_, to ache (head): fut. _faduatatsi_.

_iei_, to throw: fut. _iatsi_, imperat. _ia_.

_indi_, to give;, imperat. _i(nde)_, subj. _i(ndi)_.

_ingale_, to carry (on shoulder): past, _ingala_ and _inge_, imperat. _inga_, subj. _ingo_.