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Lesson 10Historical spelling

Agreement and the genitive: Class I

CONCORDANCIA, GENITIVO CL. I

Rule §19

Concordance (agreement) is critical: nouns, verbs and adjectives must all agree with the noun they refer to. The genitive is formed by adding the particle 'a' to the class's concordant prefix, and it always agrees with the possessed noun, never the possessor; for class I the concordant prefix is u- (sing.) and a- (pl., which contracts with the genitive particle: a+a=a). The prefix is dropped, leaving only the bare particle 'a', between a class-I verbal noun and its complement (e.g. mulambi a kuria), and between certain kinship/familiar-person nouns and their possessor (an older form).

Chatelain’s original wording (1889)

Concordancia. E' importantissimo apprender bem esta parte; porque tanto os nomes como os verbos e os adjectivos devem concordar com o nome a que se referem. O genitivo forma-se, juntando a particula a ao pref. concordante da classe de qualquer nome, e a palavra resultante equivale á palavra portugueza de. Ex.: mubika ua (u+a) kuku = o escravo do avô. A concordancia sempre é regida pelo nome do objecto possuido e nunca pelo do possuidor. O pref. concordante da cl. I é: no sing. u—, no pl. a—. No pl. ha contracção do a pref. com o a partic. do genitivo, e escreve-se simplesmente a (a+a=a). Ex.: o abika a kuku. Exc.: Omitte-se o pref. concordante, e só fica a particula genit.: 1) entre os nomes verbaes da cl. I e o seu complemento. Ex.: mulambi a kuria; 2) entre alguns nomes que indicam um parente ou pessoa familiar e o do possuidor (forma antiga ?).

Rule §20

To express the masculine or feminine of an animate noun, muhatu (feminine) or riala (masculine) is added to it via the genitive, as shown in the example.

Chatelain’s original wording (1889)

Para exprimir o masculino ou o feminino do nome de um ente animado junta-se-lhe, por meio do genitivo, para o fem. muhatu e para o mascul. riala; como se vê no exemplo.

The pattern

Class I genitive construction (concordant prefix + particle a): sing. u— + a = ua, pl. a— + a = a (contracted, per §19), illustrated with example possessed/possessor noun pairs

mubika ua kukugrandfather's slaveconcordant prefix u- + genitive particle a
abika a kukuslavesconcordant prefix a- + genitive particle a (contracted a+a=a per §19)
mulambi ua kukucook
alambi a kukucooks
mulambi a kuriahe who cooks the foodconcordant prefix u- omitted per §19 exception 1 (nomes verbaes of cl. I + complement) — only the genitive particle a remains
alambi a kuriathey who cook the foodprefix omitted per §19 exception 1
mukaji a mukongothe hunter's wifeconcordance follows the possessed noun (mukaji), not the possessor (mukongo), per §19
mulume a muhatuthe woman's husband
mulambi ua muhatuwoman-cookgender-marking genitive per §20: muhatu = feminine
mulambi ua rialaman-cookgender-marking genitive per §20: riala = masculine

Exercises

Translate each sentence, using the pattern and the words above.

  1. 1Sotenu o m'bika ua (a) mama.
  2. 2Eme ngi mukongo ua muhatu.
  3. 3Eie u mukaji a mukongo.
  4. 4Jibenu o mona ua (a) kimbungu.
  5. 5Muene mulume a muloji ua muhatu.
  6. 6Ene abika a muhatu, enu nu abika a ahatu.
  7. 7Eme ngala ni mona a (ua) muturi.
  8. 8Muene uala ni mona ua riala, eme ngala ni ana a ahatu.

Héli Chatelain, Grammatica Elementar do Kimbundu ou Lingua de Angola (1888-1889), printed page 10. 6 transcription notes.