omitted in the singular, and affixed to the root in the plural as in the Imperative mood. Thus: SING. Ndilandele ; PLUR. Ndilandeleni ; Follow thou me. Follow ye me. 5. Verbs in the Reflective form are generally used in this way to express the Imperative, though in their case no verbal medial is required on account of their peculiar formation and force. Thus : Zisindise; Zifumbeleni ; 255. The aorist tense is formed by prefixing the aorist subjunctive prefixes, to the infinitive mood of the verb. Thus: AFF.- Ndakuteta, When I speak. NEG.- Ndakungateti, When I speak not. This tense refers the verbal action to some particular period of time, which may be either present, past, or future, according to the construction. As:- Liti isela, lakubona abantu besiza, libaleke; Ndibe ndilele lakupuma ilanga; Ndiya kwenje njalo,ndakufika emzini wake; The thief runs when he sees peo→ ple coming. I was asleep when the sun rose. I will do so, when I arrive at his place. AUGMENTED FORMS OF THE TENSES. 256. The tenses of the Indicative mood, except the aorist, and the several tenses of the Potential mood, have augmented forms, which are derived in the following manner :— 1. Those of the Indicative tenses are formed by uniting the affirmative aorist indicative prefixes, or the aorist tense of the auxiliary ya, to their several corresponding participles. For example: PRES. ... IMP. -- AFF. Ndanditeta, and Ndaye nditeta. NEG.- Ndandingateti, and Ndaye ndingateti. AFF.- Ndandibe nditeta, and Ndaye ndibe nditeta. 2. The augmented forms of the Potential tenses are formed by uniting the same aorist prefixes and tense, to their several corresponding participial forms. For example: 1 PRES. AFF. Ndandingateta, and Ndaye ndingateta. NEG.- Ndandingetete, and Ndaye ndingetete. 2 PRES. AFF.- Ndandinga nditeta, and Ndaye ndinga nditeta. NEG.- Ndandinga ndingateti, and Ndaye ndinga ndingateti. ... 3. The aorist of ya, in this usage, always changes the final a of the verbal root into e, apparently for the sake of euphony, and is accordingly so given in the preceding examples, as well as in the table of auxiliary verbs. 4. The augmented forms of the above tenses, have the same general signification as those from which they are derived, with the additional idea of conjunction, which in some cases simply indicates a connexion with what has preceded, whilst in others, it involves the full force of the copulative and. Thus :-- Ndaye ndingafanelekile nokuba ndi- ndisile ekuhleni; Sasivukele oku ngennxa yake; Whose shoes I am not worthy to bear. But I have showed you, and have taught you publicly. And this we beg for his sake. The present and perfect augmented tenses, are frequently used in the same sense as the imperfect and pluperfect, respectively, of the simple tenses, a usage which is fully borne out by their formation. (§ 264, 2, i.-ii.) Thus :- 257. The present, Subjunctive, also, has an augmented form, derived by prefixing the root of the auxiliary ma; the vowel forms of the verbal prefixes sometimes taking their euphonic letters or substitutes before them. Thus : AFF.- Manditete, Mautete or Mawutete, &c. : NEG. Mandingateti, Maungateti or Mawungateti, &c. In the third person, Species 1, singular, and Species 2, plural, the final vowel of ma is sometimes elided before the verbal prefix; as, Mahambe, Let him go; Moyike, Let him fear. The augmented form of the present, Subjunctive, has the same general force as the simple form, but is more emphatic, especially in its imperative usage. As: 258. Some of the tenses of each mood have compound forms. In the formation of these, the substantive verb is placed in the required tense, and then precedes the several participles of the principal verb. The compound forms of the tenses are therefore very numerous, as each tense may be used with most of the participles, both in the affirmative and negative forms. For example: 1 FUT. IND. AFF.- Ndiya kuba nditeta, I shall be speaking. PRES. ... ... NEG.- Andiyi kuba nditeta, I shall not be speaking. POT. AFF. Ndingaba nditeta, I may be speaking. NEG.- Andingebe nditeta, I may not be speaking. PRES. SUBJ. AFF.- Ndibe nditeta, That I might be speaking. NEG.- Ndibe ndingateti, That I might be not speaking. 1. The substantive verb sometimes elides its final vowel before those participles which commence with a vowel; as, ungab' uhamba, akungeb' uteta, ab' ehamba, ib' ihamba, &c. 2. The substantive verb should only be considered as forming part of one of the compound forms of the tenses, when the following verb is in one of the participles, according to the above rule of formation. In other cases the two verbs must be conjugated separately and independently. 3. The compound forms of the tenses vary from their respective simple forms, chiefly in the manner of reference to the state of the verbal action. They will not require, however, a separate consideration, as their particular signification will be obvious from the nature of their formation. One tense, accordingly, will suffice for the purpose of illustration. According to § 239, 2, the first future, Indicative, simply asserts that an action will take place in some indefinite period of future time. There is nothing expressed about the state of the action, as to whether it will be in a state of progress, or in a state of completion. In the case of this tense therefore, it is left for its compound forms to denote definite future time, as well as to express future time in connexion with both finished and unfinished action. Thus :— FIRST FUT. IND.- Ndiyakuteta, I shall speak. COMP. FORM 1 ... ... 2 3 4 Ndiya kuba nditeta, I shall be speaking. Ndiya kuba ndibe nditeta, I shall have been speaking. Ndiya kuba nditetile, I shall have spoken. Ndiya kuba ndibe nditetile, I shall have spoken. The difference between the third and fourth of these compound forms, cannot be easily expressed in a translation. Both may denote finished action, before the accomplishment of another future action. The former, however, may imply that the accomplishment of the first will immediately precede that of the second, and therefore, in some sort, be present with it; whilst the latter implies that the completion of the one action will be wholly past, some time before the occurrence of the other. 259. Two of the participles, also, have compound forms (§ 218), but their use is very rarely required. These are formed in the same way as the preceding compound forms of the tenses, except that the substantive verb is placed in the required participle, instead of tense. See Paradigm of Verb. N. B. The definitions which have been given of the meaning and force of the several tenses, only refer to their affirmative forms. For the sake of simplicity, also, the illustrations have been usually confined to active verbs. In both cases, however, the necessary application can easily be made. NUMBER. 260. Verbs have two numbers, the singular and the plural. But Reciprocal verbs involve a plural sense, even when used in the singular number. As : Ndancedana naye emsebenzi ni; I helped with him in the work: PERSON. 261. Verbs have three persons in each number. But the third person has as many different forms as there are singular and plural nominal prefixes, and to each of which they severally correspond. 262. The eighth or indefinite species of the third person, is used as the Impersonal form of the verb when required. Thus: Kuyana; Kubaliwe; Kwoba nzima; It rains. There is written. It will be heavy. 1. But with the personal pronouns the proper personal form is more generally used. As : Sibe sisiti abatetayo; Ningenini abatshoyo; Woba ngu- It was we who spoke. It is not ye who say so. It shall be Moses alone. 2. In some cases the third species, singular, is employed im personally. As: Ibindimi obeteta; It was I who was speaking. Ibinguwe owatetayo; It was thou who spakedst. CONJUGATION. 263. Verbs of every Form and Voice, are all conjugated throughout their several moods, participles, tenses, numbers, and persons, by means of the same prefixes and auxiliary verbs, according to the rules just stated. |