Konkomba-English Dictionary

GRAIf^tATICAL^ NOTES

Nouns

Konkomba has various noun classes indicated by prefixes and suffixes in
singular and plural. The classes are not recorded in the main body of the
dictionary since they are not necessary to the understanding of noims* How-
ever, they do affect the use of pronouns, demonstratives, numerals and adjec-
tives, as shown below, so a list of classes is given here:-

Class 1.

u-

Class 2.

bi-. . . .-b (or

-m)

Class 3,

li-. . . .-1

Class 4.

^i-

Class 5»

ki-. • . .-k (or '

-r,)

Class 6,

m-(or n-, -r)).

. . *— TO

Class 7.

ti-.. . .-r (or -

-nn, -n)

Class 8.

bu-. . • .-b (or

-m)

Class 9.

i- ....-i

Classic.

m- (or n-,, rj-)

Classll.

i-

Groups whi<

ch use them, with

examples, are given :-

Group A

Classes 1 & 2

uja, bijab

Group B

Classes 3 Sc k

litakpal, rjitakpal

Group C

Classes 5 & 6

ki juk, njum

Group D

Classes 5 & 7

kidiik, tidir

Group E

Classes 8 & 9

butom, itoi

Group F

Classes 10 & 11

ndo, ido

Group G

Classes 1 & 11

unaa, inaa

Group H

Classes 1 & 6

ubo, mbim

Pronoxms

ubor, biborb
liyimbil, rjiyimbil
kitir), ntim
kibir}, tibin
burjob, ir)oi
nlahn, ilahn
ubb, ibo

Each class has a class pronoun as follows :-
2. bi 3» li ^« 0^ 5» ki 6# mu 7» ti 8. bu
e.g. Kijuk bi la? IQ bi doo.
There are also personal pronouns as in English:-

9. i 10. mu 11. i

m
aa
u
ni

you

he/she

it (non-specific)

ti
ni
bi

we
you

they

When emphasis is needed, -ma is added. e.g. uma

Before a vowel, as in negative sentences or sentences with sub— ordinate
clauses of the aah na type, elision takes place as follows:-

u becomes w-

bi becomes b-

li becomes 1-

rji becomes r)—

ki becomes k—

ti becomes t—

i becomes y—

aa becomes s--

ni becomes n-

Waa bi.
Baa bi.
Laa bi.
T)aa' bi.
Kaa bi.
O^aa bi.
Yaa bi.
Saa bi.
Naa bi.

Waah bi kisaak na, le u kan uwaa.
etc.

mu and bu do not change.

The same sort of elision takes place with possession. Vfhen possessor and
possessed are both nouns, aa- takes the place of the class prefix of the poss-
essed thing.

e.g. uja aajuk

Some noxins must belong to someone; in the body of the dictionary, many of
these are entered without a prefix, e.g. -naakoon, -puu, although where the prefix
is apparent, it is given, e.g. litaal, liyil. These nouns are all body parts or
relatives or friends. In these cases, the pronouns do not change when they be-
come possessive, although m - first person assimilates to the following conson-
ant.

e.g. nte, mpuu, bite

Other noxins when possessed, retain the prefix aa- and add the prenominal
prefixes and words as follows:- ^

maabo tirai aabo

saabo nimi aabo

waabo baabo

Demonstratives

One demonstrative stands alone • i.e. ngbaan

Two others take class prefixes. They are -ee and -mina. In the case of
-mina, they are the same as the class pronouns and in the case of -ee, the class
pronouns are elided as before aa or aah, ex cept that mu and -ee become mue and bu
and -ee become bue. Demonstratives are also made from the pronoun ni. i.e.

nimina, nee.

e.g. kigbar) kimina, uja wee

Numerals

Numerals are not included in the body of the dictionary, but are foiuid in
Appendix 12. There is concord between the n\imeral and the noun, the numeral also
adopting the prefix of the noun. Numerals for classes 6 and 10 adopt the prefix

mu-.

e.g. uja ubaa bijab bilee
kitit] kibaa ntim mutaa

Sometimes numerals are reduplicated; this alters the meaning to 'one by one'
'two by two' etc. (Ghanaian English one, one, two, two etc.) e.g. ubaabaa

Adjectives

Mostly, notins are modified by relative clauses, e.g. tiwan ni r)an na. Adj-
ectival nouns can be formed from the verbs in these clauses, usually by adding
Class 3 affixes, and sometimes redupli<cating the verb. e.g. man v. limaln/
limamaln adj. n. Sometimes these are used in this form, but more often, the noun
being modified is prefixed and the new word adopts the class affixes of that noun.
A number of common adjectival nouns are entered in the dictionary - they will be
found Tuider li-.

There are a few adjectives (e.g. waatiir) and these are entered in the ex-
pected place. If a word functions as an adjective or an adverb, it is called a
qualifier. e.g. siib.

Verbs

Tense and and aspect are indicated by particles; ga, nan, ba, fo, bi , li pre-

^^»r^e rianc^P finallv. The verb itself does not change much,
cede the verb a occurs ^1^-/-^^^^; ^^^^ ^^^ ,,rbs have been divided into

!!^ Tl^Tsl^Ttl f nil;bef :?'irre^larities. The for. of the entry is either
tie perfective or the stative. The class number is given underneath the verb
and if th rHs some irregularity, that is also indicated Statxve verbs do
not usuallv change and they are indicated by the abbreviation Stat.. In the
^^turr^d^mperttive. the particle Ii precedes the verb. Some stative verbs
iave been assigned a class because they can occur in the imperfective form.
This alters their meaning from 'to be. . . . ' to ' to become....

'become crooked'
'become black'

e.g. gor
bonn

'be crooked'
'be black'

bi gomii
bi bonni

Class 1.

e.g. gee, gbaa

No change.

Class 2 .

In the imperfective, that is where the action is in process, is habitual
or is continuous, the suffix -i is added to the verb root.

e.g.

laan U bi laani paacham. 'It is flying up above. '^
finn U finni timi aakeken. 'She washes our clothes.

Class 3 «

In the imperfective, the suffix -ni is added to the verb root.

e.g.
Class 4,

r)a Aa bi rjani ba?

nyur) Bi njoirjni u. '

'What are you doing?'
'They honour him.'

In the imperfective, the suffix -r is added to the verb root,
e.g* fik U bi fikr tikokoln. 'She is spinning. '

chaa

U bi chaar si.

'He is dashing you. '

Class 5 .

The perfective has a suffix -n.
e.g. jin U bi ji bisaa.

pan

M jin a.
U ga pa si-
U pan si.

All other forms have no

'He is eating. '
'I have eaten. '
'He will pay you.
'He paid you. '

Class 6 .

Several verbs have been put together in this class, since they all have a
similar change in the imperfective. Some drop a word final b and ^^d e .ome
have a vowel change from ii to eei, or from ee to ae. A few l^^^'^'^f ^/^Jj!^^;
ual changes. Since there are several possibilities, the imperfective is written
into the main body of the dictionary.

Compound Words

Many Koiikomba words are made up from other words, e.g. uwankpadaan - rich
man is made up of udaan - owner, tiwan - thing, k£a - have; ki>3ambijak - thujnb
is made up of nnaar"=^rm, mbim - child, uja - man and class markers, {ine
small part of thF arm, 'but the big manly onel) It would be impossible to in-
clude a]l such words, as many are made up 'on the spot'. So if there is a^o ^
word which you cannot imderstand, try to divide it up and identify the part-
it. A few commonly used affixes are given in Appendix 13. One common intix is
-la- meaning 'which ( of two)' e.g. kilagba^ 'which book'. This is what makes
the language such an interesting and rich one and we hope you will enjoy v-mr
study of it. q

Margaret. A. Langdon, Mary J. Bree/.e

KONKOMBA -ENGLISH
LiKALN-LIKPAKPALN

DICTIONARY

cl:?i".:{v

^ ^■:.■ -' '. '

.■>i., .. " ■.* ■

m

S

KONKOMBA

■:^t;i^:?

^■f(^«ifiA K^mtUutr of 0m^i