An Introduction to Kidawida: The Language of the Taita in south-east Kenya

38 Pages·2005·0.686 MB·

by  Kunihiko Sakamoto

Shobi University
An Introduction to Kidawida:
The Language of the Taita in south-east Kenya
Nouns, Adjectives and Numerals
VolumeⅠ：
SAKAMOTO Kunihiko
Abstract
This paper based on social anthropological research in the Taita Hills that explores the
linguistical and cultural diversities among the Taita. The language of the Taita can be di-
vided into three groups: Kidawida, Kisaghala and Kikasighau. The major one of them
called Kidawidais spoken mainly in the Taita Hills. It has the common characters of the
Bantu languages: noun classes, prefix concordance, etc. In this volume, I’ll analyze
grammartical features of Kidawidain nouns, adjectives and numerals. Nouns in Kidawi-
dacan be classified into eight classes. The structure of nouns and adjectives is similar to
the Swahili language, although numerals in Kidawidaare different from Swahili. In the
following volume, I’ll continue to analyze pronouns, verbs, adverbs and others. This is
because linguistical analysis is good for understanding their culture.
要　約
グリンバーグJ.H.Greenbergは『アフリカの言語』The Language of Africa,1966のなかでア
フリカの言語分類に関する体系を示している。そこでは、ケニア南東部のタイタで話され
ている言語であるタイタ語は、ダヴィダ語、サガラ語、カシガウ語の三つに下位区分され
るが、いずれもニジェル・コルドファンNiger-Kordofanian語族のなかのニジェル・コンゴ
Niger-Congoグループのなかのベヌエ・コンゴBenue-Congoグループの下位分類であるコン
ゴCongoサブグループに属す。これは、一般にバントゥ系言語とよばれる。タイタ語は、
タイタ、カシガウ、サガラの３つの丘陵地帯、および、その山麓のヴォイを中心とするウ
ッドランド・サバンナ帯で使用されている言語である。タイタ世界の言語に関しては、サ
ガラ語に関する研究が1890年代にアルフレッド・レイAlfred W rayにより行われたが、タ
イタ社会のなかで最も多くの人々により使用されているダヴィダ語に関するまとまった研
究はなかった。筆者は、これまで、タイタ社会に関する社会人類学的研究と並行してダヴ
ィダ語の語彙の収集を行ってきたが、それをもとにレイのサガラ語に関する研究を参照し
ながらダヴィダ語の文法に関する研究を現地の調査協力者と共に進めてきた。これは、タ
イタ語の語彙集の作成と一体をなすものである。本稿vol.Ⅰでは、名詞、形容詞、数詞を
取り上げ、vol.Ⅱ以下で代名詞、動詞、副詞などを取り上げる。
Key words
Taita／Kidawida／Swahili／Bantu language／East Africa
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Contents ferences may be due to more recent language con-
１　Introduction tacts between Wasaghala and Wagiriama.
（1）Pronunciation The first person to try and put the language of
（2）Stress the Taita in writing was Wray, J.A. who was sent
（3）Word Order to Kenya by the Church Missionary Society in
２　Nouns London. In 1894 he published An Elementary In-
（1）Classifications troduction to the Taita Language. This book was
（2）Location
written on a grammar of Kisaghala, because his
３　Adjectives
first mission was established in the Teri valley of
（1）Regular Adjectives
the Saghala Hills. More than one century has
（2）Ways of Forming Adjectives
passed since he wrote this small book on Kis-
（3）Comparison of Adjectives
aghala, although a grammar of Kidawida has not
（4）Arabic Adjectives
been studied yet. In this paper, I would like to
４　Numerals
make a grammartical analysis of Kidawida mak-
（1）Cardinal Numbers
ing reference to Wray’s work on Kisaghala.
（2）Ordinal Numbers
（3）Adverbial Numbers
（1）Pronunciation
There are 24 letters in the Kidawida alphabet.
C without h, q and x do not exist. The vocal
Introduction sounds in Kidawida may be divided into three
groups:
The Taita is one of the Bantu speaking agricul- ①vowels; a, e, i, o, u
turalist groups in Kenya. They inhabit the Taita ②consonants; b, d, f, g, h, j, k, l, m, n, p, r,
Hills, Saghala Hills, Kasighau Hill and Voi town. s, t, v, w, y, z
Besides these hill masses and foothills, many Tai- ③combinations; ch, gh, ng’, sh
ta live in Mombasa, Nairobi and their vicinities. These letters are pronounced as follows:
The main indigenous languages in Taita are Ki-
dawida and Kisaghala which are closely related letter approximate soundEnglishKidawida English
but not mutually intelligible. Kikasighau is a di-
a１ a father apa oraba father
alect of Kidawida. It is generally said that most b２ b mob boro cattle fold
Wasaghala can understand Kidawida but that b b bore bagha blood
Wadawida have difficulties understanding Ki- ch ch chisel chongo head
saghala. Linguistically, Kidawidais closely relat- d３ d gold dilo sleep
ed to Kichagga, and Kisaghala is grouped with d d dance kududugha to run
Kipare as a branch of North East Bantu coordi- e ea swear kughema to swear
f f fire kifu belly
nate with Sabaki which includes Miji Kenda and
g g gold igome money
Swahili. The relatively close affinity between Ki-
gh４ ― ―― ighana a hundred
dawida and Kisaghala can be attributed to pro-
h h harp oho you
longed contact rather than a genetic relationship
i i machine kuida to pass
(MFP & IAS 1984:170).
j５ j(Fr.) jour(Fr.) idimeji today
The difference between Kidawidaand Kisagha- k k kind kindo a thing
la are found in both vocabulary and sound sys- l l life kulegha to refuse
tems. Kisaghala has words not found in m m magic mali riches
Kidawida, for instance kuseta “slight bleeding” n n name wandu people
(kurucha in Kidawida). This example is explained ng’ ng sing ng’ombe a cow
by Kisaghala having borrowed this word from a o o off kuogha to wash
p p pin kupupula to empty
Southern Cushitic language (Ibid.:27). Other dif-
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r r run kurasha to scold necessary. There are two numbers, singular and
s s sea kusela to walk plural. These are generally distinguished by their
sh sh shin ikesho morning initial prefix, as ki-du, a mortar; vi-du, mortars.
t t tree ku-tungura to close These initial forms govern all the prefixes of ad-
u oo fool wuloli truth jectives, pronouns, and verbs, as
v v virgin vindo things kidu kibaa a large mortar
w６ ― ―― wandu people vidu vapo my mortars
w w way mwana child
Kidu chezama. The mortar is bad.
w ― ―― wasi suffering
The possessive case is expressed by the use of
y y yes yedu ours
the possessive pronoun or of the preposition -a,
z z zebra zala rope
of, as chuo chapo, my book; mavuda gha taa, the
Table 1: Letters and pronunciation in Kidawida.
oil of the lamp. The other cases are sometimes ex-
pressed by what is called the applied form of the
When two vowels come together one is often verb and by the use of prepositions, as, kumulimia
absorbed by the other: u before o becomes wo, u mbuwa yake, to cultivate his garden for him.
before a becomes wa, u before i becomes wi, a The number of those nouns which do not
before obecomes o. change to form their plural is distinguished by the
prefix of the pronouns, adjectives, or verbs used
（2）Stress in connection with them (Wray 1894: 9-10), as,
In Kidawidathe stress of a word almost always ng’ombe yapo, my cattle. The ya here denotes
falls on the last syllable but one. that the word ng’ombeis singular.
The´shows the stressed syllable in the follow-
ing words: （1）Classifications
´ ´ ´
momu (2 syllables), iriso (3 syllables), iridia (4 The nouns are grouped into classes according to
´
syllables), irughudia(5 syllables) ①their initial concord or prefix,
②whether they denote animate beings or not,
（3）Word Order ③whether they take a prefix to form the plural
Word order is very different from European or not.
languages due to the noun classes. In the follow-
ing sentences the subjects are town, name, book Class 1(MU-WAclass)
and elephant. The MU-WA class includes names of living
Muzi mubaa. A big town. things like people, animals, insects and etc. The
(a town + big) concord-prefix for these nouns is m-, mu-, or mw-
Irina japo ni Mwakio. My name is Mwakio. in the singular, and wa-in the plural, followed by
(name + my + is + Mwakio) the root of the noun.
Chuo chako ni chiao? Which is your book? Typical noun of the class is the word mundu, a
(book + your + is +which?) person.
Chovu yawasela msidunyi.
An elephant is walking in the forest. singular plural
(an elephant + he or she + is + walking + the forest + in) mundu a person wandu people
Nouns Commonly in use in this noun class are the follow-
ing:
The nouns of Kidawida are divided into eight
classes. Thereisnospecialformof the noun to ex- singular plural
press gender; but the adjectives -ume, male, -ke, mughenyi a friend waghenyi friends
female, are used in connection with the noun, if mudawana a young man wadawana young men
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Nouns which prefix m- in the singular retain ing have the concords ka- in the singular, vi- in
the m- in the plural form. the plural.
singular plural singular plural
mwai a young woman wai young women kanyumba a small house vinyumba small houses
mwanake a child wanake children kanguku a small fowl vinguku small fowls
kamwana a small child viwana small children
Class 2(MU-MIclass)
Nouns beginning with mu-, mo- which do not These prefixes are used to denote a diminutive
denote animate beings. These make their plural form. Any noun may be brought into this class.
by changing mu-, mo- into mi-, me-. Most trees
and plants are found in this class, but there are Class 4 (LU-CHUclass)
many other nouns which do not appear to have All nouns in lu- may be placed in this class.
any general classification. These formtheir plurals bychanging lu-into chu-.
If a noun root begins with a vowel, the prefix lu-
becomes lwa- in the singular, and chu- becomes
singular plural
mudi a tree midi trees chwa-in the plural.
mughunda a garden mighunda gardens
munjwa a thorn minjwa thorns singular plural
mori a month meri months lumbo a song chumbo songs
momu a mouth memu mouths lundi a pole chundi poles
moda a river meda rivers lumi a tongue chumi tongues
lufu a sword chufu swords
Class 3 (KI-VI class) lwau foot chwau feet
Those which take the prefixes ki-, cha-, cho-, lwaka a voice chwaka voices
lwakule a nail chwakule nails
chu- in the singular. They make their plural by
lwala a rock chwala rocks
changing the singular prefix into vi-, va-, vo-and
vu-.
Class 5(MAclass)
All nouns which make their plurals by prefix-
singular plural
ing the syllable ma- may be placed in this class.
kidu a mortar vidu mortars
kidasi a bag vidasi bags These are numerous. The noun in this class can be
chala a finger vala fingers placed in different categories.
charo a caravan varo caravans ①Nouns in i- make their plural by dropping
chongo a head vongo heads the i-and prefixing the syllable ma-.
choroni a toilet voroni toilets
chuma an iron vuma irons
singular plural
chuo a book vuo books
iwanu an arrow mawanu arrows
irio a bundle mario bundles
Most languages are also placed in this class, ifufu a hump mafufu humps
and are given ki-viagreements, but are not used in ighegho a tooth maghegho teeth
the plural. ighembe a hoe maghembe hoes
Kidawida Taita ighi an egg maghi eggs
ipaa a roof mapaa roofs
Kiswahili Swahili
itunda a fruit matunda fruits
Kiingereza English
Nouns which take ka-in the singular, and make
their plural by changing ka- into vi-. The follow- ②Those which form their plural by prefixing
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ma-to the singular. kumbaku tobacco uzi thread
mbeu seed wuki honey
mbogha vegetable zahabu gold
singular plural
wushu a face mawushu faces
wasi a disorder mawasi disorders Class 7 (WUclass)
wula a gut mawula guts All nouns in this class have the prefix wu- in
ifwa an inheritance maifwa inheritances the singular.
daraja a bridge madaraja bridges ①Mainly abstract nouns made up from adjec-
ivu ash maivu ashes tives, nouns from other classes, or even from
isabu a number maisabu numbers
certain verbs. These do not exist in plural form.
sanduku a box masanduku boxes
wuchafu filth wudimi ability
wufia pus wurembo toilet
③Nouns in ku-, wu- which make their plurals wusungu poison wusafi cleaning
by changing ku-, wu-into ma-. wuduu nudity wulimi cultivation
wudungi sewing wushapa width
singular plural wughenyi association wundenyi depth
kudu an ear madu ears wughosi old age wulacha length
wukongo sickness makongo sicknesses ②Names of countries. Many countries and ar-
wughanga medicine maghanga medicines eas are given awu-prefix.
wulalo a range malalo ranges Wulaya Europe
Wuingereza England
④Those nouns which use ma- for both singu- Wujapani Japan
lar and plural.
mariwa milk Class 8 (KUclass)
mavuda butter The nouns in this class are derived from verb
machi７ water infinitives. They keep the syllable ku- as a prefix
to all words. The plural is the same as the singular.
Class 6 (Nclass) kuva kwake his (or her)bearing
Most of words in this class are taken from other kudeda kwako your talking
languages, chiefly English, Arabic and Swahili. kulwa kwawo their fighting
There is no change in concord for singular and kughenda kwako your going
plural. The singular or plural can be shown on the
subject prefixes, etc. For most of Bantu original （2）Location
nouns, “n-“ is placed in front of a root as a con- All nouns may be put into what is called the
cord-prefix for singular and plural if there is a locative case, by changing the final vowel -ainto
consonant in front of the noun root (Mangat e- and adding -nyi, and those ending with -o just
2001:39). add -nyito the word, as
barafu ice mburi goat nyumba a house
chai tea nakesho morning nyumbenyi in the house
chia path ndagha knife mbuwa a garden
dimeghadi afternoon ndana bow mbuwenyi in the garden
farasi horse ng’ombe cow boro a cattle-fold
fuwa plate ng’ondi sheep boronyi in the cattle-fold
iguo yesterday nguku fowl Pronouns used in connection with the locative
karatasi paper nguluma fish case take the prefix kwa-, as
kikala ancestor nyalo meat nyumbenyi kwapo in my house
kio night nyumba house chienyi kwake in his way
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chongonyi kodu in our heads
Adjectives
（1）Regular Adjectives
An adjective is a word used with a noun to de-
scribe the thing denoted by the noun (Perrott 1951:
82). Adjectives follow the noun they agree with.
The following is a table of prefixes required by
adjectives when used in connection with the dif-
ferent classes and numbers of nouns.
singular plural
mu- wa-
Class 1
u- wi-
mu- mi-
Class 2
ghu- i-
ki- vi-
Class 3 chi- vi
ka- vi-
lu- m-
Class 4
lu- ri-
i- ma-
Class 5
ji- ghi-
m- ma-
Class 6 i- ri-
n- n-
mu-
Class 7
ghu-
Class 8 ku-
Table 2: Prefixes required by adjectives.
The following table shows how the regular ad-
jectives are used.
singular plural
mundu mubaa a big man wandu wabaa big men
Class 1
mundu upoie a good man wandu wipoie good men
mudi mubaa a large tree midi mibaa large trees
Class 2
mudi ghupoie a good tree midi ipoie good trees
kidu kibaa a large mortar vidu vibaa large mortars
Class 3 kidu chipoie a good mortar vidu vipoie good mortars
kanyumba katini a small house vinyumba vitini small houses
lwaka lubaa a big voice chwaka mbaa big voices
Class 4
lumbo lupoie a good song chumbo ripoie good songs
iwanu ibaa a big arrow mawanu mabaa big arrows
Class 5
iwanu jipoie a good arrow mawanu ghipoie good arrows
nyumba mbaa a large house nyumba mabaa large houses
Class 6 nyumba ipoie a good house nyumba ripoie good houses
nyumba ndini a small house nyumba ndini small houses
wulimi mubaa big cultivation
Class 7
wulimi ghupoie good cultivation
kubora kubaa big singing
Class 8
kubora kupoie good singing
Table 3: Concord prefixes of regular adjectives.
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The word -ose, all, or the whole, take the follow-
ing prefix.
singular plural
Class 1 mundu wose (u+ose)８ the whole man wandu wose (wi+ose) all men
Class 2 mudi ghose (ghu+ose) the whole tree midi yose (i+ose) all trees
kidu chose (chi+ose) the whole mortar vidu vose (vi+ose) all mortars
Class 3
kanyumba kose (ka+ose) the whole small house vinyumba vose (vi+ose) all small houses
Class 4 lwaka lose (lu+ose) the whole voice chwaka rose (ri+ose) all voices
Class 5 iwanu jose (ji+ose) the whole arrow mawanu ghose (ghi+ose) all arrows
Class 6 nyumba yose (i+ose) the whole house nyumba rose (ri+ose) all houses
Class 7 wulimi ghose (ghu+ose) the whole cultivation
Class 8 kubora kose (ku+ose) the whole singing
Table 4: Concord prefixes and the word -ose.
The following table shows the forms taken by
-mweri, one, and -ingi, many.
singular plural
Class 1 mundu umweri (u+mweri) one man wandu wengi (wa+ingi) many men
Class 2 mudi ghumweri (ghu+mweri) one tree midi mingi (mi+ingi) many trees
kidu chimweri (chi+ mweri) one mortar vidu vingi (vi+ingi) many mortars
Class 3
kanyumba kamweri (ka+mweri) one small house vinyumba vingi (vi+ingi) many small houses
Class 4 lwaka lumweri (lu+mweri) one voice chwaka nyingi (n+ingi) many voices
Class 5 iwanu jimweri (ji+mweri) one arrow mawanu mengi (ma+ingi) many arrows
Class 6 nyumba imweri (i+ mweri) one house nyumba nyingi (n+ingi) many houses
Class 7９
Class 8 kubora kumweri (ku+mweri) one singing
Table 5: Concord prefixes and the word -mweriand -ingi.
The word other is expressed by the word -zima,
preceded by the appropriate pronominal prefix.
singular plural
Class 1 mundu muzima another man wandu wazima other men
Class 2 mudi muzima another tree midi mizima other trees
kidu kizima another mortar vidu vizima other mortars
Class 3
kanyumba kazima another small house vinyumba vizima other small houses
Class 4 lwaka luzima another voice chwaka zima other voices
Class 5 iwanu izima another arrow mawanu mazima other arrows
Class 6 nyumba zima another house nyumba zima other houses
Class 7 wulimi muzima another cultivation
Class 8 kubora kuzima another singing
Table 6: Concord prefixes and the word -zima.
（2）Ways of Forming Adjectives sangu ichuye(or ichue) the full water jar
In Kidawida, the place of the adjective is sup- ②By the verb in the past tense, as in:
plied by the use of other words which can be used mundu ufuye the dead man
as adjectives. nguwo ielile the clean cloth
①By the verb in the subjunctive mood, as in: ③By the noun connected with another noun,
msenge ghughorokie the straight stick qualified by the preposition-a, of, as in:
msenge ghukomekie the bent stick mundu wa iriso a covetous man
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mundu wa mudu a mad man kula kilambo everything
machi gha chumbi salty water kula nakesho every morning
mundu wa loli a true man kula mwaka every year
④By the use of the word -oka, as in: Kula muzi ghoko na mbenge.
Oka mkongo. He is a sick man. Every home has a gate.
Oka na ndighi. He is a strong man. The plural form of kulais kila, as in:
kila miaka every year
（3）Comparison of Adjectives Kila wandu weko na mizango yawo.
The comparison of adjectives is expressed as Every people have their own traditions.
described below.
①By a simple statement, as in: Numerals
Mundu uhu wapoie ela uja wazamie.
This man is good, but that (man)is bad. （1）Cardinal Numbers
②By the use of the present tense of the verbs Numbers in Kidawidaare treated just like other
kuidaand kuchumba, to surpass, as in: adjectives. They come at the end of the adjec-
Mundu uhu wapoie ela uja waida. tives, but before the demonstrative. Only the units
This man is good, but that (man)is better. 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 and 6 take agreements with the noun
Mundu uhu ni mlacha ela uja wachumba. they describe, and the remainder take no agree-
This man is tall, but that (man)is taller. ments (Wilson 1970:91)10. The numbers are:
③By the words baand bora, as in:
Ba uhu. This (man)is better. 0001 imweri
Bora uja. That (man)is better. 0002 iwi
④By the word ndighi, as in: 0003 idadu
Awa wabonya nicha ela waja wabonya nicha 0004 inya
na ndighi. 0005 isanu
These (men)do well, but those do better. 0006 irandadu
⑤The superlative degree is expressed by -ose, 0007 mfungade
as in: 0008 wunyanya
na ndighi rose with all strength 0009 ikenda
Waidie wandu wose. 0010 ikumi
He surpasses all men. 0011 ikumi na imweri
0012 ikumi na iwi
（4）Arabic Adjectives 0013 ikumi na idadu
Many adjectives are derived from the Arabic 0014 ikumi na inya
language in Kidawida. They do not require any 0015 ikumi na isanu
agreements with the nouns they qualify, since 0016 ikumi na irandadu
they are not of Bantu origin. 0017 ikumi na mfungade
bora better 0018 ikumi na wunyanya
gali expensive 0019 ikumi na ikenda
kamili complete, exact, just 0020 mirongo iwi
laini soft 0021 mirongo iwi na imweri
raisi easy, cheap 0022 mirongo iwi na iwi
These adjectives are treated in the same way as 0023 mirongo iwi na idadu
all other adjectives. They follow the noun, except 0024 mirongo iwi na inya
the word kula, every, which always precedes it. 0025 mirongo iwi na isanu
kula ituku everyday 0026 mirongo iwi na irandadu
kula mundu everybody 0027 mirongo iwi na mfungade
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0028 mirongo iwi na wunyanya 0130 ighana na mirongo idadu
0029 mirongo iwi na ikenda 0140 ighana na mirongo ina
0030 mirongo idadu 0150 ighana na mirongo misanu
0031 mirongo idadu na imweri 0200 maghana awi
0032 mirongo idadu na iwi 0250 maghana awi na mirongo misanu
0033 mirongo idadu na idadu 0555 maghana masanu na mirongo misanu na
0034 mirongo idadu na inya isanu
0035 mirongo idadu na isanu 1000 maghana ikumi, elifu imweri
0036 mirongo idadu na irandadu
0037 mirongo idadu na mfungade All numerals except mfungade, wunyanya, ik-
0038 mirongo idadu na wunyanya enda and ikumi may take the appropriate prefix
0039 mirongo idadu na ikenda agreeing with the noun with which they are used.
0040 mirongo ina midi ikumi na misanu fifteen trees
0050 mirongo misanu The number always follows the noun with
0060 mirongo irandadu which it is connected.
0070 mirongo mfungade mundu umweri one man
0080 mirongo wunyanya wandu wasanu five men
0090 mirongo ikenda vidu wunyanya eight mortars
0100 ighana When a noun qualified by a number takes an
0101 ighana na imweri adjective, the number comes last, as in:
0110 ighana na ikumi vidu vipoie visanu five good mortars
0120 ighana na mirongo iwi → wandu wabaa wunyanya eight big men
The following table shows how the numerals
are used in each class:
Class 1 Class 2 Class 3 Class 4 Class 5 Class 6 Class 711 Class 8
Singular
mundu mumbi kidu lumbo iwanu nyumba kubora
umweri ghumweri chimweri lumweri jimweri imweri kumweri
One
kanyumba
kamweri
Plural
wandu midi vidu chumbo mawanu nyumba
wawi iwi viwi iwi awi iwi
Two
vinyumba
viwi
Three wadadu idadu vidadu idadu adadu idadu
Four bana12 inya, ina vina inya ana inya
Five wasanu misanu visanu isanu masanu isanu
Six warandadu irandadu virandadu irandadu arandadu irandadu
Seven mfungade mfungade mfungade mfungade mfungade mfungade
Eight wunyanya wunyanya wunyanya wunyanya wunyanya wunyanya
Nine ikenda ikenda ikenda ikenda ikenda ikenda
Ten ikumi ikumi ikumi ikumi ikumi ikumi
Table 7: Concord prefixes of numbers in each class.
（2）Ordinal Numbers of the variable particle -waas follows:
The ordinal numbers are expressed by the use mundu wa imbiri the first man
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mudi ghwa kasanu the fifth tree ２．The letter b is pronounced in two ways: a soft bin
The ordinal numbers are as follows: boroand a hard bin bogha.
-wa imbiri first ３．The letter d is pronounced in two ways: a soft din
-wa kawi second diloand hard din kududugha.
-wa kadadu third ４．The proper sound of ghis not generally encoun-
-wa kana fourth tered in English, and it is peculiar to the Kidawida.
５．The letter j is pronounced as jin jourin french,
-wa kasanu fifth
and the approximate sound of j is the same as idimeji
-wa karandadu sixth
in Kidawidawhich means today in English.
-wa mfungade seventh
６．The letter w is pronounced in three ways: a soft w,
-wa wunyanya eighth
an English equivalent wand a hard w. In the following
-wa ikenda ninth
sentence, ①is a soft w, ②is an English equivalent
-wa ikumi tenth ① ① ② ① ① ③
w, ③is a hard w: Wawa wa wawawa. (Grandfather
-wa kutua last
has aching legs.)
７．Duchi, the singular, means very little water.
（3）Adverbial Numbers ８．Wose is normally pronounced ose in singular,
Adverbial numbers are expressed by indo in wosein prural.
singular, mando in plural. The following exam- ９．All nouns of class 7 are uncountable.
ples will show how they are formed: 10．In Swahili, 8 is nanewhich takes agreement, but
indo jimweri once in Kidawida, wunyanya takes no agreement with
mando kawi twice nouns.
mando adadu three times 11．All nouns of class 7 are uncountable.
mando ana four times 12．A soft bis used instead of w.
mando masanu five times
References
mando arandadu six times
Greenberg, J.H.1966a. The Language of Africa. Indi-
mando mfungade seven times
ana University. Bloomington, Mouton & co., The
mando wunyanya eight times
Hague.
mando ikenda nine times
Greenberg, J.H. (ed.)1966b. Universals of Language
mando ikumi ten times Report. Cambridge, Mass: M.I.T. Press.
Mando alinga? How many times? Guthrie, M. 1948. The Classification of the Bantu Lan-
mando malazi often guages. Oxford University Press, London.
Institute of Kiswahili Research. 1996. English-Swahili
Acknowledgements Dictionary. University of Dar es Salaam.
I express deep appreciation to Dr. Chris L. Inter-Territorial Language Committee for the East
Wanjala who introduced me to anthropological African Dependencies. 1939. A Standard Swahili-
studies in Taita. I can never extend my thanks English Dictionary. Oxford University Press.
Inter-Territorial Language Committee for the East
enough to my research partners, feu Mr. Benjamin
African Dependencies. 1939. A Standard English-
Mwakughu and Mr. Harrison A. Mwachala, who
Swahili Dictionary. Oxford University Press.
taught me their cultures, and thanks also to the
Mangat,A.W.2001.Swahili for Foreigners.Kenway
Taita people. My research was supported by the
Publications, Nairobi.
Japan Society for the Promotion of Science. I am
Ministry of Finance and Planning, and Institute of
grateful to JSPS for the research grant, 2001 to
African Studies, University of Nairobi (MFP & IAS)
2003, by the Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research.
1984. The District Socio-Cultural Profiles Project:
A Joint Research and Training Project, Taita-taveta
Notes District, Draft Report. Nairobi.
１．The letter a is pronounced as a in father in En- Perrott,D.V.1951 and2003.TeachYourselfSWAHILI.
glish, and the approximate sound of ais the same as Hodder and Stoughton, United Kingdom.
apain Kidawidawhich means father in English. Taasisi ya Uchunguzi wa Kiswahili, 1981. Kamusi ya
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