Difference between revisions of "Lingala/Grammar"
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Revision as of 00:17, 7 February 2017
This page documents the morphologically interesting components of Lingala grammar.
Contents
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>. Individual classes do not have compatible tags, but singular and plural can be distinguished within a class pair using <sg> and <pl>.
For example:
- moto<n><sg> ↔ moto (class 1, here moto is taken to be the "base" form)
- moto<n><pl> ↔ boto (class 2)
- moyíbi<n><sg> ↔ moyíbi (class 3, here moyíbi is taken to be the "base" form)
- moyíbi<n><pl> ↔ 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)
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><sg><p1><aa> ↔ ngáí
- ngáí<prn><pl><p3><nn> ↔ yangó
Demonstrative pronouns are invariable and do not have any subtypes.
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>), animacy (<aa> or <nn>), and specificity (no corresponding tag). For example,
- náni<prn><sg><aa> ↔ náni
- náni<prn><sg><nn> ↔ níni
Relative pronouns (actually, pronoun, there is only one) are invariable and have no subtypes.
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
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.
Verb
Verbs (<v>) are the most complex part of speech in Lingala. They admit a number of subtypes on the basis of number (<sg> or <pl>), person (<p1> or <p2> or <p3>), animacy (<aa> or <nn>), reflexivity (no tag), mood (<inf> for infinitive, indicative (multiple tags depending on tense), <imp> for imperative, subjunctive (multiple tags depending on tense)), and tense-aspect-modality (TAM). TAM categories include: the future (<fti> or <fts>), the present (<pres>), the present grounded in a distant past, the unrelated recent past, the unrelated distant past, the present continuous, the future continuous, the recent-past continuous, the distant-past continuous, the habitual, and the intensifying suffixes (no tags for those that have none listed parenthetically). This is a very complex system and one that is explained in more detail with an emphasis on morphology further down this page.
Some examples of verbs, using the infinitive as the base form, include:
- 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><pl><nn> ↔ ekwéyí
Verb Preset 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>, and animacy, with <> 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><sg><nn> ↔ elingí
- kolinga<v><pres><p3><pl><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><> ↔ nakámwé
- kokámwa<v><pres><p3><pl><> ↔ 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 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> ↔ kokendá!, 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. The present subjunctive is 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><pres><p1><sg><aa><appl> ↔ nalobelí, which in English changes "to say" to "I say to (someone)"
- kopona<v><pres><p3><sg><aa><appl> ↔ 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><pres><p1><pl><aa><caus> ↔ tobángisí, which in English changes "to be afraid" to "we frighten"
- koyéba<v><pres><p3><sg><aa><caus> ↔ 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><pres><p3><pl><aa><recip> ↔ balinganí, which in English changes "to like" to "they like each other"
- koyéba<v><pres><p3><pl><aa><recip> ↔ 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><pres><p1><sg><aa><pass> ↔ nabótamí, which in English changes "to give birth to" to "I am born"
- kokunda<v><pres><p3><sg><nn><pass> ↔ 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><pres><p3><sg><nn><rev> ↔ enyángwí, 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><pres><p3><sg><nn><caus><rev> ↔ 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><pres><p1><sg><aa><stat> ↔ kotíkala, 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.
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> ↔ molakisi (teacher)
- molakisi<n><pl> ↔ 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> ↔ mokolo (day)
- mokolo<n><sg> ↔ 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> ↔ likita (meeting)
- likita<n><sg> ↔ 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> ↔ ekolo (country)
- ekolo<n><pl> ↔ 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> ↔ nzelá (road)
- nzelá<n><pl> ↔ nzelá
- mbelí<n><sg> ↔ mbelí (knife)
- mbelí<n><pl> ↔ 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> ↔ lokásá (leaf)
- lokásá<n><pl> ↔ 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> ↔ bolingo (love)
- bondoki<n><sg> ↔ 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> ↔ to want
- kotála<n><sg> ↔ to watch
