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Topic 22. Locatives
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73 -PDBUJWF.BSLFS &OHMJTI ,V UP GSPN BU 1B PO BU .V JO XJUIJO TOPIC 22 Locatives Locatives are location indicators. Their role is to help position something or someone in reference to something or someone else. In English we use prepositions or locatives such as to, from, at, on, in, under, beside, along and so forth to mark location. For example, in English we can say that this book is on the table, and the table is in your house. After doing these language lessons, you are probably going to the market. Ciyawo indicates location in a similar fashion by using three basic locative markers, ku, pa and mu, as well as with full vocabulary locatives. The locative markers in Ciyawo are placed prior to the noun. It might seem strange, for English speakers, that one locative can represent two or three different ideas about location. In Ciyawo, however, this is normal and works surprisingly well. The following examples show the use of the three Ciyawo locatives with common and proper nouns. ,V.BOHPDIJ UP.BOHPDIJ ,VMVTVMP BUUIFSJWFS ,V#MBOUZSF GSPN#MBOUZSF 1BOZVNCB BUUIFIPVTF 1BUFCVMP POUIFUBCMF .VNCVMJMJ JOUIFTIBEF .VLJDJOJ JOTJEFUIFLJUDIFO &YBNQMF4FOUFODFT /HVUFMFLBVHBMJNVLJDJOJ *BNDPPLJOHVHBMJJOUIFLJUDIFO .LXBXVMBLV.BOHPDIJ :PVBSFHPJOHUP.BOHPDIJ "LVDBQBZBLVXBMBLVMVTVMP 4IFJTXBTIJOHUIFDMPUIFTBUUIFSJWFS 5VLVQVNVMBQBNCVMJMJ 8FBSFSFTUJOHJOUIFTIBEF $JKVOJDJLVMZBNCFKVLVNJHVOEB 5IFCJSEJTFBUJOHUIFTFFETBUUIFmFME TOPIC 22: LOCATIVES 74 A PRACTICAL GUIDE TO UNDERSTANDING CIYAWO It should be noted that several changes can take place to locatives, in spoken as well as written Ciyawo when they come in contact with certain nouns. First, in the case of the locative mu, which indicates inside something, the vowel ‘U’ is sometimes dropped from speech and in writing. This, however, is far from a consistent rule, as can be seen in the differences between two of the phrases below, in the river and in the rivers. .VOZVNCB NOZVNCB JOUIFIPVTF .VUJQPUJ NUJQPUJ JOUIFUFBQPU .VDJQJOEB NDJQJOEB JOUIFSPPN .VMVTVMP NMVTVMP JOUIFSJWFS .VTVMP NVTVMP JOUIFSJWFST This rule for dropping the ‘U’, however, does not apply when the consonant of the noun following the locative starts with the consonant ‘M’ and is followed by another consonant. However, if the ‘M’ is followed by a vowel, the ‘U’ can be dropped, in which case the ‘M’ sound is extended, as in the following examples. .VNUJNB NVNUJNB JOUIFIFBSU .VNJUJNB NNJUJNB JOUIFIFBSUT .VNUXF NVNUXF JOUIFIFBE .VNJUXF NNJUXF JOUIFIFBET .VNCBOHB NVNCBOHB JOUIFDBWF Second, when a locative refers to going to or coming from a person or a person’s place, the locative ku changes to kwa to indicate that you are talking about a person and not a thing or place. This rule does not apply, however, when you use the honorific title, Ce, Mr. 6OFOHXBXVMBLXB"NJEV *BNHPJOHUP"NJEVT 6OFOHVUZPDFMBLXBCBCBƌBOHV *BNDPNJOHGSPNNZGBUIFS 6OFOHXBXVMBLVDF/BNXFSB *BNHPJOHUP.S/BNXFSB Third, the locatives ku, pa and mu can change to kwi, pe and mwi when followed by certain consonant/vowel combinations such as -li-. ,VMJUVNCJ ,XJUVNCJ UPUIFNPVOUBJO 1BMJUBMB 1FUBMB BUPOUIFQBUI .VMJTJNCP .XJTJNCP JOUIFIPMF Fourth, a locative can be joined to a noun, effectively changing the noun into the class of the locative.The sentence then follows the concord of the locative rather than the class of the original noun. ,VNVTJLVMJVMJ )PXJTJUBUUIFWJMMBHF 1BNVTJQFUVQBOHBMJNXFOZF "UPVSWJMMBHFUIFSFJTOPWJMMBHFIFBEQFSTPO .XJTJNCPNXBOBNFTJ *OUIFIPMFJTUIFSFXBUFS [3.17.162.247] Project MUSE (2024-04-25 13:22 GMT) 75 Vocabulary Locatives There are a number of common location terms in Ciyawo, which express location in more explicit ways than do the locative markers. When used, these terms are generally used in conjunction with their corresponding locative marker. For example if you use the term kusi, under, then the corresponding locative markers will be ku or the possessive kwa. If you use the term pasi, down, then the corresponding locative...