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#9Zulu by Smashhoof
ZuluEnglish

Umhlaba mkhulu kakhulu. Ngiyandiza nxazonke futhi ngithinta konke. Ngikuthola ngamehlo ami. Ngithola konke ngesikhathi ngikubona, futhi uyenama; kukhona ushukela. Ngifuna ukuthanda konke futhi ngifuna ukwazi ukwenza konke. Kanti, umhlaba uyababazeka. Umhlaba omkhulu wahlukile, kodwa sazi ukunqoba.

The world is very big. I fly everywhere and touch everything. I find you with my eyes. I find everything when I see you, and you rejoice; there is sugar. I want to love everything and I want to be able to do everything. Nevertheless, the world is beautiful. The big world is different, but we can triumph.

Glossary

  • futhi (conj.) - and, also
  • iso (n. Irregular. Plural: amehlo) - eye
  • kanti (adv.) - after all, however, nevertheless
  • khona (adv.) - there
  • -khulu (adj.) - big
  • kodwa (conj.) - but, however, yet
  • konke (quant. pron.) - everything, all
  • nga- (prep.) - instrumental prefix
  • ngesikhathi (conj.) - when, while
  • nxazonke (adv.) - everywhere
  • ukubabazeka (v.) - be admirable, be attractive, be beautiful
  • ukubona (v.) - see
  • ukufuna (v.) - want
  • ukundiza (v.) - to fly
  • ukunqoba (v.) - conquer, defeat, overcome, win
  • ukuthanda (v.) - like, love
  • ukuthinta (v.) - touch, contact, challenge
  • ukuthola (v.) - find, get
  • ukwahlukile (v.) - be different
  • ukwazi (v.) - know, be able
  • ukwenama (v.) - be delighted, be glad, rejoice
  • ukwenza (v.) - do, make, cause
  • umhlaba (n.) - world, Earth
  • ushukela (n.) - sugar

Grammar

Zulu has an SVO word order, but it is pro-drop, so the subject and object are optional. Adjectives and possessives follow nouns. Verbs agree with their subjects and optionally with their objects. The structure of the verb is subject-tense-object-root. The only tense prefix used here is ya-, present tense. Present tense isn’t always marked though. The infinitive prefix is uku-.

Nouns in Zulu are all part of one of 14 noun classes. (They are numbered 1-17, but there are no 12, 13, or 16.) To make the noun plural, you change the noun class. The noun classes are grouped into singular and plural pairs. Adjectives and verbs have to agree with the noun class. Adjectives can be used attributively (“The white house”) or copulatively (“The house is white”). When used attributively, they use the prefixes shown in the table. When used copulatively, the first vowel of the prefix is removed. Adverbs are able to take a subject verb prefix. You can also form an adverb out of an adjective by attaching the prefix ka-. It is important to note that class 17 is the default noun class, and that class is used when there is no noun to agree with.

Possessives are formed by attaching a possessive prefix to a noun or possessive stem.

There can never be two adjacent vowels within a word, so when adding prefixes causes two nouns to be next to each other, they will change in certain predictable ways. A vowel could become a consonant, a vowel could be dropped, or the two vowels could merge.

Noun prefixes

ClassSingularPlural
1a/2au-o-
3/4um(u)-imi-
5/6i-ama-, (ame-)
17uku-uku

Adjective prefixes

ClassSingularPlural
1a/2aom(u)-aba-
3/4om(u)-emi-
5/6eli-ama-
17oku-oku

Subject verb prefixes (nouns)

ClassSingularPlural
1a/2au-ba-
3/4u-i-
5/6li-a-
17ku-ku-

Subject verb prefixes (personal)

PersonSingularPlural
1stngi-si-
2ndu-ni-
3rdu-ba-

Object verb prefixes (nouns)

ClassSingularPlural
1a/2am-, wu-ba-
3/4wu-yi-
5/6li-wa-
17ku-ku-

Object verb prefixes (personal)

PersonSingularPlural
1stngi-si-
2ndku-ni-
3rdm-ba-

Possessive prefixes

ClassSingularPlural
1a/2awa-ba-
3/4wa-ya-
5/6la-a-
17kwa-kwa-

Possessive stems

PersonSingularPlural
1st-mi-ithu
2nd-kho-inu
3rd-khe-bo