Luna (or Luna Inkongo) is a Bantu language of eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo. Assigned by Guthrie to a group called Songe (L.20), it is presumably one of the Luban languages established by Ahmed (1995), like most of the other Songe languages, though it was not specifically addressed.[3] Ruhlen (1987) agrees in placing it with the Luban languages.
| Luna | |
|---|---|
| Northern Luba | |
| Native to | Democratic Republic of the Congo |
Native speakers | (undated figure of 50,000)[1] |
| Language codes | |
| ISO 639-3 | luj |
| Glottolog | luna1244 |
L.24[2] | |
Phonology
| Bilabial | Labio-dental | Alveolar | Postalveolar/Palatal | Velar | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Plosive | Voiceless | p | t | k | ||
| Voiced | b | d | g | |||
| Affricate | t͡ʃ <c> | |||||
| Fricative | f | s | ʃ <x> | |||
| m | n | ŋ <ñ> | ||||
| Semivowel | j <y> | w | ||||
| Lateral | l | |||||
/g/ is always prenasalized, and k is almost always palatalized. /p/ is realized as [Φ] if not following /m/.
| Front | Mid | Back | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Close | i | u | |
| Close-mid | ɪ <ǐ> | ə | o |
| Open-mid | ɛ <e> | ɔ <ô> | |
| Open | a | ɒ <ǒ> |
Stress typically falls on the penultimate syllable.
Grammar
As is typical of Bantu languages, Luna utilizes a noun-class system defined by prefixes. The distal demonstrative 'that, yon' can be formed by adding the prefix yi- to the form. These are defined below:
| Class | Singular | Plural | Relative/pronominal singular | Relative/pronominal plural | Possessive
singular |
Possessive
plural |
Demonstrative |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | di-, bu-, bwa-, bo-, ku- | ma-, ø- | bu-, di-, ku- | a- | -adio, -abu, -aku | -ao | bobu, dedi, koku, aa |
| 2 | ka- | tu- | ka- | tu- | -ako | -atu | kaka, totu |
| 3 | ki- | bi- | ki- | bi- | -akio | -abio | k(i)eki, bebi |
| 4 | lu-, lo-, lwo- | N- | lu- | i-, y-, yi- | -alu | -ayo | lolu, yei |
| 5 | mu- | mi- | u- (before consonant), V̆- (before vowel) | -au | -ayo | ou, yei | |
| 6 | mwo- | mie- | -au | -ayo | |||
| 7 | mu-, ø- | ba- | u- (before consonant), a- (before vowel) | ba- | -anci, -enci (after i) | -abo | you, baba |
| 8 | ø- | ø- | i-, y-, yi- | -anci | -abo | you, yei | |
Additionally, there are three locative/adverbial prefixes, these being ku- (at a place, motion towards something), mu- (motion into something, within something), and pa- (near to or on, approaching something).
Pronouns are prefixed to the front of a verb before the tense (except for objective form, which is placed directly before the verb root) and verb root. Possessive pronouns generally follow the noun they possess. They are as follows.[6]
| Person | Independent | Subject | Object | Negated | Possessive | Reflexive |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1SG | meme | ngu-, n-, m- | ki- | -amene | mikyemi | |
| 2SG | owe | u- | ku- | ku- | -ebe | mikyebe |
| 3SG | yei | u-, a- | mu- | ka- | -anci/-enci | mikyenci |
| 1PL | coco | tu- | katu- | -ecu | mikyecu | |
| 2PL | nonu | nu- | kanu- | -enu | mikyenu | |
| 3PL | bobo | ba- | kaba- | -abo | mikyeabo | |
Ngu- is the first person singular subject prefix except before -di 'to be' (ndi 'I am') -bili 'to know' (mbili 'I know') and in the present tense progressive aspect of verbs, indicated by tana- (n-tana-nanga 'I am loving') and before object infixes. If there is an indirect and direct object, the indirect object is infixed in the object position and the direct object is moved to the end of the verb.The present and past progressive can also be expressed using the expressing -di mu + infinitive verb, literally to 'be in doing.' Relative pronouns are the same as subject pronouns when the subject, and moved to after the object pronoun when an object. (e. g. ngwakadya bukula 'I ate the flour' > bukula bunakadya 'the flour which I ate'). In relative clauses, ta- replaces the negative prefix.
n-kw-a-nanga
1SG.SUB-2SG.OBJ-PRES-love
I love you
Ma-la
NP1.PL-town
a-tw-aka-mona
NP1.PL.REL-1PL.SUB-PST.PRF-see
The towns which we saw
Various tense, aspect, and mood (TAM) prefixes may be added to a verb to modify its meaning. [7] In the present progressive, past continuous, past perfective, past pluperfect, and simple future, the infinitive morpheme ku- must be placed before the first vowel of a vowel-initial verb, except for in -angata 'fetch' and -akala 'be'. In monosyllabic vowels, the first consonant and vowel (-VC) are repeated (e. g. -fwa 'die' > nfofwa 'I die', -ela 'throw' > ngwelela 'I throw') in the first person singular. If the root is not vowel-initial, the vowel -e- is inserted if the final syllable is -ya, and -o- is inserted in all other cases. The final vowel becomes -i in the hortative imperative. The prefix bi- indicates a meaning of 'so that, that, in order that' and the suffix -po 'please' 'is added to commands when addressing a superior.
| TAM | Prefix | Example | English |
|---|---|---|---|
| Simple present | a-, VC- (monosyllabic) | nwananga | I love |
| Present progressive | tana- | ntanananga | I am loving |
| Past continuous | ama- | namananga | I have loved (and am loving) |
| Recent past/present perfect | apu- | napunanga | I have loved |
| Past perfective | aka- | nakananga | I loved |
| Past pluperfect | akama- | nakamananga | I had loved |
| Affirmative past | a- | nananga | I did love |
| Simple future | na- (1SG naku-) | nakunanga | I will love |
| Definitive future | kye- | nkyenanga | I will love (at some definite time) |
| Conditional | xe- | nxenanga | I should, would love |
| Imperative | ø- | nanga | Love (command) |
| Hortative | -i | Anangi | Let him/her love |
Additionally, complex verbs can be derived from simple verbs using prefixes.
| Form | Verb | Example | English |
|---|---|---|---|
| Simple | -xipa | kill | |
| Reflexive | di- | -dixipa | kill oneself |
| Causative | -sa | -xipisa | cause to kill oneself |
| Relative | -la | -xipila | kill for another |
| Reciprocal/Habitual | -ñana | -xipañana | kill eachother, kill habitually |
| Stative | -ka | -xipaka | be dead, in a killed state |
| Continuous | REDUPLICATED | -xipa xipa | keep on killing |
| Passive | -bwa | -xipibwa | be killed |
There are a few adverbs that affix directly onto the verb:
| Adverb | Meaning | Example |
|---|---|---|
| be- | please, used to soften commands,
slightly, softly in non-imperatives |
bedipula ncibo 'kindly open the house for me' |
| ki- | still | tukyananga 'we still love' |
| -po | please, if you please | namanangapo kantu ka sabanga 'I want a little bit of soap please' |
| mu- and bi- | the state in which, how | tebela mwencencayi 'behold how he works' |
Cardinal numerals decline as both adjectives and simple numerals.
| Independent | Cardinal | Ordinal | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | kôci | -mo~mwe | -a buxi |
| 2 | pende | -bidi | -amubidi |
| 3 | exatu | -satu | -amusatu |
| 4 | enei | -nai | -amunai |
| 5 | etano | -tano | -amutano |
| 6 | esambanu | -sambomo | -amusambomo |
| 7 | sambwali | sambwali | -a sambwali |
| 8 | yenana | yenana | -a yenana |
| 9 | dibwa | dibwa | -a dibwa |
| 10 | iyomu | disangi | -a disangi |
References
- ^ Luna at Ethnologue (8th ed., 1974). Note: Data may come from an earlier edition.
- ^ Jouni Filip Maho, 2009. New Updated Guthrie List Online
- ^ Nurse & Phillipson 2003
- ^ Westcott 1923, p. 5.
- ^ Westcott 1923, pp. 5–6.
- ^ Westcott 1923, p. 19.
- ^ Westcott 1923, p. 36-38.
Bibliography
- Westcott, William Henry (1923). Concise Grammar of Luna Inkongo (PDF). Bristol: Henry Hill Limited.