A Practical Guide to Understanding Ciyawo

Topic 4. Infinitive Tense

25 TOPIC 4 Infinitive Tense In order to build simple sentences there are a couple of ingredients, which we need to gather before we can begin. First, there is the stem of the verb. Second, the letters, which represent the person or thing doing the action. In linguistic terms we call these letters the Personal Pronoun Markers, PPM, or Class Markers, CM, but we will get to them in a moment. The infinitive verb tense in Ciyawo is a verb in its most basic form. Unlike other verb tenses, the infinitive tense can stand alone without the need of additional prefixes, suffixes and other fixes to give it meaning. Now don’t start to sweat, wishing that you’d paid more attention in English grammar 101. Relax, you already know what the infinitive tense is, as you use it a thousand times a day (would we exaggerate?). In English you will find the infinitive form of the verb used for the head-words in most dictionaries. In English they generally have the meaning of: to-do-something, e.g., to read this paragraph and to think about its meaning. In Ciyawo the infinitive tense is formed with the stem, (the verb without any additions or changes). Looking at the formula we begin with the prefix ku, which is followed by a stem. What could be easier than that? Infinitive Tense The following is a list of examples using the infinitive tense to refresh your memory. Ku + Stem = Ku + pikana = Kupikana = To hear ,V

UFOEB  ,VUFOEB  5P
EP ,V

HPOB  ,VHPOB  5P
TMFFQ ,V

UFMFLB  ,VUFMFLB  5P
DPPL
,V

DBQB  ,VDBQB  5P
XBTI TOPIC 4: INFINITIVE TENSE 26 A PRACTICAL GUIDE TO UNDERSTANDING CIYAWO In Ciyawo, the infinitive tense means to-do-something when used without any other prefixes or suffixes joined to it. However, it also means that someone or something is doing something, when a Personal Pronoun Marker, PPM, or Class Marker, CM, is affixed to it. Personal Pronoun Markers The second ingredient we need to build a simple phrase or sentence is a Personal Pronoun Marker or Class Marker, CM, to indicate who or what is doing the action. In English, we indicate who is doing an action by using the Personal Pronouns: he, she, you, they, we and so forth. If it is a wild and dangerous beast that is going to eat us, then we refer to it as it. (Oh my! It is huge! It is going to eat me!) In Ciyawo there are two forms of pronouns to indicate who or what is doing an action. The first type can be independent from other words and we will look at them later in the book. The other type we call Personal Pronoun Markers (PPM for short), which always need to be joined to another word. The Personal Pronoun Markers, PPM, are used for people. The Class Markers (CM for short) are used for other things, including wild and dangerous beasts. (The linguistic term for these Personal Pronoun Markers is Dependent Pronouns.) The following table indicates the Personal Pronoun Markers, PPM, which are used in Ciyawo. Note that there are two PPM for the second person singular and plural: ‘A’ and ‘M’. ‘M’ is informal, and is used between peers and for those who are younger than you are, which for us is just about everyone these days! The PPM, ‘A’, is used for more formality or respect as in addressing an elder, a village headperson and us! Personal Pronoun Markers, PPM /
*
NF


TU
QFSTPO
TJOHVMBS
.

:PV
*OGPSNBM

OE
QFSTPO
TJOHVMBS
"
)FTIFZPVUIFZ

OE

SE
QFSTPO
TJOHVMBS
BOE
QMVSBM
5V
8F
VT




TU
QFSTPO
QMVSBM Sound changes can occur when the letter U comes between the letters ‘K’ and ‘J’. The resulting sound is usually ‘KW’, when the vowel following the letter ‘J’ is an ‘A’, ‘E’ or ‘I’. (K + U + J = KW). When the vowel following ‘J’ is an ‘O’ the resulting sound can be ‘KO’. (K + U + J + O = KO). ,V

MZB  ,VMZB  5P
FBU ,V

KBXVMB
 ,XBXVMB  5P
HP ,V

KFOEB  ,XFOEB  5P
KPVSOFZHP ,V

KJNCB  ,XJNCB  5P

TJOH ,V

KPOHPMB
 ,POHPMB  5P
TUSBJHIUFO ,V

KPHB  ,PHB  5P
CBUIF 27 For a more in-depth discussion on the Class Markers, CM, you should refer to the topic on Noun Classes in this book. Class...