1

Bajuni grammatical sketch

This is a modification of Nurse (1982) and differs from the original mainly by excluding most of
the non-Bajuni material, but also by adding limited new material. Nurse (1982) was mainly based
on work done in 1978-79 on the speech of Bajunis (mostly middle-aged or older, mostly male)
from northern Kenya. Since their speech patterns were acquired forty or fifty years earlier, that is,
the 1930s, that is what this sketch reflects. Occasionally I also drew on translations and even on
compositions done by young Bajunis who were teenagers in school at that time. To this I have
added a very small amount of carefully chosen material from anonymous refugees from southern
Somalia in the first decade of the 21st century, and occasional examples from the end of
Grottanelli (1955), also from southern Somalia. Grottanellis material, collected in Somalia, in the
early 1950s, probably reflects an even earlier acquisition period. I do not think this mixing of
sources matters, because basic Bajuni grammar did not vary significantly. This is not primarily a
sketch of current Bajuni practice but a picture of Bajuni over the last 70 or so years of the 20th
century. Younger speakers do not necessarily speak as described below and may regard some of it
it as slightly old fashioned.

I have made little attempt to alter the contents, terminology, or order of what I wrote in 1982.
Further, the technology I used to scan the 1982 text failed in many places to produce an ideal text.

Acknowledgements (I have tried to include only the language sources - hopefully my memory
serves me well):

Athman Lali Omari, Mohammed Bahero (Fadha), Bakari Mohd Mbwajumali), Mzee Bwana
Boramusa (Kiunga), Hamid M Salim Fumo (Myabogi), Bwanadi Fakii (Fadha), Bwana Shalo
(Kidhingichini), Ali Famau (Manda), M-M Bahero (Fadha), Obo Athumani Lali (Lamu), Omari
Bwana Bwanadi (then at Fort Jesus Museum), Ali Abubakar Mohd (then at Lamu Museum), the
people of Mbwajumali village. The work was supported by a generous grant from the
W.H.Whiteley Memorial Fund, which the author gratefully acknowledges.

Abbreviations

C = consonant; cl or Cl = Class, EXT = extension; G = glide; N = nasal, ND = Miini, Bajuni,

Amu, Matondoni, Siu, Pate, Malindi, and the Mombasa dialects. Some of the statements and
claims below exclude Malindi and the Mombasa dialects; OM = object marker; pl or Pl = plural;
REL = relative; sg or Sg = singular; SM = subject marker; St.Sw. = Standard Swahili; TA =
tense/aspect; V = vowel. Amu etc refers to (L)amu and the dialects spoken in other smaller
villages on Lamu Island.

Table of Contents

1 Consonant system
2 Vowels, prosodic features
3 Sound correspondences between Bajuni and St.Sw.
3i Replacement of [z] by Bajuni []
3ii t > Bajuni ch
3iii [ndr]

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3iv j > Bajuni y or []
3v Assimilation of m(u)- + consonant
3vi Assimilation my > Bajuni ny
3vii Assimilationofn(i)+consonant
3viii Deletion of (verbal) subject marker (SM)
3ix Class 9-10 prefix allomorphs
3x A voiced sibilant where many other Swahili dialects nasal plus voiced sibilant
3xi iC or iCh, where most other dialects have NC or NCh (from original iNC)
3xii Class 5 prefix allomorphs, basic shape /i-/
3xiii Palatalisation of /k/
3xiv Reduction of verbal relative -(c)o(-)
3xv V1 + V2 > V2
3xvi Failure of V 1 + V 2 > V 2
3xvii Gliding of /w/
3xviii Loss of /y/
3xix CuCo > CoCo
3xx Syllabic differences from St.Sw
3xxi Sequences of aCu often appear as eCu
3xxii Labiovelarisation
3xxiii St.Sw stops vs Bajuni continuants
3xxiv Palatalisation
3xxv Loss of initial [i] in some verbs and quantifiers
3xxvi -ali- > -eli- > -e-
3xxvii Kinship terms plus possessives
3xxviii Aberrant /r/
4 Distinctive aspiration
5 Morphology
5i The ie suffix
5ii Demonstrative pronouns
5iii Noun classes
5iv Other pronouns
6 The verb
6i 3sg u-/w-
6ii Imperative + 1sg object pronoun
6iii Tense and Aspect
6iv The hu-form imperfective
6v hu- and a-
6vi Suffixal -o with come and go
6vii -ta- (-to-) future
6viii -ali- past
6ix -ie perfect
6x -ndo-/-nda-
6xi -ki-, -ka-, -(a)ngali/(e)ngeli-/-nge-
6xii The domain/role of ka
6xiii Overview of Bajuni tense/aspect
6xiv Compound verbs
6xv Negation
6xvi Relativisation
6xvii Auxiliary verbs

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1 Consonant system

p t ch [t] k

ph th chh kh

b d j [d] g

f th [] s sh [] kh [x]

v dh [] gh []

w l, r y [j]

m n n ny ng []

mb nd ndr nj ng

(a) Dental stops and nasals are here underlined, but not in the rest of the text.
(b) There is also a set of voiceless prenasalised homorganic stops of low frequency, occurring
in words of non-Bantu origin (sampuli, binti, benki, etc).
(c) Other, even less frequent, consonant combinations occur (khamsini, ahksante)
(d) Non-prenasalised [] could also be heard as a variant of /j/ in some words (Sacleux also
has this, but I did not here it in younger speakers from Somalia).
(e) The main allophone of /w/ is a voiced labiodental approximant [].
(f) A glottal stop can be heard in the word for no, [haa].
(g) /kh/ often reduced to [h].
(h) Long consonants can be heard: kulla, shidda, Makka, sitta, for kula/kila each, shida
trouble, Maka Mecca.
(i) Other Arabic sounds can also be heard e.g. qaf, sad, etc.

2 Vowels, prosodic features

As other Swahili dialects, Bajuni has five contrastive vowels, written i, e, a, o, u. Vowels have no
length contrast, though phonetically long vowels occur, as do sequences of identical vowels.
Stress is penultimate. Emphasis or phrase demarcation is realised by adding stress on the last
syllable.

3 Sound correspondences between Bajuni and (Standard) Swahili, arranged in rough order of
frequency in the Lexicon (for rough frequency see end of Lexicon). Because of interdialect borrowing,
outside loans, etc, there are exceptions to some statements below, seen in Appendix 1 in the 1982 version.

Swahili Bajuni Other ND

t, e.g. miti trees ch, michi also Siu, Pate

z, e.g. zuri good dh, dhuri also Siu, Pate
w or nul, dep. on next vowel v (older) Miini [w] and []
-wawa hurt, itch -vava
-weka put -veka
-wili two -vili
-ona see -vona
-ua kill -vua
u-so face (Cl. 14) vu-so
nd, e.g. ndugu brother, unda ndr, ndruu, vundra, ndrio/ndro
also but variable in Amu, Siu,
build boat, ndio yes Pate
ch, e.g. cheka laugh t, teka All ND
m-, e.g. hamjambo how are mu- hamuyambo rare in speech in other ND
ye? today, except in monosyllables
m-, e.g. mfano example, mu- > m- > various also in other Lamu
msikiti mosque, namna assimilated nasals, mfano, Archipelago dialects along
kind, mgeni stranger nsikichi, namuna/nana, ngeni certain parameters
s, e.g. siku day , iku, only observed in only Bajuni
Somali Bajuni
j, e.g. ja come, jina name, y, ya, yina, yuva all ND (y or nul)
ju(w)a sun
ny, e.g. nyumba house n, numba some in Miini?
l, e.g. mbele before, leo l-loss before [e], mbee, eo Miini has l2
today
mainly g intervocalic, mainly nul, Most ND
ndugu brother ndruu
shi, often from *ki, si, only Bajuni
e.g. moshi smoke, ushi mosi, vu-si, mwasi
eyebrow, mwashibuilder
nj, e.g. njaa hunger, famine nd, ndaa All ND
nz, e.g. mapenzi beloved nd, mapendi All ND less Miini
fi, e.g. fika arrive, figo si, sikilia, iso All ND
kidney
(i)ch, e.g. i-chaka sh, shaka ND less Miini
o, e mainly in loans, e.g. soko u, i, suku, ilimu ND
market, elimu education
nasal + voiced fricative, mvua fricative alone, vua rain only Bajuni
au, e.g. chagua choose eu, teua NDMiini?
p (also b?), e.g. peke alone pw (also bw?), pweke Most ND

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zero, e.g. nchi country [i-] in Class 9 monosyllables, Only Bajuni
ithi
vi, e.g. vitu things zi > dhi (see above), dhichu vi > zi, all ND
k, e.g. kondoo sheep h, hondroo (spasmodic) Only Bajuni
i-, e.g. ingia enter, ingine i-loss in verbs, adjectives, ND incl. Miini
other ngia, ngina
y, e.g. huyo this y-loss, mainly Cl 1, 4, 6, 9, See (3xvii), not Miini
huo
CuCo, e.g. huyo CoCo, Cl. 1, 3, 17, 18, hoo Lamu Archipelago ND
Syllabification, e.g. afya, pya afia, pia All ND
Assimilation of n(i)+, e.g. All ND (phonetic details
ni yangu is mine ndangu differ)
ni zangu ndangu
ni wangu mbwangu
ni kizuri khiduri
etc
V1 + V2, e.g. siendi I dont V1 + V2 > V2, sendri ND incl. Miini
go
my/mi-, e.g. myaka years ny, nyaka Most ND, not Miini
b, d, e.g. ubavu rib, udongo v, l, uvavu, uvongo Most ND, incl Miini
mud
suffixal Co, e.g. anguka-cho Co > o, anguka-o ND, incl. Miini
which falls

These and other differences are treated below below.

(i) Replacement of [z] by Bajuni [], or vice versa, is an easy phonetic substitution.
Today the use of [] is felt to be rustic and therefore there are those who substitute [z], especially
non-Bajunis but also some Bajunis. My guess is that in the past, when the Bajuni community
was large and powerful, it originated in Cushitic, passed into Bajuni, thence into Siu and Pate.

(ii) t > Bajuni ch. In Amu and other smaller communities in the Lamu Archipelago, the /t/ which
corresponds to St.Sw. /t/ is alveolar or post-alveolar, with some retroflexion, whereas in Bajuni (also
Siu and Pate) it is alveopalatal /ch/. It seems that historically all ND, even into southern Kenya, had /t/
distinct from /t/ and that more recently there was a shift from /t/ to /ch/ in all dialects except Lamu and
its satellite villages. Most words of Arrabic origin have /t/ in all dialects, whereas in Amu etc, more recent,
non-Arabic loans have /t/. So all ND -tamu, bita, sita, hatari "sweet, duck, six, danger" but Amu
etc gazeti, sitima, boti, t'ikiti "newspaper, steamer, boat, ticket. Msikiti mosque is an
exception it must (?) have originally been a loan from Arabic, but has non-dental [t]
in Amu, and ch in Bajuni.
Henceforth in this sketch, the /t/ is not underlined as it does not contrast with any
other /t/.

(iii) St.Sw. nd : ND nd(r). The degree of rhotacisation varies: strong in Kenyan Bajuni, least
strong in Amu, where speakers do it but often deny it, because it is felt to be rustic and a feature that
people emphasise when imitating other dialects (e.g. Lamu people imitating Bajuni or Matondoni
people) and thus a feature to be denied in one's own (Amu) speech. It is hardly heard among younger
Somali Bajunis.

(iv) St.Sw. j : Bajuni y or []:

St.Sw. Bajuni
-jaza fill -yadha
-moja one -moya
-jua know -yiva
jua sun yuva
mjoli fellow servant muyoli

Class 5 jina name yina (Amu ina)

jicho eye yito (Amu ito)
jino tooth yino (Amu ino)

Class 1 mjinga fool muyinga

mji town mui, muyi, nyi

In Bajuni Class 5, the y is obscured because the Class 5 prefix itself is y-. n the 1970s heard
[] often for /y/, also given in Sacleux, but not at all in younger Somali Bajunis in the early 2000s.
/j/ does not weaken to in class 5 augmentatives, so thus ijimbwa big fierce dog, ijichhu giant.

(v) Assimilation of m(u)- + consonant. Assimilation of sequences of /mu-/, most obvious in

the prefix for Classes 1 and 3. The basic synchronic form of the prefix is [m]. However, [mu] can still be
heard in speech, especially in monosyllables, is common in older writing, and still occasionally used in
verse today. When the vowel drops, assimilation of nasal to the stem initial consonant occurs
automatically:

mu- before some vowel stems (where a consonant has recently been lost): mu-amu Lamu person
mu- in monosyllables and before certain consonants: mu-tu a mangrove species, mu-yinga fool,
mu-huni divorce(e)
mw- before other vowel stems: mw-ana child
m- before labial: m-vili body
n- before dental: ntanga sand, n-dhi root
n- before alveolar: n-lango door, n-chi tree
ny, written n: mu-i > mu-yi > n-yi town
, written n-: n-kanda narrows

Other sequences of m(u) + consonant show the same phenomenon :

Bulo aka-n-jibu Bulo replied to him
ulee mwana u-n-someshao that boy you are teaching
thumuni > thumni > thunni a small coin

Vowel-loss and subsequent nasal assimilation take place along certain parameters : geographical, formal, age,
syllable structure. In normal speech vowel-loss and assimilation take place in Bajuni and in those dialects of the
Lamu Archipelago influenced by Bajuni (Matondoni, Siu, Pte). In these dialects consonant-assimilation occurs
less in formal situations. In monosyllables failure of vowel-loss and consonant assimilation is more frequent.

 7
Bajunis along the northern Kenya mainland coast drop the vowel less than speakers on N. Pate island, and
older speakers are more conservative than younger ones.
It seems historically plausible that vowel-loss and consonant assimilation originated in Bajuni and spread
thence into the dialects most influenced by it, that is, nearly everywhere except Amu and Shela.

(vi) Assimilation my > ny. A similar phenomenon occurs in sequences of m + y + V (also in other ND):

mw-aka year, mw-edhi year, mw-amba rock, plurals ny-aka, ny-edhi, ny-amba

This can also be seen in St. Sw. -choma stab, pierce compared to Bajuni toma/-tonya fish, ntonyi
fisherman.
When the plural of Class 3 nouns show ny- the plurals may transfer to Class 10:

mwedhi mmoya undokwisa one month has passed (Cl. 3), but
nyedi ningi/nyingi dhindokwisa many months have passed

(vii) Assimilation of n(i) + consonant. Another kind of assimilation involving

nasal and consonant occurs w h e n t h e c o p u l a r / n i - / i s f o l l o w e d b y a
possessive. This assimilation is 'optional'. The assimilated nasal remains
syllabic, as can be seen in verse.
/numba hii ni (y)angu/ this house is mine > numba hii ndangu (Cl. 9)
/nyumba hidhi ni dhako/ these houses are yours > nyumba hidhi ndhako- > ndako (Cl .10)
/dhichanda hidhi ni dhake/ these beds are his > dhichanda hidhi ndhake > ndake (Cl. 8)
/maingi haa ni (y)echu/ these eggs are ours > mayai haa ndechu (Cl. 6)
/maingi haa ni a nyani?/ whose eggs are these? > nda nyani (Cl. 6)
/ingi hili ni la nyani / whose egg is this? > ingi hili nla nyani > nda nanyi (Cl. 5)
/udhi hunu ni vao/ this string is theirs > udhi hunu mvao > mbwao (Cl. 14)
/mwana huu ni wenu/ this child is yours > mwana huu mwenu > mbwenu (Cl. 1)
/vana hava ni va Juma/ these children are Juma's > vana hava mba Juma (Cl. 2)
/isi ni va kulikubali/ we have to agree to it > mba kulikubali
/msumeno hunu ni wa kukachhia/ this saw is for cutting > mbwa kuchhatia (Cl. 3)
/kichanda hichi ni cha kulalia/ this bed is for sleeping > ncha > chha kulalia (Cl. 7)
/kichanda chako ni kidhuri/ "your bed is good" > nkidhuri > khidhuri

(viii) Deletion of (verbal) subject marker (SM). Both in my material from northern
Kenya in the 1970s and in Grottanellis material from Somalia from the 1950s, verbal
SMs may optionally drop. 'Optionally' means e i t h e r i n v e r s e , f o r s y l l a b i c
purposes, or for example in speech, in a string of verbs, all having the same
subject reference. Although it occurs with a whole range of subject and
tense/aspect markers, it appears to occur most often when the SMs refer to
humans and with the TA marker -ndo-. with When the 1sg morpheme /ni-/
drops it leaves aspiration of following voiceless consonants, thus:

/nitavuka imi/ I am going to cross > thavuka imi

/utavuka yeye/ he is going to cross > tavuka yeye
radi ndo-mvua muchhu mmoya thunder has killed a man
mamangu ndo-nendra sokoni My mother has gone to the market
(vs babangu mekwendra hondre)
/nitapicha/ I'll cross > thapicha

 8
h
/ n i k i a n d a / if I start > k anda
The /ni/ does not actually need to drop for aspiration to occur:
/ni-pa/ give me > ni p'a but
/m-pe/ give him > mpe
/utanipa nini/ what will you give me? > (u)tanip'ani
Loans with initial voiceless consonants from English also aspirate in 9/10:
ch h imu (Eng. team), chhepu (Eng.. tape), khesi (Eng. case) phicha (Eng. picture)

(ix) Class 9-10 prefix allomorphs. Stem initial position in Class 9-10 is marked by a
distinctive set of morphophonemic changes, inter alia aspiration, and easily seen by comparing
nominals with Cl. 11 singulars with their Cl. 10 plurals.

Class 11 (sg, u-) Class 10 (pl, N-)

u-pande side phande
u-teo winnowing tray theo
u-chundra necklace chhundra
u-kucha wall khucha
u-funguo key funguo
usimbo stick simbo
u-nee hair nee n-ingi many hairs
ngapi how many
uvavu rib m-bavu
u-limi tongue n-dimi
m-refu tall, long n-defu
u-bele wing m-bele
m-dhuri good nduri
(u-)uchi stick ny-uchi
v-uso face ny-uso

This can be summarized as:

N + voiceless stop > aspirated voiceless stop
N+ voiceless fricative > voiceless fricative
N + nasal > nasal
N + voiced continuant > nasal + voiced stop
N + other voiced segment > nasal + voiced stop
N + vowel > ny + vowel

(x) A voiced sibilant where many other Swahili dialects nasal plus voiced sibilant:

St. Sw. Bajuni

mvua rain vua.

 9
mvuli rainy season vuli
tamvua fringe tavua
jamvi mat javi
(also jinsi kind jisi)

As a regular phenomenon this is peculiar to Bajuni within the ND, but other Swahili dialects further south
show the same change. We can assume therefore that it was a sporadic innovation within the ND after the
breakup of the ancestral community. This is part of a simplification of prenasalised units.

(xi) iC or iCh, where most other dialects have NC or NCh (from original iNC)

St. Sw. Siu Bajuni

older nswi fish nsi isi (a few Somali varieties have nsi)
nje outside inde nde
nne four nne ine
mbwa dog mbwa imbwa
nchi country nthi ithi
ncha point ntha itha
figo kidney nso iso
mpya new (Cl. 9) phya
(mimi I, me mmi imi)

(xii) Class 5 prefix allomorphs, basic shape /i-/. Details of Class 5 nominal allomorphs
differ somewhat from t h o s e o f St.Sw. The majority of Class 5 adjectives with initial C Stem and
nouns form their plural by replacing the Class 5 prefix by Class 6 ma.

sg. pl.
ibuki plantain mabuki
iguu leg maguu
ikuru big makuru
ipia new mapia
yenyo tooth menyo
ijiwe stone majiwe
ivu ashes mavu
ijimbwa big dog" mijimbwa (C1.4)

There is a small subset of examples, mainly consisting of vowel stems and monosyllables, in which
nominals have a zero prefix, so:

ingi egg ma-ingi

yito eye ma-yito
yina name ma-yina
havule girl ma-havule

Monosyllabic and V-initial adjective stems have li- :

i-chundra li-pi ? Which fruit?, i-chovi lumu a hard banana

ingi l-eupe a white egg, hembe l-eusi a black mango (for V-deletion, see (o), below)

 10

(xiii) Palatalisation of /k/. In the late 1970s I heard quite frequent palatalisation of the Cl. 7
prefix in demonstrative and SMs, so hiki/hichi this, kilee/chilee that, kisu hichi
kimevundika/chimevundika this knife is broken. I assumed it was specific to Class 7, but
recently in a refugee from Koyama I heard chenda (from kenda) nine, also kitu chingine other
thing, so maybe it is general palatalisation of /k/ before front vowels? This also occurs in
Bravanese and once occurred in Lower Pokomo (Nurse and Hinnebusch 1993: 540).

(xiv) Reduction of verbal relative -(c)o(-). Verbal relatives may reduce from Co to simple
o . Only the locatives do not so reduce:
vachhu valee vakhacha-vo michi ni maabawangu Those people cutting trees are my brothers
or vachhu valee vakhacha-o.

khichu chianguka-cho chhangu the thing falling is mine"

or khichu chianguka-o..

But utaka-po if you want (not *utakao)

(xv) V 1 + V 2 > V 2
Vowel deletion is much more widespread than in St.Sw. The general rule is V 1 + V 2 > V 2
n-endrao I am going /ni + end + a + o/
s-endri I am not going / si + end + i/
v-endrao they are going /va + end + a + o/
van-ambidhie they told me /va + ni + ambi + ie/
h-anunui he isn't buying /ha + a + nunu + i/
h-ununui you aren't buying / ha + u + nunu + i/
a-taka he wants /a + a + tak + a/
Ishelali henendri Ishelali isn't going /ha + enend + i/
v-idhi thieves /va + idhi/
changu my (c1.7) /ki + angu/
chhangu mine (C1.7) /ni + ki + angu/
dhangu "my" (C1.8) /dhi + angu/
hachuy-endra we haven't gone /ha + chu + ya + end + a/
chuk-endra if we go /chu + ki + end + a/
vak- endra and they went /va + ka + end + a/
vas-endre they shouldn't go /va + si + end + e/
v-eneve themselves /va + eneve/
ndr-o yes /ndi + o/ (also ndio)
ibuku l-al-oanguka the book which fell /li + ali + o + .../
alee magunia n-al-onunua the bags I bought /ni + ali + o + .../
kichanda ch-al-orudi the bed which came back /ki + ali + o + .../
nchhu as-okuva kusikilia the man who hasn't arrived /a + si + o + .../
chwalinunua dhichhu as-okudhitaka Muhamadi we bought things H. didn't want /a + si + o../

(xvi) Failure of V 1 + V 2 > V 2 Vowel assimilation-deletion does not take place at

various points in the word. Since these points are similar (although not identical) to St.Sw., and since
they will be obvious throughout the text, they are not dealt with fully here. Most obvious cases are:

 11
- where a historical consonant is lost, most often /l/ or /g/, so -ie suffix, historical -ile
usinieche'e maingi don't bring me eggs (St.Sw. -letee)
nikhatia cut for me (older -ila)
Lakeni uosee Lakeni dreamt (-ocha, older -locha)
uelewee you understand = have understood (-ee < ele)
uevenye dhich'u you have distributed the things (-avanya, St.Sw. -gawanya)
chuege we ordered (-aga, Comorian -laga)
nimuombee "I asked him" (-omba, older -lombele)
- where the relative occurs in final position :
aimbieo ni nyani? Who sang?

In medial position the relative never assimilates to the following vowel. But it does assimilate in
vowel. But it does assimilate to the preceding vowels after certain tense markers (e.g. -si-, -
ali-) but not after others (e.g. -taka-, -nda(ka)-):
ulee nal-onunua the one I bought"/ni + ali + o +.../
nkebe us-okafai a can which is no good /u + si + o +.../
vachhu vanda-o(ku)sikilia the people who just came
bodo chutaka-opacha the ugali we will get (but see (1q), following)

- several other positions, as exemplified in

u-achusi-e you are surprised (-achuka, St.Sw. -shtuka)
va-imbie they sang
ma-ingi eggs
uki-idha if you refuse
(maneno ambao) hachu-a-elewi (the words which) we don't understand"
henge-andoka he would not have gone out

(xvii) Gliding of /w/

chwendrao We are going (c.f. chuyao We are coming)

mwendrao You are going (c.f. muyao You are coming)
wendrao You are going (c.f. uyao You are coming)

Again this can be blocked by the factors mentioned in (o) preceding

Mu-amu person of Lamu (older mulamu) nimu-ombee I asked him (older -lomba)

(xviii) Loss of /y/ All ND have lost /y/ in some Class 1 agrements (e.g. Amu uko, ulee, but
huyu) but only Bajuni shows such widespread loss as:

Bajuni (Cl. 6) haa, alee, othe, (Cl. 1) huu, uko, nae, ule, (Cl. 3) michi a Omari, (Cl. 9) numba a
Masudi

versus St. Sw haya, yalee, yote, huyu, yuko, naye, yule, miti ya Omari, nyumba ya Masudi

(xix) CuCo > CoCo The second demonstrative assimilates its vowels in Bajuni (and other ND):

St. Sw Bajuni
huyo Cl.1 hoo
huo Cls. 3, 11, 14 hoo

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huko Cl. 17 hoko
humo Cl.18 homo

Also other environments: nchama chu-toko-uvuna si nduri /..takao../ Millet we wont harvest isnt
good

(xx) Syllabic differences from St.Sw A small number of words have undergone syllabic
changes resulting in surface forms different from St.Sw:

St. Sw. Bajuni

mpya new. Cl.9 pia
afya health afia
swali question suwali
jumanne Thursday jumaane
kiSwahili Swahili kiSwahili, kiSawahili

Note also St. Sw saba seven, tisa nine but Bajuni sabaa and tisia.

(xxi) Sequences of aCu often appear as eCu:

-chagua -taua, -teua (g-loss)

-tafuta -tefudha
-katua -ketua

(xxii) Labiovelarisation

popo bat (Cl. 9) pwhepwe

pera pwera
peke pweke
mpira mpwira
papai pwhapwai
?? Old Persian ban bwana Mr.

(xxiii) St.Sw stops vs Bajuni continuants

ubavu rib uvavu

-bichi -viti
-bivu -vivu
-bovu -ovu, -vovu
-ziba -dhiva
udongo mud uvongo

(xxiv) Palatalisation

chai tea shai

chaka i-shaka
chungwa i-shungwa
chanuo comb i-shanuo

 13
(xxv) Loss of initial [i] in some verbs and quantifiers:

-ingia enter -ngia

-ingi many -ngi
-ingine other -ngine/-ngina

So Cl. 1 mungine/nngine, Cl. 9 ngine/ingine

(xxvi) -ali- > -eli- > -e- Past tense marker /ali/ shows l-loss and vowel assimilation (also in Siu).
The variants are semantically identical. Vowel assimilation goes beyond /ali/ in the second line.

chw-ali-kuya/chw-eli-kuya/chw-e-kuya yana We came yesterday

chwang-ali-khacha simbo, chweng-eli-khacha simbo, chweng-e-khacha simbo
We would have cut a stick

(xxvii) Kinship terms plus possessives

As in other ND and in St.Sw. kinship terms plus suffixed possessive are subject to regular
shortening, thus:
nduangu my brother (nduu + angu), nduo your brother (nduu + ako), mwane his child (mwana
+ake), abawangu my elder brother (abawa), abayangu my elder sister (abaya), aumeo your uncle,
(aume), aumee his uncle, aumedho your uncles.

Additionally it has a few idiosyncratic, archaic formations, so:

babe father, ishe his/her father, showe your father, vishesi our father, visheni your father, shevo their
father.
mame mother, my mother, nyawe your mother (also nyoko, which can be rude in the appropriate
context), inya his/her mother, nyasi our mother, nyani your mother, nyavo their mother.

(xxviii) Aberrant /r/ Bajuni shows unexplainable and apparently haphazard [r] in a small
set of words, from earlier [l], e.g.:

-kuu and -kuru big, ivoo and ivoro penis, etc

Replacement of [l] by [r], also apparently haphazard, in a much larger set of words was also
noticed in younger speakers from Koyama.

4 Distinctive aspiration Bajuni contrasts aspirated and non-aspirated voiceless stops, thus:

paa roof versus phaa sp. gazelle

-kaa live versus khaa crab
kitabu changu my book versus kitabu chhangu the book is mine

Movement of aspiration. Aspiration moves forward within certain syllable limits. Thus:

/kichhu/ [khichu] thing, but /dhichhu/ [dhichhu] things

/-kethi/ [-kheti] sit : literally sit on the ground : -kaa + thi /-kai'a/ [-k'hacha] cut, from PB */-kanta/

Aspiration can only move forward on to 'eligible' consonants, that is, voiceless stops (and fricatives?).
There are limits to how far the aspiration can shift:

 14

/kukethi/ sit > [kukheti], not *[khuketi]

This phenomenon also occurs in the other dialects of rhe Lamu Archipelago and is noted by Lambert
for Chifundi, Vumba, Mvita, Jomvu, and Ngare.

 15

5 MORPHOLOGY
5(i) The -ie suffix
The base shape in older speech and writing was -ile. Today the base is -ie. This presentation shows
the main C mutations and V assimilations. It can be seen (esp. in the Nurse 1982 comparative table)
that a levelling out of forms is occurring, a process whereby older assimilations, especially
consonantal, are tending to be replaced. All forms are quoted in the 3sg, where the SM is u-. For
comparative purposes, Amu forms are quoted on the left. Amu forms have prestem -me-. Glosses for
verbs can be found in the Lexicon.
Amu Bajuni
a-me-gura He has moved u-gur-ie
a-me-baki u-bak-ie
a-me-iza u-yidh-ie
a-me-haribu u-harib-ie
a-me-imba u-imbi-ie
a-me-pija hit u-bis-ie (-bika)
a-me-kuva u-v-ie

[ie] changes to [ee] after stem vowels [e, o]:

a-me-ekeza u-ekedh-ee
r
a-me-pond a u-pond-ee
a-me-tendra u-tend-ee
a-me-elewa u-elew-ee
a-me-jepha u-jeph-ee
h
a-me-nijep ea u-ni-jephee

- imbrication:
a-me-kaa u-kee (older), u-kal-ie/u-kal-idhie (newer)
a-me-aga u-ege/u-agidha
a-me-dara u-dere/u-dar-ie
a-me-simama u-simeme
a-me-mw-andama u-mw-endeme
a-me-lala u-yele
a-me-lingana u-lingene
a-me-fanana u-fenene
a-me-pata u-peche
a-me-ni-patia u-ni-pach-ie

- short stems (C, CV, CG) some have ie, others ee:
a-me-m-p-a he has given her.. u-m-p-ee
a-me-ku-nw-a u-nw-ee

 16

a-me-ku-f-a u-f-ie
a-me-ku-y-a u-y-ie
a-me-ku-l-a u-l-ie

- a few cases do not fit the pattern. Since the same shapes occur all over Bantu, they are likely to be
old inherited forms:
a-me-mw-on-a u-mw-ene

- most stem final consonants are now unaffected by the suffix, see preceding and:
a-me-lipa u-lip-ie
a-me-tega u-cheg-ee
a-me-sala u-sa-ie
a-me-kosa u-kos-ee/u-kos-edha
a-me-udhi u-udh-ie
a-me-khata u-kheche/u-khach-ie
a-me-i-funda u-i-fund-ie

- others do mutate, as follows (stem final /k, ch/ > [s]):

a-me-vuka u-vus-ie
a-me-pika u-pis-ie
a-me-haribika u-haribis-ie
a-me-choka u-chos-ee
a-me-weka u-ves-ee
a-me-vuta u-vus-ee
a-me-ota (nodoto) u-os-ee
a-me-pita u-pis-ie

- stem final /nd, ng/ > nd:

a-me-pondra u-pondee
a-me-pandra u-pende/u-pand-ie
a-me-kwendra u-end-ee
a-me-funga u-fund-ie

- in certain types of stem this does not operate:

a-me-sinyanga u-sinenge
a-me-kanga u-kenge

- stem final zero > dh:

a-me-mw-ua He has killed him u-m-vuedh-ee
a-me-oa married u-odh-ee
a-me-pea swept u-pedh-ee
a-me-fungua u-fungudh-ie

 17

a-me-tukua u-tukudh-ie
a-me-sahau u-sahaudh-ie
a-me-zowea u-dhov-ee/u-dhovedh-ee
a-me-kheti u- khetidh-ie (-kheti < -kaa + ti, see kaa, above)
a-me-mw-angalia u-mw-eng-ee

- there is also today a new productive allomorph -idha/-edha:

a-me-fanya u-fany-idha
a-me-maliza u-malidh-idha
a-me-aga u-ege/u-agidha
a-me-eta brought u-es-ee/u-ech-edha
u-tefudh-idha search

- in most extensions the V assimilates but the C does not mutate. Consider:
a-me-simama u-simeme
a-me-simamia u-simam-ie
u-pis-ie cooked, but u-ni-pik-ie cooked for me
u-es-ee brought, but u-ni-ech-ee brought for me
u-fund-ie closed but u-ni-fung-ie nlango
u-khas-ie cut, but u-ni-khach-ie

Further examples:
(-nunua) Isheika u-ni-nunul-ie mashua Isheika bought me a dhow
(-fungua) Sabiri unifungulie nlango Sababiri opened the door for me
(-fanya) Avukame uvafanyie kadhi Avukame did the work for them
(-lia) mwana ulilie nini What did the child cry about?
(-pacha) Batiti uchupachie Batiti got us a shirt
(-anguka) Shali uwangukie maguuni Shali fell at his feet
(-imba) vadhee vachuimbie nimbo The old men sang us songs
(-tukua) munitukulie michi thuu You brought me many trees
(-tefudha) vantefudhie noni tu They only looked for birds for him
(-toma) vatonyi vavatomee jamaa dhavo isi The fishermen caught fish for their friends

(5ii) Demonstrative pronouns

There is a four-way contrast in demonstrative pronouns:

Class 1 2 3 4

1, 3, 11, 14 huu hoo ulee uleee

2 hava havo valee valeee
4, 9 hii hiyo ilee ileee
5 hili hilo lilee lileee
6 haa hao alee aleee

 18

7 hiki/hichi hicho kilee/chilee kileee/chileee

8, 10 hidhi hidho dhilee dhileee
15, 17 huku hoko kulee kuleee
16 hapa hapo palee paleee
18 humu homo mulee/mlee/ m(u)leee
nlee
The St.Sw and Mvita short forms (e.g. ile, kile, etc) may be heard.
The meanings of this four-way distinction are similar to those in St.Sw:

nchhu huu this man/man previously mentioned (St.Sw mtu huyu)

nchhu hoo that man near the addressee/previously mentioned (mtu huyo)
nchhu ulee that man/previously mentioned (mtu yule)
nchhu yulee that man over there (mtu yulee)

All four correspond to English articles and demonstratives. This distinction correlates to a difference
in position elative to the head noun. When mainly demonstrative function is intended, these words
follow the noun: when there is additional information, they precede the noun, e.g.:

numba hii iangusie this house has fallen down (normal)

hii numba iangusie -do-, but surprise
numba hio iangusie this (just over there) house has fallen down
hio numba iangusie -do-, but it might be, for example, at night this house over there, the one you can't
see...
numba ilee iangusie that house has fallen down
ilee numba iangusie -do-, but you know, the one we talked about
numba ileee iangusie "hat house over there has fallen down
ileee numba ianguse -do-, a heavily marked form which might, for example, be used to answer the question
Which house is it that fell down?

In each of the pr eceding pair s , the f ir s t s entence is the unmark ed f o r m ,

t h a t i s , i t i s t h e d e i c t i c f u n c t i o n w h i c h i s p r e d o m i n a n t . I n t h e second,
marked, sentence, there is an additional element - surprise, emphasis, disbelief, or
previous reference.
I n demons tr ative f unction, at leas t, thes e w or d s can be permuted, w ith
no obvious change of meaning or emphas is :

D hilee j ahadhi dhiyadho/j ahadhi dhiydho dhilee thos e bo ats ar e coming

A n o t h e r d e m o n s t r a t i v e s t e m i n - n - m a y b e h e a r d in locatives :

munu munu right here (St.Sw humu humu), kunu (St.Sw. huku), hukunu,
as in ndoo hukunu Come here, hukunu kwechu here at ours.

 19

In other dialects in the Lamu Archipelago the first two demonstratives

above in 5(i)), at least in some classes (e.g. 3, 6, 9, 11).

S ample text:
A kaandoka akenda kw a ndudhake, akavaeledha mamb o ot h e, na valee
ndudhake vakamvulidha N duechu, huu mw ananke nu mw ananke gan i? U lee
kij ana as inine yina lake ulee mw ananke akanene N imuokos ee ndiani tu, na
upanga huu niudir is ie na huu noni indie antakao baba. N a valee ndudhake
vakavulidhw a na s hevo M w nanke huu yina lake ni nyani? vakan ena
H achunyis i.

He got up and went to his brothers, explained everything to them. His brothers asked ''Who is this
woman? The boy didn't mention her name, but said 'I just found her on the road, and this sword, I just
came across it, and this bird is just what my father wants'. His brothers were asked by their father 'What is
this woman's name?', and they replied 'We do not know her'.

(5iii) Noun classes

Class 1 n-chhu person

1a avu uncle

Since 1a/2a nouns have an unchanging, zero, prefix, they might also be considered 9/10, but
since their meaning, [+human], and hence partly their concords are 1/2, they are considered a subset
of 1/2.

1 va-chu people
2a avu uncles
3 n-chi tree
4 mi-chi trees
5a i-vingu, i-dhimbi, i-jiwe, i-paa cloud, wave, stone, roof
5b ingi, yina, yito, havule egg, name, eye, girl
6 ma-vingu, ma-dhimbi, ma-jiwe, ma-paa, ma-ingi, ma-yina, ma-yito, ma-havule

As in St. Sw, some nouns in this (and other) classes take1/2 concords:

barobaro w-angu (u)ndokuya my boy has just arrived

barobaro vangu va-ndokuya my boys have just arrived
(Cl.3) nchume a-ka-nena the messenger said..
(Cl.7) kijana a-taecha shai the boy will bring tea
(Cl. 9) ngombe w-eyao the cow is coming

This may be used as a secondary, augmentative, class, even for other Class 5 nouns:

 20

imbwa dog (Cl. 9), numba house (9), havule (5), but ijimbwa big dog, ijumba mansion,
ihavule big girl.

7 khichu thing
8 dhichhu things

Class 7/8 are used as diminutives so havule girl but ki-havule small girl

9/10 numba house(s), numba ningi many houses

Semantically and formally 9/10 are much as in St. Sw. 10 is the plural of 9 and 11.
Morphophonology can be seen in (3) above.

11 ulimi, uvavu, uvambaa tongue, rib, wall

12 ka-gombe very small cow, discussed in 6(iii) below
14 vuso, vuongo face, mud

A few Cl. 14 nouns still have vu-, while many have fused with Cl.11 u- (see Lexicon). Since 14
nouns are often mass nouns, not all have plurals.

15 Only in infinitives
16 Only one member mahala/pahala, as in pahala pamoya one place, pahala pavili two
places.

Nominal morphology As in St. Sw, two different sets of prefixes are associated with the
noun classes. The various assimilations are discussed above in (3).

Set 1
1/3 m(u)- (note mungu, mngu God, mngine, nngine other
2 va-
1a/2a zero
4 mi-, zero
5 i- and zero
6 ma-
7 ki-
8 dhi-
9/10 N-
11 u-
12 ka-
14 vu, u-
15 ku-
(16 pa-, ma-)

 21

Set 1 occurs with nouns, adjectives, numerals 1-5, 8, words such as -ene having, -eneve self, etc

e.g mw-ana, mu-amu, n-ku(r)u, m-moya, n-ngine, mwene, mweneve

Classes 11/14 only have u-/vu- with nouns, otherwise mu-, so:

u-vambaa m-moya one wall, vu-so m-moya one face

Set 2
1 a-, u-, w-
2 va-
3, 11, 14 u-
4, 9 i-
5 li-
6 a-
7 ki-, chi-
8, 10 dhi-
(12 ka-)
15, 17 ku-
16 pa- and see just below
18 m(u)-

Set 2 concords occur with verbs, demonstratives, possessives, locatives, verbals, e.g

Cl. 1 (mwana) huu, hoo, ulee, uleee, (u)ndakuya, wa Ali, uko kwapi?
(child) this, that near, that, that far, has come, of Ali, is where?

Cl. 5 (ijiwe) hili, hilo, lilee, lilee, l-ali-anguka, l-angu, liko kwapi ?
(stone) this, that near, that, that far, fell, my, is where?

Not obvious from this display is that Classes 4/9 have i- with verbs, particles, and locatives, but zero
before possessives and the connective: michi angu, michi a Omari Fumo my trees, Omari Fs trees.

Whereas older vu- is kept in Class 14 with some nouns, it is replaced by u- in Set 2.

As in St. Sw, Cl. 16-18 occur with demonstratives, locatives, etc: palee, nlee (18), kuleee, pana, etc.
Pa- refers to more distant objects, ku- to nearer, thus:

Hapa kw-alifanywa kadhi work was done here

palee p-ali-dhungumdhwa yana there were people talking there yesterday

The Cl. 16 noun takes Cl.9 concords: mahala hii, pahala ilee this, that place

 22

(iii) Active Class 12

In contrast to St.Sw, Cl. 12 is in active use. Speakers were reluctant to use it with all nouns:

ijibwa big fierce dog kijibwa small dog kajibwa even smaller dog
jichu giant kijichu small person kajichu even smaller person
ngombe cow kigombe kagombe
khuku chicken kijiso chick kajiso
mbudhi goat kibudhi kabudhi

As in other Bantu languages, such use of Cl. 12 (and 7) refers not only to physical size but to the
speakers feelings about the object (despised, unnatural in some way).

(iv) Plural of Cl. 5 augmentative in Cl .4

Unlike St. Sw, when Cl. 5 is used as an augmentative, the plural is not in Cl. 6, but Cl .4:

ijibwa, jichu, plurals mijibwa, mijichu.

(5iv) Other Pronouns

Independent pronouns

imi I, me, uwe you sg, iye, he, she isis we, us, ini you pl, avo they, them

Used enclitically, they drop the initial syllable: nami and me, nasi and us, etc

Possessive

-angu my, -ako, your, -ake (south)/-akwe (north) his/her, -echu our, -enu your, -avo their

These may be shortened also:

chu-ka-enga numba na madari-e lets go and look at the house and its floors
hunawiri thandu na mashina-e revealing its branches and roots (both from Utendi)

Relative Allowing for phonetic differences these are as in St. Sw. The consonantal element is
regularly dropped, reducing the relative for all classes (except locatives/temporals) to [-o]. In Cl. -e
and -ye can also be heard.

 23

6 The verb
The basic structure of the non-compound verb is much as in St.Sw:

(pre-subject) (subject) (si) (tense-aspect) (relative) (object) root (extension) suffix1 (suffix2)
(pre-SM) (SM) (si) (TA) (REL) (OM) root (EXT) suffix1 (suffix2)

pre-SM: ha- primary negative (1 sg. si-): hu-, see below.

SM: allowing for phonetic differences, as in St. Sw, except Cl. 1 u-.

OM, si, root, EXT: allowing for phonetic differences, as in St.Sw.

REL: as in St.Sw, allowing for phonetic differences.

Suffix1: as St. Sw, plus ie

Suffix2: -o REL: -o, see below: -ni distinguishes plural and dual, so chwenende lets go (you and I),
but chwenendeni lets go (all of us).

(i) 3sg u-/w- By y-loss, it replaces St.Sw yu-, so St.Sw mtu yule: Bajuni nchhu ulee.
The two 3sg SM are associated with different verbal forms.
Prefixal a- occurs with negatives, subjunctives, relatives, -ki-, -ka-, -nga-, -ngali-, (and -me-). .
Prefixal u- or w- occurs with all other forms, so: w-eyao he is coming, w-ampenda mno she likes
him a lot, w-endao Manda he is going to Manda, u-tavuka he will cross, (u)ndoyala he is asleep,
w-ali-fanya he did.

(ii) Imperative + 1sg object pronoun When imperative is followed by the 1sg
pronoun, the verb suffix is -a (not e, as in St.Sw):

niph-a give me 50 cents, nisaidia senti give me money, nifanyia hii do this for me but
m-p-e sigara give him a cigarette, wa-ph-e dhichhu give them the things

(iii) Tense and Aspect Tense and aspect function similarly but not identically to
St.Sw1. The differences are part structural, part categorial.

(iv) The hu-form2 imperfective Together with other ND, Bajuni has an aspectual form
hu-, which refers to ongoing, habitual, and generic events. It thus corresponds to, and largly replaces,
St.Sw. hu-, -a-, -na-, and partially to -ki-. It can be used with all verbs and is unmarked for
person/class. Subject can be clarified by adding the personal pronoun.

1
Bajuni tense and aspect are very similar but not quite identical to those in the other ND.
2
Hu- derives from ni + ku.

 24

hufanya nini? What are you, they, he, she doing? = Swahili u-na-fanya etc nini
hufanya nini? What do you, they he, she do?
hulima I/we/you/he/she/they cultivate/are cultivating
isi hulima kula siku We cultivate very day
isi hulima sasa hiao We are cultivating right now
chutakuva hunena/chikinena We will be talking
chwalikuva hunena/chukinena We were talking
chukakuva hunena/chu-kinena and we were talking
chumwene hunena/akinena We have seen him talking
chwalimwoma . We saw ..
chungalimwona . We would have seen
sababu hu-bika khele vachhu Why are the people making a noise?

dhikombe huanguka dhilee Those cups are falling

haba na haba huyadha kibaba Drop by drop fills the bucket
hava ndovu hutedha au hungia hondeni? Are those elephsnts just playing or going into the
shamba?
takuva husoma/akisoma Shell be reading
ukweli ingava huvava nambia usinisite Although the truth hurts, tell me, dont conceal it from
me
huichwaye Whats your name?
hukheti hapa hudhungumdha We are sitting here talking
Husikia dhichhu hulia? sulutani akanena. Naam, nasikia Abunawasi akanena, havo ndivo
mafundi huchengedha sakafu na hidho dhiliadho ni nundo na misumari
Do you hear things making a noise? the Sultan said. Yes, I hear, Abunawasi said,
Those are workmen building a floor and the things making noise are hammers and
nails.
Mwana wa khuku akuapo hukua huichengedha kuva mama wa kuvachia maingi ukiitahidi
kachika wakati hoo wa udodi wake avapo huichengedha basi huva mama ndhuri wa
maingi mangi
While a chicken is growing it is preparing itself to become a good layer, so if you take
care of it during this period of immaturity while it is preparing itself, it will become a
good mother and a good layer.

(v) hu- and -a-

With other ND, Bajuni an overlap of function between hu- and -a-. Hu- represents continuous and
regularity/habituality, that is, events not marked for past or future. It can be used with all verbs. The
-a- is or was only used with verbs where the contrast between continuous and regularity is
suspended, that is, stative verbs such as like, want, feel (various states), know, be able, etc. So:

w-a-mpenda sana He likes her a lot, chw-a-taka kukheti hapa We want to sit here
n-a-wedha vaSomali mia I can beat/am as good as a hundred Somalis, chw-a-yiva We know

 25

Both hu- and -a- can be used with these verbs. Sometimes they appear synonymous, but a difference
is possible, whereby the hu-form has general reference but -a- is more specific.
For most speakers in the late 1970s, especially older speakers, this was the situation, so
sentences such as the following, where -a- is used with active verbs, were felt to be anomalous:

va(a)lima They are cultivating, chw-a-nena We are talking, chw-a-fanya kazi We are working

However, the situation appears to be changing rapidly, under the influence of the Swahili of
Mombasa and of St.Sw. I have listened to many young Bajunis from Somalia. They use hu- much
less, even not at all, replacing it with -a-, and even with -na-, which formerly was never heard among
Bajunis. Bajuni.com has messages from what I take to be Bajunis from northern Kenya and the same
is happening there, too. Hu- is still fairly strong, but -a- with active verbs is widespread, and universal
-na- is also widespread. As the Lamu poet Mau once said to me, We are concerned with
communicating , not with purity. For more detailed discussion, see Nurse 1982: 139-141.

(vi) Suffixal -o with come and go Together with other ND, Bajuni has suffixal [o], used
with only two verbs, come, go, to represent continuous:

nendra-o Manda I am going to Manda, w-endra-o you, endra-o or w-endra-o heshe ,

chw-endra-(v)o we , mw-endra-(v)o ye, vendra-(v)o they

neya-o I am coming, ngombe weya-o the cow is coming

kidau keya-cho the dhow, mashua eya-o the dhow

This for most likely arose from the relative. For instance, although one cannot use
*valima(v)o They are cultivating by itself, it can be used as an answer to the question Who is (it
that is cultivating?, so (ni) valee valima(v)o (It is) those people (who) are cultivating. From (ni)
valee vendra(v)o to vendra(v)o by deletion of copula and demonstrative is but a short step. Needless
to say, the REL forms of come, go are identical to the forms above: vachhu vendra(v)o the people
who are going, mashua eyao the dhow which is coming.

(vii) -ta- (-to-) future As other ND, Bajuni has a future in -ta-: occasionally -to- can be
heard. This -ta- is a reduced form of -taka want.

tha-vuka nkanda Ill cross the narrows

(u)-ta-vapani Whatll you give them?
uki-to-kuya mapema tha-ku-va niyele If you dont come early Ill be asleep
Shalishalo u-ta-ku-va wendeme na vafuasi vake vangi
S will be accompanied by many of his followers
ambirie magunia a-tako-chumiwa Throw away the bags that will be used

 26

In this tense, as in others, monosyllabic verbs insert -ku-. The form go has two shapes, -endra and -
enendra, the first but not the second requiring -ku-, so:

chu-ta-kw-endra but chu-ta-enendra

In the negative future, only -to- occurs: ha-to-teka mai He wont draw water

This -to- has a wider distribution than in St. Sw, occurring not only in the negative infinitive and
negative future, but also for example in:

ki-to-yafanya (mambo) If she doesnt do them

khi-to-pea Unless I sweep
chuki-to-kuya If we dont come
nchhu ha-to-kuya ndruangu The man who wont come is my brother
ndo numbani u-to-furahika Its at home that you will be happy (Grottanelli)

Grottanelli also has one example combing suffixal -o and -ta(ka)-:

imi taka-kwendra-o kuyala I will go to sleep

(viii) -ali- past This refers to an action in the past, not seen as having any particular
relevance or importance for the present: a finished action. A short form, li-, is seen in the copula
relative. See discussion, see Nurse 1982: 137.

Naliponyuka asubuhi alikuva ni Ramadhani. Nalikwendra pwhani kuangalia madau ikiva

atakwendra baharini kutoma isi. Nalirudu numbani khabadilisha nguvo khaelekea pwhani.
When I got up in the morning it was Ramadan. I went to the beach to see if the boats
were going out to sea to fish. I went home, changed my clothes, and set off for the beach (from a
school composition).
Chw-e-kuya yana We came yesterday
Mw-alo-jenga jengo jengo You who did the building (from a vave)
Ingi l-alo-angula ndango The egg which fell is mine
Valee v-alo-kheti mbali v-ali-peekwa vajumbe kwendra kuvicha
Messengers were sent to call those who lived far away
Madi w-ali-fanyiwa karamu nduri M was given a great feast
W-ali-chuyia You came to us
Kw-eli-sikidhiana khele A noise was heard
Idau li-l-o bandarini litaandoka karibu The boat which is in the harbour will leave soon
Idau l-ali-o bandarini lindaandoka The boat which was in the harbour has left
Kw-ali-na mtajiri There was a rich man
Shekhe Omari ali ni nchhu. Sheihk O was a man

 27

(ix) -ie Perfect See section 5i, above. With active verbs the usual English translation
is the perfect (X has verbed) but with stative verbs the more common translation expresses the state
resulting from the action (X is standing)3. Today this suffix is in rapid retreat before -me-, and even
Mombasa -sha-

bochi i-sha-peekwa Amu ? Has the boat been taken to Lamu?

In the speech of interviewees from northern Kenya in the late 1970s, this suffix was alive and well.
In the speech of young Somali Bajunis in the early 2000s it is not alive and well.

(x) -ndo-/-nda- Bajuni has a formative in -ndo-/-nda-. It is -nda- in most Pate Island
villages but -ndo- in a few Pate Island villages and along the coast into Somali (Grottanelli has only -
ndo-, which is what I have heard in the early 21st century from Somali Bajunis. In view of its
meaning, discussed below, it is tempting to see this as related to the word for "yes" (ndrio or
ndro). Unfortunately for this suggestion, the nasals involved are different, and Bajunis do not confuse
the two. Its origin is therefore not clear at present.
Corresponding to St.Sw. -me-, Bajuni today has three different forms, partly overlapping : -me-, -ie, and
-ndo-/-nda-. All involve several dimensions, viz.
time in the past relative to the present
the notion of an action which took place in the past, but the consequences of which are still
felt to be relevant to the present
the degree of insistence which the speaker places on the action
emphasis on state (-ie, -me-) as opposed to action (-nda-/-ndo-).

The best way to explain -ndo-/-nda- is to compare it with the -ie suffix.
The ie-suffix implies a present state brought about by a past action, or an action starting in
the past and continuing into the present, or a completed action whose consequences are felt in the
present. The past action may be quite distant (compared with -nda-/-ndo-) or else the exact
point in the past is immaterial or unknown. It is translated by English present (he is asleep) or present
perfect (he has come):
uyele You/he/she are asleep
bado uyele She is still asleep
Haruni hayisi uyelepo H doesnt know where he slept

3
I cannot resist an anecdote here. I have listened to many interviews where the interviewer is
from western Kenya, and speaks western Kenya Swahili. The interviewees are young Bajunis
from Somali, who, even though they replace the suffix by me, still keep the stative meaning with
the appropriate verbs, quite different from the interviewers. Thus interviewers ask for example
will ask: U-na-toka wapi Where are you from? (not Where are you coming from?, U-na-
mpenda? Do you like him? U-na-fahamu? Do you understand? U-na-ki-ona? Can/do you see
it?, to which the respective Bajuni answers were: Ni-me-toka Chula I am from Chula, ni-
mpenda I like him, Ni-me-fahamu I understand, Ni-me-kinoa I (can) see it.

 28

numba ilee iangusie That house has fallen down

honde ichendele mayani The plantation produced leaves
nkulima ayadhieo mbeu tapacha mimea
The farmer who has planted seeds will get crops
vafie They are dead, they have died
Umuro wandosee kichambo U went out some time ago
It is most often negated by the -ya- negative, and corresponds most often to St.Sw. -me-.
Semantically, it is similar to -ie except that the past action is more recent. In both statements and
questions, it carries a note of insistence : "Did you go?" "We did". It can also be used enclitically :
yambo hili walichenda? nichendee ndo Did you do this? I did/Yes, I did
mboni untukudhie ulee isi "(Why) did you take that fish?"
nintukudhie ndo, mbwangu I did take it, it's mine
(alternatively, with ndo Yes:
ulee isi untukudhie Did you take that fish? Ndrio, nintukudhie Yes, I took it)
Further examples :
mai andoyaa The tide is in (literally 'the water has become full'), or mai andokuva mangi
vatonyi vandokwisha kungia idauni
The fisherman have/had already got into the boat
-nda-/-ndo- are negated only by use of -ya-. It translates St.Sw. -me- and -mekwisha-, in
which latter usage it can be strengthened by -sha- (i.e. -ndokwisha-).
The differences and similarities between -ie and -nda-/-ndo- will be clarified by
considering these examples :
Masudi wandosee Masudi has gone out (i.e. some time ago)
Masudi ndoandoka Masudi has (just) gone out
Masudi uyele Masudi is asleep (fell asleep some time ago, or we dont know or care when)
Masudi ndayala Masudi is asleep/has just gone to sleep
vach'u vandakavo kusikilia ni jamaa dhangu the people who have just arrived are my friends
vach'u vasikilieo... the people who have arrived...
vageni vayievo (or valokuya) yana vandarudi? vandarudi
have the guests who arrived yesterday gone back? They have
Hamisi ndofungua niango naloufunga H. has just opened the door I closed
Hamisi ufungudhie nlango naloufunga H. has opened the door I closed
kichanda kirudieo (or chalorudi) kuchengedhwa chindavundika
the bed which came back from being fixed has broken
mite itochiwa mai indashika/ishishie lakini itee mingine indakufa/ifie
the cuttings which were watered have taken but those others are dead

 29

Use of -nda- or -ie in this sentence reflects when the taking root and dying took place. If -
nda- is used, it implies that some plants are alive, others dead, but the actions are recent. Use of -ie
indicates less recent action, or ignorance/lack of interest about when the actions occurred.
tumbaku ake alianguka alipokuva ubisie magonjo
his tobacco fell when he had knelt down/was kneeling
tumbaku ake alianguka alipokuva ndokika magonjo
his tobacco fell just after he had knelt down

Muhaji alikuva uyele, Muhaji alikuva ndoyala

Both mean Muhaji was asleep (but is now awake). The difference is when the action took place.
Whereas in the second, the sleeper had gone to sleep only a few minutes before, in the first he had
gone to sleep some time previously, or it is not known/important when he went to sleep.
ujuphewa yembe lake (-ie reverts to -a in the passive),
ndojephewa yembe lake his hoe has been stolen

In this pair, as in the next two, the first sentence implies an action some time in the past, with present
consequences, but the second underlines the recentness of the action, or emphasises the action.
_ nchhu huu ufiliwa na ishe, nchhu huu ndofiliwa na ishe
that man's father had died/is dead
chusikiliwa na vana vachachu, chundosikiliwa na vana vachachu
three children have come to see us
ichubidie kwenda nsikichini, indochubidi kwenda nsikichini
we have/had to go to the mosque, we have to go to the mosque

The two appear identical in that it is now incumbent upon us to go, although in the right context,
the first could also mean "we had to go": they differ in the point at which the incumbency started.

Examples from Grottanelli (1955):

imi ndo-simama I am standing

imi ndoketi I am sitting
iye ndo-kufa He is dead, he has died
nyani ndo-kuya Who has come?
ndo-kuya iye Has he come?

(xi) As in St.Sw, -ki-, -ka-, -(a)ngali/(e)ngeli-/-nge-forms are also present in Bajuni

'If/participial', -ki-. Ikiva/ikiwa is also widely used with certain tenses.

Chu-ki-pacha vua chutalima honde if we get rain we'll work in the fields
a-ka-tokedha jini nrefu a-ka-simama karibu ake a-ka-mwambia Binadamu, u-ki-taka utakufa, u-ki-idha utakufa
and a tall genie appeared, sat down beside him, and said : Man, whether you like it or not, you will die"

 30

u-ki-sikia vachhu huidhungumudha basi vayele, na u-ki-sikia vanyemee basi vaengedhe

if you hear people talking they are asleep, if you hear them saying nothing, they are awake

fahali a-ka-kheti kimwa a-ki-sikidha mwisho wa maneno avo

andthecocksatinsilencelistening to the end of their speech
a-ki-va weyao andamana nae if he is coming, follow him
ikiva alikuya yana ne-nge-mvona if he had come yesterday, I would have seen him

Past consecutive, -ka-:

vothe va-ka-dirikana, vadhee kwa vana and they all met, old and young alike

Conditional

Statements about events clearly future have -ki- in the conditional part of the sentence, and -ta- in the
other:

Nchi huu u-ki-angula u-ta-nivua If this tree falls/fell, it will/would kill me

Statements about events with general validity use -nga-:

Nchi u-nga-anguka lakini haunipachi Even if this tree were to fall it wouldnt kill me
Chu-nga-kwendra lakini hachumpachi Even if we were to go we would not find him
U-nga-mwambia hasikii Even though you tell him he doesnt listen
A-nga-enendra iyu noni hasikilii mbinguni Even if a bird went high it would not reach the heavens
Uchumi wa gahawa u-nga-wa ni nkuru haulipi faida
Even though the coffee trade is large it is not profitable
ni-nga-dhivia hufanya yavuleavule Even though I forbid him he keeps on doing it

Conditional events clearly and exclusively in the past are expressed

by -(a)ngali-/-(e)ngeli-/-(e)nge-.As the last two derive from the former
by phonological processes seen elsewhere (Section (3xxvi), the -angali-
s h a p e i s t a k e n a s b a s i c , a l t h o u g h a l l t h r e e a r e u s e d i n t e r changeably :

Chu-ngeli-kwendra iwapo chulipacha senti We would have gone if we had got money
ikiva nchi huu ungalianguka yana ungalichuvua
Had this tree fallen yesterday, it would have killed us
Ikiva u-ngali-kitefudha u-ngali-kivona If you had looked for it you would have found it
Ikiva chwalipacha vua yudhi chw-angali-yaa mbeu
If we had got rain two days ago we would have planted seeds
Ikiva hachukuyiva chw-enge-vavudha If we had not known we would have asked them
Ikiva hakuniyiva h-angali-nivudha If he had not know me he would not have asked me

 31

Ikiva naliyiva s-engeli-kwambia? If I had known would I not have asked you?
Ikiva w-engeli-enendra mara moya kupambana nae engeli-kulipa wala h-ange-rudi bila kich'u
If you had gone to meet him immediately he would have paid you and you would not have come
back with nothing
Ikiva naliyiva s-enge-mpa sinti dhangu If I had known I would not have given him my money.

(xii) The domain/role of ka

-ka- occurs in contexts foreign to St.Sw. Consider:

Kidhere anda-ka-o(ku)anguka (or kidhere andao(ku)anguka) The old lady who just fell
Bodo chuta-ka-okula (or bodo chutaokula) The ugali we are just about to eat
Havule aso-ka-somi (or havule asosoma) A girl who can't read

More such examples are given below under Negative Relative.

St. Sw. tutakula ugali We will eat ugali but ugali tuta-ka-okula The ugali that we will eat

St.Sw. -ka- is normally interpreted as the second syllable of the verb -taka want, and with good
reason, because it only co-occurs with -ta- and because the semantic association of 'want' with 'future'
seems reasonable, since it occurs in many languages, including Somali, English (Eng. I will go), and
German (ich will gehen).

In the Bajuni examples, however, this -ka- is not restricted to cooccurrence with -ta- but is also found
with other TMs. Further, it is optional in all occurrences. Finally it is followed by the relative -o-,
which in turn may be followed by the infinitive marker ku-: in this it is similar to -me-, -li-, -ta-, etc.
This would indicate that although -ka- now only appears as an optional part of TMs, it was once an
auxiliary verb in its own right, just as -me- and -li- once were.
Evidence from other dialects of Swahili and from other Sabaki languages point to this -ka-
once having been one verb for be. In some dialects of Pokomo and the Miji Kenda both -kala 'be' and
its -ie form, -kele, appear. Further evidence for this proposition can be found in the ND, where a petrified -
ie form of -ka is found:

Bankuu u-kee nvi Bankuu is ugly (lit. has become ugly)

Bankuu ali u-kee navi B was ugly
Mbona u-kee hiao Why are you in that state? (lit. 'why have you become like that?')
Mbona walikuva u-kee yavulee Why were you in that state?
Va-kee iye ndo? How are they?

(xiii) Overview of Bajuni tense/aspect

The structure of the non-compound verb expresses semantic contrasts very similar to those of St.Sw:
'past' (-ali-), 'future' (-ta-. -to-)
'perfect(-ie, being replaced by-me-),
'would have' (-angali-), 'even though' (-nga-), 'simultaneous, participial' (-ki-), 'past consecutive' (-ka-)

 32

Somewhat different to St.Sw. are hu- (imperfective, covering St. Sw. na-, -a-, hu-): -a- with a
limited number of stative verbs : when hu- and -a- contrast, they imply 'habitual' versus 'present,
ongoing': -ndo-/-nda- (see (x), above).

(xiv) Compound verbs Tense and aspect can be combined in compound verbs, with tense +
be (-li or -va) in the first verb, and aspect in the second , main, verb. Thus for example (not complete):

Simple past: chwalinena/chwelinena/chwenena We talked

Past Continuous-Habitual
chwalikuva/chwelikuva/chwekuva hunena/chukinena Weweretalking/usedtotalk, or
chwali chukinena/hunena We were talking/used to talk, or
chwaliko chukinena/hunena We were talking/used to talk there
chwaliveko chukinena/hunena We were talking/used to talk

Past Perfect-Stative:
walikuva ameyala/ndayala/uyele He had gone to sleep/he was asleep

Future Perfect:
chuchendra kwako sasa hiao atakuva uomee buku
If we go to his place now he will have read the book (but book not finished)
chuchendra atakuva amekwisa kusoma buku
If we go he will have read the book (and the book finished)

Future imperfective
chuchendra atakuva husoma buku If we go he will be reading the book

(xv) Negation
As in St.Sw., there is a contrast between primary and secondary negative.

1. The primary negative is marked by prefixal ha- (1sg si-), and occurs with indicative forms. It is as-
sociated with some TMs that do not occur in positive tenses (-ku-, -ya-), and with suffixal -i in the
imperfective negative.

The imperfective negative negates the imperfective positive ((iv) preceding), -a- ((v), preceding), the
limited present continuous ((vi), preceding), and very often the future ((vii), preceding). Thus:

Hachulimi eo We are not cultivating today

Hachulimi hapa We don't cultivate here
Hampendi mwene numba ilee She doesn't like the owner of that house
Havendri Manda They are not going to Manda

 33

Sivuki nkanda kijaliwa I won't cross the narrows tomorrow

It is possible to form a future negative form e.g. hachutopacha We won't get but in practice the
imperfective negative tends to be used (hachupachi).

T h e p a s t n e g a t i v e i s as in St.Sw:
Hachukumvona We didn't see him (and won't)
This corresponds semantically to (viii), preceding.

Not yet (ha-,,,-ya-) is also as in St.Sw:

H a c h u - y a - m v o n a We haven't seen him (but might)
This corresponds semantically to (ix), preceding.

Another not yet form, in ha-.yatasa-

Numba hai-yatasa-(ku)anguka The house hasn't collapsed yet
How this differs from the preceding is not clear. For a discussion of
this, see S a c l e u x (1939: 873): some of his examples were not considered
quite correct by informants. This form also occurs in the other ND, in
other Swahili coastal dialects further south, and in Comorian (Nurse and
Hinnebusch 1993: 556). It derives from Arabic.

2. The secondary negative, marked by -si-, co-occurs with the subjunctive (including
imperative, and Past Consecutive), copulas, and relativised forms.

Musinane ndarandara nenani kwa udhuri Don't speak carelessly, speak well
Kadhi iso faida kuchenda si ada It's not usual to do work which has no point
Sabule isokachumiwi haifai A room which is not used is no use
Nalinunua dhichhu asokudhitaka shehe I bought the things the Sheikh didn't want
Vatonyi vasende bado The fishermen shouldn't go yet
Akamvudha, je unani? ulee nke asinjibu ineno
And he asked her 'What is wrong?', but the woman answered not a word"
Asokuva na nocha hahitaji shai A man who is not thirsty doesn't need tea"
Nsikichi use mai hauswaliwi A mosque without water cannot be prayed in.

-si- can be used together with -po- and -angali-. Thus Unless it rains tomorrow can be rendered by either
isipokunya vua kijaliwa or ikiva hainyi vua kijaliwa
Similarly,
U-si-ponambia or Ikiva hunambii If you dont tell me
U-si-podhiva ufa utajenga uvambaa or Ikiva hudhivi...
Unless you mend a crack, you will have to build the wall"

 34

In such cases the second method, with ikiva and the primary negative, was preferred. Also with -angali-:

Either a-s-engekuva mwidhi a-s-engetukua dhothe or ikiva hakuva mwidhi hengetukua dhothe or even
(preferred) ikiva alikuva si mwidhi... If he had not been a thief he would not have taken them all.

3. There is an imperfective relative negative with so(ka)-...-i (soka < si-o-ka)

Nchhu a-soka-som-i (or a-so-soma) hawedhi kupacha kadhi A person who can't read can't get work
Chenjele i-soka-li-i (or i-so-lia) haifai A bell which doesn't ring is no use
Mu-soka-tak-i You who don't want
Dhichhu a-soka-dhitak-i Bakari The things Bakari doesn't want
Mabuku a-soka-asom-i Obo The books Obo isn't reading
Mahala chu-soka-enendr-i The place we are not going to
Ambirie magunia a-soka-chumiwi (or a-so-chumiwa)
Throw away the bags which will not be/are not used

(xvi) Relativisation In relativised verb forms the number of morphological contrasts is

reduced, so the forms in (iv, v, vi, and often vii) above are reduced to one form. As indicated in
(3n) preceding, all full relatives of the shape -(C)o-, except locatives and temporals, are reducible
to simple -o-, both medially and finally. Two positive tenses alone are formed by suffixal -(C)o-, the
neutral and the ie-perfect, so:

Mahala papikwa-po chakula A place where food is cooked

Mahali ufie-po The place where he died
Bodo chukula-o hia sasa mbwa dhamani The ugali we are just eating is old
Bodo chupenda-o mbwa dhamani The ugali we like is old
Bodo chutie-o mbwa dhamani The ugali we ate is old
Pahala chwenda-po ni kudhuri The place we are going to is nice
Noni ung'wene-o (or umwone-o) uko ndrani a kichundru The bird you saw is inside the cage
Ulee mwana akusomesha-o kisawahili akili dhake ni nduri?
That boy who is teaching you Swahili - is his mind alright?
Hapa uli-po upo literally Here where-you-are is he there?

Other positive tenses are relativised by inserting -(C) o- after the TM, so:

Mikache al-o-ipika Esha isiliwe mpaka kijaliwa

The loaves which Esha cooked shouldn't be eaten until tomorrow
Vageni valee mwali-vo-vavona yana hukheti kwapi?
Those visitors you saw yesterday - where are they staying?
Buru chutaka-o-vuna or chuta-o-vuna The maize we'll harvest
Nchama chutok-o-uvuna The millet we'll harvest
Niechea kisu ataka-cho-kichumia (or ata-o-kichumia) Hamisi Bring me the knife that H. will use

 35

Vachhu watok-o-kuya The people who will come

Although the amba-for is also used, Bajunis have the feeling that amba is an intrusion and there is some
reason to think it is a fairly recent intrusion. Although the amba-form does appear in some older ND side y
side with forms no longer used today (e.g. with older -ile for todays ie), so:

Nami nina nipendwapo

Ambapo nipatukile

most relatives are expressed without the use of amba. This is true in older and even recent writing. However.
Among young people amba-forms may be used as alternatives for many of the tenses and aspects in this and
the next section, so:

(preferred) Kuna vachhu hapa chusi-vo-kavayisi "There are people here we don't know
(possible) Kuna vachhu hapa amba-vo hachuvayisi

Nchama chusi-o-kuuyaa hutoa midhi The millet we didn't plant is sprouting

Nchama amba-o hachuyauyaa hutoa midhi The millet we haven't planted is sprouting
Vachhu amba-vo havayaenenda Rasini vakheti hapa
The people who haven't gone to Faza should sit here
Ndoo wakati amba-po hasomi Come when he isn't studying

As the examples imply, amba-forms are not only alternatives to other TA forms but are even preferred
with some, e.g. -ya-, locative/temporal negatives, and also -me-.
Amba may be used with kwamba in constructions not possible in St.Sw. For example (with amba)
Ni vagunya ambao kwamba warevu kutoma isi It's the Bajuni who are good at fishing
Ni kilio ambacho kwamba hakiandoki maisha It's a cry which will never leave our lives

In negative relatives the number of tense contrasts is further reduced, which may be illustrated by
reduction of past, present, and future in:

ulee mchhu asoteka mai kesho ni nduye

hapati khichu
hakupacha khichu
hayapacha khichu

That man who wont draw water tomorrow is my brother

isnt drawing, doesnt draw water gets nothing
didn't draw water got nothing
hasn't drawn water has got nothing

A 'real' past relative negative (si-(C)o-ku) also exists:

 36

Chwalinunua nsi a-sioku-wataka (or asowataka) Musa We bought the fish that Moses didn't want
Nchama chu-sioku-uyaa hutoa midhi The millet we haven't planted is sprouting
Vachhu va-soku-yala vaandoke The people who are not asleep should come out
Mwiche barobaro a-soku-kuya Call the guy who hasn't arrived yet
Kitabu a-sichokusoma Hamadi chhako The book Hamadi didn't read is yours
Most other negative relatives are expressed by use of amba-forms.

The contructions just described also apply to the copular:

Ni vathikhuu ambavo ni verevu kutoma isi Its Bajunis who are good at fishing
Or ni vathikhuu valo verevu kutoma isi, or Ni vathikhuu ambavo kwamba verevu kutoma isi
Or ni vathikhuu verevu kutoma isi
Idau lilo bandarini kitaandoka karibu The boat which is in the harbour will leave soon
Idau lisoko bandarini... The boat which is not...
Idau lalokuva bandarini lindaandoka_The boat which was in the harbour has left
Idau lisokuva... The boat which was not...
Ndudu alo na (or mwene) mbava huwedha kuuka An insect with wings can fly
Ndudu aso na mbava hawedhi kuuka An insect with no wings cannot fly
Ndudu asokuva na mbava The insect which had no wings...
Asokuva na nocha utachelewa kusikilia The man who wasn't thirsty will be late
Ntonyi asokuveko2 The fisherman who was not there

(xvii) Auxiliary verbs

Many auxiliary verbs are in use (framework for some of these examples is taken from Ashton 1944):
-ka(a) be:: see above.
-li be (defective ): see several sections above, and also :

kwali na There was, wali na He had, wali (ni) shekhe He was aSheiihk

These constructions are now felt to be slightly dated.

-ni- copular: much as in St .Sw. , and note:

isi ni wa kulikubali, iisi mbwa kulikubali We have to agree to it

isi ni kulikubali We are t o agree to it
imi si wa kulikubali, imi si mbwa kulikubali I didnt have to agree to it
isi chungalikuva mbwa kulikubali We would have had to agree to it

-va be : see preceding, and:

Walikuva ndoyala kichambo He was asleep recently, Walikuya uyele "He was asleep
Hakuva uyele He was not asleep
Valikuva husoma sana They used to read a lot
Wakati hoo Sheebunu alikuva husoma At that time Sheebunu was reading"

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Mwarabu mmoya chwalokuva chukiyivana "An Arab we used to know

Ilimu itakuva hwanda numbani si chuvoni Education will start at home, not at school
Ukitokuya mapema takuva niyele Unless you come early I'll be asleep
Ikiva inya walikuva hankemei hangekimbia If his mother had not reproached him,he would not have run away
Ikiva takuva ndhivu hatakuva akisoma If he were idle, he would not continue studying
Selemani walikuva bado kugana hadithi Selemani hadn't yet started telling stories
Shevaye walikuva bado hugana hadithi Shevaye was still telling stories

2
The -e- in asokuveko occurs in all ND and looks like an -ie form of -va be, but it is probably not. It
appears only before locatives, and apparently results from -a plus the initial vowel of the locative. The
form above has an alternative asokuva uko. Similarly If that warship had been there may be either ikiva
hio manuwari aliveko or alikuva iko, and Perhaps in this house there is a man who..., labuda kachika
hio numba huvemo mmoya or huva umo.

-kwisia/-kwisha, already, literally finish

Famau ndakwisha kwenda Famau has already gone
Valikuva vandokwisia kupondana They had already fought
Vageni valipokuva vandokwishapokeadhawadiyuvalalitokakuntefudhaphwephwe
When the guests had received their presents Sun went out to look for Bat

-kisha): from -ki- and -isa/-isha has developed a composite participial form which has neutral time
reference, thus:
Vakishakuswali vatamtinda ulee hondoo After praying, theyll slaughter the sheep
Vakishakuswali valimtinda ulee hondoo After praying, they slaughtered the sheep

-ya come
Enendra kaombe mocho chuye chuoche maana ubaridi undadhidi
Go and ask for fire so that we can (come and) warm ourselves as it has got cold
Nikumbusa nisiye khasahau Remind me so Idon't (comeand)forget
Waladi walikucha asiye akashindwa Waladi was afraid lest he be beaten
Hakuna talofinikwa lisokuya likafunuka wadhi There is nothinghidden which cannot be revealed

- ( en)endra go
Mai andakwndra kuechwa People have gone to fetch water (lit. water has gone to be fetched)
Endrapo khenendra itakuvaye? And if I should happen to go, what of it?
Musichuteke sana maana eo ndisi na kijaliwa hwendra ikavanisikuenyu a kucheseka
Don't laugh too much at us for today we have problems but tomorrow it might be your day for troubles

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Vachhu hunena mangi ghalibu alee vaapendao veneve na hwendra ikava havaaamini alee
alosikilia mashikioni mwavo
People talk a lot as a rule about what they like themselves, and maybe they do not believe what they hear

-angali still
Malau angali husoma/akisoma Malauisstillreading
Angali ndoda He is still a child
Angali uyele He is still asleep
Vucha wa vua hata sasa angali hushuka kutoka ithi a mavingu Still today rainbows come down from cloudland