Difference between revisions of "Lingala/Grammar"

Latest revision as of 16:39, 28 February 2017

This page documents the morphologically interesting components of Lingala grammar.

Parts of Speech

Lingala parts of speech follow fairly closely to the parts of speech found in English.

Noun

Perhaps the simplest of the parts of speech is noun, which, as in English, describes a person, place, or thing. Lingala divides nouns into subcategory on the basis of class, of which there are 13. Case is not encoded in the morphology, and number is typically captured by the class system. Class is determined by affixing a prefix to the radical. The classes come in pairs, one representing the singular version of the noun and the other the plural (class 6 pairs with both class 5 and class 11 singular nouns, hence the odd number of classes). Classes generally represent a loose categorical structure on the basis of animacy. Nouns are specified by tag <n>. Number can be distinguished within a class pair using <sg> and <pl>. Noun class is denoted using tags such as <cl1>, <cl2>, etc. Certain nouns, as explained in the prefix stacking section, also take the tag <abs> to denote abstractness, <def> to denote definiteness, and/or <inst> to denote instances of an abstract concept (these more complicated examples can be found in the prefix stacking section).

For example:

• moto<n><sg><cl1> ↔ moto (class 1, here moto is taken to be the "base" form)
• moto<n><pl><cl2> ↔ bato (class 2)
• moyíbi<n><sg><cl3> ↔ moyíbi (class 3, here moyíbi is taken to be the "base" form)
• moyíbi<n><pl><cl4> ↔ miyíbi (class 4)

Adjective

Lingala has a limited number of adjectives (used as in English to describe nouns), specified by tag <adj>. A small number of adjectives are considered "variable" and must agree in number with the noun they describe, which can be specified using <sg> and <pl>. Other adjectives are invariable and have no morphology. Actually, adjectives play a pretty minimal role in Lingala, which instead uses the idea of a connective to to link words together. For example, to describe something a virtuous, you add "ya bosémbo" after the noun. "ya" is the connective, and "bosémbo" is the noun for "virtue."

Nevertheless, examples of adjectives include:

• monéne<adj><sg> ↔ monéne
• monéne<adj><pl> ↔ minéne
• molaí<adj><pl> ↔ milaí
• malámu<adj> ↔ malámu (this is an invariable adjective)

Note, we tag the connective using the tag <conn>. For example:

• ya<conn> ↔ ya

Pronoun

Lingala contains personal (e.g. I, he), demonstrative (e.g. this, those), possessive (e.g. my, his), interrogative (e.g. which, what), and relative pronouns (e.g. who, that). These can be denoted using the tag <prn>. Each pronoun type admits different subtypes. None make distinction for case or gender (class).

Personal pronouns can be distinguished by number (<sg> or <pl>), person (<p1> or <p2> or <p3>), and animacy (<aa> or <nn>). For example,

• ngáí<prn><pers><p1><sg><aa> ↔ ngáí
• yangó<prn><pers><p3><pl><nn> ↔ yangó

Demonstrative pronouns are specified by number using the tags described above. Lingala has three demonstrative pronouns, that are categorized using the tag <dem>.

Possessive pronouns have all of the same subtypes and tags as personal pronouns. Indeed, the words themselves are the same except that the word "na" comes immediately before the personal pronoun.

Interrogative pronouns have subtypes determined by number (<sg> or <pl>) and animacy (<aa> or <nn>). For example,

• náni<prn><itg><sg><aa> ↔ náni
• níni<prn><itg><sg><nn> ↔ níni

Relative pronouns (actually, pronoun, there is only one) are invariable and have no subtypes. The tag <rel> can be used to mark the relative pronoun.

Adverb

Adverbs, denoted using <adv> are invariable and do not have subtypes. They must be learned. Adjectives and nouns can be used as adverbs, but there is no particular morphology. For example, kitóko can function as both an adjective (beautiful) or an adverb (nicely), but this determination is made from context alone.

Preposition (and Conjunction)

Lingala has a single preposition, na, which can use the tag <pr>. This can be used to convey the meaning of any English pronoun, and it is determined by context how it should be understood. Alternatively, nouns can be joined by use of the "ya" connective (as described in the adjective section) to use preposition with a noun.

"na" is also the coordinating conjunction (<cngcoo>) in Lingala. So, for example:

• na<pr> ↔ na
• na<cngcoo> ↔ na

Verb

Verbs (<v>) are the most complex part of speech in Lingala. They can take the following tags:

• Number: <sg> for singular, <pl> for plural
• Person: <p1> for first person, <p2> for second person, <p3> for third person
• Animacy: <aa> for animate, <nn> for inanimate
• Radical extension tags: <appl> for applicative, <caus> for causative, <recip> for reciprocal, <pass> for passive, <rev> for reversive, <stat> for stative
• Tense: <pres> for present, <past> for distant past, <urp> for (unrelated) recent past, <dpres> for present grounded in the distant past, <fut> for future, <cont> for continuing
• Mood: <prs> for present subjunctive, <fts> for future subjunctive, <pis> for imperfect subjunctive, <imp> for imperative, <inf> for infinitive

Additionally, <vaux> is used for auxiliary verbs. Auxiliary verbs can generally be categorized using the same subcategories as verbs.

Basic examples are shown below. More complex examples are found within individual grammar points.

• kokwéya<v><pres><p1><sg><aa> ↔ nakwéyí
• kokwéya<v><pres><p3><sg><aa> ↔ akwéyí
• kokwéya<v><pres><p3><pl><aa> ↔ bakwéyí
• kokwéya<v><pres><p3><sp><nn> ↔ ekwéyí

Verb Present Tense

Verbs in Lingala should be tagged <v>. In the present tense (<pres>), they can be categorized by person with <p1>, <p2>, or <p3>, number with <sg> or <pl> or <sp>, and animacy, with <aa> or <nn>. Only <p3> verbs have an animacy distinction.

Infinitive verbs are denoted with the prefix "ko" and typical ending "a". For example, the radical "kolinga" (to like or to want) has infinitive prefix "ko", radical "-ling-", and ending "a". To conjugate a verb in the present tense, the "ko" prefix is replaced with a personal pronoun prefix and the ending with an "í":

• kolinga<v><pres><p1><sg><aa> ↔ nalingí
• kolinga<v><pres><p2><sg><aa> ↔ olingí
• kolinga<v><pres><p3><sg><aa> ↔ alingí
• kolinga<v><pres><p1><pl><aa> ↔ tolingí
• kolinga<v><pres><p2><pl><aa> ↔ bolingí
• kolinga<v><pres><p3><pl><aa> ↔ balingí

Note that the inanimate prefixes are the same regardless of number:

• kolinga<v><pres><p3><sp><nn> ↔ elingí

One exception to the present tense ending occurs when the radical ends in a consonant follows by "w." In this case, é, rather than í, is used in the present tense. For example, kokamwa, which means to surprise:

• kokámwa<v><pres><p1><sg><aa> ↔ nakámwé
• kokámwa<v><pres><p3><pl><aa> ↔ bakámwé

Verb Past Tense

Lingala has a couple of different past tenses. Person and number are notated in call cases by use of the same prefixes described for the present tense. The suffix (often referred to as the tense-aspect-modality (TAM) suffix) is the distinguishing feature for past tense.

The unrelated distant past is used for actions that are not related to the present time that occurred, as the name would suggest, in the distant past. This is the tense that is most often used when the time in the past that the action took place is unspecified. We will denote this tense using the Apertium tag <past>. It is characterized by the suffix "áká". For example, the verb kosála (to work) is conjugated as follows in the unrelated distant past (only animate forms shown):

• kosála<v><past><p1><sg><aa> ↔ nasáláká
• kosála<v><past><p2><sg><aa> ↔ osáláká
• kosála<v><past><p3><sg><aa> ↔ asáláká
• kosála<v><past><p1><pl><aa> ↔ tosáláká
• kosála<v><past><p2><pl><aa> ↔ bosáláká
• kosála<v><past><p3><pl><aa> ↔ basáláká

Translation would be "I/you/he/she/we/you/they worked (a long time ago)".

The unrelated recent past also describes actions that are unconnected to the present time, but has the additional requirement that the action is recent enough to be "readily remembered." When using the recent pass, it is always made clear, explicitly or implicitly, exactly what time is being referred to. Apertium does not have a tag for this, so we will use <urp>. Verbs in the unrelated recent past are formed using the same person/number prefixes used by the present tense and unrelated distant past. Its distinguishing characteristic is the suffix ákí. Shown below is a conjugation of kosála in the unrelated recent past:

• kosála<v><urp><p1><sg><aa> ↔ nasálákí
• kosála<v><urp><p2><sg><aa> ↔ osálákí
• kosála<v><urp><p3><sg><aa> ↔ asálákí
• kosála<v><urp><p1><pl><aa> ↔ tosálákí
• kosála<v><urp><p2><pl><aa> ↔ bosálákí
• kosála<v><urp><p3><pl><aa> ↔ basálákí

Translation would be "I/you/he/she/we/you/they worked".

Finally, there is the present grounded in the distant past (typically referred to as DPRES). When used with imperfect actions, this tense specifies an event that is currently taking place that began in the distant past. DPRES tense can also be used with perfect actions. In this case, the action has been completed, but it has lingering effects in the present. This dual-use makes translation complicated and context dependent. Apertium does not have a tag for this tense, so we will use <dpres>. The DPRES tense is characterized by the suffix á. It used the same person/number prefixes that all other tenses use. Shown below is a conjugation of kosála in the DPRES tense:

• kosála<v><dpres><p1><sg><aa> ↔ nasálá
• kosála<v><dpres><p2><sg><aa> ↔ osálá
• kosála<v><dpres><p3><sg><aa> ↔ asálá
• kosála<v><dpres><p1><pl><aa> ↔ tosálá
• kosála<v><dpres><p2><pl><aa> ↔ bosálá
• kosála<v><dpres><p3><pl><aa> ↔ basálá

Verb Future Tense and Reflexive

Future tense and reflexive verbs may seem like an odd combination for a single grammar point if considering the meaning of these two words alone. However, in Lingala, the future tense and reflexive verbs are formed through a similar morphological process. Reflexive verbs, denoted with the tag <ref>, are formed through use of the infix -mí-, which is placed directly before the radical and after the person/number prefix. For example:

• kotúna<v><ref><pres><p3><sg><aa> ↔ amítúní, which in English changes "to ask" to "he asks himself"
• kotúna<v><ref><past><p2><sg><aa> ↔ omítúnáká, which in English changes "to ask" to "you asked yourself (long ago)"

The future tense takes a somewhat similar form. To form the future, the person/number prefix is simply appended to the beginning of the infinitive form of a verb. Visually, this could also be through of inserting "-ko-" between the person/number prefix and the radical. Just as the reflexive infix appears directly to the left of the radical, the person/number prefix appears directly to the left of "-ko-". Apertium splits future tags into indicative and subjunctive categories. In keeping with our previous convention of assuming indicative when presented with a tag like <pres>, we will instead use the tag <fut> to denote the future. For example,

• kosála<v><fut><p1><pl><aa> ↔ tokosála, which in English changes "to work" to "we will work"
• kotúna<v><ref><fut><p1><sg><aa> ↔ nakomítúna, note here how both the future and reflexive are used

Verb Compound Forms

In addition to the other verb tenses described, a number of "continuous" verb tenses are represented by the use of multiple verbs. Namely, the verb kozala ("to be") is often used in combination with other verbs. These "continuous" tenses are used to denote an action that occurred/is occurring/will occur but that refers to an ongoing action. For all compound forms, we use the <vaux> follows by the appropriate person, number, tense, etc. tags to for the kozala portion of the tense, and the <inf> along with the <v> tag to denote the main verb.

The simplest compound form is the present continuous, which is formed by conjugating kozala appropriately in the present tense and placing it before the main verb, which appears in infinitive forms. For example,

• kozala<vaux><pres><p1><pl><aa> ↔ tozalí and kotúna<v><inf> ↔ kotúna changes the English "to ask" to "we are asking"
• kozala<vaux><pres><p1><sg><aa> ↔ nazalí and kosála<v><inf> ↔ kosála changes the English "to work" to "I am working"

Similar to the present continuous, the future continuous, translated "I will be [X]ing" if the main verb is "to [X]", is formed by conjugating kozala in the future tense and placing it before the main verb, which is left in infinitive form. For example:

• kozala<vaux><fut><p1><pl><aa> ↔ tokozala and kotúna<v><inf> ↔ kotúna
• kozala<vaux><fut><p1><sg><aa> ↔ nakozala and kosála<v><inf> ↔ kosála

The (unrelated) recent past and distant past also have continuous forms. These are formed by conjugating kozala in the analogous "non-continuous" tense and placing it before the main verb, which appears in infinitive form. Both are translated "I was [X]ing", if the main verb is "to [X]". The recent past is used when the action occurred recently and is easily remembered. The distant past is used when the action occurred a long time ago or at an unspecified time.

Examples of the recent past continuous include:

• kozala<vaux><urp><p1><pl><aa> ↔ tozalákí and kotúna<v><inf> ↔ kotúna
• kozala<vaux><urp><p1><sg><aa> ↔ nazalákí and kosála<v><inf> ↔ kosála

Examples of the distant past continuous include:

• kozala<vaux><past><p1><pl><aa> ↔ tozaláká and kotúna<v><inf> ↔ kotúna
• kozala<vaux><past><p1><sg><aa> ↔ nazaláká and kosála<v><inf> ↔ kosála

Verb Mood

The mood of a verb in Lingala is conveyed through the verb prefix. There are four moods typically described in lingala. The infinite, which uses tag <inf> uses the prefix ko-, as has been mentioned elsewhere already. For example, for kozala ("to be"), we have kozala<v><inf> ↔ kozala. Here ko- is the prefix, -zal- the radical, and -a the suffix. Most verbs in the infinitvie form have the suffix -a. When the infinitive is used as a noun, ko- is considered the class 15 noun prefix (see section on noun prefixes).

The indicative mood uses the "normal" person/number prefixes (na, o, a, etc.) without any other distinction. We will assume verbs are the indicative mood unless tagged otherwise. Examples can be found in the sections on present and past tense verbs.

The imperative mood is used for commands. It uses the tag <imp> and is unique in that verbs in imperative mood do not use any person/number prefixes. It can also be distinguished because the suffix uses a high tone (i.e. 'a' becomes 'á'). It is important to also look at the (lack of) prefix, however, to avoid confusion with verbs in the DPRES tense. As a command, imperatives are often found as their own sentence, ended with an exclamation mark. Some examples include:

• kosála<v><imp> ↔ sálá, which in English changes "to work" to "work!"
• kokenda<v><imp> ↔ kendá, which in English changes "to go" to "go!"

Note, however, that the verb koyâ, which means "to come," is irregular. It's imperative form is as follows: koyâ<v><imp> ↔ yáká.

The subjunctive mood is used to indicate actions not relating to objective facts. It's only distinguishing feature from the corresponding indicative version of a verb is that the verbal prefix has a high tone (e.g. "na" becomes "ná"). This can of course make it very difficult to distinguish in written text that does not use tone markings. We follow the Apertium convention, with the present subjunctive noted using the tag <prs>, the future subjunctive using the tag <fts>, and the imperfect subjunctive using the tag <pis>. Kosála is conjugated in the present subjunctive below:

• kosála<v><prs><p1><sg><aa> ↔ násalí
• kosála<v><prs><p2><sg><aa> ↔ ósalí
• kosála<v><prs><p3><sg><aa> ↔ ésalí
• kosála<v><prs><p1><pl><aa> ↔ tósalí
• kosála<v><prs><p2><pl><aa> ↔ bósalí
• kosála<v><prs><p3><pl><aa> ↔ básalí

Verb Radical Extensions

Lingala verbs (<v>) take the form [prefix]-[radical]-[suffix]. The prefix denotes person and number, the suffix denotes tense, aspect, and modality. There are a number of special cases where the radical is given a sort of "extended" form, however, which manifests itself practically as the insertion of letters between the radical and the suffix.

The most common case is the "applicative extension," when is done by extended the radical with -el-. This focuses the verb's meaning on the object or person receiving the action. Apertium has no tags to denote this morphological change, but you could perhaps create an <appl> tag for this. For example:

• koloba<v><appl><pres><p1><sg><aa> ↔ nalobelí, which in English changes "to say" to "I say to (someone)"
• kopona<v><appl><pres><p3><sg><aa> ↔ aponelí, which in English changes "to choose" to "he chooses for (someone)"

Another frequently used radical extension is -is-, to denote causative verbs. This changes the meaning to a verb to something that causes it. The tag for this is <caus> For example:

• kobánga<v><caus><pres><p1><pl><aa> ↔ tobángisí, which in English changes "to be afraid" to "we frighten"
• koyéba<v><caus><pres><p3><sg><aa> ↔ ayébisí, which in english changes "to know" to "he informs"

The extension -an- is used to make the verb reciprocative. There is no Apertium tag for this change, but <recip> could be used. For example:

• kolinga<v><recip><pres><p3><pl><aa> ↔ balinganí, which in English changes "to like" to "they like each other"
• koyéba<v><recip><pres><p3><pl><aa> ↔ bayébaní, which in English changes "to know" to "they know each other"

Radicals can be extended with -am- to indicate passive forms. This is denoted by the tag <pass>. For example:

• kobóta<v><pass><pres><p1><sg><aa> ↔ nabótamí, which in English changes "to give birth to" to "I am born"
• kokunda<v><pass><pres><p3><sp><nn> ↔ ekundamí, which changes "to bury" to "it is buried"

The -w- extension is a reversive extension and gives the verb its opposite meaning. There exists no Apertium tag, but <rev> could be used. For example:

• konyánga<v><rev><pres><p3><sp><nn> ↔ enyángwé, which changes "to solidify" to "it melts"

When a reversive verb also need to be causative, the -is- extension discussed above is not simply appended. Rather, the -ol- extension is used and the -w- extension removed. The <caus> and <rev> can both be used in this instance. For example:

• konyánga<v><caus><rev><pres><p3><sp><nn> ↔ enyángolí

The final extension, -al-, is known as the stative extension, which is used when the verb is describing a state someone/thing is in. It has no apertium tag, but <stat> can be used. It is very rarely used, essentially only in the following example:

• kotíka<v><stat><pres><p1><sg><aa> ↔ natíkalí, which in English changes "to leave (TRANS)" to "I stay"

Noun Classes and Plurals

Nouns in Lingala should be tagged <n>. Using tags, they can be further classified as singular or plural: <sg>, <pl>. Lingala has 13 classes (no compatible tags available), most of which are found in pairs to distinguish singular and plural. Class is distinguished by the two letter prefix appended to the noun stem (though some classes have no suffix). Class pairs typically relate to animacy of the nouns they contain. They can be denoted by the tag <cli>, where i is replaced by the number.

The first two classes, often referred to as the mo/ba class deal with the names of human beings. Class 1, taking the prefix mo-, denotes singular. Class 2 taking the prefix ba- plural. For example:

• molakisi<n><sg><cl1> ↔ molakisi (teacher)
• molakisi<n><pl><cl2> ↔ balakisi

Point of note: As a general rule of thumb, parts of speech that must agree in number but not class typically take the prefix ba- to denote plurality.

Classes three and four, often referred to as the mo/mi class, contains both animate and inanimate objects. The singular takes the prefix mo- (class 3), the plural the prefix mi- (class 4). For example:

• mokolo<n><sg><cl3> ↔ mokolo (day)
• mokolo<n><pl><cl4> ↔ mikolo

Classes 5 and 6, often referred to as the li/ma class, is comprised of typically inanimate objects. The prefix li- (class 5) denotes singular. The prefix ma- (class 6) denote plural. For example:

• likita<n><sg><cl5> ↔ likita (meeting)
• likita<n><pl><cl6> ↔ makita

Classes 7 and 8, often referred to as the e/bi class, contains mostly inanimate nouns. The singular (class 7) is denoted with e-. The plural (class 8) with bi-. For example:

• ekolo<n><sg><cl7> ↔ ekolo (country)
• ekolo<n><pl><cl8> ↔ bikolo

These are the most typical classes. Classes 9 and 10 don't have distinguishing prefixes between singular and plural. Actually, the prefix is a nasal prefix, and is simply the letter n- or m-. For example:

• nzelá<n><sg><cl9> ↔ nzelá (road)
• nzelá<n><pl><cl10> ↔ nzelá
• mbelí<n><sg><cl9> ↔ mbelí (knife)
• mbelí<n><pl><cl10> ↔ mbelí

Class 11 uses the prefix lo- for the singular. For the plural, it takes the prefix ma-. Plural nouns in class 11 are considered to be members of class 6. For example,

• lokásá<n><sg><cl11> ↔ lokásá (leaf)
• lokásá<n><pl><cl6> ↔ makásá

Classes 12 and 13 are used in Bantu languages in general, but not in Lingala. Hence, the numbering skips to class 14, which contains noncount abstract nouns. For example,

• bolingo<n><sg><cl14> ↔ bolingo (love)
• bondoki<n><sg><cl14> ↔ bondoki (witchcraft)

Class 15 consists of verb infinitives, which as the present tense verb section explains, takes the prefix ko-. For example,

• kolinga<n><sg><cl15> ↔ kolinga
• kotála<n><sg><cl15> ↔ kotála

Noun Prefix Stacking

In general, nouns behave in the way described in the previous section, with a radical being prefixed by a single prefix. In some cases, a noun may have to prefixes. This generally occurs with the prefixes ki- and ba-.

The prefix ki- can be added as a second prefix to mark a behavior or attitude. For example, the word for leader, with the additional prefix of ki-, would have the meaning of the English word bossiness. The word for thief can be prefixed additionally by ki- to get thievishness. The tag <abs> is used, for abstract. These examples are illustrated below:

• mokonzi<n><sg><cl1><abs> ↔ kimokonzi (here leader becomes bossiness)
• moyíbi<n><sg><cl1><abs> ↔ kimoyíbi (here thief becomes thievishness)

Prefix stacking with ki- essentially changes the meaning of the noun, but prefix stacking with ba- is tied more closely to grammatical properties. The prefix ba- can be added to any noun except those in classes 2 and 10, where ba- is the prefix for that class. It does not matter if the class that ba- is being added to in singular or plural, so this essentially is creating another type of plural. The meanings are different depending on whether or not the noun is a count noun.

For count nouns, the addition of the ba- prefix to a class denotes that the noun is definite (tag <def>), i.e. referring to a unique instance. So for example the noun for leaves, when additionally prefixed by ba-, could be translated "these leaves", or thing would become "these things". This is illustrated below:

• lokásá<n><pl><cl6><def> ↔ bamakásá (leaf becomes these leaves)
• elóko<n><pl><cl8><def> ↔ babilóko (thing becomes these things)

For noncount nouns (classes 11 and 14), the ba- can be added in the same morphologic process, though the meaning is different. Here, ba- is used to instantiate a concept, so the noun "respect" would become "acts of respect" when additionally prefixed by ba-, or "stupidity" would become "acts of stupidity". This is denoted by the tag <inst>, for instantiation, and is illustrated below:

• lokúmu<n><sg><cl11><inst> ↔ balokúmu (respect becomes acts of respect)
• bozóba<n><sg><cl14><inst> ↔ babozóba (stupidity becomes acts of stupidity)

Of course, since the addition of prefix ki- creates noncount abstract nouns, one might naturally wonder if ba- can be added to such a word to instantiate it. The answer is yes:

• mokonzi<n><pl><cl1><abs><inst> ↔ bakimokonzi, here "leader" now has the meaning "acts of bossiness"

Adjectives

Adjectives are actually fairly rare in Lingala, since descriptions are usually made by connecting two nouns with the "ya" connective. Still, there are four important adjectives that exhibit morphological properties. These are -néne (big), -ké (small), -laí (long), and -kúsé (short). All four of these adjectives must agree in number with the noun they describe. The prefix mo- denotes singular and mi- denotes plural. This is true regardless of the class of the noun the adjective is describing. Adjectives are denoted with the tag <adj>. Number is denoted with the tags <sg> and <pl>. For example:

• monéne<adj><sg> ↔ monéne
• monéne<adj><pl> ↔ minéne
• moké<adj><sg> ↔ moké
• moké<adj><pl> ↔ miké

For examples of adjective use in a phrase, consider "elóko monéne", meaning "a big thing." Here, elóko is a singular noun (class 7), so -néne takes the singular prefix. However, if the noun changes to bilóko, which is plural and of class 8, the adjective changes to minéne. The phrase "bilóko minéne" is translated "big things".

Pronouns

Pronouns in Lingala are pretty much completely invariable with respect to morphology, but it is still important to document them. All pronouns are denoted with the tag <prn>.

Personal pronouns are invariable but there are separate pronouns depending person/number. They are listed below, using the same person/number/animacy tags used for verbs. The tag <pers> is used to indicate that it is a personal pronoun.

• ngáí<prn><pers><p1><sg><aa> ↔ ngáí
• yó<prn><pers><p2><sg><aa> ↔ yó
• yé<prn><pers><p3><sg><aa> ↔ yé
• yangó<prn><pers><p3><sg><nn> ↔ yangó
• bísó<prn><pers><p1><pl><aa> ↔ bísó
• bínó<prn><pers><p2><pl><aa> ↔ bínó
• bangó<prn><pers><p3><pl><aa> ↔ bangó
• yangó<prn><pers><p3><pl><nn> ↔ yangó

There are three demontrative pronouns, denoted with <dem> When used as nominals, they take singular or plural tags. For example:

• óyo<prn><dem><sg> ↔ óyo
• baóyo<prn><dem><pl> ↔ baóyo
• wâna<prn><dem><sg> ↔ óyo wâna
• wâna<prn><dem><pl> ↔ baóyo wâna

There is a single interrogative pronoun (tag <itg>) that changes form on the basis of number and animacy:

• náni<prn><itg><sg><aa> ↔ náni
• banáni<prn><itg><pl><aa> ↔ banáni
• níni<prn><itg><sg><nn> ↔ níni
• níni<prn><itg><pl><nn> ↔ níni

spellrelax

As a primarily spoken language, there is quite a bit of orthographic variation between different Lingala texts. This is mainly associated with two areas: tone marking and the use of open vowels. As a tonal language, the tone with which a word is spoken often conveys meaning. Native speakers of Lingala, however, do not mark tone in their writing, instead determining meaning from context. Linguists studying Lingala often do explicitly write out some or all tone markings in order to be very clear about a word's meaning to non-native speakers. For analysis, tone markings should be ignored. For example:

• óyo<prn><dem><sg> ↔ oyo
• lokúmu<n><sg><cl11><inst> ↔ balokumu
• nzelá<n><sg><cl9> ↔ nzela

When trying to distinguish between morphologies, this could cause some confusion (for example -aka and -áká are distinct suffixes), but since such a distinction would not be made in most literary works, both corresponding tags should be posed as possibilities given the ambiguity.

Additionally, Lingala phonetically uses 7 vowels. Once again, linguists who write in the language are often careful to distinguish open vowel (i.e. ɛ and ɔ), but native speakers do not use these characters. In practice, their closed version ('e' and 'o' respectively) should be considered for analysis. This can lead to some ambiguity in meaning, but is necessitated since the vast majority of literary works do not use open vowels. For example:

• mokolo<n><sg><cl3> ↔ mɔkɔlɔ
• etebu<n><sg><cl7> ↔ ɛtɛbu
• bómoí<n><sg><cl14> ↔ bɔmɔi

Note how the last examples combines the spellrelax rules for open vowels and for tone markings.