Tumbuka grammar

Tumbuka grammar describes the main grammatical features of the Tumbuka language (also known as ChiTumbuka), a Bantu language spoken primarily in Malawi, Zambia and Tanzania.^[1][2] The Tumbuka grammar is typical for Bantu languages, bearing all the hallmarks of this language family. These include agglutinativity, extensive inflection for person (both subject and object), a rich array of noun classes, tense and aspect, as well as a subject–verb–object word order.^[1]

Noun classification and concord

Tumbuka, like other Bantu languages, has a system of noun classes that govern agreement (concord) on adjectives, verbs, pronouns, and other modifiers.^[1] Nouns take prefixes such as m-, ma-, ci-, and vi-, and modifiers agree with the noun’s class. Pluralisation usually involves changing the noun prefix: for instance, class 1 singular m- pluralises to ŵa-, and class 7 ci- to class 8 vi-.^[1][3]

Pronouns and subject marking

Personal pronouns can be expressed but are often omitted, since the verb carries a subject-prefix agreeing with the subject noun or pronoun.^[4]

• ine n-kha-gula – “I bought” (1st sg prefix n-kha-).

The 3rd person singular prefix may appear as a- in some dialects rather than wa-.

Verbal morphology

Every finite verb in Tumbuka carries a subject prefix, sometimes an object marker, and a tense–aspect marker.

Subject prefix

Each verb takes a prefix marking the subject’s noun class or person, e.g. ciŵinda ci-ka-koma nkhalamu (“the hunter killed a lion”).

Object marker

An optional object marker precedes the verb root and agrees with the object’s noun class, e.g. Pokani wa(yi)gula galimoto (“Pokani has bought a car”).

Tense and aspect

Tumbuka expresses tense and aspect through verbal affixes^[5] rather than tone.^[6][7][8]

Tense	Marker	Example	Translation
Present infinitive	ku-	ku-luta	“to go”
Present simple	-ku-	wa-ku-luta	“he/she goes” or “is going”
Present perfect	-a-	w-a-luta	“he/she has gone”
Remote past	-ka-	wa-ka-luta	“he/she went (some time ago)”
Near future	-enge	wa-luta-enge	“he/she will go (today)”
Remote future continuous	-zamu-…-anga	wa-zamu-luta-anga	“he/she will be going (tomorrow or later)”

Negation

Negation is expressed by particles such as yayi or chara, typically following the verb:^[1]

• wakulemba kalata yayi – “he is not writing a letter”.

A special negative perfect form adds -nda-…-e:

• yayi, nindakumana nawo – “no, I haven’t met him”.

Syntax

The basic word order is subject–verb–object (SVO), although variation occurs for focus or topicalisation.^[9] Verbs, adjectives, and relative clauses agree with their head nouns in noun class.^[9] Compound tenses and auxiliary constructions also occur, e.g. wakaŵa kuti wafumapo (“he had just left”).^[9]

Phonology and prosody

Although primarily a grammatical description, prosody interacts with morphosyntax.^[10] Studies show that Tumbuka lacks lexical tone contrasts; instead, a phrasal high-tone (stress-like) system applies.^[10] The penultimate vowel is lengthened and bears high tone in isolation.^[10]

Orthography

Tumbuka uses a Latin-based alphabet. Its orthography was standardised in the early 1940s in Malawi.^[11]

Examples

• ciŵinda ci-ka-koma nkhalamu — “the hunter killed a lion”
• wa-ku-luta — “he/she is going”
• wa-luta-enge — “he/she will go”

Dialectal variation

The 3rd person singular prefix may be a- instead of wa- in the Karonga dialect; the plural may appear as wa- rather than ŵa-.

See also

• Tumbuka language
• Bantu languages