Kamba and English/ContrastiveGrammar

Kam-Eng Tests

Sentence Structure / Word Order

When translating from Kamba to English, you would need to re-order the words in the sentence to match English word order, and also translate the demonstrative adjective and predicate adjective correctly. Similarly, when translating from English to Kamba, you would need to re-order the words in the sentence to match Kamba word order and ensure that you use the correct demonstrative adjective and predicate adjective.

• (kam) Ilinda yĩĩ ni yaasa. → (eng) This dress is long.

  (kam) Ilinda<n><cl5><sg> yĩĩ<dem> ni<v> yaasa<adj><cl5> → (eng) This<dem> dress<n><sg> is<v> long<adj>

In kamba the sentence directly/literally translates to “dress this is long” in english the determiner precedes the noun.

• (kam) Vulana ii ni nene. → (eng) This jersey is big.

  (kam) Vulana<n><cl9><sg> ii<dem> ni<v> yaasa<adg><cl9> → (eng) This<dem> jersey<n><sg> is<v> big<adj>

Noun Classes

The noun class system in Kamba is another significant contrastive grammar difference between Kamba and English. In Kamba, nouns are classified into different categories or classes based on their characteristics, such as their gender, shape, size, and other features. Noun prefixes can change depending on various factors such as the tense, aspect, and mood of the verb in the sentence.

(kam) Ilinda yĩĩ ni yaasa. → (eng) This dress is long.

• (kam) Ilinda<n><cl5><sg> yĩĩ<dem> ni<v> yaasa<adj><cl5> → (eng) This<dem> dress<n><sg> is<v> long<adj>.

In Kamba, the noun class 5 prefix "i-" is added to the noun "ilinda" to indicate that it belongs to that class.

(kam) Ngovia ii ni nini. → (eng) This hat is small.

• (kam) Ngovia<n><cl9> ii<dem> ni<v> nini<adj><cl9> → (eng) This<dem> hat<n> is<v> small<adj>.

The noun class 9 prefix "n-" is added to the noun "ngovia" to indicate that it belongs to that class.