The Mafulu Part 21

Ex. _ne i, ne inde,_ give me, but _nuga na indi,_ thou hast given me.

Nouns.

I. Gender.

There is no modification or grammatical difference to mark gender.

s.e.x is indicated by separate words in the case of human beings: _an(e)_ man, _me(le)_ boy, _ena(ne)_ brother, _amu(le)_ woman, _ame(le)_ girl, _eta(de)_ sister.

For mammals the words _avoge,_ male, or _momobe,_ female, follow the noun: _ovol' avoge,_ boar, _ovo' momobe,_ sow.

Dr. Strong notes that the s.e.x of birds is sometimes denoted by the adjective _ifa(ne),_ good, _i.e.,_ "ornamented," for the male bird, and _ifan' ul' amu,_ the "wife of the ornamented" for the female: _uruv'

ifa,_ the male hornbill; _uruv' ifan ul' amu,_ the female hornbill.

II. Number.

Only nouns indicating persons have been found with plurals. These are formed by changing the final _e_ to _i._ Sometimes the _e_ is changed to _a;_ this may indicate the dual.

Ex. _amu(le)_ woman, plur. amuli and amula; _so(le),_ young man, plur. _soli_ and _sola; me(le),_ child, plur. _meli_ and _mela._

Note (1). The word _a(ne)_ man, has a double plural in two different meanings: _ani,_ the men; _ake(da)_ the married men.

(2). The shortened form of the word is often used in the plural. This naturally is the same as the singular.

III. Case.

1. There is no modification of the noun to express case, but the equivalents of cases are shown by suffixes. The vocative alone often takes a final _a_ as in the interrogative form.

Ex. _Tayova, a tsia!_ Tayo, come here!

The subject, direct object, and indirect object are however easily recognised by their position in the sentence. The subject comes first, followed by the direct object, then the indirect object if there be one, with the verb at the end. If there are complements they immediately precede the word which governs them.

Ex. _naga kuku nu inde,_ I tobacco to thee gave; _Baiv' u mega nembe u fod' al' ema,_ Baiva's child bird his bow-with killed; _nuni ake mu letsi gatsi,_ thou men their village-to will-go.

2. The genitive is expressed by means of the possessive adjective.

Ex. _ovo'u ma,_ hair of the pig, lit. pig his hair.

3. Persons belonging to a place sometimes omit the adjective.

Ex. _A Kotsi,_ a man of Kotsi; _An'Alol',_ a man of Alole; _Alol'

amu,_ a woman of Alole; _Ambov'amu,_ a woman of Ambove; _Tseluku ul'

akeda,_ men of Tseluku.

4. Position in a place, or motion to or from a place is shown in the following ways. When the noun has a shortened for _-tsi_ is suffixed. If there is no short form the final _e_ of the noun is changed to _i_ and _-tsi_ is added.

Ex. _nani etsi ando,_ I am in the house; _nuni bulitsi gatsi,_ thou wilt go to the garden; _naga Mambutsi l'a tela,_ I have come here from Mambo.

Note (1). Some proper names of places do not take the suffix _-tsi._ Ex. _amul' Alol' itatsi,_ the woman will sleep at Alole.

(2). Other proper names, especially those of mountains and the villages built on them, take the suffix _-tu_ (upon) instead of _-tsi._ Ex. _Falitu gatsi,_ I will go to Faliba, lit. I will go upon Faliba.

IV. Interrogative Nouns.

The noun in Fuyuge has a special form to indicate the interrogative. If the noun ends in _e,_ this vowel is changed to _a._ If already ending in _a,_ the _a_ takes a strong accent. To any other vowel ending _a_ is added.

Ex. _ovo(le)_ pig: interrog. _ovola?_ is it a pig?

_bulomakao,_ cow, &c.: interrog. _bulomakaoa?_ is it a cow?

_kuku,_ tobacco: interrog. _kukua?_ is it tobacco?

_kupa,_ sweet potato: interrog. _kupa?_ is it a sweet potato?

V. Demonstrative Nouns.

These are similar to the Interrogative Nouns and are formed by the addition of the syllables _-aua, -ana,_ or _-ala_ instead of _a._ This form is both affirmative and interrogative.

Ex. _oyand' aua?_ is it a flower? or, it is a flower.

_Tayov' aua,_ it is Tayo; _kuku aua,_ it is tobacco; _an' ala,_ it is a man; _Ambov' ana,_ it is Ambo.

Adjectives.

I. Adjectives have no Gender. In the expression of Case, Interrogative and Demonstrative forms they are the same as Nouns.

Ex. _a baibe, amu baibe,_ man tall, woman tall; _uli baibitsi mau,_ pot big-in put it, put it in the big pot; _ifana?_ is it good? _ifan'

ala,_ it is good.

II. Adjectives of Quality.

1. Number.

Number is expressed as with nouns by changing _e_ to _i._ Some adjectives in _-a_ add _i._ There are no adjectives with the plural in _-a._ Some adjectives in _-a(ne)_ have the plural _-ai._

Ex. _kakava(ne)_ strong, plur. _kakavani; safa(le),_ plur. _safa(li); isosonga,_ idle, plur. _isosongai; aka(ne)_ small, plur. _akai._

2. Agreement.