Table Of ContentNEW EDITION
NEW .EDI ION
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SHONA LANGUAGE LESSONS
NEW EDITION
Compiled by
Derek Fivaz, M.A.
and
J eane tte Ratzlaff, B.A.
This series of lessons in conversational Shona includes
graded grammatical information, incorporating for the first
time readily available data on the tonal structure of the
language.
Published by
WORD OF LIFE PUBLICATIONS
P.O. Box 1893, Salisbury, Rhodesia
in association with the
RHODESIA LITERATURE BUREAU
and with the approval and support of the
SHONA LANGUAGE COMMITTEE
,
First printing, January, 1969
Second printing, January, 1972
Copyright © Word of Life Publications
To reproduce any portion of this book in any form, written permission must
be obtained from the publishers.
PREFACE
This manual of graded lessons is the successor to the original Shona Language
Lessons compiled by Mrs. H. Dunkeld for missionaries of The Evangelical Alliance Mission
and published by Word of Life Publications. It is a completely new edition which has been
produced in response to the current general interest and desire shown by many to learn
Shona. When a revision of the original Shona Language Lessons was being considered a
few years ago, several people, including the members of the Shona Language Committee,
felt that the course would be greatly improved by an updating in grammatical terminology,
and by the inclusion of tone. This, together with a greater emphasis on fluency in the spoken
language, has meant that the old course has had to be rewritten rather than merely revised.
This new edition has been compiled by Mr. D. Fivaz, formerly lecturer in African
Languages at the University College of Rhodesia, and Mrs. J. Ratzlaff, of The Evangelical
Alliance Mission. Much encouragement and assistance has been given by several people and
the compilers wish to express their grateful appreciation to them all. The Rev. W. K. Warner
and Mr. D. E. Hoyt, of Word of Life Publications, have enthusiastically promoted this
revision and have assisted in numerous ways. Professor G. Fortune, of the University College,
and Father M. Hannan, chairman of the Shona Language Committee, have both read the
manuscript with great care and made valuable criticisms and comments. The tonal analysis
embodied in this course derives largely from the work of Professor Fortune, and the
numbering of the tone conjugations follows his system. Helpful suggestions and encourage
ment have come from Mr. E. W. Krog, Mr. W. L. Muparutsa and the Shona staff of the
Rhodesia Literature Bureau. The advice and assistance of Professor L. W. Lanham is also
gratefully acknowledged. Particular thanks are due to the several Shona speakers who helped
with such great patience and enthusiasm. These include Mr. A. C. Hodza, of the University
College, Mr. A. Munjanja, of Word of Life Publications, and Mr. A. C. M. Samasuwo, of
Ranche House College. Mr. K. Mew, of Ranche House, very kindly provided hospitality
and facilities during the last stage of manuscript preparation. We extend our thanks to
Mrs. N. Squires, who did a magnificent job in typing the manuscript. Grateful appreciation
is also expressed to Mr. and Mrs. M. K. Mudge, of the Free Methodist Mission, who have
by their warm friendship and generous hospitality done so much to make this work possible.
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TABLE OF CONTENTS
Preface ... iii
Table of Contents V
Introduction ...... vii
Lesson 1 : Pronuncfation and Greetings 1
2: Infinitives, Imperatives, More Greetings 5
3: Noun Classes 1, 2, 3, 4; More Greetings 9
4: Present Habitual Positive 13
5: Noun Classes 5 and 6 ..... . 17
6: Present Continuous; Noun Classes 7 and 8 20
7: Relative of Present Habitual and Present Continuous 23
8: Noun Classes 9, 10, 11 ...... 26
9: Noun Classes la, 2a, 2b .. . 28
10: Noun Classes 12, 13, 14, 16, 17, 18, 21; Infinitives 31
11 : Revision ..... . 34
Lesson 12: Adjectives 36
13: Future Positive; Auxiliaries -ndo-and-zo- ...... 39
14: Pronouns; Adverbial Forms of la, 2a, 2b Nouns and Pronouns ...... 42
15: Enumeratives; Adverbial Forms of Nouns 45
16: Present Participial 49
17: Demonstratives; Present Habitual Negative. 52
18: Remote Past; Statives ..... . 56
19: Selectors and Questions ... 61
20: Revision ..... . 65
Lesson 21 : Possessive Inflection of Nouns, Adjectives and Demonstratives 67
22: Possessive Inflection of Pronouns, Infinitives and Participials 71
23: Verb -ri in the Copulative; Present Continuous Negative; Passive 74
24: Subjunctive 78
25: Locative Inflection of Nouns and Adjectives; Locative Compounds; Recent
Past 81
26: Copulative Inflection of Nouns and Adjectives 85
27: Copulative Inflection of Pronouns, Demonstratives, Possessives 89
28: Object Concords ... 92
29: Past Continuous; Past Perfect; Future Negative 96
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Lesson 30: Revision ...... 100
31: Associative Copulative; Past Habitual 101
32: Qualifying Constructions; Potential Positive and Negative ... 105
33: Emphatic Demonstratives; Verbal Extensions: Causative and Intensive;
Reflexive; Auxiliaries -cha-, -cbi- 109
34: Quantitative; Cardinal and Ordinal Numbers; Applied Extension;
Reversive Extension 113
35: Conditional Constructions; Reciprocal Extension ..... . 118
36: Narrative Constructions, Consecutive and Exclusive 121
37: Adverbial Forms; Neuter Extensions; Common and Idiomatic
· Expressions; Comparisons 124
38: Deficient Copulative Verb Kunga/Kunge; Defective Verbs ..... . 128
39: Ideophones 131
40: Revision ...... 134
Key to Exercises 135
Vocabulary 154 ·
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