There are basically twelve parts of speech in Sesotho. The six major divisions are purely according to syntax, while the sub-divisions are according to morphology and semantic significance.
As a rule, Bantu languages do not have any prepositions[1] or articles. In Sesotho, locatives are inflected substantives and verb imperatives are treated as interjectives. The division of the four qualificatives is dependent solely on the concords that they use.[2] Cardinals are nouns but are given a separate section below.
In form, some parts of speech (adjectives, enumeratives, some relatives, some possessives, and all verbs) are radical stems which need affixes to form meaningful words; others (copulatives, most possessives, and some adverbs) are formed from full words by the employment of certain formatives; the rest (nouns, pronouns, some relatives, some adverbs, all ideophones, conjunctives, and interjectives) are complete words themselves which may or may not be modified with affixes to form new words. Therefore, the term "word classes" instead of the somewhat more neutral "parts of speech" would have been somewhat of a misnomer.
See main article: Sesotho nouns.
| Pronouns: | |
|
There are four main types of pronouns in Sesotho: absolute, demonstrative, quantitive, and qualificative. Each pronoun is a complete word and may stand in place of the noun or right next to it (for emphasis).
Concords are NOT pronouns. Concords are usually mandatory in certain places while pronouns are often not. Pronouns cannot be used in place of concords. Pronouns are complete words while concords are strictly affixes.
| Absolute | Demonstrative | Quantitative | |||||||
| 1st. position | 2nd. position | 3rd. position | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1st. form | 2nd. form | 1st. form | 2nd. form | 1st. form | 2nd. form | ||||
| First and second persons | |||||||||
| (1st. pers. sg.) | pronounced as /[n̩nɑ]/ nna | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | |
| (1st. pers. pl.) | pronounced as /[ʀʊnɑ]/ rona | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | |
| (2nd. pers. sg.) | pronounced as /[wɛnɑ]/ wena | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | |
| (2nd. pers. pl.) | pronounced as /[lʊnɑ]/ lona | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | |
| Third persons and noun classes | |||||||||
| Class 1(a). | pronounced as /[jɛnɑ]/ yena | pronounced as /[e'ʊ]/ eo | pronounced as /[enʷɑ]/ enwa | pronounced as /[e'ʊ]/ eo | pronounced as /[enʊ]/ eno | pronounced as /[jɑnɪ]/ yane | pronounced as /[elʷɑ]/ elwa | - | |
| Class 2(a). | pronounced as /[bɔnɑ]/ bona | pronounced as /[bɑ'ɑ]/ baa | pronounced as /[bɑnɑ]/ bana | pronounced as /[bɑ'ʊ]/ bao | pronounced as /[bɑnʊ]/ bano | pronounced as /[bɑnɪ]/ bane | pronounced as /[bɑlɛ]/ bale | pronounced as /[boɬe]/ bohle | |
| Class 3. | pronounced as /[ɔnɑ]/ ona | pronounced as /[o'ʊ]/ oo | pronounced as /[onɑ]/ ona | pronounced as /[o'ʊ]/ oo | pronounced as /[onʊ]/ ono | pronounced as /[wɑnɪ]/ wane | pronounced as /[olɑ]/ ole | pronounced as /[oɬe]/ ohle | |
| Class 4. | pronounced as /[jɔnɑ]/ yona | pronounced as /[e'ɪ]/ ee | pronounced as /[enɑ]/ ena | pronounced as /[e'ʊ]/ eo | pronounced as /[enʊ]/ eno | pronounced as /[jɑnɪ]/ yane | pronounced as /[elɑ]/ ela | pronounced as /[joɬe]/ yohle | |
| Class 5. | pronounced as /[lɔnɑ]/ lona | pronounced as /[le'ɪ]/ lee | pronounced as /[lenɑ]/ lena | pronounced as /[le'ʊ]/ leo | pronounced as /[lenʊ]/ leno | pronounced as /[lɑnɪ]/ lane | pronounced as /[lelɑ]/ lela | pronounced as /[loɬe]/ lohle | |
| Class 6. | pronounced as /[ɔnɑ]/ ona | pronounced as /[ɑ'ɑ]/ aa | pronounced as /[ɑnɑ]/ ana | pronounced as /[ɑ'ʊ]/ ao | pronounced as /[ɑnʊ]/ ano | pronounced as /[ɑnɪ]/ ane | pronounced as /[ɑle]/ ale | pronounced as /[oɬe]/ ohle | |
| Class 7. | pronounced as /[sɔnɑ]/ sona | pronounced as /[se'ɪ]/ see | pronounced as /[senɑ]/ sena | pronounced as /[se'ʊ]/ seo | pronounced as /[senʊ]/ seno | pronounced as /[sɑnɪ]/ sane | pronounced as /[selɑ]/ sela | pronounced as /[soɬe]/ sohle | |
| Class 8. | pronounced as /[t͡sʼɔnɑ]/ tsona | pronounced as /[t͡sʼe'ɪ]/ tsee | pronounced as /[t͡sʼenɑ]/ tsena | pronounced as /[t͡sʼe'ʊ]/ tseo | pronounced as /[t͡sʼenʊ]/ tseno | pronounced as /[t͡sʼɑnɪ]/ tsane | pronounced as /[t͡sʼelɑ]/ tsela | pronounced as /[t͡sʼoɬe]/ tsohle | |
| Class 9. | pronounced as /[jɔnɑ]/ yona | pronounced as /[e'ɪ]/ ee | pronounced as /[enɑ]/ ena | pronounced as /[e'ʊ]/ eo | pronounced as /[enʊ]/ eno | pronounced as /[jɑnɪ]/ yane | pronounced as /[elɑ]/ ela | pronounced as /[joɬe]/ yohle | |
| Class 10. | pronounced as /[t͡sʼɔnɑ]/ tsona | pronounced as /[t͡sʼe'ɪ]/ tsee | pronounced as /[t͡sʼenɑ]/ tsena | pronounced as /[t͡sʼe'ʊ]/ tseo | pronounced as /[t͡sʼenʊ]/ tseno | pronounced as /[t͡sʼɑnɪ]/ tsane | pronounced as /[t͡sʼelɑ]/ tsela | pronounced as /[t͡sʼoɬe]/ tsohle | |
| Class 14. | pronounced as /[bɔnɑ]/ bona | pronounced as /[bo'ʊ]/ boo | pronounced as /[bonɑ]/ bona | pronounced as /[bo'ʊ]/ boo | pronounced as /[bonʊ]/ bono | pronounced as /[bɑnɪ]/ bane | pronounced as /[bolɑ]/ bola | pronounced as /[boɬe]/ bohle | |
| Class 15, 16, 17, 18. | pronounced as /[hɔnɑ]/ hona | pronounced as /[ho'ʊ]/ hoo | pronounced as /[honɑ]/ hona | pronounced as /[ho'ʊ]/ hoo | pronounced as /[honʊ]/ hono | pronounced as /[hɑnɪ]/ hane | pronounced as /[holɑ]/ hola | pronounced as /[joɬe]/ hohle | |
These merely stand in place of nouns and say nothing else about them. They are formed from the pronominal concord of the noun (Doke & Mofokeng claims that the pronominal concord is actually derived from the absolute pronoun) plus the suffix -na. Note that any affixes attached to the pronoun do not change its form.[3]
The tone pattern is [''' _ ¯ '''].
wena o batla eng? ('you, what do you want?') pronounced as /[wɛnɑʊbɑt͡ɬʼɑ ɪŋ̩]/ (the pronoun is merely used for emphasis)
When a verb has two objects, the second object cannot be indicated in Sesotho by a concord:
ke ba1 bontshitse yona2 ('I showed it2 to them1') pronounced as /[kʼɪbɑbon̩t͡sʰit͡sʼe jɔnɑ]/.
Sesotho has three positional types of pronouns (1 less than many other Bantu languages; the missing one being the 3rd. form "this here") each in two forms.
When the relative concord is used to form the demonstrative pronouns it appears with a more natural high tone instead of the irregular extra-high allotone. However, in the rarely used first form of the first demonstrative it appears with a low tone.
The first demonstrative signifies "this" indicating proximity to the speaker. It corresponds to Bantu 1st. position.
The first form has tone pattern [''' _ ¯ '''] and is formed by suffixing the relative concord with the vowel in the class prefix (the exception being class 1(a) using eo, due to its irregular concords, and class 9 uses ee). This pronoun is not very commonly used.
dintja tsee ('these dogs') pronounced as /[diɲ̩t͡ʃʼɑt͡sʼe'ɪ]/
In common speech they are often simply shortened to the first syllable, and there is at least one commonly used formation where the pronoun for the first person singular is used as an enclitic.
ke nna o ('here I am') pronounced as /[kʼɪn̩nɑ'o]/
The second form has tone pattern [''' ¯ ¯ '''] and is formed by suffixing -na to the relative concord (the exception being class 1(a) enwa, but it appears as ona in non-standard speech). These words have an irregular stress which falls on the final syllable.
batho ba ('these people') pronounced as /[bɑtʰʊbɑ]/
The second demonstrative signifies "that" indicating relative distance from the speaker. It corresponds to Bantu 2nd. position.
The first form has tone pattern [''' ¯ _ '''] and suffixes -o to the relative concord.
sefofane seo ('that airplane') pronounced as /[sɪfʊfanɪse'ʊ]/.
This form is the one employed in indirect relative constructions
lesedi leo ke le bokellang ('the data which I am collecting') pronounced as /[lɪsedile'ʊkʼɪlɪbʊkʼɛl̩lɑŋ̩]/
The second form has tone pattern [''' ¯ ¯ '''] and suffixes -no to the relative concord.
morero ono ('that purpose') pronounced as /[mʊʀɛʀɔonʊ]/
The third demonstrative signifies "that yonder" indicating distance from both parties. It corresponds to Bantu 4th. position.
The first form has tone pattern [''' ¯ ¯ '''] and is formed by suffixing -ane to the relative concord. In this case the a interacts strongly with the vowel in the concord.
koloi yane ('that car there') pronounced as /[kʼolo'ijɑnɪ]/
setshwantsho sane ('that picture there') pronounced as /[sɪt͡sʰʷɑn̩t͡sʰɔsɑnɪ]/
The second form has tone pattern [''' ¯ _ '''] and is formed somewhat irregularly from the relative concord. The suffix is -la which changes to -le if the concord ends with an a. Class 1(a) has an irregular pronoun with elwa (but it appears as ole in non-standard speech). In common speech -le is used throughout.
naledi ela ('that star there') pronounced as /[nɑledielɑ]/
While many other Bantu languages have several quantitative pronouns, Sesotho only has the pronounced as /[ɬe]/ -hle ('all') form. It has tone pattern [''' ¯ ¯ '''] and is formed from the pronominal concord for nouns (singular persons use class 1's concords and plural persons use class 2's concords).
letsatsi lohle ('the whole day') pronounced as /[lɪt͡sʼɑt͡sʼiloɬe]/
Qualificative pronouns are qualificatives used substantivally in a sentence. They are basically formed when a qualificative is used without the substantive, or if it appears before the substantive.[4]
Dikoloi tse ntle ('the beautiful cars') pronounced as /[dikʼolo'it͡sʼen̩t͡ɬʼɛ]/ → tse ntle di fihlile (The beautiful ones [cars] have arrived') pronounced as /[t͡sʼen̩t͡ɬʼɛdifiɬile]/
| Adjectives: | |
|
Adjectives are qualificatives used with the adjectival concords.
In the Bantu languages, the adjectives form a closed class (with some languages having no proper adjectives at all). Sesotho has a rather large number of adjectives due to the included colour adjectives. It has about 50 adjectives which may be divided into two categories:
Common adjectives are miscellaneous in nature and number about 20. The numbers 2 to 5 belong to this category.
| English meaning(s) | ||
| pronounced as /[bɪ]/ -be | 'bad' | |
| pronounced as /[hʊlʊ]/ -holo | 'big' | |
| pronounced as /[ŋ̩]/ -ng | 'other' | |
| pronounced as /[bedi]/ -bedi | 'two' | |
| pronounced as /[lelele]/ -lelele, pronounced as /[tʼelele]/ -telele | 'tall', 'long' | |
| pronounced as /[t͡sʰɪhɑdi]/ -tshehadi | 'female' | |
| pronounced as /[ɲɑnɪ]/ -nyane, pronounced as /[ɲɪɲɑnɪ]/ -nyenyane | 'small', 'few' | |
| pronounced as /[t͡ɬʼɛ]/ -tle | 'beautiful' | |
| pronounced as /[kʼɑ'ɪ]/ -kae? | 'how much?' | |
| pronounced as /[ŋɑtʼɑ]/ -ngata | 'many' |
Many of these adjectives are very ancient and exist in almost every Bantu language (sometimes as relatives).
Colour adjectives are a bit more numerous and indicate basic colours and animal colour patterns. These are responsible for the unusually large number of adjectives in Sesotho, since most other Bantu languages have the colours as relatives instead.
| English meaning(s) | ||
| pronounced as /[sʷe'u]/ -sweu | 'white' | |
| pronounced as /[fubedu]/ -fubedu, pronounced as /[xubedu]/ -kgubedu | 'red' | |
| pronounced as /[pʰifɑdi]/ -phifadi | 'white with long black stripes' | |
| pronounced as /[tʰʊkʼʷɑ]/ -thokwa | 'fawn' | |
| pronounced as /[tʼɑlɑ]/ -tala | 'green/blue' | |
| pronounced as /[sɔ'ɔtʰɔ]/ -sootho | 'brown' | |
| pronounced as /[ʀɔlɔ]/ -rolo | 'black with white spots' (goats only) | |
| pronounced as /[t͡sʼɛkʼɑ]/ -tseka | 'with white spot on the forehead' | |
| pronounced as /[t͡ʃʰɑbɑ]/ -tjhaba | 'red and white' | |
| pronounced as /[t͡sʰumu]/ -tshumu | 'white faced' |
Notes:
pronounced as /[mʊkʼopʼuomʊtʼɑlɑ]/ mokopu o motala ('a green pumpkin'), pronounced as /[mʊkʼopʼuotʼɑlɑ]/ mokopu o tala ('a raw pumpkin')
dipodi tse ding ('some goats') pronounced as /[dipʼuˌdit͡sʼediŋ̩]/
dipodi tse ngata ('many goats'), pronounced as /[dipʼuˌdit͡sʼeŋɑtʼɑ]/ (Setswana dipodi tse dingata)
E.g.:
Borale bo bongata ('a large amount of [iron] ore') pronounced as /[bʊʀɑlɛbobʊŋɑtʼɑ]/
Setshiro se sesehla ('a yellow mask') pronounced as /[siˌt͡sʰiʀɔsesɪt͡sʰɛɬɑ]/
Letsoho le letona ('the right [lit. male] hand') pronounced as /[lɪt͡sʼɔhɔlelɪtʼʊnɑ]/
Relatives are qualificatives used with the relative concords.
In the Bantu languages, the relatives form an open class and are the primary qualificatives used. Relative clauses are also used with the relative concords.
There are two types of relative stems:
Examples of both types follow below:
| Example | English meaning(s) | |
| Radical | pronounced as /[ɬɑhɑ]/ -hlaha | 'wild' |
|---|---|---|
| pronounced as /[xɔpʼɔ]/ -kgopo | 'wicked' | |
| pronounced as /[tʰɑtʼɑ]/ -thata | 'difficult' | |
| pronounced as /[tʼɑlɑ]/ -tala | 'unripe' | |
| pronounced as /[bɑt͡sʼi]/ -batsi | 'wide' | |
| Nouns | pronounced as /[met͡sʼi]/ -metsi | 'wet'/'water' |
| pronounced as /[mʊlɪmɔ]/ -molemo | 'worthwhile'/'worth' | |
| pronounced as /[sɪbɪtʼɪ]/ -sebete | 'brave'/'liver' | |
| pronounced as /[bʊɬɑlɪ]/ -bohlale | 'intelligent'/'intelligence' | |
| pronounced as /[buˌ'imɑ]/ -boima | 'heavy'/'heaviness' |
The relative -tala is not to be confused with the adjective -tala.
E.g.:
mawa a tjhatsi ('simple strategies') pronounced as /[mɑwɑɑt͡ʃʰɑt͡sʼi]/
mokgahlelo o boholkwa ('an important phase') pronounced as /[mʊxɑɬɛlɔobʊɬɔkʼʷɑ]/
malakabe a bohale ('fierce flames') pronounced as /[mɑlɑkʼɑbɛebʊhɑlɪ]/
Verbs can be used in very short relative clauses, although these are not considered proper relative stems:
ho tsofala ('to become old') pronounced as /[hʊt͡sʊfɑlɑ]/ → monna ya tsofetseng ('an old man') pronounced as /[mʊn̩nɑjɑt͡sʼʊfet͡sʼɪŋ̩]/
In the Bantu languages, enumeratives are a category of qualificatives generally having some significance of enumeration. They are distinguished from other qualificatives by the fact that they use the enumerative concord.
In many Bantu languages the first five numerals belong to this category, but in Sesotho only the numeral 1 is an enumerative (the second to fifth are adjectives).
Sesotho has three basic enumeratives, divided into two types ("weak" or "strong"):
| Stem | Type | English meaning | ||
| 1. | pronounced as /[ŋ̩]/ -ng [''' _ '''] | strong | 'one' | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| pronounced as /[ŋ̩]/ -ng [''' ¯ '''] | 'what kind?' | |||
| 2. | pronounced as /[fɪ]/ -fe? [''' ¯ '''] | weak | 'which?' | |
| pronounced as /[fɪŋ̩]/ -feng? [''' ¯ ¯ '''] | ||||
| 3. | pronounced as /[sɪlɪ]/ -sele [''' ¯ _ '''] | weak | 'other' |
The strong enumerative stems use the strong form of the enumerative concord, and the weak stems use the weak form.
The numeral -ng has a special form with class 9 nouns where it appears as -nngwe (thus the numeral). It is always preceded by one of two constructions:
mooki a le mong ('one nurse') pronounced as /[mʊ'okʼiɑlɪmʊŋ̩]/
baoki ba le bang ('the nurses only') pronounced as /[bɑ'okʼibɑlɪbɑŋ̩]/
mooki ya mong ('one nurse') pronounced as /[mʊ'okʼijɑmʊŋ̩]/
mooki e mong ('some nurse') pronounced as /[mʊ'okʼiemʊŋ̩]/
The other enumeratives are used regularly using the enumerative concord:
ke moreana mong? ('what type of medicine is this?') pronounced as /[kʼɪmʊʀɪ'ɑnɑmʊŋ̩]/
ke moreana ofe? ('which medicine is this?') pronounced as /[kʼɪmʊʀɪ'ɑnɑʊfɪ]/
ke moreana osele! ('it's the wrong medicine!') pronounced as /[kʼɪmʊʀɪ'ɑnɑʊsɪlɪ]/
-fe may also be used in a particular construction (repeated and with the conjunctive enclitic le-) to mean "any":
selemo sefe le sefe ('any year') pronounced as /[sɪlɪmɔsɪfɪlɪsɪfɪ]/
| Possessives: | |
|
Possessives are qualificatives used with the possessive concords.
The direct possessive occurs when the concord agrees with the possessee, while the stem indicates the possessor.
Pronominal possessive stems agree with the possessee. Sesotho has these only for the singulars of the first and second persons and class 1(a) (third person) nouns; the other nouns and persons used the full absolute pronouns to indicate possession.
| Stem | ||
| 1st. person singular | pronounced as /[kʼɑ]/ -ka | |
| 2nd. person singular | pronounced as /[hɑ'ʊ]/ -hao | |
| 3rd. person and class 1 nouns | pronounced as /[hɑ'ɛ]/ -hae |
E.g.:
sefahleho sa ka ('my face') pronounced as /[sɪfɑɬɛhɔsɑkʼɑ]/
sefahleho sa yona ('its face' [class 9]) pronounced as /[sɪfɑɬɛhɔsɑjɔnɑ]/
pronounced as /[ɪsʊ]/ -eso ('of my people'), pronounced as /[ɪnʊ]/ -eno ('of your people'), and pronounced as /[bɔ]/ -bo ('of his/her people') indicate collective possession. The vowels in the stems coalesce with the vowel in the possessive concord, changing the vowel quality:
pronounced as /[diŋ̩kʼut͡sʼenʊ]/ dinku tseno ('your sheep')Prefixing pronounced as /[hɑ]/ ha- to these stems gives pronounced as /[hesʊ]/ -heso ('of my family/community'), pronounced as /[henʊ]/ -heno ('of your family/community'), and pronounced as /[hɑbɔ]/ -habo ('of his/her family/community'). Coalescence occurs again:
pronounced as /[diŋ̩kʼut͡sʼɑhenʊ]/ dinku tsa heno ('your family's sheep')
The possessive concord with nouns is used to directly indicate the possessor. The construction is possessee, concord + possessor. The concord may also be used with demonstrative and qualificative pronouns.
E.g.:
leihlo la ngwana ('the child's eye') pronounced as /[liˌ'iɬɔlɑŋʷɑnɑ]/
ho rata ha ntate ('my father's love') pronounced as /[hʊʀɑtɑhɑn̩tʼɑtʼe]/
mongolo wa bana ('the handwriting of these' class 2[a]') pronounced as /[mʊŋɔlɔwɑbɑnɑ]/
The descriptive possessive occurs when the concord agrees with the possessor of some descriptive quality, which cannot be prononomial. In this case the possessor, being a noun, is used to describe the possessee.
This happens less commonly in Sesotho than in many other Bantu languages (the relative use being preferred instead), but there are still numerous instances of its use:
thipa ya tshepe ('an iron knife) pronounced as /[tʰipʼɑjɑt͡sʰɪpʼɪ]/
mokotla wa poone ('a sack of mealies') pronounced as /[mʊkʼot͡ɬʼɑwɑpʼo'onɪ]/
monna wa sefofu ('a blind man [lit. "man of a <u>blind person</u>"]') pronounced as /[mʊn̩nɑwɑsɪfofu]/
selemo sa bone ('the fourth year) pronounced as /[sɪlɪmɔsɑbʊnɛ]/
Bantu languages tend to use a quinary counting system with six basic numbers, the other four being miscellaneous.
Here is a comparison between the first ten cardinals in some Bantu languages:
| Sesotho | Tswana | Swahili | Zulu | Ganda | ||
| 1. | pronounced as /[ŋ̩ŋʷɪ]/ nngwe | ngwe | moja | ukunye | emu | |
| 2. | pronounced as /[pʼedi]/ pedi | pedi | mbili | isibili | bbiri | |
| 3. | pronounced as /[tʰɑʀʊ]/ tharo | tharo | tatu | kuthathu | ssatu | |
| 4. | pronounced as /[n̩nɛ]/ nne | nne | nne | okune | nnya | |
| 5. | pronounced as /[ɬɑnʊ]/ hlano | tlhano | tano | isihlanu | ttaano | |
| 6. | pronounced as /[t͡sʰɪlɛlɑ]/ tshelela | thataro | sita | isithupa | mukaaga | |
| 7. | pronounced as /[supʼɑ]/ supa | supa | saba | isikhombisa | musanvu | |
| 8. | pronounced as /[ʀobedi]/ robedi | robedi | nane | isishiyagalombili | munaana | |
| 9. | pronounced as /[ʀobʊŋ̩]/ robong | robong | tisa | isishiyagalokunye | mwenda | |
| 10. | pronounced as /[lɪʃʊmɛ]/ leshome | shome | kumi | ishume | kumi |
Notes:
See main article: Sesotho verbs.
| Copulatives: | ||
| -- CHECK -->
|
|---|
A copulative is a word which does the work of a predicative, and which is formed from some other part of speech by modification of a prefix or concord, or by means of some formative addition.[6]
Complete predicates and sentences may be formed with substantives, qualificatives, or adverbs without employing any verbs, according to definite rules. These copulatives generally take the place of the verb "to be" in English. In Sesotho, there are also conjugations of the copulative using verbs (pronounced as /[bɑ]/ -ba, pronounced as /[lɪ]/ -le, and pronounced as /[nɑ]/ -na, as well as their inflected forms) giving meanings of "to become" and "to have."
There are six basic rules, used in differing situations to form the most basic copulatives. The first two rules do not use any verbs (the zero copula) using only changes in tone and/or the copulative formative pronounced as /[kʼɪ]/ ke-. The other rules employ the irregular verb pronounced as /[lɪ]/ -le.
The rules may be classed into 3 categories (plain predication or zero copula, participial, past relative clause participial) and each category may be further divided into 2 groups (all persons with qualificatives and adverbs and 1st. and 2nd. persons substantives, versus 3rd. person substantives). Each rule further has its own unique negative.
| All qual. & adv., 1st. & 2nd. subst. | 3rd. subst. | |||
| Plain | Rule 1 | Rule 2 | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| +||SC + CB||+| | pronounced as /[kʼɪ]/ ke + CB | |||
| - | pronounced as /[hɑ]/ ha + SC + CB | - | pronounced as /[hɑsɪ]/ hase + CB | |
| Participial | Rule 3 | Rule 4 | ||
| +||SC + pronounced as /[lɪ]/ le and CB||+| | pronounced as /[ɪ]/ e + pronounced as /[lɪ]/ le and CB | |||
| - | SC + pronounced as /[sɪ]/ se and CB | - | pronounced as /[ɪ]/ e + pronounced as /[sɪ]/ se and CB | |
| Relative | Rule 5 | Rule 6 | ||
| +||RC + pronounced as /[lɪ]/ le + pronounced as /[ŋ̩]/ ng and CB||+| | DE and pronounced as /[ɪ]/ e + pronounced as /[lɪ]/ le + pronounced as /[ŋ̩]/ ng and CB | |||
| - | RC + pronounced as /[sɪ]/ se + pronounced as /[ŋ̩]/ ng and CB | - | DE and pronounced as /[ɪ]/ e + pronounced as /[sɪ]/ se + pronounced as /[ŋ̩]/ ng and CB | |
SC indicates the subjectival concord, CB is the copulative base, RC is the relative concord, and DE is the demonstrative element. This is one instance where the relative concords for the 1st. and 2nd. persons may be used.
Note that the participial sub-mood is the basis for all relative clause constructions (used in rules 3 to 6).
In the case of adjectives, the subjectival concord takes the place of the "relative" part of the adjectival concord (that is, with the exception of the di[N]- classes, the adjective assumes the class prefix of the noun). Note that there is no downstep between the two words and that high toned subjectival concords cause any following noun prefix to be raised to a high tone (due to High Tone Doubling, see Sesotho tonology).
dinku tseo di ntle ('those sheep are fine') pronounced as /[diŋ̩kʼut͡sʼe'ʊdin̩t͡ɬʼɛ]/
batho bao ba baholo [''' _ _ ¯ ¯ ¯ _ '''] ('those people are large') pronounced as /[bɑtʰʊbɑ'ʊbɑbɑhʊlʊ]/
Contrast the last example with pronounced as /[bɑtʰʊbɑbɑhʊlʊ]/ batho ba baholo [''' _ _ '''!'''<span style = "position: relative; top: -0.3em">¯</span> _ ¯ _ '''] ('the large people'), where the relative concord has an irregular extra-high tone and does not raise the second low tone ba, and there is a downstep between the two words which is not heard in the copulative.
In the case of relatives, the subjectival concord takes the place of the relative concord and the relative stem functions as the copulative.
mangau a hlaha ('cheetahs are wild')pronounced as /[mɑŋɑ'uɑɬɑhɑ]/
batho ba botswa [''' _ _ ¯ _ ¯ '''] ('the people are lazy')pronounced as /[bɑtʰʊbɑbʊt͡sʼʷɑ]/
Contrast the last example with pronounced as /[bɑtʰʊbɑbʊt͡sʼʷɑ]/ batho ba botswa [''' _ _ '''!'''<span style = "position: relative; top: -0.3em">¯</span> _ ¯ '''] ('the lazy people'), with a downstep and extra-high tone on the relative concord.
With the enumerative ng ('one') the subjectival concord is prefixed to the enumerative with the enumerative concord. The other enumeratives are not used in this way.
sefate se seng ('the tree is one') pronounced as /[sɪfɑtʼɛsɪsɪŋ̩]/
With (mainly locative) adverbs the subjectival concord is simply prefixed to the adverb.
re hae ('we are home') pronounced as /[ʀɪhɑ'ɛ]/
The first and second persons are only used with substantival bases in using this rule.
ke motho ('I am a person')pronounced as /[kʼɪmʊtʰʊ]/
re bona ('we are them')pronounced as /[ʀɪbɔnɑ]/
The negative of all these formations may be formed by simply prefixing the low toned ha-. This is exactly the same way that the negatives of most verbs in most tenses and moods are formed. Additionally, just as with verb negatives, the subjectival concord for class 1 nouns becomes a-, and all subjectival concords are high toned (not just third persons and noun classes). Note that the subjectival concord does not affect the tones of the base as in the positive.
phahlo tsa ka ha di metsi ('my clothes are not wet') pronounced as /[pʰɑɬɔt͡sʼɑkʼɑhɑdimet͡sʼi]/
o molemo [''' ¯ <span style = "color: red">¯</span> _ _ '''] ('she is worthwhile')pronounced as /[ʊmʊlɪmɔ]/
ha a molemo [''' _ ¯ <span style = "color: red">_</span> _ _ '''] ('she is not worthwhile') pronounced as /[hɑ'ɑmʊlɪmɔ]/
monna enwa ke tona-kgolo ('this man is the minister') pronounced as /[mʊn̩nɑenʷɑkʼɪtʼʊnɑxʊlʊ]/
ntlo eo hase ya ka ('that house is not mine' [qualificative pronoun]) pronounced as /[n̩t͡ɬʼʊe'ʊhɑsɪjɑkʼɑ]/
ke bano ('there they are') pronounced as /[kʼɪbɑnʊ]/
ke motho [''' ¯ _ _ '''] ('he/she/it is a person') pronounced as /[kʼɪmʊtʰʊ]/
Contrast the last example with ke motho [''' _ _ _ '''] ('I am a person').
leha re le basebetsi ('although we are labourers') pronounced as /[lɪhɑʀɪlɪbɑsebet͡sʼi]/
ha ba le molemo ('if they are worthwhile' [class 2]) pronounced as /[hɑbɑlɪmʊlɪmɔ]/
ha di se ntle ('if they are not good' [class 8 or 10]) pronounced as /[hɑdisɪn̩t͡ɬʼɛ]/
This is the usual way of using the enumerative -ng ('one').
leha selemo se le seng ('although the year is one')pronounced as /[lɪhɑsɪlɪmɔsɪlɪsɪŋ̩]/
ha e le moetapela ('if she is the leader')pronounced as /[hɑɪlɪmʊ'ɛtʼɑpʼɪlɪ]/
leha e se ngwana'ka ('although she is not my child')pronounced as /[lɪhɑɪsɪŋʷɑnɑkʼɑ]/
pronounced as /[n̩nɑkʼɪlɪŋ̩mʊtʰʊ]/ Nna ke leng motho I who is a person
pronounced as /[dixomʊdilɪŋ̩nɑheŋ̩]/ Dikgomo di leng naheng The cattle which are in the veld
batho bao e leng baruta-bana ('people who are teachers')pronounced as /[bɑtʰʊbɑ'ʊɪlɪŋ̩bɑʀutʼɑbɑnɑ]/
batho bao e seng makgoba ('people who are not slaves')pronounced as /[bɑtʰʊbɑ'ʊɪsɪŋ̩mɑxɔbɑ]/
Indefinite copulative construction is achieved by using the class 17 concord ho- prefixed to the subject. Except with adverbs of manner, this always gives a locative implication to the construction.[7]
ho monna ka tlung ('there is a man in the house') pronounced as /[hʊmʊn̩nɑkʼɑt͡ɬʼuŋ̩]/
ha ho monna ka tlung ('There isn't a man in the house') pronounced as /[hɑhʊmʊn̩nɑkʼɑt͡ɬʼuŋ̩]/
A more common form in the positive uses pronounced as /[hʊnɑlɪ]/ ho na le- instead of ho-. The negative of this is ha ho na
ho na le dijo ka mokotleng ('there is food in the bag') pronounced as /[hʊnɑ liˌdiʒɔkʼɑmʊkʼot͡ɬʼeŋ̩]/
ha ho na dikgomo tse ngata ('there are not a lot of cattle' [lit. '''there are not cattle''' which are a lot]) pronounced as /[hɑhʊnɑdixomʊt͡sʼeŋɑtʼɑ]/
Just like verbal conjugation, the conjugation possibilities of copulatives are varied and complex, with most tenses needing deficient verbs and/or infixed verbal auxiliaries. What follows is only a brief overview of some points.
There is a two way division between direct and associative forms of the conjugation. The direct forms generally mean "to become" while the associative forms mean "to have."
In the direct form the verb -ba is commonly employed. This verb is inceptive and (when used as a transitive verb) means "become" (not "is", which is indicated by the direct non-verbal copulative).
Thus there are two main aspects of the direct copulative conjugation, the inceptive and the stative. In the former -ba appears; in most multi-verbal tenses of the latter the verb -le is used, though not all tenses may conjugate in this aspect. In all there are about than 35 basic tenses in the direct inceptive, and 13 in the stative.
e bile sebini selemo se fetileng ('he became a professional singer last year') pronounced as /[iˌbilesiˌbinisɪlɪmɔsefiˌtʼileŋ̩]/
e ne e se mohatsa wa hae ('she was not his spouse') pronounced as /[ɪneɪsɪmʊhɑt͡sʼɑwɑhɑ'ɛ]/
The associative form of the copulative conjugation generally signifies "to have" (lit. 'to be with'). It too shares a division between inceptive and stative aspects, the former using -ba with the conjunction le- (conjunctive import), and the latter using -na with le- (in the positive; the negative has no le-). This conjunctive le-, which is a prefix attached to the verb's object, is not to be confused with the copulative verb -le. In all there are about 30 basic tenses in the inceptive and 10 in the stative.
ke tla ba le ngwana ('I shall have a child') pronounced as /[kʼɪt͡ɬʼɑbɑlɪŋʷɑnɑ]/
re tla be re na le bopaki ('we shall [at some specific time] have evidence') pronounced as /[ʀɪt͡ɬʼɑbeʀɪnɑlɪbʊpʼɑkʼi]/. Note the Group I deficient verb -be used with the infix[8] -tla- to show the continuous future positive tense, with an implication of the time being known.
A few more examples follow.
ke tla be ke sa be le kgotso ('I will [at that time] not have any peace') pronounced as /[kʼɪt͡ɬʼɑbekʼɪsɑbɪlɪxɔt͡sʼɔ]/. Stative inceptive indicative future negative.
ha o a ka wa ba moholo ha kana ('it class 3 has never ever been as big as this') pronounced as /[hɑ'ʊ'ɑkʼɑwɑbɑmʊhʊlʊhɑkʼɑnɑ]/. Direct inceptive subjunctive past negative.
[kgwedi] e se e le Tshitwe ('it [the month] is now December') pronounced as /[ɪseɪlɪt͡sʰitʼʷe]/. Direct stative exclusive positive.
| Adverbs: | |
|
Adverbs are words which describe qualificatives, predicatives, or other adverbs with respect to time, place, or manner.
As in many other Bantu languages, there is a close relationship in Sesotho between adverbs and nouns, with many adverbs appearing as normal nouns and locatives of nouns being used as adverbs. However, the function of an adverb is always clearly distinct from that of a noun.
Though adverbs are obviously usually used with a predicative, there are some cases where the predicative does not appear and the adverb may be assumed to be describing a covert copulative.
Batho Pele ('people first') pronounced as /[bɑtʰʊ pʼɪlɪ]/. The full form may be assumed to be pronounced as /[kʼɪ bɑtʰʊ pʼɪlɪ]/ Ke Batho Pele ('it is the people first')
Generally all adverbs of place are "locatives", which are inflected nouns and pronouns. These are formed by certain rules of inflexion listed below. They generally indicate the place at, on, in, into, from etc. which the action takes place. When used with nouns indicating time they may denote time rather than place.
The actual meaning of a locative is determined by the verb used or the context.
ba ya thabeng ('they go to the mountain') pronounced as /[bɑjɑtʰɑbeŋ̩]/
ba tswa thabeng ('they come from the mountain') pronounced as /[bɑt͡sʼʷɑtʰɑbeŋ̩]/
ba dutse thabeng ('they are sitting on the mountain') pronounced as /[bɑdut͡sʼɪtʰɑbeŋ̩]/
The locative merely indicates the place brought into relationship with the verb, thus the many prepositions used in English are completely unnecessary in the Sesotho language.
These are the rules for forming the locative from nouns:
lerako ('stone wall') pronounced as /[lɪʀɑkʼɔ]/ → lerakong pronounced as /[lɪʀɑkʼoŋ̩]/
thaba ('mountain') pronounced as /[tʰɑbɑ]/ → thabeng pronounced as /[tʰɑbeŋ̩]/
pronounced as /[mɑnoŋ̩]/ manong ('vultures') → pronounced as /[mɑnoŋ̩ŋ̩]/ manonng
pronounced as /[xɑ'it͡sʼedi]/ kgaitsedi ('opposite-sex sibling') → pronounced as /[hʊxɑ'it͡sʼedi]/ ho kgaitsedi
pronounced as /[sɪt͡ɬʼʊhʊlʊ]/ setloholo ('grandchild') → pronounced as /[sɪt͡ɬʼʊhʊlʊŋ̩]/ setloholong, pronounced as /[hʊsɪt͡ɬʼʊhʊlʊ]/ ho setloholo
pronounced as /[lɪɬɑbulɑ]/ lehlabula ('summer')
pronounced as /[kʼɪt͡sʼʷɑhɑʀɑŋʷɑnɪ]/ ke tswa ha rangwane ('I come from my younger uncle's place')
Locatives may be formed from pronouns (except the quantitative) by prefixing ho- and its possessive form ha-
ba tswa ho wane motse ('they come from that town') pronounced as /[bɑt͡sʼʷɑhʊwɑnɪmʊt͡sʼɪ]/
Furthermore, there are class 16, 17, and 18 nouns, certain forms with the prefix ko- (an irregular unchanged Proto-Bantu class 17 prefix *ku-, possibly from the Serolong dialect of Setswana), and some other nouns, all used uninflected as locative adverbs.
The adverbs indicating "here," "there," and "yonder" are simply class 18 demonstrative pronouns, using class 18 concords (instead of the more usual class 15 concords used by the three locative classes).[9] The relative concord used to form these words does not seem to be weakened (it appears as mo- instead of the o- used with class 3).
| There | Yonder | |||||
| 1st. form | 2nd. form | 1st. form | 2nd. form | 1st. form | 2nd. form | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| pronounced as /[mo'ʊ]/ moo | pronounced as /[monɑ]/ mona | pronounced as /[mo'ʊ]/ moo | pronounced as /[monʊ]/ mono | pronounced as /[molɑ]/ mola | pronounced as /[mɑnɪ]/ mane | |
Apart from certain locative formations with a temporal implication, many nouns and seemingly radical adverbs may be used as adverbs of time.
kgale ('a long time ago') pronounced as /[xɑlɛ]/
bosiu ('night, at night') pronounced as /[buˌsi'u]/
mantsibuya ('afternoon') pronounced as /[mɑn̩t͡sʼibujɑ]/
mohla ('day') pronounced as /[mʊɬɑ]/ (pronounced as /[mɪɬɑjɑmɑdimʊ]/ Mehla ea Malimo [in Lesotho orthography] 'in the Days of Cannibals' is a landmark historical tale written in 1911 by Edouard Motsamai about Difaqane)
kgitla ('midnight') pronounced as /[xit͡ɬʼɑ]/
Some use the high tone prefix ka- to form adverbs of time. These nouns include days of the week and months of the year. Certain other nouns which accept the suffix -ng may also take this prefix instead.
pronounced as /[pʰupʼu]/ Phupu ('July') → pronounced as /[kʼɑpʰupʼu]/ ka Phupu ('in July')
pronounced as /[lɑbʊnɛ]/ Labone ('Thursday') → pronounced as /[kʼɑlɑbʊnɛ]/ ka Labone ('on Thursday')
Some adverbs of manner are radical in formation; others are miscellaneous formations from nouns. There are also several ways of forming adverbs of time from other parts of speech by using affixes ha-, the conjunctive le-, ka-, jwale ka- (which is a complete word followed by a prefix), the copulative ke-, etc.).
-ng ('one') pronounced as /[ŋ̩]/ → hang ('once') pronounced as /[hɑŋ̩]/ (also hang hang pronounced as /[hɑŋ̩ hɑŋ̩]/ 'post-haste')
-ngata ('many') pronounced as /[ŋɑtʼɑ]/ → hangata ('often') pronounced as /[hɑŋɑtʼɑ]/
mmoho ('together') pronounced as /[m̩mɔhɔ]/
tjena ('thus') pronounced as /[t͡ʃʼenɑ]/
ke mohlotse ka bohlale ('I defeated him with [my] genius') pronounced as /[kʼɪmʊɬʊt͡sʼɪkʼɑbʊɬɑlɪ]/
ka boomo ('on purpose') pronounced as /[kʼɑbo'omʊ]/
ke shwele ke tlala! ('I am dead from hunger!') pronounced as /[kʼɪʃʷɪlɛkʼɪt͡ɬʼɑlɑ]/
Additionally, in slightly non-standard speech, absolute pronouns may be inflected to form adverbs meaning "on X's own" by prefixing the instrumental ka- and the class 14 noun prefix bo- to the pronoun.
seo o se entseng ka bowena ('that which you did on your own') pronounced as /[se'ʊʊsɪ'en̩t͡sʼeŋ̩kʼɑbʊwɛnɑ]/
The high tone adverb na may be used to mark or emphasise questions. It, and its variant forms, may appear before, after, or both before and after the complete sentence.
na o buile le yena? ('did you speak to her?') pronounced as /[nɑuˌbu'ilelɪjɛnɑ]/
An ideophone is a word, often onomatopoeic in nature, which describes the qualities of a predicative, qualificative, or adverb.
In the Bantu languages ideophones form a distinct part of speech, which resembles to a certain extent the adverb in function, but unlike which it may (in some languages) be used as a predicate. In Sesotho there are two ways of using ideophones; one involves the use of the verb ho re ("verbum dicendi") which in this case means "to express" instead of the usual "to say." The other way involves simply placing the ideophone after a verb or qualificative with the aim of intensifying its meaning.
Often when using ideophones in speech, the speaker may accompany the utterance with an action (indeed, with the ideophone mpf "of being finished completely" the action - running ones index finger very close in front of the lips - is necessary to pronounce the word properly).
pronounced as /[hʊʀɪfi]/ ho re fi! ('to suddenly become dark'), pronounced as /[lɑbɔnɛlɑtʼimɑfi]/ lebone la tima fi! ('the light suddenly went out')
pronounced as /[hʊʀɪtʼʷɑ]/ ho re twa! ('to be very white"0, pronounced as /[dipʰɑɬɔdit͡sʰʷe'utʼʷɑ]/ diphahlo di tshweu twa! ('the clothes are very white')
pronounced as /[hʊʀɪpʼududu]/ ho re pududu ('to be gray or dirty'), pronounced as /[ʊmuˌpʼut͡sʼʷɑpʼududu]/ o mo putswa pududu ('his is rather gray [from dirt or from not applying moisturiser after bathing]')
The verb -re when used with ideophones may take a direct object (indicated by an objectival concord). It is this verb which carries all forms of inflexion on behalf of the ideophone. Its mood, transitivity, tense, objects, aspect, etc. are all reflected in the verb -re, while the ideophone itself does not in any way change.
pronounced as /[hʊmʊʀɪmu]/ ho mo re mu! ('to hit him over the head with a walking stick')
pronounced as /[ɪneɪʀɪtʼɛpʼɛ]/ e ne e re tepe! ('it was wet')
pronounced as /[ɑʀɪfuɲɑfɛɬɛ]/ ...a re funyafehle! ('...while he was completely drunk')
This illustrates that the ideophone itself is neither transitive nor intransitive, etc., and they are usually translated to English with the construction "of...."
pronounced as /[tʼo]/ to! ('of being alone')
Many Sesotho ideophones are radicals, and many of them are shared by many Bantu languages (such as Sesotho tu! and isiZulu du! / dwi! 'of silence'), though many are formed from other parts of speech. Indeed, it is common for a speaker to intensify the meaning of a descriptive word or verb by improvising ideophones and placing them after the word, or by simply leaving the listener to surmise the meaning from the context or accompanying action. Ideophones are often created from verbs by simply replacing the final vowel -a of the basic verb with a high toned -i.
pronounced as /[ɑ'ɪt͡sʰʷɑʀɑt͡sʰʷɑʀi]/ a e tshawara tshwari!, pronounced as /[ɑ'ɪʀɪt͡sʰʷɑʀi]/ a e re tshwari! ('he grabbed it') accompanied by the action of reaching out and quickly grasping an invisible object.
pronounced as /[ɑmʊʀɪxʊm]/ a mo re kgom! ('and he grabbed him by his shirt') accompanied by the speaker performing the action on himself.
Ideophones, being very emotional in nature, tend to not follow the phonetic rules of the language and may be pronounced in peculiar ways. For example, the stress may fall on the last or first syllable of all ideophones regardless of length, vowels may be indefinitely lengthened, syllabic r may be heard (pronounced as /[t͡ʃʼɛʀ̩]/ therr 'of frying'), syllables may have codas (pronounced as /[tʰetʰeŋtʰeŋ]/ thethengtheng 'of performing with a stop'), prenasalized consonants may occur (pronounced as /[xɑmpʼɛpʼɛ]/ kgampepe 'of running'), vowels may be devocalised (pronounced as /[pʰʊ̥]/ phu 'of smelling bad'), and various consonants not found in core Sesotho may be used (pronounced as /[viː]/ vi... 'of a thrown projectile travelling through the air in a hyperbolic path'). There is even a case of three syllabic nasals with contrasting tones pronounced with three separated air breaths (not as a very long nasal with an undulating tone) pronounced as /[ŋ̩ŋ̩ŋ̩]/ nnng [''' _ ¯ _ '''] ('of refusing outright').
| Conjunctives: | |
|
Conjunctives introduce or join up sentences.
Sesotho conjunctives may be studied from two aspects: form and function.
There are four forms of conjunctives:
There are four functions of conjunctives:
pronounced as /[hɑ]/ ha ('if/when')
pronounced as /[m̩mɪ]/ mme ('and')
pronounced as /[xɑn̩tʰɪ]/ kganthe ('whereas')
ho re ('to say') pronounced as /[hʊʀɪ]/ → hore ('such that') pronounced as /[hʊʀɪ]/ (pronounced with different tones)
hola ('that over there' class 15 demonstrative pronoun) pronounced as /[holɑ]/ → hoja ('if only') pronounced as /[hoʒɑ]/ (note the irregular palatalization)
fela ('only' [adverb]) pronounced as /[fɛlɑ]/ → fela ('however') pronounced as /[fɛlɑ]/ (pronounced with an irregular stressed final syllable, distinctly from the adverb)
-mpa (deficient verb implying 'may as well just') pronounced as /[m̩pʼɑ]/ → empa ('but') pronounced as /[ɪm̩pʼɑ]/
This may be done with certain words through the use of a handful of prefixes and suffixes.
pronounced as /[hɑ]/ ha ('if') → pronounced as /[lɪhɑ]/ leha ('even if')
pronounced as /[ho'ʊ]/ hoo (class 15 demonstrative pronoun) → pronounced as /[kɑho'ʊ]/ kahoo ('therefore')
pronounced as /[ɪm̩pʼɑ]/ empa ('but') → pronounced as /[ɪm̩pʼɑnɪŋ̩]/ empaneng ('but')
pronounced as /[mʊɬɑomʊŋ̩]/ mohla o mong ('some day') → pronounced as /[mʊɬomʊŋ̩]/ mohlomong ('perhaps')
pronounced as /[hɑ'ɑn̩t͡sʼɪbɪ]/ ha a ntsebe ('he does not know me' indicative mood) → pronounced as /[kʼɪ'ɑmʊt͡sʼɪbɑɪm̩pʼɑhɑ'ɑn̩t͡sʼɪbɪ]/ ke a mo tseba empa ha a ntsebe ('I know him but he does not know me')
pronounced as /[kʼɪt͡ɬʼʊhɛlɛhʊ'ʊbʊt͡sʼɑ]/ ke tlohele ho o botsa? ('should I stop asking you?' subjunctive mood) → pronounced as /[ʊt͡ɬʼɑn̩tʰusɑkʼɑmʊsebet͡sʼionɑkʼɑpʼɑkʼɪt͡ɬʼʊhɛlɛ hʊ'ʊbʊt͡sʼɑ]/ o tla nthusa ka mosebetsi ona kapa ke tlohele ho o botsa? ('will you help me with this work or should I stop asking you?')
pronounced as /[uˌ'it͡sʼeʊ'ɑmʊt͡sʼɪbɑxɑn̩tʰɪʊneɑʀɪtʰet͡sʼɑ]/ o itse o a mo tseba kganthe o ne a re thetsa ('he said he knew him and yet he was lying to us')
pronounced as /[ʊ'ɑbɔnɑhʊʀɪpʼulɑɪ'ɑnɑ]/ o a bona hore pula e a na ('you can see that it's raining'; this hore is pronounced with tone pattern [''' _ _ '''])
pronounced as /[lɪɬɔkʼɑhʊpʼʊt͡ɬʼɑkʼɑhʊʀɪliˌfiɬekʼɑnɑkʼɔ]/ le hloka ho potlaka hore le fihle ka nako ('you need to hurry up in order that you may arrive on time'; this hore is pronounced with tone pattern [''' _ ¯ '''])
pronounced as /[lɪkʼɑ'ɪǃɛtʼɑhɑliˌ'ikʼemisedit͡sʼe]/ le ka e qeta ha le ikemiseditse ('you can finish it if you are prepared')
pronounced as /[bɑbɑbulet͡sʼɪlɪhɑbɑnebɑsebɑkʼʷet͡sʼɪ]/ ba ba buletse leha ba ne ba se ba kwetse ('they opened for them although they had already closed')
pronounced as /[ʊbon̩t͡sʰit͡sʼeɑsɑtʰɑbɑkɑmo'ʊɑneŋ̩ɑbu'ɑkʼɑtʼeŋ̩]/ o bontshitse a sa thaba kamoo a neng a bua kateng ('he showed that he was sad from the way in which he was speaking')
| Interjectives: | |
|
Interjectives are isolated words or groups of words of an exclamatory nature, used to express emotion, or for the purpose of calling attention, giving commands, or conveying assent or dissent. They may themselves also constitute complete sentences, without the use of predicates.
In the Bantu languages interjectives may be divided into three types:
Interjections have no grammatical or concordial bearing on the sentence; they are merely attached as appendages.
As with ideophones, their emotional nature causes some of them to be pronounced in peculiar ways, but these irregularities are not as great as those exhibited by ideophones.
dumelang! ('greetings!') pronounced as /[dumɛlɑŋ̩]/
kgele! ('of astonishment') pronounced as /[xele]/
nxa ('of contempt') pronounced as /[ǁ]/ (really just an isolated lateral click)
('of approval') pronounced as /[ɛhɛː]/ ehee
hela! ('of calling') pronounced as /[helɑ]/
itjhu! ('of pain') pronounced as /[it͡ʃʰu]/
tjhee ('of dissent') pronounced as /[t͡ʃʰɛː]/ (the vowel is long with a very irregular low rising tone )
e'e ('of dissent') pronounced as /[ɛʔɛ]/ (see hiatus)
e ('of assent') pronounced as /[eː]/ (the vowel has a high falling tone )
eish ('of being dumfounded') pronounced as /[eiʃ]/ (this is a common interjection among all language groups in the more cosmopolitan areas of South Africa)
tanki ('of thanks') pronounced as /[tʼɑŋ̩kʼi]/ (from Afrikaans "dankie")
askies ('sorry') (from Afrikaans "ekskuus")
Vocatives are formed in Sesotho from nouns and 2nd. person pronouns (since all proper vocatives are naturally addressed to "the second person").
No change in form takes form in the noun.
banna! ('oh my!') pronounced as /[bɑn̩nɑ]/ (only used by men)
wena! ('hey you!') pronounced as /[wɛnɑ]/
mmao! ('your mother!') pronounced as /[m̩mɑ'ʊ]/ (used as an insult similar to Afrikaans jou ma!)
A suffix/clitic -towe and its plural equivalent -ting may be used to indicate an insult
molotsana towe! ('you wretched evil hag!') pronounced as /[mʊlot͡sʼɑnɑtʼʊwɛ]/
The adverbial instrumental prefix ka- is used to form interjectives of oath
ka ntate ('by my father!') pronounced as /[kʼɑn̩tʼɑtʼe]/
Imperatives have neither subjects nor subjectival concords. They are 2nd. person forms, and have the same force as other interjectives, but, being verbal, they may also take objects and assume extensions.
The rules for the formation of the singular imperative are as follows:
pronounced as /[mɑtʰɑ]/ matha ('run!')
pronounced as /[t͡sʼʷɑ]/ -tswa ('exit') → pronounced as /[ɪt͡sʼʷɑ]/ etswa! / pronounced as /[t͡sʼʷɑ'ɑ]/ tswaa ('get out!')
pronounced as /[ʀɪ]/ -re ('say') → pronounced as /[ɪʀɪ]/ ere
Sometimes an epenthetic h or y may be inserted between the two as or os for emphasis.
The negative may be formed in several ways:
pronounced as /[ʒɑ]/ -ja ('eat') → pronounced as /[ɪʒɑ]/ eja / pronounced as /[ʒɑ'ɑ]/ jaa ('eat!'), pronounced as /[sɪʒɪ]/ se je ('do not eat!')
pronounced as /[kʼɛnɑ]/ -kena ('enter') → pronounced as /[sɪkʼɑkʼɛnɑ]/ se ka kena ('don't come in!')
pronounced as /[bu'ɑ]/ bua ('speak') → pronounced as /[ʊsɪkʼewɑbu'ɑ]/ o se ke wa bua ('don't say a word!')
pronounced as /[hɑʀɪsɪkʼeʀɑjɑ]/ ha re se ke ra ya ('let us rather not go')
Again in the subjunctive mood, an object may be specified in all of the above forms by an objectival concord. This is in the subjunctive mood, and so the final vowel of the verb changes to e (in the positive) e (in the negative) when the deficient verb -ke is not used
pronounced as /[ʒʷet͡sʼɑ]/ -jwetsa ('tell') → pronounced as /[bɑʒʷet͡sʼɛ]/ ba jwetse ('tell them!'), pronounced as /[lɪsɪkʼelɑbɑʒʷet͡sʼɑ]/ le se ke la ba jwetsa ('you [pl.] should not tell them!'), pronounced as /[hɑʀɪbɑʒʷet͡sʼɛ]/ ha re ba jwetse ('let's tell them!')
Except for forms employing subjectival concords, the plural is formed by adding the suffix -ng to the verb (or the deficient verb -ke when it is used). This -ng may regularly result in vowel raising if the verb ends with the open vowel e
pronounced as /[sɪmɑtʰɪŋ̩]/ se matheng ('you [pl] must not run!')
When subjunctive tenses are used "imperatively" they are not interjectives since they have subjectival concords (and have more typical verbal tonal patterns), but note that in this case there is a distinction between singular, dual, and plural number in the 1st. person. In this case dual number is marked by the hortative prefix ha- and 1st. plural subjectival concord, and plural is marked by the prefix, the concord, and the suffix -ng to the verb (or the deficient verb -ke if it is used).
pronounced as /[mɑtʰɑ]/ matha! ('run!') singular 2nd. person)
pronounced as /[hɑʀɪmɑtʰɛ]/ ha re mathe! ('let [the two of] us run!') dual 1st. person
pronounced as /[hɑʀɪmɑtʰɛ]/ ha re matheng! ('let us [more than two] run!') plural 1st. person
pronounced as /[hɑʀɪsɪkʼeŋ̩ʀɑmɑtʰɑ]/ ha re se keng ra matha ('let us [more than two] not run!' plural 1st. person negative
All imperatives addressed to the 2nd. person (even if that person is included in a 1st. person plural) may be strengthened by using the enclitic -bo. This formative leaves the stress in place, thus resulting in words with stress on the antepenultimate syllable.
pronounced as /[mɑtʰɑbo]/ matha bo! ('run I say!')
pronounced as /[hɑʀɪhɑn̩t͡ɬʼʊ]/ hare ha ntlo ('inside the house') → pronounced as /[hɑʀɑn̩t͡ɬʼʊ]/ hara ntlo
pronounced as /[t͡ɬʼɑsɪhɑmɑʒʷɛ]/ tlase ha majwe ('underneath rocks') → pronounced as /[t͡ɬʼɑsɑmɑʒʷɛ]/ tlasa majwe
pronounced as /[pʼɪlɑ]/ pela- ('next to'), pronounced as /[kʼɑpʼɪlɑ]/ ka pela- ('in front of'), pronounced as /[mʊʀɑ]/ ka mora- ('behind/after'), pronounced as /[hʊdimɑ]/ hodima- ('above'), etc...
In each case, the "preposition" is found to be part of a genitive (possessive) compound formed with the following orthographical "word", but the current disjunctive orthography writes these parts separately. Note that in the Lesotho orthography an apostrophe is used to indicate the missing final vowel of the first word and (h) of the possessive concord (that is, the examples would be written (har'a ntlo) and (tlas'a majoe)).
isiXhosa mna 1st. person singular absolute pronoun → unyana wam my son, uthetha nam he is speaking to me, ndim it is me, yiza'pha kum come hither to me, etc.
Inja yami emhlophe My white dog
Eyami emhlophe My white one
Proto-Bantu *-kûpî → *-fufi → (alveolarizing diminutive) *-futshwane → (permanent nasalization) modern pronounced as /[xut͡sʰʷɑnɪ]/ -kgutshwanecf. isiZulu -fuphi and diminutive -fushane, both meaning "short".