The order in which these components of the verb have been named is the order in which they occur within a word. The most central of the three is the root:
| tuduuga... | 'we climb ...' |
| tugeend ... | 'we go ...' |
These two words differ in meaning in a way which is apparently close to the difference between English 'climb' and 'go'. They differ in form by the difference between /-duug-/ and /-geend-/. The forms /-duug-/ and /-geend—/ may thus be identified with approximately the same meanings as those for which 'climb' and 'go' are used in English. Further investigation of Kirundi would disclose no basis for recognizing any more divisions within either of these forms; they are therefore what the linguist calls ROOTS. Every language has a large stock of roots.
What is the root in each of these verb forms:
| tubona... | 'we see...' | [-bon-] |
| tugura... | 'we buy...' | [-gur-] |
| tugoroora... | 'we iron...' | [-goroor-] |
Each Kirundi verb form has one and only one root. A root
may have any of several shapes, some of which are:
| -C- | (single consonant) | -v- | 'to go from' |
| -VC- | (vowel and consonant) | -íg- | 'to study, learn' |
| -CVC- | (one short vowel) | -kor- | 'to work, do' |
| -CV1V1C- | (one long vowel) | -duug- | 'to climb' |
| -V1CV2C- | (two vowels, which may or may not be alike, separated by a consonant) | -andik- | 'to write' |
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