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Topic 6. Present ContinuousTense (-)
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31 TOPIC 6 Present Continuous Tense (-) If you are familiar with the present continuous tense (+), which we explained previously, then the negative form will not cause you any problems. This tense is the form of the verb that indicates that someone or something is not doing an action at the present time and the action that you are not doing, is not continuing on. In English we usually insert the word not into a phrase to represent this idea. For example, you are not swimming at the beach at this moment because you are studying Ciyawo. You are also not thinking about the ice cream you would probably be eating if you were at the beach, because you are only thinking about Ciyawo! We salute your dedication! In Ciyawo the not part of the phrase is represented by what we call the Negative Marker, or NM for short. The Negative Marker, NM, is made up of three letters nga and prefixes the word/phrase that you are trying to negate. Sometimes you will hear people use ngi as a Negative Marker, NM. This is also correct, however the new Ciyawo orthography promotes the use of nga as the Negative Marker, NM, and so we will follow suite. The present continuous tense (-) is formed with a stem. Looking at the formula we begin with a Negative Marker, NM, followed by a Personal Pronoun Marker, PPM, or Class Marker, CM, followed by a ku, which is joined to a stem. The Present Continuous Tense (-) NM + PPM/CM + ku + Stem = Nga + n + ku + pikana = Ngangupikana = I am not hearing A sound change occurs when the ‘N’ and the ‘K’ collide! (N + K = NG) TOPIC 5: PRESENT CONTINUOUS TENSE (-) 32 A PRACTICAL GUIDE TO UNDERSTANDING CIYAWO The following examples conjugate the verbs kutenda = to do and kugona = to sleep with all the Personal Pronoun Markers, PPM, and three examples using different Class Markers, CM, from three different noun classes. Kutenda = to do Kugona = to sleep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hen two vowels of the same kind are forced together in a conjugation, as in the phrase above ngakutenda, one of the vowels is cancelled out, leaving a single vowel, ‘A’. /HBOHVHPOB *BNOPUTMFFQJOH /HBNLVHPOB :PVBSFOPUTMFFQJOH /HBLVHPOB 4IFJTOPUTMFFQJOH /HBUVLVHPOB 8FBSFOPUTMFFQJOH /HBXVLVHPOB *U WJMMBHF JTOPUTMFFQJOH /HBKJLVHPOB 5IFZ WJMMBHFT BSFOPUTMFFQJOH /HBMJLVHPOB *U TOBLF JTOPUTMFFQJOH /HBHBLVHPOB 5IFZ TOBLFT BSFOPUTMFFQJOH /HBDJLVHPOB *U CJSE JTOPUTMFFQJOH /HBZJLVHPOB 5IFZ CJSET BSFOPUTMFFQJOH ...