CHAPTER 5
A LEARNER'S SYNOPSIS OF KIRUNDI STRUCTURE
The BASE of a Kirundi verb is defined as the root plus all suffixes except the final suffix.
Most kinds of Kirundi verb forms must contain, in addition to the stem, a subject prefix:
m-vuga | 'I speak' |
u—vuga | 'you (sg) speak' |
a-vuga | 'he/she speaks' |
tu—vuga | 'we speak' |
mu-vuga | 'you (pl) speak' |
ba-vuga | 'they speak' |
It will be noted that the subject prefixes stand for combinations of person (first, second, third) and number (singular, plural):
Singular | Plural | |
1. | n- (or m-) 'I' | tu- 'we' |
2. | u- 'you (sg)' | mu- 'you (pl)' |
3. | a- 'he, she' | ba- 'they' |
If /asoma/ is translated 'he, she reads', what is the translation of
/musoma/? | ['you (pl.) read'] |
/basoma/? | ['they read'] |
/nsoma/? | ['I read'] |
If /bageenda/ is one translation is equivalent of 'they go' write the corresponding translation equivalent of:
'I go' | [ngeenda] |
'you (pl.) go' | [mugeenda] |
'we go' | [tugeenda] |
'he/she goes' | [ageenda] |
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