The Prepositional form of the verb in Shingazidja expresses many of the
ideas which in European languages one must have prepositions to express.
The main idea of this verb form is that you do something to, for, or on
behalf of someone. Under this general idea of movement or action in the
direction of (something/someone) will come a number of specific uses which will
be detailed in the following paragraphs
The derivation suffix for the prepositional form
could be in general i
but sometimes it could either le,
li, le, ili and used depending on the rules for vowel harmony
explained earlier. Note these
examples:
Ngaridjo huwasomea ye shio,
we will read the book to her.
Hamhulia shatri ,
He (she) bought her (him) a shirt.
Notice that the above
sentences have two objects: the direct (shio,
shatri), and the indirect (wowo,
yeye), the ones for whom the actions were done. In a
prepositional verb form, it is ALWAYS the indirect object which is included in
the verb as an object prefix.
Compare these
sentences:
Ye hasomo ye barua?
Haisomo. Did he read the letter? He
read it.
Ye hahusomea ye barua?
Hanisomeayo. Did he read you the letter? He read it to me.
In the first sentence,
barua is a direct object, and
included as object prefix in the reply. In the second sentence, barua
is also the direct object, but it is not included as an object prefix. The
object prefix in the verb is wewe (HU) in the question, mimi
(NI) in the reply – the indirect
object. The direct object becomes a suffix (yo)
Hulala to sleep, to go to bed Hulalia
to sleep on behalf of, to accopagny
Huheza to
elevate Huhezia to elevate on behalf of
Hufunga to tie Hufungia to tie on behalf of
Hulila to cry
Hulilia to cry for someone
Huhula to buy
Huhulia to buy for someone
Hutrunga to create
Hutrungia to create for
Huamba to
say Huambilia
to say on behalf of
Husonya to sew Husonyea
to sew cloth for someone
Husoma to read Husomea to
read on behalf of, to read to someone
Humea to beg Humelea
to beg on behalf of
Rwawa to carry Rwalia to
carry on behalf of
Hufikiri to think Hufikiria to think on behalf of
Hukubali to accept Hukubalia
to accept for
To make a sentence PASSIVE when it has both a direct and indirect object,
it is ALWAYS the indirect object which becomes the subject of the passive
sentence and verb, as in the following example:
Mbaba hanihulia gari. Father bought me a car
Tsihuliwa
gari ni fundi. Litterally : " I was bought a car by father"
This is in total
contrast to the way one would say it in English: "The car was bought for me
by father." It is
impossible to translate the Shingazidja sentence word for word into English or
vice versa. Once simply has to remember to start with the indirect object, which
is almost always a person or persons.
Not a bad principle—putting people before things!
Study some of the following examples:
Koko hampva
shahula
Grand mother gave him food
Hapvwawa
shahula "He was given a
food by grand mother" vs
" The food was given to him by Grand mother"
Said hambia mama
ndrabo "Said told lies to mother"
Mama hambiwa ndrabo ni Said "Mother was told lies by Said " vs "Lies were
told to mother by Said "
How the verb is modified to make it prepositional will depend on its
consonant-vowel composition. Treatment
of these will differ depending on each of the following cases/
Hutsaha
to find Hutsashia
to find for someone else
Hupvaha
to season Hupvashia
to season on behalf of
Huaha
to build house Huashia to build a house
for someone
Hudziha
to hide smth Hudzishia
to hide something on behalf
of
Hubiha
to chum Hubishia
to chum on behalf of
Hupiha
to cook
Hupishia to cook for someone
Husiha
to hold
Husishia
to hold on behalf of
Huroha
to leave Huroshea
to leave on behalf of someone
Hureha
draw water Hureshea
to draw water for someone
Hutseha
to laugh Hutseshea
to laugh for somoene, to laugh at
Hupveha
to send Hupveshea
to send on behalf of
Huandisa
to begin
Huandisiza to begin on behalf
of
Huparisa
to find
Huparisiza
to find on behalf of
Huandza to like, to
love
Huandziza to like (love) on behalf of
Huheza
to sing
Huheziza to sing for someone
Huhuza
to sell
Huhuziza to sell on behalf of
Hudjuza
to inform
Hudjuziza
to inform to/on behalf of
Hufanya
to do Hufanyilia
to do on behalf of
Hilima
to cultivate
Hulimilia to cultivate on behalf of
Huhima
to stand Huhimilia
to stand on behalf of
Huamba
to say Huambilia
to go on behalf of
Hutoa
to give out Hutolea
to give out on behalf of
Huomba
to pray Huombelea
to pray for someone
Huona
to see
Huonelea to see on behalf of
Huenda
to go
Huendelea to go for someone
Humea
to beg Humelea to beg on behalf of
Husoma
to read Husomelea
to read for someone
Hurema
to hit, to criticize Huremelea
to show off because of
something
Hufungua
to open, to untie Hufungulia to open (untie) on behalf of
Hutsungua
to choose
Hutsungulia
to choose for someone
Huhunua
to uproot
Huhunulia to uproot on behalf
of
Hunua
to sharp
Hunulia to sharp for somoene
Hufufua
to beat up
Hufufulia to
beat up on behalf of
Hububua
to beat up Hububulia
to beat up on behalf of
Hufurahi
to be happy
Hufurahia to be happy about
Husalimu
to greet
Husalimia
to greet for
Hudjaribu to
test, to experiment
Hudjaribia to test for
Huhisabu to
count
Huhisabia to count for
Hula to eat
Hulilia to eat on behalf of
Hudja to come
Hudjilia to come on behalf of
Hura to play
Hurea to play on behalf of
Hunua to sharp
Hunulia to sharp on behalf of
Hunwa to drink
Hunwea to drink at, from
Hunya
to discharge Hunyia
to discharge on
The idea of action or movement or inclination toward something/someone is
manifested in a variety of uses for this form of the verb construction.
Harilimia le shamba He
cultivated the farm for us.
Tsimhuliani trama
I have bought maize for you.
Ngaridjo humwashiani nyumba We will build a house for
you (pl).
The reflexive object dji
is used:
Hende hadjihulia He
has gone to see for himself.
Tsidjitsaishia shumba I
got a room for myself.
Used in an adjectival phrase: A
of relationship + infinitive in prepositional form. The noun in the phrase is
the instrument for carrying out the action.
Sabuni ya hufulia
soap to use for washing, washing powder
Shononde sha hulimia
a knife to cultivate with
Chombo cha kuogea
a bath tub
Kalamu ya kuandzishia a
pen to write with
Hutembea to walk, to go around
Hutembelea
to go with a purpose, to visit
Watembea They
walked around
Ritembelea ho mrani wadjuu We visited the north side.
Huhama To move away from a
place
Huhamia To move to a place
Rihama Moroni rihamia Vouvouni We moved from Moroni
to Vouvouni.
Yehusomelea ye shingazidja ndahu? Where have you learned Shingazidja?
Ye hwanguha ndahu ? Where
have you come from?
Also in adjectival
phrases:
Mahala ya hutsanganyiha a
place to meet at, a meeting place
Shumba sha huelea a
bathroom
Mahal ya huashia a place to build on, a building site
For this a double prepositional form is used, i.e. a reduplication of the
prepositional suffix.
Huenda to go
Huendelea to
go on, continue
Waendelea nahutwaliyi ye masihu
They
continued studying at night.
Potelea mbali!
Go and be hanged!
It is formed by inserting H
before the final ending (-A, -E, -I).
The rules for vowel and syllable harmony apply
so if the verb stem ends in a consonant, H
will be preceded by either I or E, depending on the preceding vowel.
The stative form has
two FUNCTIONS:
There is no presence of a
person who is responsible for the action or state. If an agent is indicated, the
passive form is used. Compare:
She ikombe shinambuha
the cup is broken (and I am not interested in who did it).
She ikombe shinambulwa
the cup has been broken (someone did it)
The action demonstrates whether or not the subject is capable of
receiving a given action. This function requires the present tenses. The
corresponding idea in English is often expressed with the suffix –able:
She ikombe shohunambuha the cup is breakable
Ye barua ketsusomeha the
letter is unreadable
Ye ndzia ketsupviriha
the road is unpassable
Hufanya to do
Hufanyiha to be done
Hupvira to
pass, to fit
Hupviriha to be passable
Huvundza to break
Huvundziha to be broken, breakable
Hulima to cultivate
Hulimiha to be fit for cultivation
Hufunga to close
Hufungiha to be closed, closable
Ye Maandamano yafanyiha ho mdjini a parade has been held in town
Pvafanyiha maadamano ho mdjini a parade has been held in town
Husoma to read
Husomeha to be read; to be
readable
Huendjeza to
increase Huendjezeha to be increased
Hutosha to be enough
Hutosheha to be satisfied, have had enough
Humenya to destroy
Humenyeha to be perishable
Hurenga to take
Hurengeha to be obtainable
Huona to see
Huoneha to be seen
Huenda
to do, to act
Hurendeha to be done
Ye barua isomeha ha wangu. The letter was easily read.
Ye madji yaondjeziha ho mroni. The water has increased in the river.
Wali watosheha. They
ate and were satisfied.
If L is added to the root,
then I or E must precede H
according to rules for vowel harmony. But very frequently, only H
is inserted between the two vowels
Huvaa to wear
Huvaliha to be worn, to be wearable
Huhula to buy
Huhuliha to be bought, buyable
Hubaa to close
Hubaliha to be closed; closeable
Hurwaa to carry
Hurwaliha to be carried
Hunuaa to sharpen Hunuliha to be sharpenable
Ye nguo inu ketsuvaliha. This
clothing is unwearable.
Gari
la namna inu kalihuliha. Such a car is unbuyable.
Kadjashinda yahadja ha sababu zitsohudjulihaniha.
He was unable to come for unknown reasons.
The last vowel becomes I, then
K and the final ending vowel for the
construction is added.
Huhutadjia to
want, to need Huhutadjiha to be needed
Huhisabu to count
Huhisabiha to be counted,
countable
Hukubali to accept
Hukubaliha to be accepted, acceptable
Hudhuru to injure, to damage
Hudhurika to be damaged
Exceptions:
Hudjibu to answer
Hudjibuliha to be answered, answerable
Husamihi to forgive
Husamiliha to be forgiven, forgivable
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