Instruction: Explain the following grammar rule in Runyoro/Rutooro: Scope of the Study

Response: Here, we are going to analyse some aspects of the Runyakitara phonetics and phonology especially from the segmental point of view. This means that our study will not be comprehensive since Runyakitara is made up of numerous dialects and sub-dialects, not to talk of 'idiolects' or individual varieties. A comprehensive study would therefore attempt to account for the sub-systems attestable in the different dialects. This will not be the case; we shall limit ourselves to the most frequent pronunciations among the speakers of Runyoro, Rutooro, Runyankore and Rukiga. This means that, besides other Runyakitara dialects such as Ruhororo, Rutagwenda, Runyaruguru, Rusongora, Rutuku, Rugangaizi and Lubwisi, even the major dialects will not be thoroughly analysed since only the most common pronunciations will be dealt with. Since we are mainly dealing with segmental phonetics and phonology, that is, the study of the sounds that appear at the level of the basic sound itself, such as \grave{o}-m u ́-n-t u ́ (Rn/Rt) (Rn/Rt) (a person) without putting into consideration such other aspects as the pitch of each sound, e.g., o-m-u-n-t- uˉ u ˉ ; or the stress; that is, the place in a word or in a segment where muscular energy is placed; e.g. o'muntu, most energy here is placed on the syllable -muwhen pronouncing the word. We will also neither deal with the syllable structure (minimal combinations of consonants and vowels) nor vowel harmony (influence of sounds on each other). Most of these aspects are usually called 'supra-segmental' features. For Bantu languages, one of the most important supra-segmental features is the 'tone'; that is, a pitch in a word that can bring about a change in meaning (Taylor, 1959). For example, in Runyankore-Rukiga: This important feature has not been dealt with in this study; however, we shall say a few words about tone.


Instruction: Explain the following grammar rule in Runyoro/Rutooro: Tone in Runyakitara

Response: From the research conducted, tone, which Fromkin and his colleagues (2003) describe as the vocal sound with reference to its pitch, quality, and strength, is clearly attested in Runyankore-Rukiga. It is used in providing meaning of words whose spelling is the same but vary in pronunciation. That variation is only explained by the existence of tones. Examples include: However, tone seems to be lacking in Rutooro and very few cases remain in Runyoro. It is rather surprising that Runyoro-Rutooro is in that situation. This is because most of the East African Bantu languages surrounding Runyoro-Rutooro and intimately related to it have tone. It would appear, however, that Runyoro-Rutooro must have been fully tonal at a given moment and that the process of tone levelling must have occurred over time. Moreover, although in Rutooro no lexical items are attested that can be distinguished by tone alone, some remnants of tonal distinction do exist at sentence level, indicating the presence of grammatical tone. Compare, for instance, the following sentences: One can also quote a children's play word or pun where ambiguity is supposed to bring about different meanings. When one studies the tone patterns carefully, however, the ambiguity is removed.


Instruction: Explain the following grammar rule in Runyoro/Rutooro: Taata obu aba naagaba enyama naanyampa

Response: Taata obu a-ba ni-a-gaba e-nyama ni-a-nyampa 2. Taata obu aba naagaba enyama naanye ampa Taata obu aba ni-a-gaba e-nyama naanye a-mpa 3. Omukazi acumbire O-mu-kazi a-cumb-ire 4. Omukazi acumbire Father, when he is giving meat, he passes wind. When father is giving meat, he passes wind. Father, when he is giving meat, me also he gives. When father is giving meat, he gives me also. The woman who has cooked... The woman has cooked. In Runyankore-Rukiga, grammatical tone is even more pronounced as shown in the examples below: 5. Naakumanya Examples: Ni (aa-ku-many-a 6. Naakumanya), Ni (a-ku-many-a 7. Naakishoma), Ni (a-ki-shom-a 8. Naakishoma).


Instruction: Explain the following grammar rule in Runyoro/Rutooro: He is reading it

Response: We note that in some Runyankore-Rukiga varieties we can have sentences like: 9. Twamushangayo Twamushangayo 10. Naazayo


Instruction: Explain the following grammar rule in Runyoro/Rutooro: I have gone there

Response: He is going there; He will go there In the first set of Runyoro-Rutooro examples, the ambiguity between the two clauses is removed by the presence of contrastive tone. The examples above show that the grammatical intonation here helps to indicate the distinction between different types of clauses. Apart from such examples, cases of typical lexical and grammatical tones do not seem to exist in Runyoro-Rutooro. This does not mean, however, that the speakers of Runyoro-Rutooro do not have lexical and grammatical tones at all. A few examples of this kind of tone seem to have been found in Runyoro, although such pronunciation is questionable: The above examples, except the first pair (omunyoro) were cited by Shigeki Kaji (2015) and he confirms that such tonal contrasts do not exist in Rutooro at lexical level. This author had already talked about the absence of lexical tone in Rutooro in an earlier publication (Kaji, 2017). Tucker (1964) is also of the opinion that there are no tones attested in RunyoroRutooro. Things are, however, different in Runyankore-Rukiga. Sentences 5 to 10 above are clear examples of grammatical tone in Runyankore-Rukiga. Although tones are fully attested both at lexical and grammatical level in Runyankore-Rukiga, it appears that there has been a process of tone levelling among the younger generations of the speakers of Runyankore-Rukiga. Examples: Runyankore (Rukiga has two basic tones, the high tone marked ().


Instruction: Explain the following grammar rule in Runyoro/Rutooro: Verbs

Response: Due to the tone levelling phenomenon, all the above could be pronounced with low tone by some speakers.


Instruction: Explain the following grammar rule in Runyoro/Rutooro: Non-Verbs

Response: The above examples can be summarised as follows: (a) Verbs that are infinitive usually have only two tone classes: one characterised by low tone only, the other characterised by the presence of a high tone. (b) Nouns are also in two classes: one with low tone only, and the other by the presence of high tone appearing in different patterns with low tone.


Instruction: Explain the following grammar rule in Runyoro/Rutooro: Methodological Approach

Response: We shall attempt to account for the major similarities and differences at phonetic and phonological levels among the major dialects of Runyakitara. In order to do this, one has of necessity to adopt a comparative approach. The different dialects will therefore be examined both individually and collectively in order to discern what unites them or separates them. The ultimate aim will be to show that despite the differences, these dialects have a common underlying system that, most likely, accounts for their mutual intelligibility. Such conclusions would, however, be partial in character since in this part we are dealing only with the phonological aspect of the language.


Instruction: Explain the following grammar rule in Runyoro/Rutooro: The Sounds of Runyakitara

Response: In order to identify the distinctive sounds of a language, it is important to make an inventory of as many sounds as may exist in a language. From this pool of sounds, one can determine those that are more pertinent than others. As indicated earlier, we shall limit ourselves to the most common sounds produced by the speakers of Runyoro, Rutooro, Runyankore and Rukiga. This is not to do justice to a language characterized by numerous dialects; but because of various limitations, we shall limit ourselves to this. The charts below contain the most common Runyakitara sounds in the four major dialects.


Instruction: Explain the following grammar rule in Runyoro/Rutooro: The Runyakitara Consonant Charts

Response: Chart 1: Rn Chart 2: Rt Chart 3: Ry Chart 4: Rk From the four charts above, Runyankore has the highest number of consonantal sounds (26) followed by Rutooro (25), Runyoro (24) and Rukiga has the lowest number (23). We shall see, however, later, that the slightly higher number of sounds in Runyankore than in the other dialects is essentially due to the fact that in Ankore, there are two distinct social groups, the Bahima and the Bairu, with each group having some special characteristics in pronunciation. This situation does not arise among the speakers of the other three dialects. We note that sounds that are not common to all dialects are: We note here that most of the exceptions are found in Runyankore. But here, again, it is because of the two varieties of Runyankore. In fact, the sounds ts,kg ts,k g , and gg g g all belong to the Bahima. This would mean, then, that the non-Bahima are quite close to the Rukiga speakers in pronouncing their consonants. From the charts, we also note that the Rukiga speakers have the least number of exceptions in their consonants; that is, all their consonants are shared with at least one other dialect. Following is a list of examples to illustrate the utilisation of the above sounds: If one looks closely at the examples given above, one will notice that, out of the 29 sounds illustrated, it has been possible to give identical examples in Runyoro-Rutooro and Runyankore-Rukiga for 17 sounds. For a further eight sounds, the examples showed some differences. Finally, for four sounds, namely; ky, gy,3 k y , g y ,3, and ts, examples could only be found in Runyankore-Rukiga. Of these last four, only 3 appears in Runyankore-Rukiga as a whole whereas the other three are somewhat attested in Ruhima. Tentatively, therefore, one can say that fairly similar examples can be found in the utilisation of about three quarters of the sounds. We need, however, to examine these sounds in more detail to find out how and where they differ or are similar in their utilisation in the different dialects. p p and h h These two sounds, which are far removed from each other from the articulatory point of view, are otherwise quite close in Runyakitara. This could be due to the fact that in some languages (like English), p p is often aspirated as ph p h


Instruction: Explain the following grammar rule in Runyoro/Rutooro: . Some Runyankore speakers still tend to aspirate the

Response: p p such as in [ phaasi p h aasi ] (flat iron) and [okup h h akuka] (to do something hurriedly). It must be mentioned, however, that p p as a sound on its own is rather rare, both in Runyoro-Rutooro and Runyankore-Rukiga. It is mostly in loan words - such as Paapa (Pope); paasi (flat iron); pakiti (packet); paipu (pipe); kupakira (to pack); kupima (to measure); kupangisa (to hire); etc. We also have a few words of onomatopoeic nature, such as: Ipapa (wing); kupapamuka (to move excitedly); kupaapaara (move aimlessly everywhere); kupasuka (break suddenly); kupakuka (walk quickly); et cetera.


Instruction: Explain the following grammar rule in Runyoro/Rutooro: The sound

Response: h h, on the other hand, occurs very frequently both in Runyoro-Rutooro and Runyankore-Rukiga. Common examples include: kuha (to give); kuhaata (to peel); kuhaba (to lose one's way); kuhaga (to inflate or to get filled up); kuhama (to take root); kuhamba (to seize, to rape); kuheeka (to carry on one's back); kuhika (to arrive or to reach); kuhoma (to plaster); kuhunda (to decorate); et cetera. It should be pointed out, however, that each time h h is preceded by the bilabial nasal m m, it is pronounced p p. Examples of this type abound: b b and β β β β is a very frequent sound in Runyakitara but b b is not. As a matter of fact, b b usually occurs when preceded by the nasal m m, in loan-words or in onomatopoeic words. Elsewhere, the common pronunciation applies. Examples are: (a) b b preceded by m m Compare: (b) Loan words (especially for Rn/Rt Rn/Rt ) Note however, that in Runyoro-Rutooro, b b can be heard in a sentence even though this is not compulsory, for example: Baitu nookora ki? But what are you doing? Byabali araha? Where is Byabali? The sound v v, on the other hand, is not frequent in Runyakitara. It is mostly found in loan or foreign words, especially in Runyoro-Rutooro. Examples include: Examples: Runyankore (Rukiga also has such words as the following:).


Instruction: Explain the following grammar rule in Runyoro/Rutooro: The

Response: ts ts sound, on the other hand, is not widely used in Runyakitara. It is mainly used by the pastoral Bahima among the Runyankore speakers, with a few other Banyankore using it. It is also used by Kinyarwanda speakers outside Runyakitara area. Elsewhere in Runyakitara area, the ts ts sound is replaced either by s s or ky ky or hy hy. Examples include:


Instruction: Explain the following grammar rule in Runyoro/Rutooro: Stylistic pronunciation of

Response: ts ts in Rutooro could be heard particularly among the youth in words such as: I,f,Y I,f,Y, and rr rr These sounds are very frequent in Runyakitara particularly [f]. This latter is the sound most heard in Runyankore-Rukiga, whereas where l l is most common among Runyoro-Rutooro speakers who, at the same time, use [r] [r] even more frequently. rr rr, on the other hand, or the rolled r r, is most common among Rutooro speakers, although it is heard under different variations throughout the area under study, especially in Ankore.


Instruction: Explain the following grammar rule in Runyoro/Rutooro: If we start by examining the sound

Response: r r, it will be noted that throughout the Runyakitara area, it is usually pronounced flapped /f/, such that the following will be pronounced thus: Note that some Runyakitara speakers, especially those speaking Runyoro, sometimes pronounce f f, as a fricative sound and not flapped f. Examples are:


Instruction: Explain the following grammar rule in Runyoro/Rutooro: As regards the sound

Response: [l] [l], it can be said that this is practically non-existent among Runyankore speakers. Among the Rukiga speakers, the lateral [l] [l] is used as in RunyoroRutooro although many Bakiga believe they do not have it simply because it is not in the Runyankore-Rukiga orthography. As mentioned earlier, it is most frequent in RunyoroRutooro, where it varies with r r in determined environments (in the same manner as in Rukiga). In this respect, l l is attested when it is preceded by a,o a,o, or u u and followed by i i or e e. In all, the other environments, the sound expected is usually r r. This rule remains valid whether there is a a morphological or word boundary or not. Let us examine the following examples.


Instruction: Explain the following grammar rule in Runyoro/Rutooro: Examples with

Response: I I


Instruction: Explain the following grammar rule in Runyoro/Rutooro: Examples with

Response: f f It is clear from these examples that, in Runyoro-Rutooro and Rukiga, f f and l l appear in complementary distribution; that is, the sounds appearing before and after l l are different from those appearing before and after f f. This can be illustrated as follows: In all the other environments, which are the majority of the cases, the production will be f f, as in i….i i….i, like omubiri (body), pronounced [omubifi] or e….e e….e, like ekikere (Rn/Rt) (Rn/Rt) (frog), pronounced [ekikefe] and many other possible environments. Note, however, that l l and f f appearing at word initial, have different conditions of appearance; for example:


Instruction: Explain the following grammar rule in Runyoro/Rutooro: As far as the rolled

Response: r r or rr Examples: rr (also called a trill - is concerned, as mentioned earlier, it is most widely used among the Rutooro speakers but can also be found in other cases. In Rutooro, the sound).


Instruction: Explain the following grammar rule in Runyoro/Rutooro: The examples above show that there are at least three ways in Runyoro in which the

Response: rr rr in Rutooro is translated. The most common pronunciation seems to be that of Runyoro 1. Runyoro 2 seems to be more common among those who had some formal training in Runyoro-Rutooro because that was the standard pronunciation as reflected in the standard orthography. The speakers of Runyoro 3 are also many and seem to have some Luganda influence in their pronunciation. In Runyankore-Rukiga, at least in the orthography, the sound does not exist. It is always written as r r such that the equivalent of the Rutooro omurro (fire) would be omuriro. In real pronunciation, however, different sounds can be heard as shown below: In the examples given above, it should be noted that in Runyankore 1, the pronunciation of r r is almost rolled as in Rutooro but then there is a slight vowel that separates the rolling of r r (or doubling in orthography). In Runyankore 2, the r r is clearly rolled but the difference between this pronunciation and that of Rutooro is that the vowel preceding the rolled r r is lengthened in Rutooro. Note also that among the Rutooro speakers, especially the younger generation, there is a tendency to pronounce the rolled r r as a fricative.


Instruction: Explain the following grammar rule in Runyoro/Rutooro: The fricative

Response: r r or [r] [r] is heard in Runyoro and Rutooro but in different conditions. Among some Banyoro, the flapped r r or [f] is often pronounced as [r] [r], like in omunyoro [omunoro] rather than [omunofo]; that is, as [r] [r]. On the other hand, in Rutooro, r r is heard especially among the young generations to replace the rolled r r or rr rr such that instead of [omuurro] (fire), one sometimes hears [omuиr]. It would appear that, as far as the fvfv fvfv structure is concerned, the rolled r r in Rutooro and Runyankore and the flapped f in Runyoro have reached the highest stage of simplification from a historical point of view. One can postulate that the older pronunciation of the rolled r r was of the type {f∼f∨fv} {f∼f∨fv} but has undergone change to {fvfv} {fvfv}. The different stages are exemplified below: Table 1: Transformation of Languages


Instruction: Explain the following grammar rule in Runyoro/Rutooro: Remarks

Response: The word okulira/okurira, "to cry"," can be written exceptionally with a short or long vowel; i.e., okurra or okuurra or okura. The older generation in Rutooro tends to use okuurra rather than okurra, thus respecting the rule of vowel lengthening before rr .


Instruction: Explain the following grammar rule in Runyoro/Rutooro: The younger generation tends to shorten the

Response: rr rr both in okurra and in okura (one hardly hears okuura). After all, in this other case, there is no rolled r r as such and therefore the lengthening of the vowel before rr rr need not necessarily apply although it does apply in the other cases as shown in the examples of the fifth stage. 2. It has been pointed out that Runyakitara speakers, especially from Ibanda area, also sometimes use a fricative r[r] r[r] rather than the rolled [i]. This would mean that after the fourth stage [omurro], in Runyankore, there would be a fifth stage again in Runyankore [omuro] and the Rutooro fifth stage [omuиio] would become the sixth stage, while the Runyoro sixth stage [omuиio] would become the seventh. It has, however, been noted that the pronunciation by the people of Ibanda [omu{o],] who are Rutagwenda speakers, is influenced by Rutooro and by Runyankore. In this particular case, Rutooro seems to have had the upper hand. 3. Standard Runyoro-Rutooro adopted the spelling of omurro (Rutooro) rather than omuиro (Runyoro) or omuliro (Runyoro). Among other things, the considerations here might have been the following: (a) The Runyoro pronunciation of omuuro can bring confusion with other words with different meanings (homonyms). Compare: Rt Rn It is clear that the words in columns 1 and 3 in Runyoro are homonymous. (b) The other reason why the Rutooro omurro was preferred to the Runyoro omuliro or omuuro is that the first version omuliro seems to have some Luganda influence, a language not included in the Runyakitara group.


Instruction: Explain the following grammar rule in Runyoro/Rutooro: Before leaving the study of the sounds

Response: l,f,rr l,f,rr and r r, it should be noted that the above sounds are pronounced as d d when preceded by the alveolar nasal n n. Examples include:


Instruction: Explain the following grammar rule in Runyoro/Rutooro: Note that in the last example with

Response: rr rr, only the first r r becomes d d while the second r r remains r r. This is an exceptional case in Runyakitara where the syllable structure of the type VCVCV or CVNCV or CVCW/YV etc. now also includes the structure: CVndrC as in nindra above.


Instruction: Explain the following grammar rule in Runyoro/Rutooro: J and 3

Response: These two sounds are very frequent in Runyankore-Rukiga but of very limited use in Runyoro-Rutooro. It should be noted first that the sound transcribed as f f is usually written a sh in Runyankore-Rukiga orthography while 3 is written as j j. To begin with, the distribution of f f is very limited in Runyoro-Rutooro although heard among older generations and 3 is non-existent there. As for J J, the following examples are for Runyoro-Rutooro.


Instruction: Explain the following grammar rule in Runyoro/Rutooro: The original pronunciation seems to have been

Response: h h, the form used in spellings. This can be confirmed by the verb kuhya (to burn) in the following usages: In the two examples above, h h can be replaced by f f or s s by some speakers. However, if we take the form: tu-hi-ire we are burnt The only sound acceptable is h h and not f f or s s. The sounds f f and s s, therefore, only appear when h h is followed by the palatal continuant y y. Otherwise, h h is maintained.


Instruction: Explain the following grammar rule in Runyoro/Rutooro: The pronunciation of

Response: hy hy in Runyoro-Rutooro is more complex than is shown in the chart above. It seems most Banyoro pronounce an hy hy, which is close to a velar fricative +y +y, something like: omuXyo (the sound often heard among some Basoga speakers, in Lumasaba or in Luluya). Others do pronounce: omuhyo; while others pronounce: omuhyo with the h h totally dropped; omufyo could also be heard among some. In Rutooro, the order seems to be as follows: omuhyo omufyo omusyo omuyo omuhya. As pointed out earlier, Banyoro and Batooro of the older generations (and some younger ones) also use / generally in the same conditions as the Banyankore and the Bakiga although the Runyoro-Rutooro / (sh) tends to be a bit softer than the Runyankore-Rukiga one. Examples include: w w and y y w w and y y may also play the role of full consonants in the CVCV syllable structure such as: From the syllabic point of view, w w here is used fully as a consonant followed by a vowel, thus respecting the usual Bantu structure of CVCV. However, such examples with w w are fairly rare in Runyakitara. Luganda has much more of such a structure, where usually in Runyakitara w w is replaced by h h. Below are some examples. On the other hand, y y falls in well with the usual structure of CVCV as shown in the following examples: Apart from the cases examined above, the sounds f f and 3 are to be found in abundance in Runyankore-Rukiga. Below is a list of some of the many words in which these sounds can be found:


Instruction: Explain the following grammar rule in Runyoro/Rutooro: It should be noted that while the usual equivalent pronunciation of

Response: f f in RunyoroRutooro is s s, that of 3 is j j as shown in the following examples: As mentioned in the chapter on orthography, the letters ' zh zh ' would have better represented the sound 3 in Runyankore-Rukiga orthography than the present j j and would have corresponded to sh, which represents the unvoiced. In this case, Runyankore-Rukiga seems to have been influenced by the older Runyoro-Rutooro orthography, where the letter ' j j ' is more representative of the sound [j] [j]. c,j,ky c,j,ky and gy gy The palatal sounds c c and j j are frequent in Runyakitara. They are very distinct in RunyoroRutooro whereas, in Runyankore-Rukiga, they are often variations of the velars k k and g g. Here, we give examples of c c and j j used as distinct sounds: (a) (b) Ry/Rk Ry/Rk


Instruction: Explain the following grammar rule in Runyoro/Rutooro: The utilisation of

Response: c c and j j in Runyoro-Rutooro is straight forward and does not need much explanation. c c and j j are used in all environments without exception. In RunyankoreRukiga, things are more complex. Whereas the first examples with c c are similar to those in Runyoro-Rutooro, the rest of the examples show marked differences. As a general rule, ' k k ' is pronounced as c c and ' g g ' as j j when they are followed by i i or y y. In the orthography, when ' k k ' or ' g g ' are followed by e e, they are usually written with ' y y ' as ' ky ky ' or ' gy gy ' to show palatalisation. Thus, kye and gye are opposed to other cases where e e following ' k k ' or ' g g ' does not bring about palatalisation. When it comes to k+i k+i or g+i g+i, however, the letter ' y y ' is omitted to show palatalisation. It is assumed that whenever i i occurs before ' k k ' or ' g g ', palatalization automatically occurs. In the case of kye and gye, there is need in the orthography to add or not to add the palatal y y. This is because in some instances where ' k k ' or ' g g ' is followed by e e, there is no palatalisation. This is usually when there is a morphological boundary between k k or g g and the next morpheme. Examples to illustrate the above include: In the examples above, ky ky and gy gy are usually not heard. In other cases, the pronunciation of palatalised k k and g g has some variations. The Rukiga speakers tend to pronounce them as full palatals; that is, omukyeeka (mat), is pronounced [omuceeka] and omugyenyi (visitor), is pronounced [omujeni]. Many Runyankore speakers, especially among the agricultural Banyankore or the non Bahima, also tend to pronounce in the same manner. The Bahima, on the other hand, have a tendency to pronounce a palatalised velar, which, phonetically should be transcribed as [kv] [k v ] and [gv] [g v ], that is, k k and g g, with a slight y y. In the above two examples, the Bahima would, therefore, pronounce [omuk'eeka] and [omug'eni]. This latter pronunciation by Bahima, however, seems to be disappearing.


Instruction: Explain the following grammar rule in Runyoro/Rutooro: The above comments on

Response: ky ky and gy gy can also be applied to the pronunciation of ki ki and gi gi, which are pronounced as full palatals by Rukiga speakers and many Runyankore speakers but as palatalised velars by a few Runyankore speakers. Note on w w and y y w w and y y are usually called, in phonetics, frictionless continuants or approximants. They are also called semi-vowels or semi-consonants. In their production, the articulatory organs (lips for w w, palate for y y ) neither come in real contact (as in the case of consonants) nor are they totally separated from each other (as in the case of vowels). w w and y y usually play the role of semi-consonants in such compounds as: Chart 5: Runyakitara Consonants Note that this chart emerges out of a combination of all sounds in Runyakitara as shown in Charts 1-5 above.


Instruction: Explain the following grammar rule in Runyoro/Rutooro: The Vowels

Response: Runyakitara vowels are, as a whole, less complex than the consonants, at least from the articulatory point of view. There are, all in all, five vowels that have a distinctive feature of length, such that every short vowel can be lengthened with a change in the meaning of a word. The following chart illustrates the Runyakitara vowels: As a general rule, all the five vowels are fairly close in pronunciation to the cardinal vowels. Examples are: Runyakitara also has a few diphthongs, the most common being: ei,oi ei,oi and ai ai for Ry/Rk Ry/Rk, and oi oi and ai for Rn/Rt Rn/Rt. Diphthongs may or may not appear at word boundaries. Examples: In Runyankore-Rukiga and sometimes Runyoro, the diphthong ei ei is often used as a class prefix, where, in Rutooro, the prefix i i is used: As seen in chapter 8 , the diphthong written as ai‾ ai  is often pronounced as ei‾ ei  : In Rutooro, the diphthong ei ei seems to be restricted to the presence of the reflexible −e −e - in the verb:


Instruction: Explain the following grammar rule in Runyoro/Rutooro: The diphthong

Response: oi oi is frequent, particularly in Runyoro-Rutooro: Ry/Rk Runyoro-Rutooro also has the diphthong au in the word mau ("my mother" or "mother").


Instruction: Explain the following grammar rule in Runyoro/Rutooro: The Phonemes of Runyakitara

Response: Phonetics is the study of the nature of sounds in a language while phonology concentrates on those sounds in a language that are of special significance and that enable one to differentiate one word from another or an utterance from another. We shall now look at the phonemes of Runyakitara, or those sounds that one can call distinctive. In order to do this, we shall use the notion of minimal pairs as used by the Prague school to determine which sounds are phonemes and which ones are not. We shall proceed by grouping the sounds according to their place of articulation and then analyse the sounds in each group.


Instruction: Explain the following grammar rule in Runyoro/Rutooro: The bilabials to be analysed are

Response: p,b,β,m p,b,β,m and w.b w.b and β β are usually said to be variants of the same phoneme, as follows: i) Conditional Variants b b and β β are in complementary distribution, with b b occurring after a nasal and β β elsewhere, as shown in the following examples: In the above cases, b b and β β are conditional variants of the same phoneme, or allophones. ii) Free Variants b b and β β are free variants in the following areas: In loan words, one usually finds b b. One may also hear: In Runyoro-Rutooro particularly, there is also free variation between β β and b b when they appear at the beginning of a sentence, for example:


Instruction: Explain the following grammar rule in Runyoro/Rutooro: It is however argued that

Response: β/b β/b can be considered as distinct phonemes because there exists at least one minimal pair: This simple example is not really convincing because, in the first place, kaba (kabba) is not only a fairly rare word but it is also foreign. There is, however, also a similar word that is quite indigenous: Unless more examples are found, it might be safer to continue considering β β and b b as conditional or full variants. p/b/p/ p/b/p/ and /b/(orβ) /b/(orβ) are usually distinct phonemes as shown below: /m/ /m/ is also a distinct phoneme as in: (ku) βamba βamba to crucify (e) mamba type of fish (eki) βuga βuga town (eki) muga disabled person /w/ /w/ This sound has a problem as far as its phonemic status is concerned. It usually appears as a semi-consonant. When it appears as a consonant, it is usually at a morphological boundary where it seems to be a variant of a vowel, for example: Minimal pairs are almost non-existent except in such farfetched examples as: Provisionally, we may therefore conclude that, despite its limited distribution, w w is a phoneme in Runyakitara .


Instruction: Explain the following grammar rule in Runyoro/Rutooro: In spite of the limited frequency and distribution of

Response: v v as seen earlier, /f/ /f/ and /v/ /v/ are phonemes of the language. Minimal pairs include: (eki)feera idiot, halfwit (aka)veera plastic bag eviini (Rn/Rt) (Rn/Rt) wine ediini religion


Instruction: Explain the following grammar rule in Runyoro/Rutooro: This group has the largest number of sounds which include

Response: t,d,ts,n,l,f,rr,Y,s,z,∫ t,d,ts,n,l,f,rr,Y,s,z,∫ and 3 . To begin with, the dental t t and the alveolar t t are free variants of the same phoneme. It has already been said that the dental t t is the most common among the Runyakitara speakers while the alveolar t t is mostly restricted among the Runyoro speakers. The two are therefore regional variants. Otherwise, /t/ whether represented by the dental t t or the alveolar t t, is a distinct phoneme as exemplified by the following minimal pairs:


Instruction: Explain the following grammar rule in Runyoro/Rutooro: The examples above show that both

Response: /t/ /t/ and /d/ /d/ are distinct phonemes. On the other hand, as has been pointed out earlier, ts ts is not a distinct phoneme since it occurs in free variation with s s. It is therefore, a variant of s s. However, /s/ /s/ can be a distinct phoneme as attested in the following examples: /n/ is also a distinct phoneme: (oku)siga to sow (oku)niga to strangle (as above) We have already seen that l l and r r are conditional variants and in Runyoro-Rutooro, we indicated the environments in which the two occur. We can take /r/ /r/ as the basic phoneme (with the variant l l ). This can be illustrated by the following minimal pairs.


Instruction: Explain the following grammar rule in Runyoro/Rutooro: As regards

Response: /rr/ /rr/, it can be considered as a distinct phoneme. Minimal pairs for /rr/ /rr/ include (particularly in Rutooro): /s/ and /z/ are also distinct phonemes. We have already seen that ts ts is a free variant of s s, but elsewhere /s/ can be attested as a phoneme.


Instruction: Explain the following grammar rule in Runyoro/Rutooro: The last two examples above show that

Response: /f/ /f/ is a distinct phoneme in RunyankoreRukiga. The next example shows that /3/ /3/ is also a distinct phoneme in Runyankore-Rukiga. We note, however, that in Runyoro-Rutooro, ∫ ∫ is a free variant of h h and s s as in omuhyo or omu§yo or omusyo (a knife). In Runyankore-Rukiga, minimal pairs where ∫ ∫ and 3 are attested to include:


Instruction: Explain the following grammar rule in Runyoro/Rutooro: Although it is agreed that

Response: s s and ∫ ∫ are distinct phonemes at least in Runyankore-Rukiga, there are sometimes tendencies to use s s instead of ∫ ∫ as free variants of the same phoneme among some of the native speakers as in the following examples:


Instruction: Explain the following grammar rule in Runyoro/Rutooro: The palatals and velars are

Response: c,j,ny,y,k,g,ky c,j,ny,y,k,g,k y and gy g y and we include here the glottal h./c/ h./c/ and /j/ /j/ are distinct phonemes in both Runyoro-Rutooro and Runyankore-Rukiga, but as we have already seen, they can also be conditional variants of k k and g g when the latter appear before i i and y y.


Instruction: Explain the following grammar rule in Runyoro/Rutooro: As distinct phonemes

Response: /c/ /c/ and /j/ /j/ and n n can be found in the following minimal pairs. /n/ /n/ and /y/ /y/ are also phonemes in Runyakitara as in:


Instruction: Explain the following grammar rule in Runyoro/Rutooro: The velars

Response: /k/ /k/ and /g/ /g/ are distinct phonemes in Runyakitara but, as we have already seen, among some Runyankore speakers, the conditional variants ky k y and gy g y can be used. Examples of /k/ /k/ and /g/ /g/ as distinct phonemes can be seen in the following minimal pairs:


Instruction: Explain the following grammar rule in Runyoro/Rutooro: The last two examples show that

Response: /h/ /h/ is also a distinct phoneme.


Instruction: Explain the following grammar rule in Runyoro/Rutooro: The Vowels

Response: The procedure for identifying the vowel phonemes is the same as for consonants. We have already indicated further up that length is a distinctive feature in Runyakitara vowels and have provided minimal pairs. A few examples below will suffice to show that the five basic vowels of Runyakitara are also phonemes. We should note, however, that the distinctive feature of length in vowels is often neutralised in the following environments: i) before nasal compounds, for example: In that position, vowels are always pronounced long and therefore length ceases to be a distinctive feature. ii) after w w and y y compounds; for example: iii) In Rutooro ( particularly before the rolled (rr), for example: obuterre [obuteerre] slippery ground okuturra [okutuurra] to transmit disease okuserra [okuseerra] to search okuburra [okußuurra] to open one's eyes In all the above examples, length cannot serve as a distinctive feature for vowels because it is predictable.


Instruction: Explain the following grammar rule in Runyoro/Rutooro: Summary of Consonantal and Vocalic Phonemes

Response: By taking into account the phonemic description made of the Runyakitara sounds, one can propose the following phonological systems for the two major dialects and for Runyakitara as a whole. Chart 6: Rn/Rt Chart 7: Ry/Rk Chart 8: Runyakitara The charts above reflect the various phonemes identified in each dialect. The different free and conditional variants are therefore not indicated here. The Runyoro-Rutooro dialect has one phoneme less than Runyankore-Rukiga because, while it has one phoneme, /rr/ /rr/, which Runyankore-Rukiga does not have, the latter has two phonemes, /J/ /J/ and /3/ /3/, which Runyoro-Rutooro does not have. The whole system is therefore made up of the total phonemes attested in the two sub-systems. As regards vowels, it is clear that Runyakitara has five long and five short vowels.


Instruction: Explain the following grammar rule in Runyoro/Rutooro: Conclusion

Response: In this chapter, we have attempted to show what Runyakitara stands for and why its various dialects are considered as mere variations of one homogenous language. After the introduction, we presented the different sounds of Runyakitara in the four sub-systems and indicated the various free and conditional variants attested. As much as possible, we used common examples for all the dialects. Once we had made a phonetic study of the sounds, we proceeded to expose the phonemes that are present in each sub-system, the main criterion being the determination of distinctive features that can be found through minimal pairs. This was not done in detail but enough examples were given to show that the sounds that were considered as phonemes were contrastive. We then proposed two phonological sub-systems and an overall system based on the totality of phonemes identified. It is hoped that a further study of these sounds will lay more emphasis on their acoustic nature, on the supra-segmental features, and on the phonological processes such as assimilation, deletion, fortition, lenition and insertion that may exist in this language.


Instruction: Explain the following grammar rule in Runyoro/Rutooro: References

Response: Fromkin, V., Rodman, R., & Hyams, N. (2003). An introduction to language (7th Edn.). Boston: Thomson Wadsworth. Ndoleriire, O. (1992). Aspects of Runyakitara Segmental Phonology. Makerere Papers in Language and Linguistics, 1(2), 24-63. Kaji, S. (2007). A Rutooro vocabulary. Research Inst. for Languages and Cultures of Asia and Africa (ILCAA), Tokyo University of Foreign Studies. Kaji, S. (2015). A Rutooro vocabulary. Kyoto: Shoukadoh. Taylor, C. (1959). Runyankore-Rukiga-English and English-Runyankore-Rukiga Dictionary. Nairobi: The Eagle Press, East African Literature Bureau. Taylor, C. (1978). A teachers' handbook of Runyankore-Rukiga orthography. Kampala: Uganda Literature Bureau. Tucker, A. N. (1964). System of tone-making African languages. Bulletin of Oriental and African Studies, XXIII(3), 611. Vachek, J. (2008). Prague School of Linguistics. In Encyclopaedia of the linguistic sciences: Issues and theories.


Instruction: Explain the following grammar rule in Runyoro/Rutooro: Chapter 2

Response: MORPHOLOGY: GENERAL DESCRIPTION AND NOMINAL MORPHOLOGY IN RUNYAKITARA <br> Fridah Katushemererwe, Oswald Ndoleriire, & Shirley Byakutaaga


Instruction: Explain the following grammar rule in Runyoro/Rutooro: Morphology

Response: The term 'morphology' has been generally used in science specifically in biology where it denotes the study of the forms of plants and animals. It was first used for linguistic purposes in 1859 by the German linguist August Schleicher (Salmon, 2000) to refer to the study of the form of words. In present-day linguistics, the term 'morphology' refers to the study of the internal structure of words and of the systematic form-meaning correspondences between words (Booij, 2012). Morphology is an essential subfield of linguistics. According to Hamawand (2011), morphology generally aims to describe the structures of words and patterns of word formation in a language. Specifically, it aims to: (i) pin down the principles for relating the form and meaning of morphological expressions, (ii) explain how the morphological units are integrated and the resulting formations interpreted, and (iii) show how morphological units are organized in the lexicon in terms of similarity and contrast. The study of morphology uncovers the lexical resources of language, helps speakers to acquire the skills of using them creatively and, consequently, express their thoughts and emotions with fluency.


Instruction: Explain the following grammar rule in Runyoro/Rutooro: Morphological Typology

Response: Languages of the world have been classified using various criteria, one of which is morphology; that is, based on their language structure. Linguistics has traditionally classified world languages based on their structure into four broad categories according to Spencer (1991): isolating, agglutinating, inflectional/fusion and polysynthetic languages. Isolating/analytic languages are languages with limited morphological processes except for compounding. Here, separate grammatical concepts tend to be conveyed by separate words and not by morphological processes. In other words, it is a language in which almost every word consists of a single morpheme. Languages such as Chinese, Vietnamese are regarded as isolating languages. Agglutinating languages are languages with many morpheme-based words and each morpheme corresponds to a single lexical meaning or grammatical function. It has been noted that most Bantu languages, including Runyakitara group, are agglutinative. Inflectional/fusion languages refer to languages where words change form because of all sorts of grammatical categories such as tense, mood, agreement, etc. Polysynthetic languages - language in which words tend to consist of several morphemes. Polysynthetic languages have a high morpheme to word ratio. Classifying languages in this manner has been criticized as inconsistent and useless. The inconsistency is such that no language has been found to exist in one category exclusively. For example, English can have isolating, inflectional and agglutinating features. Secondly, the classification is considered useless because there is nothing interesting that comes out as a result of classifying languages this way. This classification, however, is still referred to and forms a basis for understanding languages' structural behaviour. In addition, there is no better typology that has been suggested that challenges the existing one.


Instruction: Explain the following grammar rule in Runyoro/Rutooro: Morphological Typology and Runyakitara Morphology

Response: Runyakitara has isolating features where a word expresses meaning without being split further, for example, words such as eego (yes) ngaaha (no) and busha (nothing) in Runyankore-Rukiga exhibit features of isolating morphology. Agglutination is the main morphological type of Runyakitara. Words consist of many morphemes, each adding meaning or grammatical function to a word; for example, the Runyankore-Rukiga form tukundane agglutinates as follows:  2pp-love-vf-rec-subjunctive (Let us love one another) tu,a,n tu,a,n and e e have been added to the verb root kund, each adding a meaning or grammatical function to the main verb root. Runyakitara also has features of fusion or can also find itself in inflectional categories. Take an example of the noun, omuntu (person). Mu serves two functions: it is a class marker for the People Class and it marks number, which is singular. Therefore, omuntu inflects for both class and number. What is a morpheme? According to Bloomfield, the father of structural linguistics (Bloomfield, 1933, pp. 161-168), a morpheme can be decribed as a minimal meaningful element of a word. The word, muhe (give him/her) in Runyankore-Rukiga, has three morphemes: mu mu, the subject pronoun "him/her", and h h, the verb root of "give", and e e is a verb end marking subjunctive. The three units making up the word form mu−h−e mu−h−e are explained in detail: a) each unit is meaningful; b) the units cannot further be sub-divided, thus indicating that they are the smallest; c) each of these units contributes meaning or grammatical function to a word. One of the facts about morphemes is that they have a physical (phonological and phonetic) form and also a meaning or function within the grammatical system (Spencer, 1991). A physical form of a morpheme is a morph or a word segment that represents a morpheme in sound and writing. Writing, for example, the word okusindika (to push), is represented by four morphs: o-ku-sindik-a, each representing a morpheme. A common example is the English past tense spelled as '-ed'. It has various morphs: It is realised as [t] after the voiceless [p] of 'jump' (cf. 'jumped'), as [d] after the voiced [l] of 'repel' (cf. 'repelled'), and as [əd] after the voiceless [t] of 'root' or the voiced [d] of 'wed' (cf. 'rooted' and 'wedded'). The various morphs mentioned here represent one morpheme called past tense. The different realisations or alternative forms of a single morpheme are called allomorphs. Allomorphs in Runyakitara are well elaborated by a causative morpheme that is realised as es in ku-reeb-es-a, or make to see; is in ku-kwat-is-a, to (make to catch/touch); y y in ku-ham-y-a, to (make firm). The appearance of one morph over another, in this case, is determined by voicing and the place of articulation of the final consonant of the verb stem.


Instruction: Explain the following grammar rule in Runyoro/Rutooro: Identifying morphemes and morphs

Response: Morphemes are identified according to their nature/type:


Instruction: Explain the following grammar rule in Runyoro/Rutooro: Free morphemes

Response: A free morpheme is a linguistic unit that can stand on its own and serve as a morpheme and a word. A free morpheme is also called unbound morpheme because no other morphemes are attached. Examples: The above are free morphemes which act as words as well. In each one of the above words, it is difficult to discern more than a single meaning. Such words are said to be monomorphic words.


Instruction: Explain the following grammar rule in Runyoro/Rutooro: Bound morphemes

Response: Consider the following words from Runyoro-Rutooro and learn how morphemes can be identified: In the above words, one might find more than one morpheme, hence, meaning for example: o-mu-saija: o - represents the initial vowel, which is capable of assuming specific functions in a sentence; mu mu is the class prefix for humans as well as marking singular; saija is the root for man. In omulimi, the final - i i is to be considered as a different morph because it serves to nominalise the action of the verb kulima. The verb ku-lim-a changes into a noun o-mu-lim-i through a derivational process. We will meet derivation in the following sections. In okulindirra: We could also examine the following sentences: i) Titumumanyire. We don't know him. ii) Akatusangaho. He found us there. These can be broken down as follows: ti-tu-mu-many-ire a-ka-tu-sang-a-ho In (i), morphemes and morphs are: In the second example, the morphemes and morphs are: As can be seen from the above, bound morphemes do not have complete meanings but some "segment" of meanings. The mere fact that −a −a at the end of a verb can help in distinguishing azina, "he sings," from azine, "let him sing," shows that −a −a is a different morph from −e −e, the former expressing an indicative (or declarative) and the latter a subjunctive or an indirect order. In a language that is familiar, and more especially in a language that is unfamiliar, one proceeds by partial comparisons of word segments. Let us examine them in Runyoro-Rutooro: In examining the above word forms one can come to some conclusions. For instance, simply by working at the translations, one can suppose that -zin- or -zina seems to have the meaning of sing or to sing! This is because this segment is recurrent in all the examples and there is always sing in the translation. On the other hand, ku Examples: ku (means the infinitive to. In order to confirm this, one can look for examples from other verbs such as:).


Instruction: Explain the following grammar rule in Runyoro/Rutooro: Roots and Affixes

Response: Runyakitara, like other Bantu languages, is classified as an agglutinating language, where a word is capable of having one root with several affixes attached to it and assuming different functions. In the following words in Runyankore-Rukiga, roots and affixes are illustrated: In the above examples, we can obtain the following roots: The root is therefore the basic form containing the basic meaning of a word and not reducible to any further meaning. The morphemes that come before, after, or within the root are called affixes. The affixes before the root are called prefixes while those after the root are suffixes while those within the root would be called infixes. Bantu languages (including Runyakitara) are well known for making their sentences by agglutinating different affixes before and after a root as in (Runyoro-Rutooro): 'We have never seen him/her at all'. Literally, 'We did not see him ever, even a little.' This very long sentence could be said to be a one-word sentence. If we can define words as items which are usually found in dictionaries, however, then clearly the above is not a word but an item belonging to the grammar of the language. It is therefore more of a sentence than a word.


Instruction: Explain the following grammar rule in Runyoro/Rutooro: Inflectional and Derivational Affixes in Runyakitara

Response: Affixes are characterised either as inflectional or derivational. a) Inflectional Affixes: They are those which refer to aspects of grammar such as person, gender, number, tense, aspect, mood and are often called grammatical categories. are all inflectional affixes expressing person ( a− a− ), tense ( −ka− −ka− ), person ( tu− tu− ) and mood ( −a −a ). In the word o-ku-gum-is-ir-iz-a, o- and -ku- are inflectional affixes expressing the infinitive. On the other hand, -is-, -ir-, -iz- are not inflectional affixes but verb extensions. −a −a could be said to be inflectional because it also participates in expressing the infinitive mood. b) Derivational Affixes: These may modify the meaning of a word but do not refer to the grammatical categories talked about above. They may or may not change the class of a word, e.g. from noun to verb or from adjective to noun, etc. When derivational affixes change the class of words, we have instances when a verb can become a noun as indicated below: Here, the suffix −i −i is a derivational affix, which changes a verb into a noun. Other examples could be: okwombeka to build From the verb okwombeka, we can derive the following nouns: The above examples demonstrate that we can derive different nouns from the verb okwombeka. The final vowel of the verb, which is the suffix −a −a, becomes −i −i when the derived noun is an agent or doer of action. The derived nouns are assigned Class 1 and 2; that is, noun classes for human. The final −a −a becomes −o −o when the derived noun is an instrument or a place, as shown by the Runyankore-Rukiga examples below: Instrument: okukondoora (to sweep): ekikondoozo (broom) (typically Rk) Place: okushima (to learn/study): e-i-shom-er-o (a school - a place where people receive education) okuriisa (to graze): e−i e−i-riis-iz-,-o (a grazing place) Derived nouns with semantic meaning of place or location are assigned Class 5 and 6 , while the instruments are typically placed in Classes 7 and 8 (see Noun Class on p.71). Nouns derived from verbs are termed deverbal nouns. A deverbal noun can take the final vowel as −a,i−,o,−e −a,i−,o,−e depending on the meaning to be encoded. The process of deriving nouns from verbs is called nominalisation.


Instruction: Explain the following grammar rule in Runyoro/Rutooro: Derived proper names

Response: A big percentage of family names among Banyankore-Bakiga are derived from verbs; and most of these names have a religious undertone. The process of deriving proper names is more complicated and involves pronominal forms. Take the example of the verb okukunda, to love. A number of proper names can be derived by adding or changing the pronominal forms: Rukundo (ru-kund-o) Love Kukundakwe (ku-kund-a-ku-e) His love Atukunda (a-tu-kund-a) He loves us (habitual) Naatukunda (ni-a-tu-kund-a) He loves us Tumukunde (tu-mu-kund-e) Let us love Him Nankunda (ni-a-n-kund-a) He loves me Examples: Ankunda (a-n-kund-a).


Instruction: Explain the following grammar rule in Runyoro/Rutooro: Morphemes and Allomorphs

Response: Allomorphs are to morphemes as allophones are to phonemes. An allomorph represents a certain manifestation of a morpheme in determined conditions. For instance, some Runyakitara verbs show certain modifications in their roots in specific circumstances, for example ( Rn/Rt Rn/Rt ): When the above verbs are followed by the perfective -ire or the near past -irege, the roots change as follows: And yet, From the above examples, one can see that the root remains invariant except when followed by any other tense/aspect except -ire or -irege when -gend-becomes genz - to go -rund-becomes runz - to heap -cand-becomes canz - to suffer It can be said that -gend-, rund- and cand-become genz, runz, and canz when followed by -ire. The perfective -ire, especially in Runyoro-Rutooro, also gives a good example of morphemes and allomorphs. The most common allomorphs for the perfective are -ire and -ere. This means that -ire and -ere are different manifestations of the same morpheme (the perfect or perfective). Furthermore, these allomorphs appear in specific, well-determined conditions as in the following examples in Runyoro-Rutooro: See also the following examples: Generally speaking, the above examples bring out the following rules: In bisyllabic verb stems (1), -ere is found when the vowel preceding the last consonant is either o o or e e, as in the following: The verb stems here are: (See previous examples in (i)) In bisyllabic verb stems, -ire is found in all other conditions, i.e. when the vowel preceding the last consonant of the stem is i,a i,a, or u u e.g. (See previous examples in (ii)). In verb stems of more than two syllables, the tendency is always to have -ire as the perfective in the examples in (ii) above. 1 1 Other examples are: The following points should be noted: The allomorphs for the perfective are not only -ire and -ere, although these are the most common. Others are -ize, -eze and -ine, as will be shown in the study on the verb. The rule for -ire and -ere is not always respected, especially by Rutooro speakers. In such words as: -ire seems to be more acceptable in Tooro while the rule would make one expect -ere as most people in Bunyoro do. 1 It could also be noted that in Runyankore-Rukiga, -ere is hardly heard but ire seems to be the general form for not the perfective as in Runyoro-Rutooro but the near past as we shall see later. 3. In trisyllabic and longer verb stems, the presence of -ire, though fairly systematic, can sometimes be replaced by -ere in such verbs in Runyoro-Rutooro as:


Instruction: Explain the following grammar rule in Runyoro/Rutooro: Nominal Morphology in Runyakitara

Response: Runyakitara, like other Bantu languages, has an intricate noun system. According to Demuth (2000), Noun Classes are grammatical elements rather than independent lexical items. Noun Classes are determined by the grammatical number (singular or plural) semantics (animate or inanimate) and arbitrary (Katamba, 2003; Eikenvald, 2006). In Runyakitara, we can add that where a class has no prefix to determine the grammatical number, the concord serves a basis for determining its class. Runyakitara nouns can be broken down into three major parts, namely: initial vowel, noun class prefix, and noun root. Examples are: o-mu-ntu (a person) o-mu-ti (a tree) a-ba-ana (children) e−n−te e−n−te (cow) e Examples: e (ki-tooke (bananas).


Instruction: Explain the following grammar rule in Runyoro/Rutooro: Initial Vowel

Response: Nouns in Runyakitara usually have an initial vowel. There are three main initial vowels, namely: a− as in a−ba−ntue− as in e−ki−tookeo− as in o−mu−ntu a− as in a−ba−ntu e− as in e−ki−tooke o− as in o−mu−ntu  There are certain rules that govern the occurrence of the initial vowel. i) If the Noun Class prefix has the vowel −a −a, e.g.: ba,ma ba,ma, the initial vowel will be a a. Thus: a a-ma-ta (milk) abakazi (women). ii) The initial vowel will be −e −e - if the noun class prefix has /−/ /−/ or /i/ /i/ e.g.: e Examples: e (ki-tooke, a banana bunch,).


Instruction: Explain the following grammar rule in Runyoro/Rutooro: Runyakitara Noun Classes

Response: The Noun Class system used in this analysis has borrowed a lot from Katamba (2003) and Taylor (1985). Katamba (2003) provides a detailed comparative analysis of different classification systems, singling out the Bleek-Meinhof system, and its revisions, as standard. This has provided important insights for the analysis of Runyakitara. To cater for the needs of Runyakitara, Taylor (1985) details a classification system of its nouns, describing 17 classes, but with few or limited sub-classes. Katushemererwe & Hanneforth (2010) devised a Noun Class system for Runyankore-Rukiga based on Katamba (2003) and Taylor (1985) classification systems. The system we describe below ( Ry/Rk Ry/Rk ) is an enhancement of the previous classification systems and has been devised for the specific needs of Runyakitara. Class 1 (People class): This class is marked by -mu- and is exclusively for human beings. In terms of number, −mu −mu - is a singular marker, examples: Examples: Morpho (phonological Rule 1: When).


Instruction: Explain the following grammar rule in Runyoro/Rutooro: Trees and Plants

Response: There are nouns in this class which will not change number, i.e. they remain in plural form and are marked by 4 a in the table e.g. e-mi-gyend-ere (the way of moving), e-mi-reeb-ere (way of seeing). Class 5 (RI/LI): This class is marked by -ri/li- prefix. Belonging to this class are hard, flat objects, some parts of human anatomy, natural objects, mass nouns, abstract nouns and names depicting time, weather or seasons. a) Parts of Human Anatomy b) Hard Objects Singular Gloss e-i-baare/i-baale stone e-i-cumu/i-cumu spear e-i-baati/i-baate iron sheet 5a includes nouns which do not change to either singular or plural; for instance: eisiru (stupidity). Class 6 (MA): This is a plural class of 5 and is marked by -ma-. Examples for Class 5 can change as listed below:


Instruction: Explain the following grammar rule in Runyoro/Rutooro: Hard Objects

Response: Singular Gloss a-ma-baare/a-ma-baale a-ma-cumu a-ma-baati stones spears iron sheets Class 6a consists of mass and abstract nouns that do not change to singular form: - Mass Nouns Abstract Nouns a-ma-ani strength a-ma-gezi/amagyezi a-ma-rara (Rn/Rt) (Rn/Rt) pride a-ma-iru intense desire; craving for a-ma-kuru news a-ma-hano miracles It should be noted that when used with borrowed words, sometimes -ri-/-ili- disappears in the singular but -ma- is maintained in the plural. This also happens in other classes we will meet in the sections to follow: Class 7 (KI): This is a class commonly known as the things/objects class and animals. It mainly consists of animate and inanimate but also abstract objects as exemplified below: A category of nouns in this class that will not change its number, that is, will have a singular class prefix and will not change to plural includes abstract nouns. Examples:


Instruction: Explain the following grammar rule in Runyoro/Rutooro: Feelings and other abstract nouns

Response: Class 8 (BI): A class marked by a class prefix -bi-, a plural form of -ki-. It includes nouns in Class 7, which change into plural plus nouns that do not change into singular. Examples are listed below: Nouns which belong to this class and do not change from plural to singular are exemplified below: Class 9/10 (N Class): This class could rightly be called the animal class as it covers most animal names. The n n - prefix usually represents both singular and plural. This class also covers nouns from other languages. Examples include: a) Animals b) Abstract nouns c) Nominalized verbs emphasizing the way an action is carried out These are usually abstract in nature as can be seen below: d) Someone doing something as a habit or a profession These nouns are usually derived from verbs as can be seen below: e) Names of cows and bananas Many names of bananas and cows (the female that have given birth) are found in this class as can be seen in the examples below from Runyoro-Rutooro:


Instruction: Explain the following grammar rule in Runyoro/Rutooro: One notes that the cows' names do not take the initial vowel

Response: e Examples: e (. The reason is likely to be that these nouns are used as proper nouns for these cows and proper nouns normally do not bear the initial vowel in Runyakitara.).


Instruction: Explain the following grammar rule in Runyoro/Rutooro: When

Response: n n precedes h,n h,n changes to m m and h h changes to p p. This eventually becomes a nasal compound e.g. e-n-hunu, changes to e-m-punu. Also, when n n precedes b b, it changes into m m, e.g. e-n-bwa changes to e-m-bwa. Class 11 (RU): This class is marked by -ru- in singular and covers several general things. The plural is class 10 marker -n-. Examples are: a) Insects b) Household Items c) Names of languages Note that there is normally no plural for a specific language. d) Names of bulls and he-goats These examples are from Runyoro-Rutooro: e) Augmentive or derogatory This normally describes someone or something unpleasant usually not of small size as in the examples below: The plural of the above nouns seems to be problematic, and one would seem to navigate between the prefixes ga- and n Examples: n (. For instance, for o-ru-naku, e-n-aku sounds acceptable but for o-ru-buzi, a-ga-buzi would seem better.).


Instruction: Explain the following grammar rule in Runyoro/Rutooro: Wa and Nya Noun Prefixes

Response: This is a special type of pre-prefixing in Runyakitara. Wa- is prefixed to animals and birds in class 6 . This is used mostly in folk tales for personification. When personification is used, the nouns are like those in the class 1&2 1&2, although the nouns maintain their original noun class prefixes; for example: For example, Wante aine ihembe. Mr. Cow has a horn. Nya- is used with the Class 1 and 2 especially when the speaker does not want to reveal the name of the person she is talking about, for example:


Instruction: Explain the following grammar rule in Runyoro/Rutooro: Aspects of the Nominalisation Process

Response: There are cases when a Runyakitara verb functions like a noun involving some morphophonological transformation. This can be seen when a verb at the infinitive, that is, beginning with the prefix ku Examples: ku (, has its final vowel).


Instruction: Explain the following grammar rule in Runyoro/Rutooro: The nominalising vowel suffixes are usually

Response: i Examples: i (as in o-mu-koz-i "a worker", or -o as in o-mu-kor-o "function". This vowel can also be).


Instruction: Explain the following grammar rule in Runyoro/Rutooro: The Morphology of the Pronoun in Runyakitara

Response: In traditional grammar, a pronoun is a word that takes the place of a noun. A pronoun can do all what a noun can do; for instance, it can be a subject, a direct object, an indirect object etc. Pronouns are used mainly to keep nouns from being repeated or when nouns are not clearly known. In Runyakitara, pronouns are categorized as follows:


Instruction: Explain the following grammar rule in Runyoro/Rutooro: Personal Pronouns

Response: In the grammatical sense, a personal pronoun is a pronoun that is associated primarily with a particular person. In Runyakitara, personal pronouns can further be sub-divided into: (i) Independent pronouns, and (ii) Dependent pronouns. a) Independent Personal Pronouns: The personal pronouns are usually used for emphasis and can stand independently. They may function both as subjects and objects in a sentence. They include: Examples, as subjects: Nyowe ndwaire I am sick Nibanywa naitwe They are drinking with us b) Dependent Personal Pronouns: These pronouns cannot stand independently as those in a) above. They are not meaningful in their own respect. They must be attached to a verb. Each noun class has its own pronouns. Here, we shall look at the pronouns for the class 1&2 1&2.


Instruction: Explain the following grammar rule in Runyoro/Rutooro: Example

Response: Note that for you (pl.) and they (pl.), the object pronoun is the same -ba-. It is from the context that we can tell who is being talked about. It should be noted that for the non-human third person, the noun takes pronoun according to the noun class. These pronouns are also dependent. Examples (Ry/Rk) gu-gw-ire haihi n'eishomero it fell near the school gu-gu-gw-er-e-ire it fell on it tu-ka-reets-ire we brought it ti-bu-ka-sheesh-ire it is not yet dawn


Instruction: Explain the following grammar rule in Runyoro/Rutooro: Other types of pronouns in Runyakitara

Response: (1) Demonstrative pronouns: These pronouns point out someone or something. For instance, (Ry/Rk): a) Maama ampaire ekikopo eki my mother gave me this cup b) Ninkunda eki I like this eki in (a) above is a demonstrative adjective, while in (b) is a demonstrative pronoun. Demonstrative pronouns in Runyankore-Rukiga are indicated in the table below: The sentences below could illustrate the table above: i) Ziriya zaanywa, kwonka ezi tizaanywa. (Those have drunk, but these have not.) ii) Ago nigoosya, kwonka aga gahozire. (That is hot, but this one is cold.) iii) Ebi bite aho haza biri obireete. (Put these there, and bring those here.) It should be noted that where a class is followed by (pl) or "plural', e.g. 2 (pl), the English translation should not be 'this' but 'those' or 'those here', 'those there' and 'those 'far' as the case may be. Ori and oriya tend to be used interchangeably among Banyankore-Bakiga with Banyankore tending to use 'ori' than 'oriya' to mean 'that far'. Class 14 (tu) can either be a plural (otukazi - tiny little women) or collective (otutaka - a tiny amount of soil). In the first case, 'these' or 'those' will be used while in the second case 'this' or 'that' will be used. What has been said in the previous paragraph also applies to the Runyoro-Rutooro examples below. In Runyoro-Rutooro the corresponding demonstrative pronouns would be the following: We should note that in Runyoro-Rutooro 'that one there' and 'that one at a distance' are rendered by the same morpheme; i.e., --li(ri), whereas in RunyankoreRukiga the suffix -ya is added to -ri meaning 'that' far. In Runyoro-Rutooro, in order to differentiate between 'that one there' and 'that one at a distance' or 'far' one tends to use a rising intonation in the second instance, i.e. for 'that far'. If we used tone markers, we can illustrate this differentiation by the following example: óli- 'that there' as opposed to óli- 'that far'. (2) Interrogative Pronouns: Interrogative pronouns are used in inquiry to ask direct questions. They are made up of class prefix, followed by the following markers: -ha, hi hi and −ki −ki as in the following examples: oha? 'who', ki? "what" hi? "who" (Ry/Rk). The following sentences (Ry/Rk) will illustrate the above: N'oha? (Who is it?) Ni baahi? (Who are those?) Niki? (What is it?) Nikiha? (Which one?) (3) Possessive Pronouns: These are pronouns that show ownership or possession. The possessive pronoun consists of markers indicating: i) the possessed, ii) the possessive marker, iii) the possessor. For example, ekyange [e-ki-a-nge] (mine) in Runyoro-Rutooro can be broken down as follows:


Instruction: Explain the following grammar rule in Runyoro/Rutooro: Note that the initial vowel is part of the possessed and may be present or absent according

Response: to circumstances. Personal possessive pronouns include: In Runyakitara, possessive pronouns follow respective Noun Classes as in the table below:


Instruction: Explain the following grammar rule in Runyoro/Rutooro: Noun Class

Response: (4) Cardinal Pronouns: These are cardinal numbers that can serve in the place of nouns as stand-alone pronouns. In Runyakitara, counting is done as follows: In Runyakitara, the following examples show the use of cardinal pronouns: Mushanju bakaba baine abaana, ikumi bataine. Seven had children, ten did not. (Ry/Rk) Ababiri bamira ebigambo, abasatu babisatura. The two swallow words, the three scatter them. (Rn/Rt) Bataano bahikire, ikumi tibakahikire. Five have reached, ten have not yet reached. (Rn/Rt) (5) Indefinite Pronouns: Indefinite pronouns are those referring to one or more unspecified objects, beings, or places. They are called "indefinite" simply because they do not indicate the exact object, being, or place to which they refer. Boona, bakye, baingi, bingi, kikye, kakye, gamwe, are some examples in Runyankore-Rukiga. Indefinite pronouns in Runyakitara can be used as follows: Boona baija hati All of them have come now. Bamwe baine, abandi tibaine Some have, others do not have Baija baine bukye kwonka batwara bwingi They have come with few, but they have taken much (6) Relative Pronouns: These normally replace a noun in a relative clause, where they play the role of subject or object. They are normally represented by a class prefix with its initial vowel with some minor modifications. This can be demonstrated in the following Runyankore-Rukiga sentences: Abaana abu naareeba n'abaawe. The children whom I have seen are yours. Abaana abarikwija n'abaawe. The children who are coming are yours. In the first sentence, abu abu is a relative pronoun playing the role of object, while in the second sentence, abu abu is the same pronoun but playing the role of subject. In Runyakitara, the relative pronouns derived from the different noun classes are indicated below: A few examples with Class 7 are given below in Runyoro-Rutooro: Ekisono eki tuhiigire tukiriire. The animal that we have hunted, we have eaten (We have eaten the animal that we have hunted). Ekihuka ekimurumire tukiisire. The insect that has bitten him, we have killed. (We have killed the insect that has bitten him.) As a general rule, in Runyakitara orthography, when the relative pronoun plays the role of subject, it is attached to the clause that it heads, whereas when it plays the role of object, it is separated from it.


Instruction: Explain the following grammar rule in Runyoro/Rutooro: The Morphology of the Adjective

Response: An adjective is a word which qualifies a noun by describing its size, colour, shape etc. Although there is no universally adopted definition of an adjective, it is agreed that they are modifiers, qualifiers, and describers of nouns. Adjectives explain more about words (nouns and pronouns) by answering questions such as what kind, which one, and how many. In Bantu languages, adjectives have been labelled as 'true' adjectives, and adjectives which function in the place of other word categories especially pronouns. In this book, we have instead borrowed from Segerer (2008) the term primary adjectives as the appropriate term in relation to what we are referring to. A classical feature of the primary adjectives in Bantu languages is that they follow a noun they qualify (Segerer, 2008). A typical primary adjective in Runyakitara consists of three morphological elements. The first morpheme is the optional Initial Vowel, which, when available, has some syntactic function(s) to the noun/whole sentence. Next, is the nominal agreement prefix which is the same as the nominal class prefix of the noun. The third element is the adjective root, which contains the basic meaning of the adjective. This is exemplified as follows: From the above example, the adjective o-mu-rungi, which qualifies omwana has three segments as: o- initial vowel (IV) mu- class marker rungi-adjective root 'good' Some of the primary adjective roots in Runyakitara include: Note that these adjectives can be used to describe nouns from any noun class where applicable. The adjective concords for the above adjectives are the same as the noun class prefixes for instance: omushaija (man) muhango (big) abashaija bahango, (big men) omuserukare omudoma (the stupid soldier) An adjective can qualify (describe) two nouns belonging to the same noun class by using the plural prefix for that noun class. Examples are: Omuhyo gunu na guli mi-kooto (Rn/Rt) This knife and that one are big. Ekitabo eki na kiri ni bi-hango (Ry/Rk) This book and that one are big. However, if the nouns belong to different noun classes, then the bi-is used. For example: Enjoka n'ekikyere birwaine The snake and the frog fought. (N-class) (KI-class) (BI- prefix) Primary adjectives in Runyakitara can also stand independently and serve as nouns as follows:


Instruction: Explain the following grammar rule in Runyoro/Rutooro: Omurungi tabura kamogo Even the beautiful one may have a 'scar' Omukye yaija wenka The small one has come alone

Response: Omumafu akunda okurya The lazy one enjoys eating The primary adjectives will be opposed to secondary adjectives. A good number of linguists are not convinced that this category should be called adjectives. These are in effect pronouns but which can also be considered as adjectives when they appear with a noun. For purposes of convenience, we shall consider them as secondary adjectives. The following are considered as secondary adjectives in this book: i) Demonstrative adjectives ii) Interrogative adjectives iii) Possessive adjectives iv) Cardinal adjectives v) Ordinal adjectives vi) Indefinite adjectives.


Instruction: Explain the following grammar rule in Runyoro/Rutooro: Cardinal numbers as Adjectives in Runyakitara

Response: In most language descriptions, cardinal numbers are treated separately from adjectives. However, in other cases, as pointed out by Segerer (2008), some of the cardinal numerals show exactly the same morphological and syntactical features as the adjectives. In Runyakitara, Cardinal numerals describe the number of a noun as in the following cases: The Runyankore-Rukiga ombi'- ombi' meaning 'both' can also be used as an adjective of number. For example: abaana ba-ombi both children (children both) It is important to note that numerals can also be used independently, that is, on their own, and in this case, they serve as nouns as illustrated in the following example: Itaano yangye yaaza hi? Where is my five? Egi ni mukaaga This is six Igana ryangye rikuzire My herd/hundred is old


Instruction: Explain the following grammar rule in Runyoro/Rutooro: Ordinal numbers as adjectives in Runyakitara

Response: Ordinal numbers which serve as adjectives show the order of the nouns being described. In Runyakitara, the ordinal adjective is introduced by the particle composed of an initial vowel, the subject pronoun of the noun in question and a possessive marker -a. Examples include: abantu abaamukaaga (people in the 6th 6 th position) Initial vowel Noun prefix Possessive a- ba- a- particle. abasaija abaikumi nababiri (Class 2) embuzi ezaamusanju (class 10) ekisembo ekyakabiri (class 7) Therefore, for any noun to be described as an ordinal number, it will have to be introduced by the possessive particle as described above.


Instruction: Explain the following grammar rule in Runyoro/Rutooro: Demonstratives as Adjectives in Runyakitara

Response: These are adjectives that point at the person or thing to separate it from the others. In Runyoro-Rutooro, there are three main positions described, namely: this near and touchable that near but visible that far, visible or invisible.


Instruction: Explain the following grammar rule in Runyoro/Rutooro: Examples

Response: Certain literature on Bantu languages indicates that such cases as exemplified above are demonstratives (Rugemalira, 2007). We also support the fact that they are demonstratives, but since what they demonstrate is the noun they succeed, we maintain that they are demonstrative adjectives in Runyakitara. In Runyankore-Rukiga, there are four positions that are described with demonstrative adjectives. These are: 'this here': near, 'that there': some visible distance, visible/previously referred to, and 'that': far away.


Instruction: Explain the following grammar rule in Runyoro/Rutooro: Possessives as adjectives in Runyakitara

Response: These are words that describe ownership of something. The ownership they describe is that of a noun, therefore, they are possessive adjectives. In classes 1 and 2 (people class) they are as follows:


Instruction: Explain the following grammar rule in Runyoro/Rutooro: For class

Response: 1&2 1&2, the possessive adjective takes the subject pronoun for the noun possessed. For example: ekitabu ki-ange my book etaara ya-itu our lantern/lamp Possession for the other noun classes is also marked in a similar manner. Examples are: omukira gw'ente The cow's tail otwino tw'embeba The rat's nice teeth obumanzi bw'enkoko The hen's bravery Note that the possessive marker is initially a a - (see paragraph 1 above) which is preceded by the subject pronoun of the noun that is possessed by somebody or something. The possessive marker contains the subject pronoun and the possessive marker. Example are: omukira gu-a-ente gua ente ⟶a⟶ ⟶a⟶ gu-ente ⟶ ⟶ gw'ente


Instruction: Explain the following grammar rule in Runyoro/Rutooro: Indefinite pronouns as adjectives in Runyakitara

Response: These are the kind of adjectives that describe a noun without giving full information about it. They include the following:


Instruction: Explain the following grammar rule in Runyoro/Rutooro: Abantu abandi

Response: Other people 2. Omuntu ondi Another person 3. Ente endiijo Another cow 4. Boona ka baije Let all of them come 5. Ka baije bonka Let them come with nobody else 6. Abantu ni baingi omu nsi There are many people in the world 7. Buri omwe naashabwa kuha omushoro Everybody is asked to pay tax 8. Abagenyi baizirege bake


Instruction: Explain the following grammar rule in Runyoro/Rutooro: Interrogatives as Adjectives in Runyakitara

Response: Interrogative adjectives are added to a noun about which more information is sought. They include: Examples are: Kintu ki? Omwegyesa oha? Which thing? Which teacher? Abakazi baingahi? How many women? Purezidenti wa Uganda n'oha? Who is the President of Uganda? Eiguru ririmu enyonyoozi zingahi? How many stars are in the sky?


Instruction: Explain the following grammar rule in Runyoro/Rutooro: Conclusion

Response: This chapter has shed light on the general concepts pertaining to morphology. It went on to examine the noun and those other parts of speech that are usually associated with the noun, namely, the pronoun and the adjective. Runyakitara has an elaborate noun classification system worth noting, but a simple noun structure. A simple nominal morphology centres on the fact that the majority of the nouns in Runyakitara constitute only three morphemes: the pre-prefix, the prefix, and the root. A noun suffix occurs as a nominaliser from derivation processes. A pronoun, which stands in the place of a noun, too, has a simple structure but a detailed categorisation sysyem. A simple structure in a sense that it occurs as a single morpheme, either free or bound. Detailed categorisation relates to the fact that pronouns are either personal or impersonal. Personal pronouns are classified as independent and dependent. Each noun class in Runyakitara has its own dependent pronoun either functioning as a subject or object when in combination with verbs. The next chapter will essentially deal with the verb and those other parts of speech closely related to the verb.


Instruction: Explain the following grammar rule in Runyoro/Rutooro: References

Response: Bloomfield, L. (1933). Language. New York: Holt, Rinehart & Winston. Booij, G. (2012). The grammar of words: An introduction to linguistic morphology. London: Oxford University Press. Demuth, K. (2000). Bantu noun class systems: Loan word and acquisition evidence of semantic productivity. In G. Senft, & S. C. Levinson (Eds.). Systems of nominal classification (Vol. 4) (pp. 270-292). Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press. Eikenvald, A. Y. (2006). Classifiers and noun classes: Semantics. In K. Brown (Ed.). encyclopedia of language and linguistics (Vol. 1) (pp. 463-471). Oxford, UK: Elsevier. Hamawand, Z. (2011). Morphology in English: Word formation in cognitive grammar. New York: Continuum International Publishing Group. Karwemera, F. (1994). Emicwe n'emigyenzo y'Abakiga. Kampala: Fountain Publishers Ltd. Katamba, F. (Ed.) (2003). Morphology: Critical concepts in linguistics. London, UK: Routledge. Katushemererwe, F. & Hanneforth, T. (2010). Finite state methods in morphological analysis of Runyakitara verbs. Nordic Journal of African Studies, 19(1), 1-22. Muranga, M. J. K. (1990). Pessimistic nomenclature in South West Uganda. Makerere Papers in Languages and Linguistics, 1, 64-87. Rubongoya, L. T. (1999). A modern Runyoro-Rutooro grammar. Cologne: Rudiger Koppe Verlag. Rugemalira, J. (2007). The structure of the Bantu noun phrase. SOAS Working Papers in Linguistics, 15, 135-148. Salmon, G. (2000). Generative morphology. London, UK: Oxford University Press. Segerer, G. (2008). Closed adjective classes and primary adjectives in African languages. Retrieved from: https://halshs.archives-ouvertes.fr/halshs-00255943. Spencer, A. (1991). Morphological theory: An introduction to word structure in generative grammar. Oxford, UK: Blackwell. Taylor, C. (1985). Croom descriptive drammars: Nkore-Kiga. London: Croom Helm.


Instruction: Explain the following grammar rule in Runyoro/Rutooro: Footnotes

Response: 1 1 A stem can be simply defined as an extended root. In Runyakitara, when the verb final −a −a is added to the root as on -zin- "sing", it becomes a stem: zina. ↩


Instruction: Explain the following grammar rule in Runyoro/Rutooro: Chapter 3

Response: VERBAL MORPHOLOGY: TENSE AND ASPECT IN RUNYAKITARA Gilbert Gumoshabe & Oswald Ndolerire


Instruction: Explain the following grammar rule in Runyoro/Rutooro: Introduction

Response: This study will analyse tense and aspect as they relate to the Runyakitara language. In this particular study, the concept of tense and aspect as they relate to Runyakitara (Runyoro-Rutooro and Runyankore-Rukiga) will have the following meaning: Tense: the action of the verb seen at a given moment in time. Aspect: the internal nature of an action, i.e. the action seen at its beginning, at its end, as on-going, as completed, etc. In other words, the way the action is perceived. Guillaume (1970) defines aspect as the time of a process seen from its internal developments. Aspect as a concept could also refer to the inherent nature of an action within the verb as a lexeme. For instance, the action in the Runyakitara verb kuzina (to dance) is perceived by its own nature as having a certain duration. On the other hand, in the Runyakitara verb kunaga (to drop) one does not see this inherent duration in the action. Furthermore, in both tense and aspect, adverbs or adverbial phrases can be used to express different tenses (moments in time) or aspects (the way the action is perceived). For instance, in the Runyakitara sentence akaija ijo (he came yesterday or the day before yesterday) the moment in time is not only expressed by the tense marker ka ka but also by the adverb ijo (yesterday or the day before yesterday). In the same way, in the sentence nitubaza mpora (we are talking slowly) the way the action is perceived can be seen in the tense/aspect marker ni, the verb lexeme baza (talk), since talking always takes time, as well as the adverb mpora (slowly). In the present study, it is important to point out that tense and aspect will be analysed as they are expressed through their markers or morphemes, for example: ni - present, progressive, ka Examples: ka (far past, et cetera.).


Instruction: Explain the following grammar rule in Runyoro/Rutooro: Theoretical Approaches

Response: This study does not pretend to propound any new theory for the analysis of tense and aspect in Runyakitara. The main thrust will be the identification of morphemes or markers that can be said to express tense, aspect of both. Those morphemes normally appear in three contexts, namely: In a simple verb form, for example: ni-tu-zin-a we are dancing Where ni Examples: ni (present progressive), tu (1st person plural, subject), zin (verb 'dance').


Instruction: Explain the following grammar rule in Runyoro/Rutooro: The Verb in Runyakitara

Response: The simplest form of the Runyakitara verb is in the imperative, for example:


Instruction: Explain the following grammar rule in Runyoro/Rutooro: One notes that the simplest verb form is made up of the verb root and the verb final

Response: −a −a. The next form in simplicity is the infinitive, for example: A very complex verb form in Runyakitara could be something of the type below in Runyoro-Rutooro version: ti-tu-ka-ba-teer-a-ho-ga We have never beaten them at all 2 2 Where: A very complex and compound verb form could be: tu-ka-ba tu-ta-ka-ba-teer-a-ho-ga We had never beaten them at all Where everything remains the same as in the previous example except that the action is put in the past by the presence of the far past tense −ka −ka - and the auxiliary −ba −ba (to be). Furthermore, the negation marker shifts from first to second position and instead of ti Examples: ti (it is transformed into the allomorph -ta-.).


Instruction: Explain the following grammar rule in Runyoro/Rutooro: Markers in the Simple Verb Forms

Response: The tense/aspect markers in simple verb forms are sometimes the same and sometimes different in Runyoro-Rutooro and in Runyankore-Rukiga. A few of them are specific to Rukiga on the one hand and to Runyoro on the other.


Instruction: Explain the following grammar rule in Runyoro/Rutooro: Tense Markers in Ry-Rk

Response: Examples: ka (far past).


Instruction: Explain the following grammar rule in Runyoro/Rutooro: Examples in Ry-Rk

Response: tu−ka−mu−siim−a tu−ka−mu−siim−a We thanked him we fear him verb final past thank tu−rya−mu−reeb−a tu−rya−mu−reeb−a We shall see him we far him verb final future see (in the distant future) The following should be noted: Examples: Runyoro (Rutooro has four pure tenses while Runyankore-Rukiga has two.).


Instruction: Explain the following grammar rule in Runyoro/Rutooro: Runyoro-Rutooro

Response: Runyakitara Language Studies: A Guide for Advanced Learners and Teachers of Runyakitara ∅ ∅ - present, habitual


Instruction: Explain the following grammar rule in Runyoro/Rutooro: Runyankore-Rukiga

Response: Examples in Runyoro-Rutooro  progressive 'We are going to read/we are going to school' a - genz - ire ku - som - a he V perf. inf V final 'He has gone to read/to school' Examples in Runyankore-Rukiga ni - tu - gyend - a ku - shom - a present we V. final inf. V final progressive We are going to read/to school. We often/usually go to school. ba - aa - ri - a they perfect verb final ba iz ire they V recent past o - bu - ro They have eaten millet. iv cl millet nyomwebazyo They came yesterday. yesterday One notes here that the perfect -ire in Runyoro-Rutooro corresponds to the recent past - ire in Runyankore-Rukiga. However, - ire is not only a tense in Runyankore-Rukiga. Just as in RunyoroRutooro, it can express what we may call the 'stative aspect' i.e. being in a certain state, for example: As we shall see in compound verb forms, -ire has the capacity to combine with itself, one form expressing tense and the other aspect, for example: Runyoro-Rutooro 'He had come' (no too long ago, some minutes ago). Runyankore-Rukiga 'He had come yesterday'. Special mention should be made here of the aspect/tense maker −a−∼−aa −a−∼−aa-. It has several functions as indicated below: As an immediate past in Runyoro-Rutooro: a−ba−ojoba−a−hik−a a−ba−ojoba−a−hik−a iv cl boys pron imm. arrive of subj past


Instruction: Explain the following grammar rule in Runyoro/Rutooro: As perfect or perfective in Runyankore-Rukiga

Response: a−ba− a−ba− shaija ba−a−ij−a ba−a−ij−a iv cl man pron perf come vf subj As something on the verge of happening, something imminent, in both Runyoro-Rutooro and Runyankore-Rukiga The tree is going to hit you/is on the verge of hitting you! (So, be careful!) 4. As a past narrative in both Runyoro-Rutooro and Runyankore-Rukiga. This will be explained further at the end of this chapter. Tense/Aspect markers specific to Runyoro and Rukiga


Instruction: Explain the following grammar rule in Runyoro/Rutooro: Runyoro

Response: −ku− −ku− present, progressive


Instruction: Explain the following grammar rule in Runyoro/Rutooro: Rukiga

Response: −ra− −ra− present, progressive Whereas in Runyankore and in Rutooro, almost everybody uses ni Examples: ni (as the present progressive, for example: ni -mu - kor - a - ki What are you doing? present you V final what progressive).


Instruction: Explain the following grammar rule in Runyoro/Rutooro: The Habitual in Runyakitara

Response: For most speakers in Runyoro-Rutooro, the habitual is expressed by the ∅ ∅ morpheme, as in the following examples:


Instruction: Explain the following grammar rule in Runyoro/Rutooro: Ruhanga

Response: a−∅ a−∅-gonz - a aba-ntu be God loves his people. God he love cl people his a Examples: a (ba - ana ba -).


Instruction: Explain the following grammar rule in Runyoro/Rutooro: Aspects and Tenses in Compound Verb Forms

Response: As alluded to earlier, it is the capacity of tense and aspect morphemes to combine in compound verb forms that we have used to determine what qualifies to be a tense, an aspect, or both. A typical compound verb form in Runyakitara is presented as follows: subj. pron. + ts + ba subj. pron. + asp. + mv + vf As in the following examples in Runyoro-Rutooro. In Runyankore-Rukiga, one could have:


Instruction: Explain the following grammar rule in Runyoro/Rutooro: Combination of Tenses and Aspects

Response: In Runyakitara compound verb forms, the following phenomena occur: Tenses always combine with aspects, the tense appearing with the auxiliary verb while the aspect appears with the main verb (Ndoleriire, 1980). Tenses can never combine with tenses; for example, the far past -ka- appearing both with the main verb and in the auxiliary verb. An aspect morpheme can combine with another aspect morpheme, since generally speaking, all aspect morphemes also express some tense. For example, in Runyankore-Rukiga -ire expresses both the recent past and the stative. In Rutooro and Runyankore, ni Examples: ni (expresses both the present and the progressive.).


Instruction: Explain the following grammar rule in Runyoro/Rutooro: Runyankore-Rukiga

Response: ba - ba- ire ba - aa -mar- a pron. aux. recent pron. perf. mv vf subj. be. past subj finish "They had finished (in the recent past). If I only said: ba - a - mar - a It should mean: "They have finished". (As I speak) 3) -irege + ni- Runyoro-Rutooro mu - ba - irege ni - mu - kor - a pron. aux. near past pres. pron. mv vf subj. prog. subj. work you "You were working" (in the near past). 4) - ire + - ire


Instruction: Explain the following grammar rule in Runyoro/Rutooro: Runyankore-Rukiga

Response: a−ba−irea−rwa−ire a−ba−irea−rwa−ire pron. aux. recent pron. mv st (stative) subj. past subj. to be S/he sick 'S/he was sick'. If we remove the first ire appearing with the auxiliary −ba −ba and remain with a a rwa-ire, the meaning would be: S/he is sick. 5) −li+−a− −li+−a− Runyoro-Rutooro mu-li-ba mu -a- hik- a-yo pron. far aux. pron. immed. mv vf loc. subj. fut. be subj. perf. reach there you (pl.) you (pl.) You will have just reached there (any time after 24 hours) In summary, the following combinations are possible in Runyakitara Runyoro-Rutooro the star indicates that it is difficult to imagine a habitual occurring in a near future or a near past because these tenses do not permit enough time to make an act habitual, for example: He used to come (yesterday!!) The above are combinations between tense and aspect but one can also have combinations between aspect and aspect, whereby one of the aspects plays the role of tense as follows:


Instruction: Explain the following grammar rule in Runyoro/Rutooro: The combination

Response: ni+ni ni+ni is of particular interest. In principle, ni−+−ba ni−+−ba would express the present tense while the ni+mv ni+mv would express the progressive or continuous aspect. In the example: ni−tu−bani−tu−kur−a ni−tu−bani−tu−kur−a pres. pron. be progr. pron. mv vf subj. subj. The meaning is not "we are working now" but "we are usually working". The explanation is that ni−tu−kor−a ni−tu−kor−a already expresses the idea of working in the present moment. The auxiliary ni−tu−ba ni−tu−ba is therefore superfluous. We remember, however, that ni Examples: ni (also expresses the habitual both in RunyoroRutooro and Runyankore-Rukiga. So when in Runyoro-Rutooro ni- combines with ni-, what comes out is that the first ni- expresses the habitual present while the second).


Instruction: Explain the following grammar rule in Runyoro/Rutooro: The combination

Response: ni−+ni ni−+ni - tends therefore to introduce the notion of a hypothetical habitual action in the present, i.e. Something that one should usually be doing. The following usage could also, to some extent, be attested in RunyankoreRukiga, for example: ni−0−bani−0−za−hi ni−0−bani−0−za−hi pres habitual pron be pres pron go where Where would you be going? subj


Instruction: Explain the following grammar rule in Runyoro/Rutooro: As regards the habitual present

Response: −∅ −∅-, it usually combines with the aspect morphemes as follows (particularly in Runyoro-Rutooro): In this case, the habitual −∅ −∅ - plays essentially the role of a tense and the corresponding morpheme that of an aspect as in: tu -ø- ba ni- tu- li- a pron. pres aux. pres pron mv. fv subj. hab be progr. subj. eat we "We are usually eating" The summary of combinations in Runyankore-Rukiga would be as follows: Tense + aspect Those involving aspect plus aspect could be the following: The combination involving -ire + is interesting in Runyankore-Rukiga because it brings out clearly the function of -ire as a recent past. The possible combinations are: If we take -ire + ire in the sentence: 'We were sick' (for example, the day before yesterday), we see clearly that the first -ire express the recent past while the second -ire expresses the stative aspect. It should also be noted that Runyoro-Rutooro uses the compound verb forms much more than Runyankore-Rukiga. The latter has other ways of bringing out these concepts more particularly through phrasal expressions, for example: tu- ri-yo ni-tu-zina pron. aux. pron. 'We are dancing right now'


Instruction: Explain the following grammar rule in Runyoro/Rutooro: Time Adverbials and Subordinate Clauses of Time

Response: In order to bring out clearly the context in which a compound form occurs, it is important to point out that it often requires the overt or covert presence of a time adverbial or a subordinate clause of time to situate it. For instance, in the Runyoro-Rutooro sentence: The question that one would ask would be: 'when'. To have the full meaning of the sentence, one might have to say: At that hour, I had already eaten. One could also use a subordinate clause, as follows (Runyoro-Rutooro): When you arrive, we shall have finished.


Instruction: Explain the following grammar rule in Runyoro/Rutooro: Tense and Aspect in 'Complex' Forms

Response: We saw earlier that simple forms are those that contain one tense or aspect marker, for example: