Table Of ContentTENSE AND ASPECT IN CHICHEWA, CITUMBUKA
AND CISENA
A description and comparison of the tense-aspect
systems in three southeastern Bantu languages
Andrea Kiso
Tense and aspect in Chichewa,
Citumbuka and Cisena
A description and comparison of the tense-aspect systems in three
southeastern Bantu languages
Andrea Kiso
©Andrea Kiso, Stockholm 2012
ISBN 978-91-7447-542-5
Printed in Sweden by US-AB, Stockholm 2012
Distributor: Department of Linguistics, Stockholm University
Meinem Vater
Abstract
This dissertation describes and compares the tense-aspect systems found in three south-
eastern Bantu languages, viz. Chichewa, Citumbuka and Cisena. For each language,
an in-depth description of the tense-aspect categories and their use is given based on
the analysis of different sources of data: audio recordings of arranged conversations and
narratives, questionnaires in which native speakers of Chichewa, Citumbuka and Cisena
translated English sentences into their own language, and parallel corpora of Biblical
texts as well as direct elicitation and consultation sessions.
The description provides evidence of dialectal variation in the tense-aspect systems
in each language that has not been described systematically before. Furthermore, it
discusses specific diachronic changes, such as the development of the present progressive
marker -ku- into a present tense marker in Chichewa.
Remotenessdistinctionsinthepastandfuturetenses,whicharecommonacrossBantu,
arealsofoundinthethreelanguagesunderinvestigationhere. Theuseofthesecategories
is studied in detail and a certain extent of flexibility in their use is observed. For some
varieties of Chichewa, a remoteness distinction is even found for past imperfective forms
referring to habits or continuous events in the past, a distinction that has not been
described previously.
Further emphasis is placed on the comparison of tense-aspect markings in negated as
opposed to affirmative clauses. In all three languages, the perfect marker -a- is only
found in affirmative clauses while a past tense marker or a particular form only found
in clauses of this type, a negative perfect marker, occurs in the corresponding negative.
The comparison of the three tense-aspect systems shows that the overall design of the
systems and the distinctions that are made in the three languages are, despite certain
differences, rather similar while the markers that express these distinctions differ across
languages in many respects.
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Acknowledgements
The Department of Linguistics at Stockholm University is a place where you can grow,
professionally and personally. I want to thank my colleagues in the department, not
all of whom are going to be mentioned by name in the following, for the inspiring and
pleasant time with them.
My supervisors, O¨sten Dahl and Eva Lindstr¨om, were critical and demanding, and
at the same time tremendously supportive and kind. They would let me work indepen-
dently, but were always available when I needed advice and looked over the different
versions of my manuscript with great dedication and care.
Thanks to Tore Janson, this thesis has been critically evaluated in a preliminary
defence, I am grateful for his comments.
MyfellowPh.D.studentsEmilPerder, KerstinLindmark, ThomasH¨orberg, Francesca
Di Garbo, Yvonne Agbetsoamedo, Benjamin Brosig and Robert O¨stling (and later on,
also Ghazaleh, Pernilla, Desalegn and Susanne) made my days at the department and
around Stockholm pleasurable. They as well as Maria Koptjevskaja Tamm provided
valuable feedback to the first versions of my thesis during our Ph.D. tutorials. Francesca
Di Garbo and Rapha¨el Domange assisted me with their LATEX skills in the final stage
of editing my thesis, and Rickard Franz´en helped me design the front cover page. Tove
Gerholm provided invaluable help and advice with various grant proposals and job ap-
plications.
P¨aivi Juvonen, Eva Lindstr¨om, Rickard Franz´en and Ljuba Veselinova contributed
in many ways to making me feel at home in the department from the first day. The
entertaining and insightful lunch breaks with Mikael Parkvall fascinated me, as did
the lectures by Maria Koptjevskaja Tamm. Martin Volk’s programming skills and his
accessible teaching helped me a great deal in building my own corpus and database.
From Lars Wallin, Joel B¨ackstr¨om, Mats Jonsson and Anna-Lena Nilsson I learned
numerous things about Swedish Sign Language. I feel privileged to have met them as
teachers as well as colleagues.
Without the help of many people in Malawi, writing this work would not have been
possible. Mary Kamba Kajasiche, Ellin Rambiki, Annie Ntambo, Grace Chimphonda,
Bertha Singini, Mr Dakamau, Mrs Goba, Mrs Kasonda, Mr Dzinza and Mr Nthekwe
gave me a good deal of their time and showed me the meaning of hospitality. From the
InWEnt teacher trainers’ programme, my sincere thanks go to Gentry Chipeta, Lizinet
Daka, Elick Kwenda, Paul Mfune, Edith M’mela, Bertha Singini, Grace Phambana,
Mary Phiri, Ivy Nthara, Efrina Limeza, Margret Magalasi and Henry Chilora for taking
part in my study. Dunstain Mwaungulu and Justice Kamakwa readily answered my
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questions via email and chat, always with great patience and enthusiasm. Al Mtenje at
the University of Malawi provided me with the most valuable feedback and in a most
pleasurable way. Also Pascal Kishindo from the University of Malawi kindly replied to
my questions via email. Traveling to and working in Malawi enriched my perspectives
in countless ways, and I have deep respect for the ubuntu (the humanity to and because
of others) that I experienced among Malawians. I am also grateful to Barb Heins who
provided me kindly with her insights and data from Mozambican Cisena, and to Andrew
Goodson who gave valuable comments on my Chichewa chapters.
From Christa R¨ober, I learned how to apply my linguistic knowledge in the teaching of
reading, writing and grammar. She was the one who involved me in the InWEnt teacher
trainers programme in Malawi in the first place, thank you for your confidence in me.
Utz Maas introduced me to language typology and structuralism, his way of teaching
was most stimulating, and he trusted me with my first teaching opportunities.
Despite the geographical distance, my friends in Germany have been close to me
during these years. Thank you, Sabine, Sebastian, Friederike, Tobias, Jaro, Lesya, Tina,
J¨org, Hyeonyoung, Kurt, Maya and Claudia for wonderful visits and holidays, letters,
phone calls and for always making me feel welcome, Tilmann for intellectual and satirical
stimulation, technical support and deeply felt friendship.
I also thank Francesca, Karin, Yvonne, Rickard, Eva, Vandana, Tove, Joel and Ljuba
for being great friends.
My parents’ support made a lot of things possible, they and my grandmothers taught
me love, dedication and courage. My father’s open-mindedness and his love inspire me
in countless ways, I dedicate this work to his memory. Gladstone makes sad days less
sad and cheerful days even more cheerful, thank you for being there for me.
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